Emerging Market Retail Podcast - Episode 5 - Strategic trade-offs and route 2 market: Danone's case

In this episode, we travel to Mexico, where Danone is facing a myriad of strategic decisions in serving a highly heterogeneous customer base through multiple channels. Pedro Urow, VP of Supply Chain for Danone, walks us through the core trade-offs, which are then complemented through a highly insightful discussion with Prof. Dr. Jan Fransoo, based on work conducted by our research team at Tilburg University:• Going direct vs. indirect (through distributors)• Presales (separate sales rep and delivery teams) vs. van sales (joint sales and delivery) vs. cross dock (deliver to the retailer's own consolidation points)• Should firms integrate heterogeneous categories (with associated efficiency gains) or handle them separately (specialized assets and capabilities)• How often should each nanostore be visited to collect and deliver orders?• Should suppliers grant credit or not?• Should orders be taken digitally or face-to-face?