Eric Bleeker: Many consumers might see private-label stuff for a long time. You don't necessarily think of it as a trend, but you talk about the growth rates, it's very impressive.
You mentioned Ralcorp as being a winner with this. Should people be avoiding a supplier with big purchasing power, like a Procter & Gamble, from this or does it have its limits?
Austin Smith: I think it's interesting, because Procter & Gamble is sort of the model of "Your brand is your company." Tide detergent, Gillette, really made that company what it is, but even they saw a lot of private-label weakness, especially in their detergent line.
They got disrupted by other consumer goods companies, like Unilever, that went for the lower end of the spectrum and started to actually disrupt those sales, so no. This extends across the entire consumer goods spectrum.
That's not to say Procter & Gamble's going to collapse under the weight of this, but it certainly takes a big chunk out of what they're able to do. It removes some pricing power, maybe removes a little bit of volume growth that they previously enjoyed.
It's something that, if you're looking at investing in this space, you need to be aware of. There's going to be a lot of disruption going on over the next few years, and I expect this trend is going to continue.
