Customer satisfaction with food companies rose 2.5% to 83, according to third-quarter results from the University of Michigan's American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). Heinz leads the industry, rising -1% to 89. Quaker Oats rose 1% to 87; and Mars remained steady at 86.
Companies who saw their ACSI scores dip include Campbell Soup, which fell 4% to 80.
According to Claes Fornell, director, National Quality Research Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI: “Heinz remains one of the most consistently high-scoring companies in ACSI. Financially, Heinz has done fairly well too. During the past fiscal year, when many companies saw little growth, Heinz’ revenue went up by 12%.
“The situation is not quite as positive for Campbell Soup,” he continues. “The world’s largest soup maker saw its satisfaction decline 4% to an ACSI score of 80 this year. The drop puts Campbell at the bottom of the industry, with only Tyson Foods having a lower score. The culprit appears to be higher prices which have driven up profits but dampened customer satisfaction – the satisfaction drop for Campbell has little to do with any change in quality of the product, but seems limited to higher prices, as perceived by buyers.”
The American Customer Satisfaction Index is a national economic indicator of customer evaluations of the quality of products and services available to household consumers in the United States. It is updated each quarter with new measures for different sectors of the economy replacing data from the prior year. The overall ACSI score for a given quarter factors in scores from about 200 companies in 44 industries and from government agencies over the previous four quarters.