In 1992, the U.S. presidential election featured a showdown between Republican incumbent George H.W. Bush, and on the Democrat side, Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton. A certain derisive slogan emerged from the race, albeit not an official one. “It’s the Economy, Stupid!” was an expression used by detractors to describe an administration they saw as being out-of-touch with the issue that mattered most to the majority of Americans. 

As of this writing the economy has again become issue No. 1 on the verge of a U.S. presidential election. Neither candidate in this election is discounting the importance of this economy, and there are signs that the economy has become issue No. 1 for the dairy business as well.

The Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board and St. Louis-based Dierbergs Markets have just launched a new private label program that brands a collection of 18 premium cheeses in conjunction with the Wisconsin Master Cheesemakers.

It’s a unique program, and you’ll find a story about it in this month’s Newsline. WMMB and Dierbergs announced the program in the middle of October, as the stock market was heaving to and fro. A passage near the bottom of the announcement noted that Dierbergs was ramping up its deli sections to capitalize on “the return of a onetime staple: the brown-bag lunch.”

The anticipation is that many working consumers are now skipping the restaurant lunch and opting for “homemade sandwiches and a spot at the work-room lunch table.”

Around the same time that WMMB was announcing this deal, Kmart began running Internet television ads promoting its layaway plans. Yes, layaway! I think my mother used to buy some things on layaway about 40 years ago. Grown people in my office had never heard of it. A couple days later,  there was a story going around about a Krispy Kreme in Seattle offering a cup of coffee for a nickel.

The “r” word is being used without hesitation now. No telling how long it will last, but there is a good chance this one won’t end quickly. If you haven’t yet found the silver lining for your dairy processing company, what are you waiting for? Not to be mercenary, but there are ways you can at least protect the bottom line.

What the above anecdotes demonstrate is that marketers in dairy and elsewhere are responding quickly, and you will want to be among them. 

There has been plenty of talk from all quadrants about belt tightening in recent weeks. That’s a given.  All but the most critical expansion projects and strategic initiatives that require added funding will certainly be put on hold for all industries, including dairy. But hopefully that doesn’t mean that dairy will forget about innovations and retrench to a commodity mindset.

People can’t simply stop eating, and in many ways dairy is especially well suited for tough circumstances. It’s a nutrient-dense food and it’s usually a pretty good value, or an inexpensive treat in the face of larger sacrifices, and so on. 

This November issue marks something new for Dairy Foods. It is our first State of the Industry Report issue. We incorporated the concept into our annual offerings when we merged with Dairy Field earlier this year.

At the core of it, we assess the trends in each of the main dairy categories, and food ingredients. This includes an analysis of sales data, much of it through the first week of September, so it may also end up serving as a gauge for how dairy and beverage sales respond to the economic gloom and doom of October 2008.

Read the accompanying introduction and the text of each piece and you will find that we are already bringing you some forecasts and ideas from industry leaders to help you weather the storm.

You don’t have to be stupid to find yourself shrugging and shaking your head in this economy. There may be no easy answers, so perhaps all you can do is stick to your principles, keep your focus and stay informed.