The Supply Chain Buzz is Supply Chain Now’s regular Monday livestream, held at 12noon ET each week. This show focuses on some of the leading stories from global supply chain and global business, always with special guests – the most important of which is the live audience!

In this episode of the Buzz, created in collaboration with a live Supply Chain Now audience, featured hosts Scott Luton and Greg White dig into top stories in business and share about:

1. The latest on the automotive strike
2. New opportunities for warehouse gig work
3. Retail design priorities as we move into peak season
4. How major candy manufacturers are prepping for their big day- Halloween

Intro/Outro (00:03):

Welcome to Supply Chain. Now the voice of global supply chain supply chain now focuses on the best in the business for our worldwide audience, the people, the technologies, the best practices, and today’s critical issues, the challenges and opportunities. Stay tuned to hear from those Making Global Business happen right here on supply chain now.

Scott Luton (00:31):

Hey, good morning, good afternoon, good evening, Scott Luton and Greg White with you here on Supply Chain. Now welcome to today’s live stream, Gregory. How are we doing today?

Greg White (00:41):

Oh, I’m sorry. I was still piecing in some people only piece out. I piece in. I’m doing well. Scott and I,

Scott Luton (00:49):

Yeah,

Greg White (00:49):

Had a, what should we call it? Wholesome. Let’s go wholesome weekend. Yes.

Scott Luton (00:54):

Very wholesome weekend, right?

Greg White (00:56):

We spend the weekend with little kids, little football, PG movies and G movies. Man, there are some good G movies, by the way. <laugh>, right? And, uh, no booze.

Scott Luton (01:06):

That’s right. It was a good clean living. So we gotta make up for it this week, Greg. Uh, so <laugh>, I gonna start today. Okay. We’re gonna start for lunchtime.

Greg White (01:15):

Yeah, actually, I’m not, you know what? It’s, we were just talking about this. I’m not one of those guys who sits around and drinks beer while watching football. I just, I take it way too seriously and I don’t wanna be impaired as I’m analyzing future potential competitors, right? I could do anything about it, but I wanna know,

Scott Luton (01:34):

I’ve seen you in action

Greg White (01:36):

Cowboys. Yes,

Scott Luton (01:37):

I can vouch for that. A very smart and disciplined approach. But speaking of smart and disciplined approach, or at least half of that formula, we got a real smart show here today. We’ve got four stories as we walk through the buzz. A live show that comes at you every Monday at 12 in the Eastern time. Yeah. Four stories that come from across the world of global business. A variety of news and developments.

Greg White (02:01):

Absolutely. Hey, I have one more thing.

Scott Luton (02:03):

Okay.

Greg White (02:03):

Big announcement. This is the most popular show in supply chain as identified by all the authorities, charitable and blah, blah, blah. Whoever else measures that. And you know what we’re gonna do, Scott? We’re gonna offer sponsorship of the buzz. Ah,

Scott Luton (02:18):

So

Greg White (02:18):

Guys might have noticed that we took supply chain out of the name of the buzz. It’s just the buzz because we do a digital Transformers edition as well, which isn’t necessarily supply chain,

Scott Luton (02:32):

Right? Just

Greg White (02:33):

A little ink click. But anyway, we’re gonna offer a sponsorship. So the title, your company here, <laugh>

Scott Luton (02:40):

In Lights, <laugh>,

Greg White (02:42):

The buzz brought to you by

Scott Luton (02:44):

That is, right. I like that. I like the picture you paint, Greg.

Greg White (02:48):

If you’re interested in that. Well, you know how to find me.

Scott Luton (02:50):

That’s right. Awesome. This an incredible journey. Can’t wait for what’s ahead. Big, big, big things coming.

Greg White (02:56):

Who be interested, interested in who would like to be attached to that, right?

Scott Luton (03:01):

Well, the hands are going up. Um, okay. Also resources. Before we get going here, I wanna share a couple other resources here. Greg offered a great, with that said, over the weekend, really focus on the front end on what we’re seeing in the Middle East. And, you know, goes about saying tons of tragedy, tons of loss. The uncertain times just became a lot more uncertain in terms of what lies ahead. But by focusing on as we get through this period, you know, certainly our, our thoughts and prayers and our mindset are with many of the families that have suffered loss or are working through a very frightening set of circumstances. Greg, your final thought here on what we’re seeing.

Greg White (03:41):

How about just a quick thought.

Scott Luton (03:42):

Sure.

Greg White (03:43):

Plenty of loss to go around. This is a problem that’s literally been going on for 3,600 years, and we’re not gonna solve it with protests at Harvard or in the streets, or making silly, silly statements about who’s in the wrong or who’s in the right here. This will probably end in a way that none of us are going to like, and it’s probably not gonna end at the time of this conflict. So this is bigger than all of us. <laugh> literally goes back to the Bible. Mm. And yeah, I mean, I think everybody should probably know when to stay in their lane. And the only thing we can do is empathize and pray for the people who are being affected on both sides.

Scott Luton (04:23):

That’s right. Well said Greg. So folks, check out this edition where we actually offered up some great tips for navigating and protecting your mental health, whether you’ve got friends and family there impacted, or if you’re just trying to, you know, get through, you know, all the news. So check out. Uh, with that said, we’ve put it out just about every week, and you’ll also find beyond that on a list. Important note, you’ll find some of our upcoming events and some of the resources. All right, Greg, are you ready to get into the first of several stories here today?

Greg White (04:54):

I’m ready.

Scott Luton (04:54):

Ready? Freddy?

Greg White (04:55):

Boy, am I looking forward to this first one?

Scott Luton (04:57):

Okay, well, I can’t wait to get your take here. So I’m gonna unpack it and then we’re gonna get Greg White’s patented nuclear hot take. Here we go. So we’re gonna give a quick update on the automotive strike situation. The ongoing automotive strike situation. So the United Auto Workers U a w expanded its labor strike last week, particularly in its action against the Ford Motor Company over the weekend. The u a w said they had expected a revised and improved labor offer from Ford, but they say they got the same one they received a couple weeks ago. So 8,700 That’s right. Almost 9,000 U a w. Union members went on strike at a Ford truck plant in Kentucky. Greg, we’re talking pre-show, they call this thing Kentucky Truck Plant, K T P in Louisville. But that’s not just any plant. Evidently it’s Ford’s biggest manufacturing plant in the world where it makes its popular Ford Superduty pickup trucks, the Lincoln Navigator and the Ford Expedition. With this expansion, about 22% of all U A W workers at the big three are now on strike thus far. On the other side of the coin, so to speak, thus far, the automakers have more than doubled the wage hike offers that they originally submitted. And they have agreed to raise future wages to account for inflation. And they’ve agreed to better pay for temp workers. But that has still falling short of U’S leadership’s demand. So, Greg, your thoughts,

Greg White (06:22):

This is spit in the wind at this point. So many of these jobs are gonna be automated out of humans. And I think I said this the last time we talked about this. This is kind of a last cash grab for that last generation mm-hmm. That actually wants these jobs and still does them manually and mostly does them manually out of obligation to those workers by the automakers. And this is the thanks that they get. So, I mean, it’s not like the automakers are charitable organizations and doing kind thing for these workers, but they are paid a more than fair wage for the work that they do. It’s funny ’cause I’m reading this book by Ray Dalio and it is extensive, an extensive amount of research. It is called, oh my gosh, it’s, sorry, <laugh>, the title is so long. Sorry.

Scott Luton (07:08):

Ray Dalio. Is that the name of the author?

Greg White (07:11):

Ray Dalio, how to Survive the Changing World Order or something like that.

Scott Luton (07:15):

Okay.

Greg White (07:16):

Oh, here it’s Principles for Dealing With the Changing World Order.

Scott Luton (07:19):

Okay.

Greg White (07:19):

This is part of a cycle of countries that become superpowers and are the leading currency in the world and that sort of thing. And this is evidence of stage four, which is kind of the tailing of that superpower into inevitable oblivion. And you know, it is this demand for excessive wages in society, which of course we are because we’re rich relative to other nations, and we spend a lot of our money on frivolous rather than productive things. And anyway, this and many other topics has me thinking about that. So there you have, and I’m sorry that was not very cogent, Scott and <laugh>.

Scott Luton (07:57):

Real optimistic read.

Greg White (07:59):

I mean, I think that it is kind of the stage that the US is in right now. So as India and China are coming up as economic powers, you know, they’ll inevitably take our place. Most of us here listening to this will be probably dead by that point, but we’re about 70% of the way through that cycle. So, you know, this is just further evidence. And the interesting thing about the book, Scott, I’m sorry, is that the inevitability of this is incredible. Mm.

Greg White (08:27):

Literally, Ray Dalio has studied 3,600 years of history.

Scott Luton (08:31):

Okay

Greg White (08:31):

And seen this happen over and over and over again. And not just in English speaking or European areas. It’s happened in China several times. It’s happened, you know, over thousands and thousands of years. It’s happened with the Romans, probably most famously, but with the Ming Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty as well, and others. So

Scott Luton (08:51):

Did he happen to study the Rolands and the Cling on Dynasties as well?

Greg White (08:56):

He did. Uh, yes. That was during the sixties. <laugh>, sorry, very short. It was only like four seasons, right? <laugh>.

Scott Luton (09:04):

Right. Well, kidding aside, sounds like a great read. And, and I just Googled it as you were talking about it. It’s

Greg White (09:09):

A commitment. Lemme tell you, it’s something like 14 hours worth of reading.

Scott Luton (09:13):

Wow. Worth. Well, we expect full, full fledged book review and report once you get through Ray Ray Dalio.

Greg White (09:21):

Yeah, Ray Dalio, the founder and c e o of Bridgewater Associates the largest. Oh, okay. Private equity group on the planet.

Scott Luton (09:27):

Very cool.

Greg White (09:28):

I always popular, but boy, and I mean, I, I have had my issues with Ray Dalio’s point of view in the past. Mm. But it is inarguable that he is the most well researched of anyone who’s espousing their

Scott Luton (09:41):

Okay.

Greg White (09:42):

Point of view out there.

Scott Luton (09:43):

Okay. Wonderful. Wonderful. Y’all check that out. Moving right along to our second story, we’re gonna stick with the workforce, but we’re gonna talk more about the warehousing industry now for years. Now, Greg, this is nothing new for any of our listeners that’s been with us for four or five years. We’ve talked about the tight labor market in the warehouse space forever, long before it became headlines. Of course it is one, just one of the big drivers of automation and labor challenges continue to impact how warehouses recruit the human element that many still need. Right? Eventually, as Greg has thrown out there, they’ll be fully autonomous with robots rolling around all the time. Maybe humans sitting back just pressing buttons, who knows. But right now, there’s still that human element that’s still important in many, uh, logistics facilities out there. So in this report from the Wall Street Journal, we see that logistics operations in general are looking to compete more and more for gig workers and are also more and more willing to provide the flexibility they often require.

Scott Luton (10:45):

That latter part is, in my view, the bigger news here. They’ve, they’ve been competing for all sorts of workers forever. That’s not new. But I love the flexibility that these employees are offering. So, according to a survey by our friends at Employee Bridge, which also was in this W S J article, the portion of logistics workers who are choosing and are able to choose which four to six hour shift they wanna work. Well, according to the survey data, that segment rose from 15% in 2021 to 21% in 2023. Speaking of flexibility for the workforce, PepsiCo, we’re all familiar with that. Right? Comes in a close second to the tastiest beverage <laugh> in the known universe. PepsiCo though is testing an app now that would allow their warehouse workers to do things like swap shifts from the convenience of their smartphone.

Greg White (11:34):

Ooh, that’s an empty,

Scott Luton (11:35):

I like that, huh?

Greg White (11:35):

Yeah.

Scott Luton (11:36):

All right. So Greg, as we’re talking about warehouses shifting gears or, or getting more serious and more practical about offering flexibility to the workforce that they can recruit and attract your thoughts.

Greg White (11:49):

This has been a challenge since before Covid, right. And Covid did not help, because if you think about how some companies like Amazon have planned for this, they had actual RV parks at a lot of their facilities and nomads, right? Boomer Nomads who were traveling around the country in their RVs would stop in and stay for a month in a town and work at Amazon. You know, or maybe other facilities do this too. It’s just Amazon’s most famous for it and then move on. And they have for many years at Amazon, I only know this because I worked my, remember my previous company was a company that serviced Amazon. So they have used temporary workers, which more than gig workers, provides you with some really interesting story. Just enough money to buy the next hit of meth. And then they’re done with their shift, that kind of thing.

Greg White (12:39):

And as we have said, less comically and more common people are staying away from these jobs in droves. These incoming generations are just staying away from these jobs. The dark, dirty, dull and dangerous jobs that we’ve talked about so often. I mean, this, it’s a real challenge and has been for many, many years going on a decade now, I think. So they’ve got to do something, flexibility, automation, some combinations of automation and flexibility, gig workers, whatever. Yeah. Right. Just to get it done. Because at this point, they are desperate to field humans to do the human jobs in these facilities. Mm-hmm. And remember, at a lot of these companies, they are provisioning with automation.

Greg White (13:23):

Yet their Amazon facilities that are two, three, 4 million square feet that have fewer than the two dozen humans working in them.

Scott Luton (13:30):

Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So

Greg White (13:31):

They are provisioning for this. And yet still they are tens of thousands of humans. Short. I think an interesting campaign is interesting as this flexibility for the folks in Amazon, sorry. And not to make this an ad, it’s just that they do ads during football, which I watched this weekend, <laugh>,

Scott Luton (13:50):

That’s top of mind.

Greg White (13:51):

Did I mention? Yeah. Did I mention without a single beer? And I saw an ad about a guy who joined Amazon as a warehouse worker and now runs one of their server facilities. Love it.

Scott Luton (14:02):

And

Greg White (14:02):

A lady who started as a warehouse worker and now is in their ui, UX experience organization. So, I mean, there are opportunities outside the warehouse and they want you to elevate to those positions. So I think there is some legitimate de, depending on the company you’re working for, I’m not saying that’s only an opportunity at Amazon, but you could explore what are the opportunities for Elevation if I take this warehouse job. And I think that would be a great opportunity for a lot of young people. Because, you know, I’ve known warehouse workers who took over companies and there is nothing, nothing like the experience of knowing how an organization operates every single day to elevate your ability to run a company. Mm.

Scott Luton (14:49):

Right.

Greg White (14:49):

Having that experience is so incredibly valued. The equivalent of working in the mail room.

Scott Luton (14:54):

Right.

Greg White (14:55):

In the old days, <laugh>,

Scott Luton (14:58):

I, I was just watching Seinfeld’s, lots of repeat episodes because Comedy Central now runs Seinfeld almost as often as they run the office. And it was a great episode where they promoted someone up from the mail room and hilarity ensued. I can’t remember the name of the gentleman. You probably know the episode I’m talking about. Anyway, kidding aside, I’m with you. You know, you never know what massive opportunities you’re gonna have by getting your foot in the door and learning the operational side of some of these businesses. And I love those two stories you featured, Greg, that now the folks started there on the frontline and now they’re leading, doing bigger things.

Greg White (15:33):

I was encouraged by that. And I don’t even wanna, don’t even want a job at Amazon. Right? I was encouraged by that. I thought, wow, who even thinks of that anymore? That, that’s possible.

Scott Luton (15:41):

Greg, I love those stories. Going back to where we started here with this piece, my favorite part of this is the newfound flexibility that these companies are really already giving or looking to, uh, give more to the workforce. That should help with recruiting on a variety of levels. Mm-hmm.

Greg White (15:58):

<affirmative>

Scott Luton (15:58):

Moving right along. So quick blurb about this Thursday, let’s see the 19th, that’s this Thursday, right? 19th.

Greg White (16:05):

Yes sir.

Scott Luton (16:06):

We have got a live webinar with our friends from Enable backed by popular demand from numbers of strategy, how finance drives data-driven supply chains. Greg, if you leave finance outta the conversation, you do so at your own peril, right? Hey,

Greg White (16:24):

It turns out, Scott, that people wanna be paid for the stuff that they send you. <laugh>,

Greg White (16:30):

Right? How about that?

Greg White (16:33):

What more needs to be said

Scott Luton (16:34):

Late breaking news? Alright,

Scott Luton (16:37):

<laugh>, well folks join us for the live session on the 19th this Thursday at 12 noon. Not only do we have Nick Rose there from Enable, but we’ve got a great finance business leader from a company called GameStop, which, uh, I bet we’ve all heard of, right? So check that out. So Greg, let’s see. Let’s get into our third story here today. Now folks, don’t leave us. Now, I know packaging for many may not be exciting, but you know what? I would argue that packaging impacts your life, no pun intended, more than you’ve ever thought about subconsciously. And we’re gonna get into some of this. So this is an interesting article from our friends at Packaging Dive. Alright, so this article focuses on key takeaways from conversations at epac conference up in Chicago last week. Now, most folks know that sustainability, of course, is a big focus, not just with packaging, but across the board.

Scott Luton (17:30):

It’s also a big focus when it comes to packaging design. However, other factors are equally as important, such as protective traits. ’cause you know, that thing’s gonna be slung into this van and thrown over here and thrown on the porch. So, protective traits, marketing appeal, how’s that look? Especially with the packaging you’ll find on, on consumer goods sitting on those shelves. Of course, cost factors big as well. Now, one packaging expert noted that older folks are using e-commerce more and more. So packaging considerations now include, is it easy to open? Now, Greg, I would argue that that’s not just, I can’t get into some of these packages day, I’ve gotta get the heavy duty scissors to get through some of these shell cases up. But back to more sustainable packaging and the elimination of waste. I love this, that furniture company, Lovesac. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, perhaps y’all seen the commercials? Well, they print all the assembly instructions right there on the box so they can eliminate the printed paper versions. And Greg, some of these things come with like 272 page encyclopedias that covers every address or every concern you may ever need about any product. They print all of that right there on the boxes. So, Greg, your thoughts when it comes to some of these packaging trends or packaging topics, or you name it.

Greg White (18:44):

Well, I’ve got news for you, Scott. We are the older people that they’re talking about <laugh>, right? You always think it’s your, let’s say grandparents, since your mom is watching this, you always think it’s your grandparents that they’re talking about. But we’re slowly becoming those older people. I’m thinking, you know, that as baby boomers age out of the workforce,

Scott Luton (19:04):

Right?

Greg White (19:05):

The planet slowly, the generation X, which most people have forgotten exists, we become the old people and we’re gonna be cranky old people. I’m just saying,

Scott Luton (19:14):

yes, we’re <laugh>.

Greg White (19:18):

But yeah, I, I think about that. I think I would think about things like, is it easy opening? I think about every time, every time I throw a box in a recycling bin, I’m thinking, why couldn’t we just reuse this box?

Scott Luton (19:33):

Right?

Greg White (19:34):

I mean, just feel like there ought to be a way to get the box back without it having to go through the processing to be built into another type of box, right?

Scott Luton (19:43):

Right.

Greg White (19:44):

And it is true, man. People get deliveries like never before. So my daughter just moved into a new apartment complex and they have lockers for delivery of stuff. Not just, not just a bank of mailboxes, but lockers for delivery of the stuff that you order for e-commerce of every size and shape.

Scott Luton (20:08):

How about that?

Greg White (20:09):

Well, I mean, you do away with other rooms like the server room and whatever else, and you use it for that stuff, I guess, huh?

Greg White (20:16):

So anyway, E-commerce is still growing, right? And I think, what did they predict for this holiday season? 27 billion, something like that. Something that.

Greg White (20:28):

I remember when it broke a billion, which also makes me sound old. Oh my gosh, it wasn’t long ago, folks. But yeah, I mean, I think it’s time to be thinking about not just sustainability generally, but sustainability specifically and how we can even improve on that. But yes, there are so many things to think about with packaging. How does it look? How does it make you feel?

Scott Luton (20:51):

Right?

Greg White (20:52):

It’s a touch stick.

Scott Luton (20:52):

That’s right. I would argue, despite the fact that it touches all of us, to your point, multiple times a day in some cases, but it’s also kind of under recognized out in industry. Kinda like reverse logistics. I think slowly but surely changing that you never know what Greg’s gonna say after he says something like, well, I got news for you Scott, but you know, it’s gonna be good and buckle in. All right, let’s talk candy. Let’s talk candy. So my least favorite holiday, not one of them.

Greg White (21:20):

Oh I thought you, I thought you were gonna say one of my kids. And then when you said least favorite of, Hmm. We’re about to learn something folks. <laugh>

Scott Luton (21:29):

My least favorite holiday Yep. Is Halloween. No doubt about it. But hey, a lot of folks love Halloween and Greg, especially the folks that make candy. Because as C N B C reports here, Halloween is Candy’s biggest holiday.

Greg White (21:44):

Yeah.

Scott Luton (21:44):

And as John Gold and our friends over at the National Retail Federation, good old N R F are projecting consumers are expected to spend $3.6 billion on Halloween candy this year up from 3.1 billion last year. Partially inflation fueled, of course 48%. Now here’s something I didn’t, I should’ve expected all transparency. I got a really big bag of candy this past weekend at Costco. And as Amanda got home from our trip, I said, Hey, I’ve got the Halloween candy knocked out. And she said, oh no, you got it too early. We’ll be lucky. We’ll lucky between all the kids just still have that come Halloween week. But 48% of Halloween candy sales take place during that last week of October. So by my rough math Greg, that is half of 3.6. That’s what, $1.8 billion of candy on that last week of October. Wow. A lot of folks are familiar with Mars, and I’ve got a trivia question coming at you, Greg, next.

Scott Luton (22:40):

But you know the Mars brand, Snickers, Twix, three Musketeers, m and Ms, all that stuff. Well, Mars, you know, they don’t release their revenue, but they had 45 billion in an annual revenue in 2021 to give you perspective, really big company, right? Halloween planning at Mars is a two year affair. So when Mars sits down with its suppliers, customers, team members, you name it, look at trends across the confectionary arts in 2021. Well, we see those decisions come to fruition in 2023. Speaking of planning, Mars as a company exceeded its production targets for this Halloween season. How about that gold star?

Greg White (23:16):

I dunno if you remember Scott, earlier in the year, remember they were talking about how they were gonna struggle to meet demand.

Scott Luton (23:22):

That’s where my brain went as I was reading through this.

Greg White (23:24):

Right?

Scott Luton (23:25):

But the good news folks, plenty of candy should be available for that army of last minute shoppers. That clearly we all are. Alright, here’s the question I was gonna ask you, Greg.

Greg White (23:33):

Hmm.

Scott Luton (23:33):

All this candy talk springing tears in my eyes. Do you know the best selling Halloween candy? And to give you a little tip, little hint, look at that candy pile.

Greg White (23:43):

Not sorry. <laugh>.

Scott Luton (23:46):

Yes. Hershey’s. Reese’s cups the number one bestselling Halloween candy coming in second is my beloved Snickers Greg, before I bring you in, mom is a big milk dud fan. I am too. Mom.

Greg White (23:58):

Milk Duds.

Scott Luton (23:58):

Yeah, But the thing is, here’s a problem, Greg, with milk duds,

Greg White (24:02):

They get old fast

Scott Luton (24:03):

And they are terrible on your teeth. Yeah. As is probably much candy.

Greg White (24:07):

I bet your mom also loves Baby Ruth, which also gets the chocolate, gets chalky and old really fast.

Scott Luton (24:14):

Yes.

Greg White (24:15):

Man, when it’s good, it’s good.

Scott Luton (24:17):

I’m with you.

Greg White (24:18):

All right. So mom, I want you to try, my favorite is Milky Way midnight, a dark chocolate milky way, but only the minis and the Chiefs remembered that. So when I was at the game Thursday,

Scott Luton (24:33):

Okay.

Greg White (24:34):

Were members of a little club inside the stadium. They had the Milky Way midnights and a bunch of other stuff that I didn’t care about <laugh>. And when I was digging through the thing to find Milky Way midnights, and I probably won’t <laugh> in

Scott Luton (24:46):

Oh man. Oh, okay. Well, so two thoughts there, Greg. First off, I love dark chocolate, but secondly, how cool is that for them to remember your favorite candy preferences?

Greg White (24:59):

Again, not for the whole last week, just the last weekend. And that little bit of treat fell under the guise of the bartenders who,

Scott Luton (25:08):

Oh, I get it now.

Greg White (25:10):

They know. They know me pretty well. <laugh>.

Scott Luton (25:13):

Well do they. So talking Halloween candy, there’s a variety of, uh, what was in that read from our friends at C N B C that kind of surprised me a little bit. Are you surprised that the big, you know, 3.1 billion to 3.6 billion and the candy spend year over year?

Greg White (25:29):

You know, probably yes. I wouldn’t know what number to put on it. Right, right. We live in a neighborhood that has very few homes in it, so not a lot of people come into it. But I mean, if you think about how trick or treating is done, a lot of places now, like I love that churches and schools or whoever can they allow you to like kind of tailgate. So people don’t do it from their homes. The kids come to a parking lot and they go car to car to car, which oh my gosh, if I was a kid when I was a kid, if they had done it like that, <laugh>

Scott Luton (26:01):

Fish in the barrel,

Greg White (26:02):

Fewer steps, talk about efficiency, fewer steps for per piece of candy. I mean, it is the ultimate junk food supply chain <laugh>. Right? What a design. Who would’ve thought of that as genius

Scott Luton (26:16):

Trunk or treat.

Greg White (26:17):

Yeah. Trunk or treat. That’s right. That’s right. Mm-hmm. That’s what they call it. Yeah.

Scott Luton (26:21):

But I just warn you from firsthand experience in Amanda and Catherine behind the scenes, appreciate what y’all do. Me and Amanda were manning our trunk, one of those trunk or treat times a couple years ago. And if you, if you’re one of the first trunks to run outta candy, you better watch out. You better have protective gear on. There’s gonna be riots, there’s gonna be demonstrations. You better close up.

Greg White (26:41):

Oh my gosh, I didn’t even think about that.

Scott Luton (26:44):

Yep.

Greg White (26:44):

And there’s no escape because the parking lot’s full <laugh>, right?

Scott Luton (26:49):

Oh gosh.

Greg White (26:51):

You can’t turn off the lights. I mean, they’re walking right there next to you. Oh yeah. It’s not like they gotta walk up from the street, don’t go to that house. They’re porch lights out.

Scott Luton (27:01):

Right. There’s few things that make Halloween worse for those of us that don’t like it. And that is attending those trunk or treats and running outta candy. Alright, Greg, the other thing you brought up, you know, we’ve reported numerous times, not just this year, but other years about demand and is there gonna be enough candy out there? And oftentimes as we mm-hmm. <affirmative> talked about, that’s kind of over-reported. There’s not always a ton of truth there. It can be kind of overinflated the story. Anything else come to mind about meeting clearly the world’s big sweet tooth.

Greg White (27:31):

Remember we talked about cocoa shortages and we talked about, of course there are human rights challenges in the candy supply chain and Africa. Some countries in Africa took some hard steps against Switzerland, which is where I can verify you get the best candy chocolate in the world, literally in the world. Wow. Mm. I mean, they’re not without its challenges, but they seem to have, have worked hard to overcome that. And we know, you know, that many companies are very, very conscious of that and trying to overcome both the demand and the human rights challenges in the supply chain there. So impressive. Honestly, after this was the second year that the candy makers said they would not hit their numbers. So for them to have hit, at least for Hershey’s to have hit their production numbers is very impressive. I mean, it took an incredible effort.

Greg White (28:23):

Mm. Yeah, it’s a good point. As you were sharing that, I was trying to Google the sugar market because I think one of the last times we talked about candy, we talked about sugar supply and prices and access for that matter globally. Yeah. Well folks, as always, don’t take our word for it. Mm. Take some of our word for it.

Greg White (28:39):

I see a Milky Way midnight in that <laugh> Look under that, under that three Musketeers there.

Scott Luton (28:45):

Yes. Right here. Right Folks, we have dropped a link to each of these articles there in the chat. And y’all can check it out and let us know what you think. And hey, by the way, before we wrap here, if y’all wanna do what Oh, mom did and share some of her favorite candies, y’all let us know what Candy are. Looking forward to getting great idea here. Come to Halloween season. So all I can say is don’t leave me with a bag of Kit Katts, uh, Greg, please don’t leave me with a bag of Kit Kats, man. All right. Well folks, if you love Halloween, hopefully y’all have a wonderful Halloween. Of course. We’ll have a couple shows between now and then to get you there. But as I think this is, Amanda says, you gotta get the candy the day before Halloween if we want to have enough left to actually hand out to trick our treaters. I guess that’s how it works. Alright, so Greg, as we are prepared to give folks a few extra minutes of their busy Mondays back, anything else on your plate on your to-do list that you want to posit in people’s minds here today before I wrap us up?

Greg White (29:48):

You know, there’s just one thing that I’m curious about and I’d love to get people’s thoughts on it. It doesn’t have to be here, but I’ll put it out there and maybe if you come back to another show this week, share with us or share right here. So, you know, the Scope three regulations, all of the carbon regulations where companies are responsible for other companies emissions. Now I wonder how companies are tackling that these days because, you know, I was thinking about how sort of politically charged that has become here in the US where some people think it’s implausible to be both sustainable and profitable, and yet countries all over the world don’t care and are imposing those same kind of things, not just on sustainability, but also on human rights. Germany has a huge issue, kind of like US Customs and Border Patrol does, where if you can’t prove your product was not made with slave labor, it can’t enter the country.

Scott Luton (30:44):

Hmm.

Greg White (30:45):

And I’m curious how companies are dealing with those challenges day to day.

Scott Luton (30:50):

Hmm.

Greg White (30:51):

Because here in the states, it almost feels like people are kind of pulling back as the obviousness of consumer spending is slowing. And other impacts, I mean, are showing an obvious slowing of the economy or at least of economic growth. You can see companies kind of pulling back from this, or at least they’re not, I wouldn’t say pulling back. They’re not being so outwardly effusive about E S G type issues. I hope that’s not the case because I’m a hundred percent convinced that you can be both more profitable and more ethical Right.

Greg White (31:25):

In your supply chain. But I’m curious if anybody else is seeing anything like that. If the talk around your company, which doesn’t have to be named or you know, or other companies or other people that you talk to, if you’re seeing kind of that pullback from these sort of e s G type discussions. Mm-hmm. Have you seen anything you would call indicative or a trend or anything like that, Scott?

Scott Luton (31:46):

No, I have not. I think to your point, what I have seen as, uh, cyber, as economic, as other concerns in this ongoing cycle we’re in, you know, start to, to really dominate a lot of the space between executives ears. I have, it seems like, and I’ve seen it reported on where actual polling and surveys have taken as they try to quantify, you know, some of these anecdotal observations, many of us, like you are have, it seems like, uh, that we have seen a deep prioritization of many E S G initiatives or even spending, I saw one report. Hmm. So I welcome y’all’s thoughts, what you’re seeing, whether it’s in your company or your suppliers or your customers or what you’re seeing out in the marketplace. And you know what folks, there’s a variety of different ways beyond our shows. If you wanna shoot us a note via, you know, LinkedIn or email or hit our, you can also, Greg, we hadn’t pushed this out lately. I think folks can still submit an audio message on our website, if I’m not mistaken, Greg.

Greg White (32:45):

Well, you know, we also have insiders Supply chain now Insiders on LinkedIn where you can post in there. I’d be interested to see, or I mean just tag us in a post of your own or message directly. Just be prepared to wait, I’m sorry, <laugh>,

Scott Luton (33:03):

Uh, right. Lots of ways well

Greg White (33:05):

Get us up on Twitter.

Scott Luton (33:06):

That’s right.

Greg White (33:07):

S White on Twitter. That’d be great. Scott w Luton. Is that you at Scott?

Scott Luton (33:14):

You got it

Greg White (33:15):

On

Scott Luton (33:15):

X now, I guess to be official

Greg White (33:17):

X. Sorry. Dang. Yeah.

Scott Luton (33:19):

Isn’t that strange?

Greg White (33:20):

X is one of the oldest companies of the internet year. Did you know that?

Scott Luton (33:23):

Oh really?

Greg White (33:24):

Yeah. It was before PayPal, believe it or not.

Scott Luton (33:28):

Okay.

Greg White (33:29):

How about that.

Scott Luton (33:29):

News to me? Yeah, I did see on the Morning Brew this morning, one of my favorite reads that Disney is celebrating, I guess it’s hundredth anniversary.

Greg White (33:37):

Yeah.

Scott Luton (33:38):

If I read that right.

Greg White (33:38):

Yep.

Scott Luton (33:39):

So it becomes one of the handful of companies that navigated, I mean, think about Beard to Outlast a hundred years. You got past World War ii,

Greg White (33:47):

Great depression

Scott Luton (33:48):

Yes. That you had to navigate. So congrats to the

Greg White (33:52):

Sixties.

Scott Luton (33:53):

Yeah. <laugh>,

Greg White (33:56):

Brittany Spears.

Scott Luton (33:57):

Oh, <laugh>. The list goes on and on and on. All right. So folks, thanks for showing up here today. Thanks for dropping some of your comments. Big thanks to Amanda and Catherine back behind the scenes. If you’re listening to this replay, hey, join us live. And if you’re joining us live here today, don’t forget to like, subscribe, share, you name it. And also don’t forget to reach out if you’ve got some things you wanna share, perspective observations related to Greg’s last point there, reach out. We’d love to engage with you.

Greg White (34:24):

We’re gonna hear it from Gino. I guarantee it. Guarantee.

Scott Luton (34:26):

That’s right. And he may put a beat behind it. ’cause you know, Gino is a rock and roll drummer. If you, if you recall,

Greg White (34:31):

Oh my gosh, they are having a big songwriter festival in Muscle Shoals, which is up by where Gino lives, Florence, Alabama.

Scott Luton (34:40):

Okay. Well, we might see ’em in action. Who knows.

Greg White (34:42):

You might see me in action there, <laugh>.

Scott Luton (34:45):

Okay. Legendary Muscle Shoals. Greg, always a pleasure to knock out the budget. Likewise, thank you. Every Monday, 12 in Eastern Time Live folks, thanks for being here. Hey, pull something, pull one nugget or one little candy thought aside. Oh, and do something with it, right? Little kiss or a little Reese’s Cup or whatever. Hey, whatever it is. But kidding aside, it’s about action. It’s about taking action, deeds, not words. And you know what you might wanna think twice really about going out of your way to do good things for other folks. Right now, there’s a lot of folks hurting out there. So now let’s double down on the challenge we, we share at the end of each and every show. On behalf of the entire team here at Supply Chain now, Scott Luton challenging you to do good, to give forward and to be the change that’s needed. And we’ll see you next time. Right back here at Supply Chain now. Thanks everybody.

Intro/Outro (35:37):

Thanks for being a part of our supply chain now, community. Check out all of our programming@supplychainnow.com and make sure you subscribe to Supply Chain now, anywhere you listen to podcasts. And follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. See you next time on Supply Chain. Now.