A Conversation With Edgar Elzerman
In June 2009, Edgar Elzerman joined Quincy, Mass.-headquartered Ahold USA as vice president, Own Brands. He has more than 16 years of retail experience, with most of those years spent working for Albert Heijn, Ahold Europe's flagship chain, in the Netherlands.
Based in the company's Carlisle, Pa., support office, Elzerman oversees sourcing, design, marketing, merchandising and quality assurance for the Own Brands department, which sees yearly sales of approximately $8 billion (fresh and dry groceries combined). Under his leadership, private label penetration at Ahold USA has grown significantly.
Private Label ⇨ Store Brands asked Elzerman what's been going on with his company's store brand program, as well as the store brand industry overall.
Private Label ⇨ Store Brands: What are the most exciting store brand categories right now, and what makes them so exciting?
Edgar Elzerman: In my opinion, fresh convenience is the area in the store with the highest potential for growth. There is ample opportunity for incremental sales [and having it serve] as a point of differentiation for Ahold USA.
PLSB: Which categories aren't getting the attention they deserve in terms of product development?
Elzerman: Store brands can play a bigger role in grocery non-food. Traditionally, this is the area where big national brands excel, with superior quality and strong marketing campaigns. We believe that by taking advantage of opportunities to offer products equivalent in quality to the national brands at an affordable price, we can grow these categories to a 15 to 20 percent share. It's working in diapers and paper, but we still have a lot of potential in other categories, as well.
PLSB: Much has been said about the importance of retailer/supplier collaboration to achieve store brand product and packaging differentiation. How important are such partnerships to your company?
Elzerman: We need partnerships to be successful. Successful partnerships are not built overnight; we need to have the vision, patience and the correct level of mutual investment in order to share the risk and make it happen.
PLSB: What is your fondest memory in your career so far?
Elzerman: My fondest career story [comes] from Albert Heijn in the Netherlands — where the company enjoys a store brand share of above 50 percent — and being given the opportunity to test what store brand ideas are transferable to the states.
PLSB: How would you sum up your work philosophy?
Elzerman: I believe that you need to have a vision and work consistently towards that vision without looking back all the time. Sometimes, you just know [what] is the right thing to do.
PLSB: If you hadn't gone into retail, what other career would you have chosen?
Elzerman: I love the store brands area. It might be interesting to sit on the other side of the table for a while. I think manufacturers can highly influence their own success in competition with store brands. I see good and bad examples of that every day.
PLSB: Who is your greatest hero, and how has this person inspired you?
Elzerman: My wife, because she still puts up with me! plsb