Food Distribution and Logistics with Ron Waters

Zebras to Apples

Host Bryndis Whitson welcomes Ron Waters, Grocery Utility Clerk at a Calgary, Alberta grocery store, to the podcast to discuss his 40-year career and how food logistics have evolved over the years. Ron describes how food was shipped and stored 40 years ago, as compared to the digital systems and greater volumes he currently deals with. Ron has insight into everything to do with ordering, stocking, shipping, and maintaining a large city grocery store.

Bryndis and Ron discuss why stores change stock that they hold based on their locations, how computers play a part in shelf management, and the psychology of where things are placed in-store. Ron explains why prices increase when logistics becomes limited or more challenging. He shares stories from his lengthy career that include how staffing has changed and why he enjoys being in the same career for a long time when it comes to interacting with loyal customers. The conversation is a fascinating look at ordering techniques for grocery stores and the logistics of keeping shelves stocked.

About Ron Waters:

Ron Waters is a Grocery Utility Clerk at a Calgary, Alberta grocery store. He serves on the Signal Hill Community Association board as President. He volunteers on several boards and believes that he experiences so much more in life as a volunteer.

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Contact Bryndis Whitson:

• Website: ZebrasToApples.com
• Instagram: @ZebrasToApples
• LinkedIn

Contact Ron Waters:

• LinkedIn
  
  

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Transcript:

Bryndis 0:03

Hi. My name is Bryndis Whitson, and you're listening to the Zebras to Apples podcast, the fun and fascinating stories of supply chain logistics. Today we're talking with my friend Ron Waters. Have you ever wondered, how does my grocery store get laid out? Why is there a sudden shortage of a certain product? What happened to that product? Where did that go? What is actually happening with all of the dairy in this section? If you've ever wondered any one of those questions, this is the episode for you. Please enjoy my lively and fun conversation with my friend Ron Waters.

Ron 0:50

Absolutely, without saying the name of that particular chain, I can tell you that I've been working for them. Oh, I think about- it depends on how I calculate it. But at least 44 years, maybe 45.

Bryndis 1:04

Oh, wow!

Ron 1:04

That's a long time.

Bryndis 1:05

Yeah, just a few years. But everyone knows you.

Ron 1:08

Everybody does.

Bryndis 1:10

Yep, exactly. And I think when you work for a store where some people have been there for so long, it really helps the staff and stuff like or, and not just the staff, but the customers really feel appreciated. They're like, Oh, I've known this person for years.

Ron 1:28

And they feel that they can speak candidly, right? Because sometimes, as things change within our supply and our environment, you get frustrated a little bit. So when a person has been in this situation for a number of years, and you've seen them almost every time you pop in the store, then you get more comfortable, and you feel like you can air things out a little bit.

Bryndis 1:52

Completely. Yeah, yeah. So with that kind of 40-45, years of evolution, I'm sure you've seen so much changes from where it was, you know.

Ron 2:08

Do you know what Tac is?

Bryndis 2:09

Actually? No.

Ron 2:12

Okay, so when I first started at the store that I'm presently employed at, we used to sell TAC and salt slicks.

Bryndis 2:21

Oh, yeah, yeah.

Ron 2:22

Well, then I saw your lights, your eyes light up, so you have a bit of an idea, right? Yeah. So tac was for horses and the salt licks were for the cattle, and that we were right that we sold them right in our store, right?

Bryndis 2:34

Because it would would have been close enough, that-

Ron 2:37

Close enough to the edge of the city, of course. Now we're no longer at the edge of the city.

Bryndis 2:41

No, you're almost viewed as an inner city.

Ron 2:44

Absolutely, and of course, we have stores in the inner and outer city as well, so it's nice to be able to see that growth. But we started, when I started at that store, that's the sort of thing that we used to sell, and TVs and clothes and everything. And now we don't.

Bryndis 3:02

There was the clothes and all that. I remember that, yeah, oh, and the TVs, yeah.

Ron 3:07

TV and at one point travel, and at one point we had other offices, other like minded businesses that were within the confines of our building. So now all that is gone, you know, because one of the things about supply chain management, one of the things you get very good at with it is that you focus your attention on what is really the core values of your business, and you're trying to get really good at ensuring that whatever your core values are you have it. Now for us, it's grocery distribution, right, making sure that milk is on the shelves for mom and dad and for the kids, and making sure that there's chocolate bars in the aisle for me! So we want to be exactly the variety, right, of everything that we need. So you get really good at concentrating. You get really good at concentrating, as to how we can do that in a most effective manner. So back in the days, and I'm talking back in, oh, I don't want to tell you, back in the days, many years ago, when I first started, generally speaking, even the larger stores like ours, you would have three orders come in a week. Only three orders a week. Well, usually one at the beginning of the week, usually one in the middle and usually one at the end. Of course, there were other things too. For instance, back in those days, the dairy would bring in their milk every day, but it was always stocked by a local dairy person. Was not stocked by the staff at a store. So how they stocked things and kept things was amazingly different in those days, absolutely. So yeah, we would get through that truck once a week. So what that would usually mean is that you had to have sufficient space to store things, and you'd have to order in sufficient quantities to last you the whole at least three or four days before your next order comes in. Nowadays we get five days worth of delivery, so all of a sudden you don't need that space that you used to need. And of course, we have the systems back in those days that were all hand done. So you would order everything by hand on large cards where you would mark down the quantities that you had and then the quantities you thought you would need for the next delivery, which might be two or three days from now. Now, everything's ...