Are Ag Companies the New Oil Companies?
Wednesday, June 25th, 2008Monsanto just announced a higher quarterly profit and it’s likely to fuel more criticism about the agriculture industry. Groups are attacking companies like Monsanto, Archer Daniels Midland, Cargill and others for “food profiteering,” “bullying,” and exploiting the global food crisis.
Agri-industry is becoming the new Big Oil. Today, ag companies are targets of growing public criticism. Tomorrow, they may be called to testify before Congress. Rising global demand for both food and biofuels has increased commodity costs. And now, like oil companies, agri-businesses are being vilified.
To avoid the reputational taint of Big Oil, agri-companies need to get involved in discussions of food profiteering. Oil producers ignored consumer complaints till they were dragged into Congressional hearings. To avoid a similar fate, agri-businesses need to show that they are not creating the so-called food “crisis.” This means they need to do something extremely unusual for B-to-B companies - they must communicate aggressively and quickly.