Milling & Baking News - September 20, 2022 - 32

SNAC INTERNATIONAL
TUES | 09 20 202 2
Leading snack group, Cochran
notes rapid consumer changes
SEA ISLAND, GA. - As adept as the snack
food industry has been at embracing innovation,
the consumer is " always moving
faster than we are, " said Christine Cochran
president and chief executive officer of
SNAC International.
In a recent interview, Ms. Cochran likened
her onboarding to the sensation of
hopping on a moving treadmill.
" You jump on, and you quickly find your
pace and learn the contours of the organization
all while moving forward, " she said.
Ms. Cochran took the leadership position
" (Moxie is) such a fun word. When I say
moxie, I don't mean in terms of bravado,
but in terms of confidence, character
and determination about the value the
organization brings to the industry. It's
also a reflection of the industry. We see
companies, big and small, in the food
space organizing around snacking. It is a
conversation right now. Our logo is snacking,
nutrition and convenience. Those are
the conversations that are happening in
almost every food company right now.
As an organization, we need to manifest
our own logo. One of the quiet strengths
that SNAC members value is that benchmark.
You'll hear at SNAC a lot about
networking, which often means business
development. When you're inside SNAC,
you realize this is a network of impactful
companies. The information sharing and
benchmarking that happens inside the
network is valuable in and of itself. That's
something we need to broadcast. "
The snack industry is facing several
Cochran
at SNAC in April after previously serving
as executive director of the Grain Foods
Foundation since 2012.
In a short time, she's worked with the
SNAC team on its annual legislative summit,
a Northwestern University Kellogg
School of Management marketing session,
a Women in Snacks (WinS) session and
preparing for the Executive Leadership
Forum, which met Sept. 11-13.
Ms. Cochran recently shared her
insights with Baking & Snack, a sister publication
of Milling & Baking News, on the
snack industry and her new position at
SNAC International.
Asked to describe the state of the snack
industry Ms. Cochran said, " The industry
is strong. The category is thriving. It's
innovative. It's exciting and has moxie, and
SNAC needs to reflect that. We need to have
moxie. We need to innovate and thrive.
32
MILLING & BAKING NEWS
challenges, but the biggest probably
is keeping up with the consumer, Ms.
Cochran said. Although the industry constantly
is innovating both in terms of convenience,
flavor, nutrition and packaging,
the consumer " is always moving faster
than we are, " she noted.
She said SNAC helps strengthen the
industry through three solid pillars of
activity that serve its membership: education,
networking and advocacy.
" We work hard to ensure we are delivering
value across all the pillars, " she said.
" We employ a test-and-learn approach to
ensure the value is real and in line with
what our members need. For example, we
offer programming in partnership with
organizations like the Kellogg School of
Management and Georgetown University,
which receive very high marks from
our membership. But we don't take that
success for granted. We have launched an
education task force that's diving into our
offerings and developing new offerings
as well as changes to our existing ones. To
improve our networking opportunities
and deliver commercial value, we
launched SNX this spring. For advocacy,
we conducted a member survey to match
our priorities with our members'. "
She also said SNAC offers other benefits
that are promoted less widely.
" The WinS initiative is valued by members
and largely unknown across the
industry, " she said. " We work hard to foster
a pipeline of female leadership for the
snacking industry. Another one that doesn't
get recognition is the information that we
share with our members. With a SNAC
membership, you get access to IRI monthly
reporting data. The benchmarking and
information sharing at SNAC is one of our
quiet secrets. Once you're in the network,
it's something people really value. "
As the former executive director of the
GFF, Ms. Cochran pointed to her experience
in communications and consensus
building as areas she hopes to improve in
her new role at SNAC.
" SNAC has a lot of opportunity to build
growth around communications, " she said.
" SNAC's team is very focused and agile, but
we need to communicate better to not only
our members but to the broader industry
what we do so they can understand the
value of SNAC. You will see our communications
improve, sharpen and expand.
" On consensus building, at GFF, one of
our biggest challenges was taking complicated
science and converting it into consumer
messages. Building that scientific
consensus was the challenge. At SNAC, we
can take those consensus-building skills
around hard topics and crystalizing those
messages so they can be powerful advocacy
for the organization. "
Looking ahead to 2023, Ms. Cochran
laid out several goals for SNAC.
" In an era of strong competition, SNAC
must distinguish itself as an organization
capable of winning over the hearts and
minds of its members and potential members, "
she said. " We are an impactful network
of the world's largest snacking companies.
In 2023, you will see SNAC become
more visible as a voice for the industry.
We will sharpen our focus on government
affairs, including growing our PAC. And
you will see our education and networking
offerings evolve to keep pace with our
member's expectations. " MBN
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Milling & Baking News - September 20, 2022

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