Consumers and retailers are calling for “Mo’ Gallons” said Ron Lamberty, VP of Market Development during the opening session of the American Coalition for Ethanol’s 29th annual Ethanol Conference. During his opening remarks he focused on the need and movement to get more E15 and higher blend pumps across the country. The theme of his presentation was “Do the Math.” Why? Because when you do the math, you will see that offering consumers more choice in the form of E15, mid-level ethanol blends and ethanol blends such as E85, “they will come” and retailers will have a financial economic advantage over their competitors.
ACE’s market development efforts have always focused on expanding existing markets. When they go out and meet with marketers about expanding ethanol blend offerings, Lamberty said they tell them to do the math – Why this is a good deal for a marketer? i.e. How you can make more money with ethanol? Back in 2008-2009 ACE partnered with the Renewable Fuels Association to launch the BYO campaign -Blend Your Own Ethanol. With programs such as this, Lamberty said the industry has been ahead of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) in terms of expanding ethanol’s market.
Going forward, Lamberty said they have realized that the retailer is the customer, not the consumer, so they have been focusing their efforts on retailers. Last year they launched the Flex Fuel Forward site. Here retailers can learn more about the value proposition of ethanol. In addition, in an effort to do a better job of showing how to do the math, ACE launched an animation last year and during this year’s conference, unveiled their new publication, E15 and Flex Fuel Retailer Roadmap.
Lamberty thanked the ethanol industry along with retailers for all they have done in this arena and concluded, “I ask you to remember when you talk to marketers do the math, help them do the math, and if they don’t know the math, call me, I like to teach math at least at this level.”
Listen to Ron Lamberty’s presentation here: Ron Lamberty, ACE, Opening Remarks