Customers of the Canadian Wheat Board say they’re happy with just about every aspect of the board’s service except one.
They don’t like the price they have to pay for Canadian grain.
If customers don’t like the price, that means the board is extracting good value from the market for prairie farmers, say wheat board officials.
“I think that’s where we want to be as a marketer,” said Ward Weisensel, the board’s chief operating officer.
Read Also
Aluminum grain trailers offer best of both worlds
A pair of shiny, polished aluminum grain trailers were turning heads at the Ag in Motion farm show near Langham, Sask., recently.
“The results are consistent with what we should be doing.”
The survey, by an independent opinion research firm, the Gandalf Group, was conducted among 96 randomly selected buyers of CWB wheat and barley.
The complete survey was not released due to concerns about customer confidentiality.
However, a summary posted on the CWB’s website indicated how important customers considered a number of service-related issues and how they ranked the CWB on a scale of five in those areas.
On price competitiveness, they ranked it 4.5 in terms of importance, but gave the board a grade of just 3.5.
The only other aspect rated that low was payment options.
By contrast, the board received a rating of almost 4.5 in areas like product quality, meeting delivery commitments and certainty of supply, which were the three highest priorities for customers.
The board also rated above four on meeting contract quality standards, truthfulness and accuracy, product cleanliness, knowledgeable staff, attitude of sale representatives and speed in responding to requests.
Weisensel said the board is pleased with the results.
“They show we’re doing a pretty good job overall and they’re even a little better than what we saw in the last survey two years ago,” he said.
“Certainly we feel we’re going in the right direction.”
Highly rated
He said it’s also noteworthy that the board was highly rated in the areas that were deemed to be of the highest importance by customers.
In a statement attached to the summary, the Gandalf Group said the survey shows the board is working hard to earn the premium prices it extracts from customers.
“This illustrates that there is pressure on the CWB to continue to provide high levels of product quality and service in order for customers to see value in the grain, despite the high price the CWB charges,” it said.
