Keep up the good work on a very fine publication. I enjoy it monthly. It keeps me informed on the entire industry in every aspect.
I wonder how many of the rendering companies have neglected to address this question: “Is there a waste management company in your future?” Let me scratch the surface and provide a little feedback from the restaurant industry.
I am the executive director of the By-Products Recycling Division of Omega Waste Management, Inc. I have been employed as well as unemployed by every rendering company in the state of California beginning in 1968. My field of expertise lies in the procurement/customer service end of the business. Omega Waste Management is a national company, and now I venture out of California for much of our business.
Waste management companies have grown due to request by “your customers.” I am certain that the rendering companies are not pleased with another company involved in their every day business. I say this because of numerous responses that have been less than pleasant. Unfortunately, for the company that chooses to be negative, the end result has been lost accounts. On the other side of the coin are the companies that understand who we are and are willing to work together. When this scenario is played out, all companies involved are the winners.
Daily I talk to restaurants, hotel chains, as well as grocery stores regarding the reason for the “charge” that was never there. They religiously complain about the lack of customer service that there once was. They feel as if the rendering companies that once appreciated their waste cooking oil as well as scrap business, no longer is concerned. As far as the rendering companies’ philosophy appears to project, I find the following. In many (not all) cases, companies have cut back or discontinued the use of “qualified” solicitors, sales reps, customer service personnel, and any other name they answer to. I recently asked a major renderer why they had such “green” customer service employees. The answer was, “Who needs qualified people. They cost too much.”
In closing, I wish to make it very clear how important the customer remains. If you really don’t need them, so be it. I feel as though our accounts, no matter how large or small, and the companies that I deal with (you guys) rank among the top three things in my life (use your imagination). I will pledge that I will show respect and value every customer as well as business relationships that I build for as long as I am involved in the recycling industry. Perhaps the time is now to review your company’s procedures in the evaluation of customer importance.
Respectfully,
Bill Reed
Commitment from Pet Food Industry
On behalf of the members of the Pet Food Institute (PFI), I am writing in response to your recent article on the Center for Veterinary Medicine’s (CVM’s) study on the presence of minute amounts of pentobarbital in some commercial dog food, believed by some to have come from rendered cats and dogs (“Chow Down, Fido – Dog Food is Safe,” April 2002 Render).
Members of PFI, which represents the makers of 95 percent of the dog and cat food sold in the United States, have taken extraordinary steps to prevent the use of any ingredients derived from rendered dogs and cats in their products. As your article correctly points out, the recent CVM study confirms this commitment by finding no canine or feline DNA in any product tested. PFI members take consumer sensitivity on this subject very seriously and are thankful for the assistance provided by the National Renderers Association members in preventing the inclusion of rendered dogs and cats in any ingredients intended for use in dog or cat food.
Sincerely,
Duane Ekedahl
Executive Director
Pet Food Institute
June 2002 Render