Piggly Wiggly and Imperial Sugar: Rekindling Customer Ties

As Imperial Sugar’s Port Wentworth refinery ramps back up to full production, the company’s sales team is rekindling ties with former customers — some of whom have been waiting for months to restock their shelves with Imperial’s product line.

Piggly Wiggly Carolina Co., based in Charleston, S.C., is one such customer. The two companies share a long tradition of meeting the needs of final customers in the South.

Piggly Wiggly and Dixie Crystals by Imperial Sugar have loyal following in the South.

Brand strength is one reason why Piggly Wiggly has carried Dixie Crystals since the grocery-chain company got its start, some 60 years ago.

The two also share — as Southern-based, locally owned businesses — a certain kinship. “Both companies know that our connection with and support of the local community is important — whether it’s the arts or schools or soccer teams,” says Robert Masche, senior vice president and COO of Piggly Wiggly Carolina Co. “And both companies know that by supporting each other, we strengthen our local support.”

The connection between the two communities was poignantly felt after the accident at Port Wentworth in February 2008.

“After the accident at the plant, Piggly Wiggly was our first grocery customer to set up a fund for the victims, right in their stores,” says Bill Lockamy, national manager for retail private label.

The Piggly Wiggly fund was created to help families of victims of the refinery fire; the company kicked off the fund drive by making a $10,000 donation.

Robert Masche, senior vice president and COO of Piggly Wiggly Carolina Company.

Since Port Wentworth halted production in 2008, Masche says, Piggly Wiggly has had to buy from other suppliers in order to meet customers’ needs. But now the two companies are reconnecting.

For starters, Piggly Wiggly is once again tapping Imperial Sugar as a category leader. “How we approach things — for all our product categories — is we first determine who the category leader is,” Masche says. “Then we bring in that leader to collaborate on giving customers what they’re looking for, based on our data. Dixie Crystals has been the category leader over the years.”

So, now that Imperial is aiming for a mid-May delivery date of its product, Masche says, Piggly Wiggly is once again sitting down with its category leader to plan how to put forth a category that covers what the customer needs from both branded and private-label products.

“We expect Imperial to get back to where they were before — and to keep giving us the competitive cost and high service level they’ve delivered over the years,” he adds. “And we look forward to being able to give our customers what they have for many years wanted in that category.”