Natural~Specialty Foods Memo

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2011-12-14T21:06:00.000-08:00

We plan to be back to blogging in 2012.

Unitl then follow us on Twitter at:

www.twitter.com/NSFoodsMemo.

Back Soon to Blogging

2010-06-15T19:06:00.000-07:00

Natural~Specialty Foods Memo has been away since March 11, 2010 because we've been working on a special research project, the results of which will soon start appearing in the blog.

We, however, have been and continue to be active daily on our Twitter.com feed, which you can view on the right. We are at www.twitter.com/NSFoodsMemo. Follow us there for news, information, analysis and commentary on the natural, organic and specialty foods industries and related topics.

We want to thank the numerous regular readers and Twitter followers who've e-mailed, asking us if and when we will return.

Editor.
nsfoodsmemo@gmail.com

From Twitter-to-the-Blog: The Natural~Specialty Foods Memo Natural, Organic & Specialty Food Entrepreneurs' Showcase

2010-03-11T17:52:00.000-08:00

Entrepreneurs have historically been and remain in the main the innovators and trend-starters in the natural, organic and specialty foods product businesses in the United States.

In fact, were it not for entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial companies, we would not likely see the robust, and constantly growing, natural, organic, specialty, gourmet and ethnic foods industry that exists today in the U.S.

Entrepreneurs - be they chefs, farmers, former food industry executives and workers, ex-lawyers, accountants and doctors, or just plain people with ideas, were the first to create domestic natural, organic and specialty foods products in the U.S., often selling them directly to consumers to start, along with peddling their wares from store-to-store, door-to-door, talking retailers into putting the items on the shelves to give them a try, which is something that's still done in the business in varying degrees.

Entrepreneurial natural and specialty foods distributors, along with pioneering natural and specialty foods retailers and grocers, also played and continue to play a key role in creating and growing the natural, organic and specialty foods industries in the U.S.

It's been only since about the mid-1980's in fact when larger food companies became involved in the business in a significant way (with the exception of imported specialty foods), primarily doing so in the beginning by acquiring many of these entrepreneurial companies, which over the years grew into substantial businesses.

Today, natural, organic and specialty foods products, or packaged goods, of all kinds are big business. The products line the shelves of even the most basic supermarkets, and are sold in discount stores run by giants like Walmart, Costco, Target and many others, for example.

And of course, in many cases yesterday's natural, organic or specialty food product (or category) is today's mainstream or near-mainstream product or category.

For example, look at organic and premium/specialty coffee.

Just 15 years ago buying and drinking anything but Folgers or Maxwell House (plus a few other mainstream coffee brands) was considered something only the rich or elite consumer did in the U.S. Today, buying and drinking organic and premium coffee is something that cuts across all income and social class consumer lines.

What about olive oil and balsamic vinegar?

As recently as the early-to-mid 1990's in the U.S. (and mid-to-late 1990's in the case of balsamic vinegar) both products were considered niche, specialty items. Organic olive oil particularly was a super-niche item.

Today, olive oil - and to a lessor but very significant degree balsamic vinegar - are essentially mainstream products. Organic olive oil isn't mainstream at present, primarily because of its higher cost, but its much more than a super-niche item than it was just a few years ago.

The case history of natural, organic and specialty foods items that have moved from super-niche and niche to near-mainstream and even mainstream is extensive.

Entrepreneurs still remain the backbone of the U.S. natural, organic and specialty food product (we include beverages) industries. It's the start-up companies, and those in the small-to-medium range, where the majority of idea-generation and innovation remains today.

To celebrate this phenomenon - and some of the entrepreneurs leading this charge, particularly despite the bad economic times the U.S. remains in - starting today, and running until the end of March, Natural-Specialty Foods Memo is showcasing various natural, organic and specialty foods entrepreneurial companies on Twitter, at our www.twitter.com/NSFoodsMemo feed, which you can see in the top right hand corner of the blog.

If you go to our NSFoodsMemo twitter page linked above, look for the #foodentrepreneur hashtag on our tweets. Such hashtags are a way of allowing for a search on Twitter. For example, if you type in #foodentrepreneurs in the Twitter "search" box, all of our tweets, and those of any other feed using the hashtag, will come up for your viewing.

We're also tieing-in our #foodentrepreneurs "tweet showcase" on our Twitter page with the blog.

We will include all of the tweets in this post, adding them in real time. At the end of March this post will contain all of the #foodentrepreneur showcase tweets we make from today to March 31, 2010.

The Project

We're calling the project: "From Twitter to the Blog: The Natural~Specialty Foods Memo Natural, Organic & Specialty Food Entrepreneurs' Showcase," which is the title of this post.

As you click on the links on the tweets (below) about the various entrepreneurial food companies in this post and read about them, we invite you to comment, using the "comments" link at the end of this post.

We welcome comments about the companies, particularly if you've tried their products and have an opinion of them, but also in general - your views, opinions and analysis.

Below then are the tweets comprising our "From Twitter to the Blog: The Natural~Specialty Foods Memo Natural, Organic & Specialty Food Entrepreneurs' Showcase" project.

March 11, 2010 Tweets:

~Rori’s Ice Cream is the 'hottest' ice cream in Santa Barbara, California http://tinyurl.com/ybhkw4u #foodentrepreneurs

~Berkeley CA's June Taylor Jams mixes organic fruits with a bit of politics http://tinyurl.com/ykvk7rp #foodentrepreneurs

~Grocer @locali tells us the vegan desserts made by @chloecoscarelli are selling faster than... hotcakes #foodentrepreneurs. (And we were right - 32 minutes later locali tweeted back this: @locali @NSFoodsMemo: We're actually sold out already! Unfortunately, we won't have more back in stock until March 24th. We're counting the days.) Some of the @chloecoscarelli vegan desserts on display @locali in Hollywood CA http://twitpic.com/1661ea #foodentrepreneurs

~Crave Foods is bringing Indian street food to America via the grocery store http://tinyurl.com/ygvcmfz #foodentrepreneurs

~Mother/daughter #foodentrepreneurs Janet Owings & Mary Schulman focus on innovation of all kinds @Snikiddy http://www.snikiddy.com/

March 12, 2010 Tweets

~Fast-growing @udisglutenfree introducing new granola, baked goods at #expowest http://tinyurl.com/yjakgf2 #foodentrepreneurs

~Beryl's Boulder-based Bobo's debuts bold new Bobo's Oat Bars at #expowest http://tinyurl.com/y9do22x #foodentrepreneurs

March 13, 2010 Tweets

~Agave Dream, lead by two moms with a cold, creamy dream, is growing its brand http://tinyurl.com/y9h9ep8 #foodentrepreneurs

~Tanka Bar adds value - and its CEO was honored for it and more at #expowest http://tinyurl.com/yegaa9n #foodentrepreneurs

~The #foodentrepreurs at http://www.falafelrepublic.com/ want you to visit their Falafel Republic often http://tinyurl.com/yexe66a

~Couple aims to revolutionize bottled water w/their @h2oboxwater water-in-a-box http://tinyurl.com/yhmd5ub #foodentrepreneurs

~Blue Horizon [@BHOrganicWild] goes wild...organic, sustainable & gluten-free http://tinyurl.com/yhle6eq #foodentrepreneurs

~Bluebird Grain Farms finds a niche growing/marketing ancient, heirloom grains http://tinyurl.com/yznu2sd #foodentrepreneurs

March 14, 2010 Tweets

~Diabetes led farmer Bob Wilt to the blueberry, and he created @SunsetOrganics http://tinyurl.com/y9zlg7b #foodentrepreneurs

~Moms Kristin & Kirsten started @RevolutionFoods to revolutionize how kids eat http://tinyurl.com/yjcknhn #foodentrepreneurs

~The birth of her son led Gigi Lee Chang to start frozen baby food Co. @PlumOrganics http://www.plumorganics.com/ #foodentrepreneurs

March 15, 2010 Tweets

~Vans Natural Foods is getting a makeover: New logo, packaging, website & more http://tinyurl.com/yevolz6 #foodentrepreneurs

March 16, 2010 Tweets

~"White-Girl Tamale Maker" Deborah Stern merges tradition w/nutrition @lagueratamalera http://www.gttamales.com/ #foodentrepreneurs

March 17, 2010 Tweets

~Bert Cohen's Surf Sweets makes the organic versions of your favorite candies http://tinyurl.com/y8fpqog #foodentrepreneurs

March 19, 2010 Tweets

~Natural-Specialty foods company http://www.kozlowskifarms.com/ does it all, from the farm to the grocery shelf #foodentrepreneurs

March 20, 2010 Tweets

~Turtle Mountain wins "Best" award for its @So_Delicious Coconut Water Sorbet http://tinyurl.com/yj7k78d #foodentrepreneurs

~The #foodentrepreneurs @FunkyMonkeySnck think fun, along w/fruit, is a key ingredient for success http://tinyurl.com/yfdrb7y

March 21, 2010 Tweets

~@FrontierSoups is celebrating 20 years of innovation & growth, including its own online sales operation #foodentrepreneurs

~Mary Waldner's [http://www.marysgonecrackers.com/] @GoneCrackers was born from her own intolerance to gluten. #foodentrepreneurs

March 22, 2010 Tweets

~Not only do they taste good, many folks say Jill Frechtman's @fretzels [http://www.fretzels.com/] are edible art #foodentrepreneurs

~http://www.naturespeak.com/ has a plan to get to the top of the natural-specialty heap http://tinyurl.com/yho7u8k #foodentrepreneurs

~Sister & brother #foodentrepreneurs Dobrasevic Foods bring fresh produce right to the front porch http://tinyurl.com/yfnyreq

March 23, 2010 Tweets

~Stephanie Lester's Cavemen Bakery-made @CavemenCookies have an ancient pedigree http://www.cavemencookies.com/ #foodentrepreneurs

~The folks @delprado mix a heaping dose of charity in with their gourmet fruit nectars http://www.mapaimports.com/ #foodentrepreneurs

March 25, 2010 Tweets

~ It's an organic, all in the family story for founder Heather and her @MomMadeFoods http://www.mommadefoods.com/ #foodentrepreneurs

March 26, 2010 Tweets

~After 22 yrs, family-owned natural-organic pioneer Amy's Kitchen gets a slogan http://tinyurl.com/yz3um98 #foodentrepreneurs

March 27, 2010 Tweets

~Our #foodentrepreneurs aren't limited to the edible. The @TheGourmetGirl Elaine created a magazine http://tinyurl.com/luu8za

~#foodentrepreneurs are a diverse group. Meet farmer/small-plot gardening book guru Sal Gilbertie http://tinyurl.com/yex6uv9

~Chuck (brother of author Ken) & Sue Kesey celebrate 50 yrs as #foodentrepreneurs @ Nancy's Yogurt http://tinyurl.com/yf8q6el

March 29, 2010 Tweets

~Salsa-maker @Renfrofoods is celebrating 70 years with a big recipe contest http://tinyurl.com/ylfpfwq #foodentrepreneurs

March 30, 2010 Tweets

~Russell's cheesecake is truly an "Ultimate Sin." But in a very good way. http://www.ruscc.com/ #foodentrepreneurs #NASFT

~Coconut water is "hot," and @onecoconut wants you to go nuts over its brand. http://www.onenaturalexperience.com/ #foodentrepreneurs

~The #foodentrepreneurs @TXHillCtryOlive are a new breed of Texas oil wildcatters - olive oil http://www.texashillcountryoliveco.com/

~The #foodentrepreneurs @sevencups Tea dare you to drink just 6 cups of their tea; now for sale @WholeFoods http://www.sevencups.com/

~Two guys from Jersey put the famous New Jersey tomato in a jar for the masses http://tinyurl.com/y9eogcr #foodentrepreneurs

~The #foodentrepreneurs at http://www.natureisletropicalgourmet.com/ bring a taste of the islands to the mainland. @Islandgourmet

March 31, 2010 Tweets

~People are going nuts over mother/daughter #foodentrepreneurs' Gayle & Sarah's http://www.nutsaboutgranola.com/ @NutsAboutGranol

~The #foodentrepreneurs @kaiafoods sell healthy, organic granola & snacks in shelf-popping packages. http://www.kaiafoods.com/

[Readers: If you know of an entrepreneurial natural, organic, specialty/gourmet or ethnic foods company (or individual) you think we should showcase in our project, feel free to send us the information at nsfoodsmemo@gmail.com. As much information as possible is requested, particularly a website address.

Of course, we reserve the right to decide if we showcase the company in a Twitter tweet and in the blog.

Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/NSFoodsMemo

Investor Ron Burkle Cashes Out For A 200% Return On $98 Million Investment in Whole Foods Market

2010-03-03T07:50:00.000-08:00

Seven degrees of Ron Burkle: Grocer, investor, philanthropist and man about town. [Photo Credit: Cityfile.com]

On February 16 we wrote in this piece [Ron Burkle's Rather Excellent One Year Investment Adventure With Whole Foods Market] about investor and supermarket industry veteran Ron Burkle's beyond excellent return (on paper) of his $98 million investment in Whole Foods Market, Inc. in just a hair over one year. (Also see the links to past stories about Ron Burkle at the link above.)

This week we learned that Burkle and his Yucaipa Companies investment firm's return on his January 2009 $98 million investment in Whole Foods, through his Yucaipa Companies is no longer - at least the majority of it - just on paper.

According to Yacaipa, Burkle has sold the majority of his shares in Whole Foods, which represented an about 7% ownership stake in the natural grocery chain, for a return of about 200% Not bad for a year's worth of investment.

In our February 16 story we suggested Burkle might sell most or all of his Whole Foods stake soon because he's currently extremely busy tending to his about 19% ownership stake in book retailer Barnes & Noble, not to mention the myriad of other investments Yucaipa has.

Burkle has been selling off the Whole Foods shares for about the last month or so as the natural grocer's share price has continued to soar.

Among Burkle's activities vis-a-vis Barnes & Noble has been a campaign he's launched to be allowed to buy additional shares in the bookseller, something its board and CEO have been blocking.

Apparently they fear an activist shareholder who puts his money behind his ideas and strategies for making what has become a laggardprimarioy bricks-and-mortar book retailer, under fire from Amazon.com and other online book retailers, a potentially better performing one. Barnes and Noble sells books online but hasn't been able to compete in any significant way with Amazon.

Burkle has told Barns & Noble's board he wants to buy up to about 38% of the company. They have put in a provision which prohibits any outside investor from acquiring more than a 20% ownership stake.

Burkle is also interested in taking a substantial stake in the storied New York City retailer Barneys. He's bought some of the struggling apparel retailer's debt and has told its foreign owners, Dubai's Istithmar World investment firm, that he is interested in lending the firm, which has been hit hard by Dubai's financial meltdown, $50 million in return for taking control of Barney's, which Burkle thinks he can return to its glory days.

The Dubai investment firm bought Barney's in 2007 for about $900 million.

Based on his track record in the supermarket retailing industry, we think if he acquired Barney's, Burkle would first invest in it, like he did when he acquired the various chains to comprise Ralphs/Food 4 Less, which he eventually sold to Kroger Co. in the 1998's for $13.5 billion.

He likely then would cut costs, in part by wringing as much cost as he could out of Barney's supply chain, something he knows a thing or two about doing in the retailing business.

We think Burkle would also extend the Barney's brand, both into opening new stores in key U.S. markets and perhaps even selectively overseas, as well as into other forms of business. The Barney's brand still has considerable equity.

After doing these and other measures, operating Barney's for a few years, it's likely Burkle would then take the company public, which could result in substantial profits if all went well in the process we describe above.

But meanwhile Burkle has exited, at least for the most part, Whole Foods Market - and done so with a nice 200% return on his $98 million investment.

He's not out of the supermarket industry investment game completely though: Burkle owns 30% of the A&P supermarket chain and is playing a major role in the east coast grocery chain's strategy, along with how it's being managed. Remember, he's an activist shareholder, and with a 30% stake he should get involved in a hands on manner.

Burkle's Yucaipa has about $9 billion worth of investment funds, according to the firm. Among its investors are two of California's biggest pension funds.

Burkle lives in Southern California and New York City. His personal worth is estimated at $3.2 billion, according to Forbes magazine, which lists him in its storied richest people in the world ranking.

Look for Burkle - who grew up in the grocery business, starting as a bag boy at Southern California's Stater Bros. grocery chain then eventually moving into a vice president position there before leaving to start Yucaipa - to make new investments in the supermarket industry. It's not only the business where he made his first and major fortune - it's also in his blood.

Ron Burkle's Rather Excellent One Year Investment Adventure With Whole Foods Market

2010-02-16T16:22:00.000-08:00

It's been just over a year since legendary supermarket industry magnate, investor, philanthropist and friend of Bill Clinton, Ron Burkle (pictured at left), acquired a 7% stake (9.8 million shares) in natural-organic foods grocery chain Whole Foods Market, Inc. Burkle reported his stake in a SEC regulatory filing on January 8, 2009.

During the about two month period from late November 2008 -to- early January 2009 in which Burkle made his investments in Whole Foods' common stock through his Yucaipa Companies' investment firm, the natural-organic foods grocer was aisle-deep in two key struggles: it's battle with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over the acquisition of Wild Oats Markets Inc.; and a loss in sales due to the economic recession.

As a result of these two key factors, Whole Foods' stock share price ranged from $9.97 per share (November 24, 2008) to $10.01 per share (January 7, 2009) during the period when Burkle made his $98 million worth of stock purchases, resulting in the 7% total ownership stake in the company. We will call it an average of about $10 per share.

Today, a mere year later, Whole Foods Market. Inc. reported a whopping 79% increase in earnings for its first quarter fiscal year 2010 over the same period in 2009.

Additionally, first quarter 2010 sales increased 7% to $2.6 billion, compared to the same quarter last year. Further, same store sales, which are a key measure of a retailer's health, increased by 2.5%. Complete details are here.

Whole Foods' first quarter sales and profits report announcement today sent the natural-organic grocery chain's stock share price soaring. At the end of business today Whole Foods Market, Inc. stock was trading at $32.95 per share.

The stock has been growing like naturally-fertilized clover over the past 12 months. The 52- week low is $9.06. The 52-week average high is $34.40 per share.

Ron Burkle's excellent one year Whole Foods Market adventure

Speaking of naturally-fertilized clover, Ron Burkle is certainly waist deep in it in terms of his about 13 month profit in Whole Foods Market, Inc. stock.

Based on the average price of $10 per share he made from late November 2008 -to- early January 2009, the supermarket magnate and investor has more than tripled the value of his $98 million stake in Whole Foods in just slightly over a year.

Based on the $10 per share average purchase price, at today's $32.95 per share close, Burkle has seen a whopping per share increase of $22.95. Not bad for a one-year investment adventure.

Trust in Whole Foods board, senior management

In this story [Retail Memo - Exclusive: Supermarket Industry Investor Ron Burkle Looking For A Seat On Whole Foods Market's Board of Directors] on January 16, 2009, we reported that Ron Burkle was interested in seeking a seat on Whole Foods Market Inc.'s board, based on his 7% stake in the company.

However, to date Burkle has been satisfied to be a passive investor in the natural-organic grocery chain - a position that has obviously paid off for the supermarket industry investor.

We stick by the January 2009 report that Burkle did have an interest, however strong or weak, in possibly joining the board. But it obviously wasn't something he has pushed, since if he did we doubt Whole Foods would deny him a spot. And if the grocer did, we would have heard about it. We haven't.

Historically, Burkle has been what's referred to as an activist shareholder, an investor who buys a substantial stake in a company and then participates in some way in its operations, generally as a member of its board and often times operationally. This has been especially the case for Burkle regarding his numerous investments and acquisitions in the food and grocery retailing industry.

But it appears to date that Ron Burkle has trust in Whole Foods' current board and senior management - a trust well-founded based on the growth of the investor's just over one year investment - and as such sees no need to join the board.

Burkle hasn't been a traditional passive investor when it comes to Whole Foods Market though. In fact, we are aware that over the last year Burkle has offered numerous ideas and suggestions, including involving Whole Foods value strategy, to the grocer's board members and senior management.

But of course Burkle isn't merely a investor in supermarkets - he has extensive operations experience as an food and grocry retailing executive.

He started out in the grocery retailing business as a bag boy for the Los Angeles-based Stater Bros. supermarket chain, where he eventually became a vice president.

In addition, Burkle was the board chair of Wild Oats Markets Inc., and was instrumental in the natural grocer's merger with Whole Foods.

Ron Burkle also put together one of the biggest supermarket chain's in the U.S. - Ralphs/Food 4 Less - which he eventually sold to Kroger Co. This was what earned him the 'supermarket magnate" nickname.

Burkle focusing on books not groceries right now

Interestingly, today Yahoo, of which Burkle is an investor and has been a member of the board of directors since 2001, announced that the investor is stepping down from its board because he wants to "devote more time to his other business interests."

In the statement, Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock said: "Yahoo and its stockholders have benefited greatly from the counsel, insights and objectivity Ron has brought to the company during his nine years on the board."

The key business interest we think Burkle wants to devote more time to is his current investment focus on the Barnes & Noble book store chain.

Burkle recently disclosed in an SEC regulatory filing that his Yucaipa Companies investment firm has acquired a 19% ownership stake in the bricks-and-mortar and online book retailer. Additionally, in that filing Burkle said he would like to own as much as 37% of Barnes & Noble.

Barnes & Noble has an anti-takeover provision which makes it difficult for investors like Burkle to acquire majority ownership in the company, something that's been suggested he would like to do. However, if he can acquire as much as 37% (and even a bit less) of the bookstore chain, Burkle will have significant influence, including a seat (and maybe even chair) on the retailer's board.

It sounds to us like we will see the "activist shareholder" Burkle rather than the more passive investor Burkle when it comes to his run on Barnes & Noble.

In fact, his profits so far in Whole Foods Market, Inc. could provide a nice cash cushion should he decide to sell some shares for his investment in Barnes & Noble.

We have no information however that Burkle plans on cashing-in any part of or all of his investment stake in Whole Foods.

Either way, it's been a rather excellent 'One Year Whole Foods Market Investment Adventure' for the supermarket magnate.

We even suppose it's been an excellent enough one year adventure to make the legendary investor willing to take a crack at one of the most difficult retailing segments in U.S. - book selling.

The List: Food, Grocery, Beverage & Related Companies Donating to Earthquake Relief Efforts in Haiti

2010-01-14T10:17:00.000-08:00

Last Update: January 21, 2010 - 10:55 pm eastern - 07:55 pm pacific

The earthquake that stuck the island nation of Haiti on Tuesday is one of the most devastating natural disasters in recent times.

The U.N., United States and other nations are rushing to the country's aid with money and human resources, as are key non-governmental agencies (NGO's) like the Red Cross, Salvation Army, Doctors Without Borders and many others.

Right now the biggest need for these key agencies is cash in the form of donations. This is particularly the case with the Red Cross, which is serving as the lead NGO in Haiti as it regularly does globally in such disasters.

Our beat is food - the global food and grocery industry, along with all related topics.

In this post we will keep a running count of all the food-grocery companies - retailers, food-makers, marketers and others - throughout the world we can find that are making donations of any type to Haiti relief, along with listing any types of fund-raising programs these companies and their employees are doing.

The Natural~Specialty Foods Memo List is regularly updated as we learn about new efforts.

Also follow our Twitter feed - www.twitter.com/NSFoodsMemo - for real-time updates on food-grocery companies donating to the relief efforts in Haiti.

As individuals, one simple way you can contribute to Red Cross Haiti assistance efforts is by simply texting "HAITI" to 90999 on your mobile phone. Doing so will result in a donation of $10 to be charged to your cell phone bill.

Donations to the Red Cross can also be made here (American Red Cross) or here (International Red Cross).

Numerous other NGO's and non-profits are also seeking donations for their respective earthquake relief efforts.

Some Information, resources, and ways you can help survivors of the Haiti earthquake.

The Natural~Specialty Foods Memo List

Food-grocery retailers of all formats

1. Walmart Stores, Inc., the largest retailer in the U.S. and the world, has donated $500,00 to Haiti earthquake relief efforts so far - $400,000 in cash to the Red Cross and $100,000 worth of pre-packaged food kits donated at the request of the Mexican Red Cross for Haiti.

Walmart also has set up a special Web site here where its employees and others can make individual donations to the relief efforts. Walmart also said on Wednesday (January 13) that it is working on an addition support plan for Haiti. Read about it here and here.

Update: Friday, January 15: Below are some of the additional efforts Walmart has made since Wednesday, January 13:

>Walmart Canada announced a campaign to raise money for Haiti disaster relief, starting with a $100,000 contribution from the company to the Canadian Red Cross.

>Walmart Puerto Rico made a donation of $25,000 to the Puerto Rico chapter of the American Red Cross and launched a campaign to encourage customers to contribute the change from their store purchases to benefit disaster victims.

>Walmart Argentina also announced a $25,000 contribution today to the Red Cross in that country.

>Walmart operations in Canada, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Chile have launched fund-raising campaigns to benefit disaster victims.

2. Florida-based grocery chain Publix has donated $100,000 to Haiti relief. The supermarket chain has also launched a donation campaign in all of its Florida stores, where shoppers can make cash donations to help the victims of the 7.0 magnitude earthquake. Link: http://tinyurl.com/yz5w9rq

3. Food, grocery and general merchandise retailer Target just announced it will donate $500,000 to earthquake relief efforts in Haiti. More here. In addition to the cash donation, Target stores volunteers are working in partnership with students from The Fair School in Minneapolis, Minn. and ImpactLives, a local non-profit organization, to prepare more than one million meals to send to Haitian earthquake victims.

4. Pleasanton, California-based Safeway Stores, Inc. is making an initial $100,000 donation to the American Red Cross and UNICEF, two organizations at the forefront of the earthquake disaster relief mission in Haiti. More here. In addition, Safeway has launched a company-wide fundraising program to help Haiti. The company’s 1,730 stores throughout the U.S. and Canada will immediately begin collecting donations for Haiti disaster relief through a checkstand donation program, says Safeway CEO Steve Burd. Further, Safeway’s corporate offices and other non-store facilities will also conduct employee fundraisers so the company’s entire workforce can contribute to helping the people of Haiti recover from the earthquake, Burd says.

5. Online consumer packaged goods-consumer products retailer and multi-level marketer Away is donating $100,000 to disaster relief efforts in Haiti, as well as matching contributions its employees and distributors make through its Web site here. Among the products Amway sells include natural-organic-health food and beverage items, vitamins and nutritional supplements.

6. Toy, game and kids' products (and yes food and grocery) retailer Toys "R" Us, through its Toys"R"Us Children's Fund, is making a $150,000 donation to help the non-profit Save the Children organization in its efforts to provide relief to victims of the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti's capital of Port-au-Prince on Tuesday. More here . [Learn about what 'Save the Children' is doing, and the help it needs, in Haiti here .] And yes - Toys "R" Us qualifies as a 'food and grocery' retailer." Read our May 5, 2009 story here.

7. Mega-online retailer Amazon.com, which sells an extensive selection of food, grocery and non-foods packaged goods, has established/placed a box on its main Web Site homepage where customers can contribute to the international relief efforts for the survivors of the 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Haiti. See details here. All customer donations go to the charity Mercy Corps, which is assisting on the ground in Haiti.

8. Pennsylvania USA-based supermarket chain Weis Markets Inc. will begin collecting donations on behalf of the American Red Cross' Haiti Relief and Development Fund in its 165 stores in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York, New Jersey and West Virginia on Friday, January 15. Starting tomorrow, customers can donate the amount they wish by adding to their grocery bill at check out or at the stores' courtesy desks, says company president and CEO David J. Hepfinger.

9. Jacksonville, Florida-based supermarket chain Winn-Dixie announced today it is launching its "Neighbors Helping Neighbors" program in all of its 514 stores to help support the American Red Cross disaster relief efforts in Haiti. "Neighbors Helping Neighbors" allows Winn-Dixie customers to donate to the Red Cross by simply indicating the amount of their choosing (between 50 cents and $500) at the cash register, says Mary Kellmanson, group vice president of marketing for the grocery chain. Additionally, the Winn-Dixie Foundation and the Western Union Foundation have partnered to donate $200,000 to the American Red Cross International Response Fund. See here.

10. Seattle, Washington-based PCC Natural Markets (@PCC on Twitter.com), the largest natural foods retail cooperative in the United States, has made a $25,000 donation to the American Red Cross for the benefit of relief efforts in Haiti following the earthquake that has devastated that country. “The magnitude of food, health care and infrastructure support needed by victims of this disaster is overwhelming,” says Tracy Wolpert, PCC’s CEO. “We are pleased to contribute to the recovery efforts being coordinated by the American Red Cross." See more here.

11. United Kingdom-based Tesco, Britain's leading food retailer and the fourth-largest overall retailer in the world, has donated ~50,000 pounds ($81,645 in U.S. dollars) to the British Red Cross to be used for the agency's relief efforts in Haiti. See here. Tesco also owns and operates 135 Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market food stores in California, Nevada and Arizona USA.

12. Kroger Co. announced today (01/19/2010)) it has donated $250,000 through its The Kroger Foundation to the American Red Cross for its Haiti relief efforts. Read more here.

The Kroger Co.-owned and Los Angeles, California-based Ralphs/Food 4 Less grocery chain announced today (01/14/2010) that their stores will accept donations from customers to support the Red Cross' Haitian earthquake relief efforts. The supermarket chains are establishing collection points in all of their Ralphs stores in Southern California, Food 4 Less stores in Southern California, Las Vegas, Illinois and Indiana, and Foods Co stores in Central and Northern California where customers can make cash donations. Donations will be accepted beginning today through January 30, 2010 with all funds collected going directly to the American Red Cross for its Haitian earthquake relief efforts. More here.

Additionally, Kroger Co.-0wned chains Dillons, Fred Meyer, Fry’s, King Soopers, QFC and Smith’s Food & Drug are all conducting in-store collection drives similar to what its Ralphs/Food 4 Less chain is doing., Kroger C0. also announced today (01/19/2010) all of its stores have thus far raised $600,000 in donations for the Red Cross, and that the company expects the total donations to be more than $1 million by the time the drives are completed. The $600,000 in customer contributions is in addition to the $250,000 donation Kroger made to the Red Cross.

13. North Carolina-based supermarket chain Harris Tweeter Inc. is donating $25,000 to the American Red Cross for the organizations Haiti relief efforts. Additionally, the grocery chain has launched a chain-wide fundraising drive to aid victims of the earthquake in Haiti. The grocer is selling $1 and $5 earthquake relief cards to customers at all of its 194 stores. The cards can be purchased through Jan. 31. Harris Teeter says customers donated more than $66,784 during the first day of the campaign. More here.

14. The eastern U.S.-based Stop & Shop Supermarket chain announced today that along with its sister supermarkets it will donate $100,000 to the American Red Cross International Response Fund. Additionally, beginning on Saturday, January, 16th and continuing through January 31st, it will be collecting donations in all stores and corporate offices for the Victims of the Haiti earthquake on behalf of the American Red Cross International Response Fund. More here.

15. The Rite Aid drug chain announced today that it's making a $50,000 donation through its Rite Aid Foundation to the American Red Cross International Response Fund to help the victims, families and communities affected by the earthquake in Haiti. The retailer also announced that it will launch a customer and associate fundraising program next week to aid earthquake relief efforts. Customers will be able to donate funds by purchasing $1 disaster relief certificates at any Rite Aid store across the United States. Rite Aid sells a selection of food, grocery and related packaged goods products in its stores. More here.

16. Walgreens, the largest drug chain in the U.S., announced today it's donating $100,000 to the American Red Cross in response to the devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti this Tuesday. In addition, the retailer will also match employee donations–dollar for dollar–up to $50,000. Further, Walgreens is providing non-perishable food, water and medical supplies to the University of Miami Global Institute for Community Health and Development which has set up clinics and triage units on the streets of Port-au-Prince, the largest city in Haiti, just miles from the epicenter of the quake. Walgreens stores in the Miami area are also taking donations for local Red Cross relief efforts on the ground in Port-au-Prince. Walgreens sells a selection of packaged and perishable foods, grocery products and related goods in its 7,159 drug stores, which are located in all 50 U.S. states. More here.

01/21/2010 Walgreens said today that just days into offering customers the option to make donations to Haiti disaster relief efforts at its registers, its stores across the country have collected more than $1 million. Contributions are helping the American Red Cross Haiti Relief and Development Fund send much needed assistance and aid to those affected by last week’s earthquake. Walgreens stores will continue taking customer donations through the end of the month. More here.

17. Modesto, California-based Save Mart Supermarkets has launched a fundraising drive in all 259 of its Save Mart; SMart Foods, Lucky and FoodMaxx banner stores in Northern California and California's Central Valley region for Haiti relief. The grocer's chainwide fund drive runs until February 1, 2010.

18. Natural and organic food retailer Whole Foods Market Inc. announced today that its 289 stores in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom have set up an easy way for shoppers to make donations to help the people of Haiti who have been devastated by the recent earthquake. Shoppers can give any amount at the checkouts at its 289 stores to directly support several different relief organizations, the grocer said today. In addition, the company has created a special “Haitian Fund” to support Whole Foods Market Team Members who have been affected by the earthquake. “We have many Team Members from Haiti, and together we are supporting them by taking these steps,” said Walter Robb, co-president and chief operating officer at Whole Foods Market. “We’re also setting up donation boxes in employee areas in stores, facilities and offices.” More here.

01/20/2010: Whole Foods Market, Inc. announced today that its customers at 289 stores in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. have donated $1 million to several relief efforts in Haiti since January 14. Additionally, through its Whole Planet Foundation, Whole Foods Market said today it is doubling its original commitment to now provide $1 million to its on-the-ground microlending partner in Haiti, Fonkoze. More here.

Here are two examples of what all or most of the 289 Whole Foods Market stores are doing: (1) The Whole Foods Market store in West Hollywood, California [ here on Facebook] is collecting donations to help provide medical aid to survivors of the earthquake in Haiti. All donations will go to the organization AmeriCares to aid it in its work in Haiti. AmeriCares is a non-profit global health and disaster relief aid organization, which delivers medicines, medical supplies and aid to people in crisis around the world. (2) The Whole Foods Market store in Walnut Creek, California [here and here] has started a 'Haiti Earthquake Fund Relief Drive' in the store. Here's how they describe it: Please join us in our efforts to help the people of Haiti by making a donation today! Simply tell your cashier which amount ($2, $5, $10) you would like to add to your bill. All donations will go directly to The American Red Cross Earthquake Relief for Haiti... Thank you.

19. Two-store Jacksonville, Florida-based independent natural and organic foods grocer Native Sun Natural Foods Market has launched a customer fundraising drive in its stores to aid the victims of the earthquake in Haiti. The retailer has set up cash donation boxes at every checkstand in its two locations (11030 Bay Meadows Road and 10000 San Jose Blvd in Jacksonville). Customers paying with a credit or debit card can also donate by asking their cashier to add a $1 or $5 donation to their total purchase, the natural grocer says. Collections will be taken through Jan. 31. More here.

20. The Sacramento, California-based Raley's Family of Fine Foods supermarket chain has launched an in-store fund drive for Haiti relief efforts. "Customers can give to Haitian earthquake relief during their stop at the grocery store, and know that 100% of their donations are going directly to the International Response Fund through the American Red Cross to help the devastated area," Raley's said. The chain has set up checkstand collection boxes in all its 134 Raley’s, Bel Air, Nob Hill Foods and Food Source banner stores in Northern California. The checkstand donation program runs January 16 through February 13, 2010. Raley's is paying for all administrative costs, it says, and 100% of the donations will go directly to the International Response Fund through the American Red Cross to help the devastated area. More here.

21. Family-owned Portland, Oregon-based grocer New Seasons Market has launched a checkstand-based fundraising campaign for the victims of the earthquake in Haiti in its nine Oregon stores. All donations collected in the stores will be donated to MercyCorps, a non-profit organization that has launched a major aid effort in Haiti. Learn more about the organization here. New Seasons Market also announced today (January 16) that it will match dollar-for-dollar the first $10,000 of donations made by customers in its stores.

22. The St. Louis, Missouri-based Dierbergs supermarket chain is conducting a checkout donation fundraiser in all 24 of its stores in the state. Shoppers can have whatever amount of money donated to Haiti relief efforts by simply adding it (rounding up) to their grocery bill total at checkout. All donations go to the American Red Cross. More here and here.

23. Omaha, Nebraska-based Baker's Supermarkets, which is owned by Kroger Co., has teamed up with the local television station, KETV, in Omaha to raise money for the American Red Cross' relief efforts for Hiati. Shoppers can make donations at the checkstands in all the the chain's stores. Customers can either make a cash donation or “round-up” their grocery bills as they go through the check-out. The fundraiser started on January 15 and runs until January 30, 2010. More here and here.

24. 180-store supermarket chain Giant Food of Landover, Md. today (January 15, 2010) announced that along with its sister supermarkets, it will donate $100,000 to the American Red Cross International Response Fund. In addition, beginning Saturday, January 16 and continuing through January 31, Giant Food of Landover, Md. will collect donations in all 180 of its stores in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and the District of Columbia, and in its corporate offices for the victims of the Haiti earthquake on behalf of the American Red Cross International Response Fund. More here.

25. Family-owned 153-store Arizona USA supermarket chain Bashas' started a checkout-based donation campaign today in all of its stores in the state. Bashas' operates stores under the Bashas,' Food City, AJ's Fine Foods, Dine Markets and Sportsman's banners in Arizona. From the grocery chains BashasNews Twitter site January 15, 2010: 'Donate to the Haiti Relief Fund at any Bashas', AJ's or Food City statewide. 100% given directly to the American Red Cross relief efforts. More here and here.

26. Beverage and food retail giant Starbucks, which also produces, markets and sells natural and specialty foods products, just announced on Twitter (January 17) that it's donating $1 million via its Starbucks Foundation on to the American Red Cross to assist the agency in its relief efforts in Haiti. Here's Starbucks' (@Starbucks on Twitter) Tweet this evening: We're devastated by the destruction in Haiti. To help, the Starbucks Foundation is donating $1 million dollars to the American @RedCross.

In addition, today (January 18) Starbucks says it is committing additional support and funding to the growing international relief effort in Haiti. Starting today, participating Starbucks stores in the U.S. and Canada will enable customers to make monetary donations at store registers, with no purchase necessary, to benefit the American and Canadian Red Cross organizations for a limited time, says chairman and CEO Howard Schultz. More here.

As part of the in-store fundraising effort, Starbucks has teamed up with musician Wyclef Jean, who is a native of Haiti, to produce a video about the fundraising campaign at Starbucks. View the video here: http://tinyurl.com/y954eb2

27. North Carolina-based natural grocery chain Earth Fare has pledged to make donations to two non-profit oranizations - Partners in Health and the (former Presidents) Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund. In addition, the natural grocer has made a post on its company Blog encouraging customers and others to make a donation to four organizations (including the two it is donating to) it says that based on its own research will ensure your donation reaches the people in need. More here.

28. Kroger Co.-owned supermarket chain Smith's Food & Drug in Nevada has teamed up with the American Red Cross to accept donations for international relief in response to the earthquake in Haiti. Starting today (January 18) through Jan. 30, customers of Smith's Food & Drug can make a donation to the American Red Cross by simply adding any amount to their checkout purchase. All funds collected will directly benefit Red Cross International relief efforts in Haiti to provide food, water, shelter, medical supplies and other assistance, according to Marsha Gilford, Smith's vice president public affairs. More here.

29. Family-owned, New York based supermarket chain Wegmans has donated $100,000 through its The Wegman Family Charitable Foundation to the American Red Cross International Response Fund Haiti Relief. In addition, Wegmans is accepting customer donations for Haiti relief at the checkstands in all 75 of its stores in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, and Maryland. The in-store program runs through Saturday, January 23. Customers may donate any amount, and 100% of their donations will go to the American Red Cross International Response Fund Haiti Relief which provides funding for sending relief supplies, mobilizing relief workers, and providing financial resources, according to Jo Natale, Wegmans' director of media relations. More here.

30. The Virgina-based Ukrop's supermarket chain is partnering with First Bank to help support American Red Cross Haiti relief efforts. Beginning on Saturday, Jan. 16, 2010, and running until January 30, 2010, the supermarket chain is accepting shopper contributions at all 28 of its Ukrop’s supermarket and Joe’s Market store locations in Virginia. First Market Bank locations in the state also are accepting donations. Ukrop’s and First Market Bank will match the amount donated by customers up to $50,000, a Ukrop's spokesperson says. More here and here.

Food/grocery/beverage makers-marketers

1. Beverage giant Coca-Cola has made a $1 million cash donation to the earthquake relief efforts in Haiti. Link: http://tinyurl.com/ycv89pw

2. Kellogg Company, makers and marketers of numerous food brands, including some in the natural and organic foods space, has donated $250,000. Kellogg is also matching any donations its employees make to the earthquake relief efforts on a dollar-for-dollar basis. Link: http://tinyurl.com/yc9skvh.

3. Kraft Foods, which makes and markets natural and organic foods brands in addition to its extensive portfolio of conventional food products, has donated $25,000 to the efforts to assist the victims of the earthquake in Haiti. See here

4. Nestle Waters North America, the bottled water division of food and beverage giant Nestle, has donated $1 million worth of bottled water which is being shipped to Haiti. Link: http://tinyurl.com/yhfktkg.

5. Food and beverage company Pepsi has donated $1 million to Haiti relief efforts through its Pepsico Foundation. Additionally, Pepsi is shipping truckloads of bottled water, Gatorade and food items from its Quaker Oats food division to Haiti. Link: http://tinyurl.com/ydmjmbu.

6. Food company General Mills is donating $250,000 to earthquake relief in Haiti through its General Mills Foundation. The $250,000 pledge includes a $100,000 donation to the American Red Cross International Response Fund and a $150,000 donation to CARE International for long-term rebuilding efforts. See here. Among General Mills' extensive consumer packaged goods brand portfolio include natural and organic food brands Cascadian Farm, Muir Glen and Nature Valley.

7. US-based global food company ConAgra is donating $100,000 via its CanAgra Foods Foundation to the International Red Cross Relief Fund for its efforts to aid the victims of the 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Haiti. See here. The $100,000 donation designated specifically for Haiti is in addition to overall major funding the food company gives to the Red Cross. In 1998, the ConAgra Foods Foundation became a founding member of the American Red Cross Annual Disaster Giving Program, and, in 2005, it pledged an additional $1 million to the cause, to be contributed over five years.

8. Global food, grocery and consumer packaged goods company Unilever is donating $500,000 to the victims of Tuesday's devastating earthquake in Haiti, through its global partnership with the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). See here. In addition to its monetary donation, Unilever says it's encouraging its employees worldwide to contribute to disaster relief efforts. Additionally, the company says it's preparing product donations to help meet the needs of those affected by the earthquake. Unilever's extensive portfolio of brands includes the popular Hellman's/Best Foods mayonnaise and Knorr specialty foods brand.

9. Dr. Pepper Company, the parent company of the Dr. Pepper/Snapple Beverage Group, has made a $100,000 donation to Haiti relief efforts. More here.

10 Drinks company Diageo Plc has donated 45,000 pounds of food and emergency supplies to the earthquake victims in Haiti. Diageo's specially commissioned 727 aircraft departed on January 15 from Miami with the 45,000 pounds of food and supplies aboard, the comapny said. More here.

11. Tyson Foods is matching employee donations up to $100,000 for Haiti relief efforts. The contributions will go to the Salvation Army, which has personnel on-site and is preparing one million ready-to-eat meals to send to Haiti. Tyson also is exploring ways to provide in-kind relief to accountable organizations providing assistance in Haiti.

12. Hormel Foods is matching employee donations up to $25,000 for relief efforts, with all contributions going to the American Red Cross. In addition to its main line foods business, Hormel has a substancial specialty and natural foods division. More here.

13. Cargill is making an initial corporate donation of $50,000 to long-time Cargill partners CARE and the World Food Programme. In Minneapolis, Cargill volunteers at the company's headquarters will be packaging 20,000 meals on Jan. 18 for the nonprofit Kids Against Hunger, which will be sent directly to people in Haiti; Cargill volunteers will be packaging an additional 30,000 meals over the next month.

Specialty and natural foods-specific food companies

Note: Let us know what you are doing in terms of donations, fundraising, ect to assist the relief efforts for the people of Haiti and the groups helping in the country in the aftermath of the earthquake. You can let us know using the comments box at the end of this post - or at our Twitter Feed at www.twitter.com/NSFoodsMemo. We want to know what you're doing - and add you the our list - regardless of company size or size the effort.

Others (wholesalers, brokers, co-operatives, trade associations, ect.)

1. Cooperative Development Foundation raising money to rebuild Haitian cooperatives. http://ow.ly/WxoY.

2. Coinstar, Inc. today (January 16, 2010) announced that more than 15,000 Coinstar centers in the U.S. have been enabled to support victims of the devastating Haitian earthquake that occurred earlier this week. A special U.S. Fund for UNICEF code, 5556, has been added to Coinstar Centers in participating locations allowing individuals to help the millions of children and families struggling to survive the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake. Coinstar centers are those machines you see that turn your change into currency. Many of the machines are located in supermarkets and discount stores in the U.S. Click here for full and additional details.

3. The Dairy Farmers of America, a cooperative representing more than 18,000 dairy farmer producer-members in the United States, is sending 54,000 cans of its “Sports Shake” dairy-based energy drink to Hiati for distribution by relief workers there. More here and here. The cooperative produces and markets value-added, milk-based products like its "Sports Shake," along with its other business activities.

4. Wine and spirits distribution company Southern Wine and Spirits is matching employee donations for Haiti relief up to a total of $100,000.

5. The National Association for the Specialty Foods Trade (NASFT), the U.S.-based trade association for the specialty foods industry - specialty foods manufactures-marketers, retailers and related companies - is encouraging its exhibitors and members to continue their long tradition of assisting people in need by responding to the humanitarian crisis in the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti,” says Ann Daw, president of NASFT.

NASFT is currently holding its annual winter specialty foods trade show in San Francisco, California. The show runs through Tuesday, January 19.

The specialty foods association is encouraging its members and others in the $60 billion specialty food industry to support relief efforts in Haiti. Reports are stating that donations of money are the best way to help, the association president says.

In Addition, Ms. Daw says the Winter Fancy Food Show plans to keep its commitment to donate more than 100,000 pounds of specialty food and beverages to San Francisco Bay Area residents in need. The donation will be made at the close of the trade event on Tuesday, Jan. 19. For the second year, NASFT has been working with Feed the Hungry, an international hunger relief organization, to organize the donation and deploy the food to a network of local anti-hunger programs. More here.

[Note: If you're a food-grocery retailer, food company or related food and grocery industry business of any size that's doing any type of fundraising or making a donation for Haiti relief but aren't mentioned in our list, let us know using the comments box below. We will then add you and your efforts to our list. Readers: if you know of any such companies helping but don't see them on our list, please do the same - just tell us using the comments box and we will add them to our list. Thanks.]

Natural~Specialty Foods Memo Will Be On Publishing Hiatus Until January 14, 2010

2009-05-07T18:43:00.000-07:00

Retail Memo - Alternative Formats Follow-Up: Toys 'R' Us Confirms Our Report About its New 'R Market' Grocery Sections in Toy Stores

2009-05-05T00:03:00.000-07:00

Above is a photograph of one of the Toys "R" Us "R" Market store-within-a-store grocery and packaged goods sections located in the front of over 260 of the chain's U.S. toy superstores. The retailer has done a pretty good job of basing the item selection in the grocery sections on the Toys "R" Us overall format, striking a balance between essential items geared to mom and dad and items focused on the kids. The "R" Market sections contain about 1.300 SKUs, according to the retailer. [Photo courtesy of Toys "R" Us, Inc.]

On April 3, 2009, Natural~Specialty Foods Memo (NSFM) reported in this story [Retail Memo - Alternate Formats: Toys 'R' Us Testing Store-Within-Store 'R Market' Grocery Departments in Three Chicago-Area Toys 'R' Us Toy Stores] that the Toys "R' Us toy store chain was testing grocery and packaged goods product sections called "R" Market in some of its toy superstores.

On April 28, Toys "R" Us, Inc. confirmed Natural~Specialty Foods Memo's April 3 report, issuing a news release announcing the addition of the new "R" Market limited assortment grocery and consumer packaged goods sections in what are now over 260 of its 565 U. S. Toys "R" Us toy stores. The sections contain a mix of about 1,300 SKUs in the consumable and household packaged goods categories, along with a couple other related categories.

We got it about right in our April 3, 2009 report, which we published over three weeks before the retailer confirmed the "R" Market grocery store-within-a-store sections. Numerous supermarket industry trade publications and general business publications have ran stories since April 28, using the Toys "R" Us news release as their source.

The most significant added information by Toys "R" Us, Inc. is that the "R" Market grocery sections are now in 260-plus Toys "R" Us stores.

Here is what Toys "R" Us Chairman and CEO Jerry Storch said in the April 28 news release about the retailer's establishment of the "R Market" grocery sections, which are located in the front of the toy superstores:

"As part of our business strategy, we are continually focused on improving the shopping experience for customers in our stores. This includes looking for new ways to provide busy parents with the convenience of finding everything they need for their kids under one roof. The introduction of "R" Market offers customers a uniquely edited presentation of differentiated, kid-focused products from well-known manufacturers, as well as newer brands."

Read the full Toys "R" Us April 28, 2009 news release here. The statement offers a few other added tidbits of information about the "R" Market sections, making it well worth reading.

As we asked in our April 3, 2009 story: 'Will all retailers become grocers eventually'? At least in various limited but serious ways like Toys "R" Us is doing?

The way it's going, our intentional hyperbole in posing that thought question just might turn out to be closer to a statement of fact than one of provocation.

NSFM is Away On Special Assignment; Returning May 5, 2009

2009-04-21T05:18:00.000-07:00

Natural~Specialty Foods Memo (NSFM) will be away on special assignment until Tuesday, May 5, 2009. Look for fresh news, features, insight and analysis beginning again then. You can follow us on Twitter.com for updates at www.twitter.com/nsfoodsmemo.

Friday Frolic - Memo to Ashton Kutcher - Follow-Up: Will Ashton Kutcher Get 'PUNKED' On Twitter? More on Our Kutcher-Whole Foods Market Challenge

2009-04-17T16:41:00.000-07:00

Ashton Kutcher now has over 1 million followers on Twitter. But he is only following 80 of them at present. Can there really only be 80 people out of a million of interest to the self-described social media lover and devoted Twitter-user? Sort of gives a new meaning to the old phrase: "one in a million."

Earlier today in this post [Friday Frolic - Memo to Ashton Kutcher: We 'Dare' You to Challenge Whole Foods Market to a Twitter 'Tweet-Off' ] we reported on and wrote about actor and reality television show producer Ashton Kutcher's winning his "Tweet-off" against cable news network CNN, a challenge to see which one could reach 1 million followers on Twitter.com that the celebrity issued to the news network earlier this week, and which CNN accepted.

In our story we also issued a challenge to Ashton Kutcher (and in-turn to Whole Foods Market www.twitter.com/wholefoods) : Take on Whole Foods Market, which has the most followers of any grocer on Twitter, in a "Tweet-off."

Kutcher (www.twitter.com/aplusk) rose to fame not so much in the movies, although he does well, but rather because of the reality-based show he created for MTV called "Punked." For the uninformed, "PUNKING" a person is basically the same as pulling a well-crafted prank on them.

The premise of Kutcher's "Punked" show is that he and his team create elaborate pranks that they then pull-off on unsuspecting celebrities. Things like having a phony police officer pull the celebrity over and then launch into an elaborate roadside investigation, for example, complete with informing the celebrity that he or she outstanding warrants out for them and the like. When the celebrity is near meltdown point, Kutcher and his crew then jump out and tell the victim that he or she have been "PUNKED."

Kutcher is cashing in from a publicity standpoint today on his "Tweet-off" victory over CNN's CNN News Feed (www.twitter.com/cnnbrk) . You can view the details of the challenge and victory here: [April 17, 2008 - Friday Frolic - Memo to Ashton Kutcher: We 'Dare' You to Challenge Whole Foods Market to a Twitter 'Tweet-Off']

Earlier today Kutcher appeared on America's most popular daytime talk show, "Oprah" (no last name needed), and is appearing on CNN's "Larry King Live" this evening.

On "Oprah" Kutcher talked Twitter with Ms. Winfrey (caught us, we used her last name), including his "Tweet-off" victory over CNN.

His appearance on "Oprah," along with the CNN "Tweet-off," are getting some mention on Twitter.com in the form of "Tweets," which is "Twitter-talk" for the 140 word-maximum posts users, including Natural~Specialty Foods Memo (NSFM) (www.twitter.com/nsfoodsmemo) make on the micro-blogging social media site.

Here is a "Tweet" about Ashton Kutcher's appearance on "Oprah" today that a Twitter-user made just minutes ago: Ashton Kutcher and Evan Williams Talk Twitter With Oprah [Video] http://ping.fm/yafXQ via @mashable. Just click the link to view the video.

In response to that "Tweet," (and one other) Twitter-user ("Tweeter" perhaps) rveturis (www.twitter.com/rveturis) wrote and posted the three "Tweets" below on the topic:

>@LeviDayley I'm not following Ashton either! Celebs r annoying. They have enough influence & don't really add value.20 minutes ago from Tweetie in reply to LeviDayley.

>That's hilarious!! Lets punk Ashton Kutcher - unfollow & bring him back to ZERO by Monday morning #unfollowfriday - please RT via @debweeva23 minutes ago from Tweetie.

>So can someone explain the Oprah thing today? Was this her 1st day on Twitter? I feel like I missed something ...26 minutes ago from Tweetie.

The "Tweet" of most particular interest and not is the one in the middle that we have in bold.

We ask: Is Ashton Kutcher getting a taste of his own medicine and getting "PUNKED" at this very moment on Twitter.com?

Well...since rveturis' post there have been a couple others, saying they were going to "un-follow" (no longer follow) Ashton Kutcher (www.twitter.com/aaplusk) on Twitter, so as to "PUNK" him.

The tale of the tape

When we published this piece [Friday Frolic - Memo to Ashton Kutcher: We 'Dare' You to Challenge Whole Foods Market to a Twitter 'Tweet-Off' ] at 1 p.m. today, Ashton Kutcher's Twitter feed had 1,049,833 followers. As of this moment he has 1,104,815 followers -- that's a net gain of 11, 054,982 in less than four hours today -- putting Kutcher thus far out of the "PUNKED" danger zone. OF course all the post-"Tweet-off" publicity is helping add followers.

But the "Punk Ashton Kutcher on Twitter" movement has just been launched.

Could it gain steam? If so that would be good news for Whole Foods Market in the event Kutcher "man's up" and embraces our challenge to challenge the natural grocery chain to a Twitter "Tweet-off," rather than basking in his glory of having defeated CNN.

After all, Kutcher (www.twitter.com/aplusk) has more than double the amount of followers that Whole Foods Market (www.twitter.com/wholefoods) does at present. Therefore any loss of his followers do to Twitter.com-generated "PUNKING" would put the natural grocer in a better position, although we don't think it matters, since if the challenge is made we think Whole Foods will pull out all of its natural and organic tricks to defeat Ashton Kutcher.

Of course, Whole Foods Market, which reads Natural~Specialty Foods Memo (NSFM) could beat Ashton Kutcher to the punch, taking advantage of his post-"Tweet-off" glow, and issue its own challenge to the actor-reality show producer-celebrity.

We suggest a Kutcher v. Whole Foods "Tweet-off" (specifics and details arranged by the two parties) in which the loser has to make a cash donation to the winner's favorite charity.

Earth Day is coming up on April 22. How about a "Tweet-off" of some kind between the two parties in which the loser donates money to the winner's favorite environmental organization, for example? Call it a "Green" "Tweet-Off" for Earth Day.

Bring it on!

[You can follow Natural~Specialty Foods Memo (NSFM) on Twitter.com at www.twitter.com/nsfoodsmemo.]

Friday Frolic - Memo to Ashton Kutcher: We 'Dare' You to Challenge Whole Foods Market to a Twitter 'Tweet-Off'

2009-04-17T12:59:00.000-07:00

Actor, reality television show creator ("Punked," "Beauty and the Geek") husband of actress Demi Moore, and Twitter.com heavy-user Ashton Kutcher (www.twitter.com/aplusk), threw down the guantlet earlier this week, challenging cable news channel CNN, also on Twitter.com, to a "Tweet-off."

Specifically Kutcher, who as of 12.59 p.m today Pacific Time has the highest number of followers on Twitter -- followed by number two CNN News Feed (www.twitter.com/cnnbrk), Britney Spears (www.twitter.com/britneyspears), and number four (yes behind Kutcher and Ms. Spears) Barack Obama (www.twitter.com/barackobama) -- challenged CNN earlier this week to see who could reach 1 million Twitter followers first, Kutcher or CNN.

On Wednesday (April 15) afternoon CNN was in the lead with 937,000 followers (number one on Twitter), when we checked at noon. Kutcher, pictured at top, wasn't far behind (number three on Twitter), seeing his number of followers grow to 888,000 on the heels of issuing his challenge to the cable news network founded by Ted Turner, who no longer has anything to do with the network, which is owned by Time-Warner. Pop singer Britney Spears maintained her second-place ranking as of Wednesday noon, with 903,000 followers, pushing President Obama fell to number four.

In announcing his CNN Twitter-follower challenge earlier this week in a video posted on his Twitter Feed, Kutcher said if CNN wins the contest he will ding-dong or doorbell ditch (that kids' prank that reminds one of why Kutcher created the show "Punked") CNN founder Ted Turner's house, ringing Turner's doorbell and then running away, assuming of course he could first figure out which of his many houses Turner would be at, and then get through the gate.

In a more serious tone, Kutcher said in the video: "I find it astonishing that one person (him) can actually have as big of a voice online as what an entire media company (CNN/Time Warner) can on Twitter. I just thought that was kind of an amazing comment on the state of our media."

Natural~Specialty Foods Memo (NSFM) basically agrees with Kutcher, and in a positive way. We think it is great that individuals can gain as many eyeballs on sites like Twitter as huge media companies can. But we do think it amazing that Aston Kutcher has that many followers on Twitter. Frankly, at first we thought it was one of his "Punked" pranks; that he somehow was able to manufacture that many followers. Could that actually be the case (tongue in cheek, of course)?

As of 4 .p.m eastern time today (1 p.m Pacific time) the follower tally in the "Tweet-off" between Kutcher and CNN is:

Ashton Kutcher (www.twitter.com/aplusk)
=1,049.833

CNN Breaking News (www.twitter.com/cnnbrk)
=1, 025, 844

Aston Kutcher is the winner, as the "Tweet-off" has officially ended. We congratulate the David (Kutcher) for defeating the Goliath (CNN).

In fact, CNN has conceded to Kutcher. This is the network's concession "Tweet" on its Twitter feed: Ashton Kutcher is first to reach 1 million followers in Twitter contest with CNN. CNN also sent Kutcher a personal congratulatory "Tweet" here: Congrats @aplusk. Ashton Kutcher is the first twitter account to reach 1MM followers.

Ashton Kutcher will be on CNN's Larry King Live tonight to discuss the challenge -- and now his victory. Note to Kutcher's PR rep: Perhaps you should have him appear wearing a boxer's robe, with the theme song from the movie "Rocky" playing, as he enters King's CNN set

It should be a fun segment since earlier this week King, who is CNN's highest paid host, tossed his suspenders into the middle of Kutcher's "Tweet-off" challenge to CNN, posting a video on YouTube in which King boasts that there is no way Kutcher can beat CNN.

In the video Larry King says: "Are you (Kutcher) kidding? Do you think you can take on an entire network. Do you know how big we are? DO you know what CNN is? Kutcher, you're playing out of your field. You're in another time zone. CNN will bury you!!"

King will be eating crow, organic and locally-produced we trust, for dinner tonight, along with the rest of the CNN team. We wonder how Anderson Cooper likes his crow prepared?

Meanwhile, Britney Spears looks to have gotten a Kutcher-CNN Twitter-follower bounce from the "Tweet-off." Currently her follower count is up to 973, 921, closing in on the magical 1 million followers mark.

Spears has a number of imitators on Twitter. Therefore on her Twitter feed (click here) she includes a sentence saying she is "The Real" Britney Spears. The word is her PR people do most of her "Tweets" on Twitter. Hard to believe, isn't it? But in reading through the "Tweets," we can tell she makes a number of her own posts as well:)

The current top-four rankings on Twitter.com as of this moment are:

1. Ashton Kutcher
2. CNN News Feed
3. Britney Spears
4. Barack Obama

The Natural Specialty Foods Memo (NSFM) Challenge: We Dare Ashton Kutcher to Challenge Whole Foods Market to a "Tweet-off"

This brings us to our challenge to Ashton Kutcher, who no doubt, high on his winning the "Tweet-off" against media-giant CNN, is feeling his oats, organic and locally-grown we trust.

Of the numerous supermarket and natural foods chains with Twitter.com feeds -- these include Wal-Mart, Trader Joe's, Wegmans, Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, Raleys, Earth Fare, Natural Grocers, New Seasons Market and many others -- Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods Market (www.twitter.com/wholefoods) is the Twitter-follower champion of all grocers, with 448,753 followers, which is hundreds of thousands more than its nearest grocer-on-Twitter rival.

We challenge Ashton Kutcher to challenge the natural and organic foods retailing giant to a "Tweet-off." And if Kutcher issues the challenge, we challenge Paige Brady and the social media team at Whole Foods to accept.

Yes, Whole Foods has a social media team, led by Ms. Brady. It's no accident the natural grocer has nearly half a million followers on Twitter -- the retailer mines Twitter.com for followers.

Whole Foods therefore is the natural grocer giant, from a Twitter.com perspective, to CNN's media giant on Twitter -- making the natural and organic grocery chain the next logical Goliath to be taken on by Kutcher (David). at least in our minds.

Whole Foods Market loves a challenge. That's what makes it want to become a monopoly in U.S. natural and organic foods retailing after all, at least according to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC):)

And Whole Foods' has the resources to defeat Kutcher. It has nearly 300 stores and thousands of employees, all who could be enlisted to grow the grocer's number of followers on Twitter and win the challenge.

The challenge also would test the medal of the Whole Foods Market social media team. Can they defeat a lone man, Ashton Kutcher? He the same one man Twitter force of nature who just defeated media giant CNN, despite all of its resources, including Anderson Cooper and Larry King?

In our very best Larry King voice, our thumbs under suspenders: "Come on Kutcher, challenge Whole Foods. Do you know they have an entire social media team? Do you know they live and breath Twitter? If they want they can make CNN look like a little old country television station when it comes to gaining Twitter followers."

And to Whole Foods Market, embrace the challenge. In fact, circumvent our issuing of it to Kutcher. Issue the challenge to him first. Show CNN that when it comes to giants, Whole Foods Market is the King, and we don't mean Larry.

A Hollywood PR contact also tells us Ashton Kutcher and his wife, actress Demi Moore, like to shop at a Whole Foods Market store or two in Southern California, which adds a grocer-customer angle to the challenge. Perhaps the loser of the challenge donates a chuck of change to the winners favorite charity?

Readers, if you agree that the challenge -- Kutcher vs. Whole Foods Market -- is a worthy one, offer your comments on it by using the "comments" link below.

If you are a follower of Ashton Kutcher (www.twitter.com/aplusk) or Whole Foods Market (www.twitter.com/wholefoods) on Twitter, send them a link to this post/challenge.

Additionally, feel free to use the power of social media to get the word out on our challenge. Use Twitter, Facebook, ect. E-mail the post to Ashton Kutcher, Whole Foods Market and friends and business associates. We leave it up to you.

Let the certified organic "Tweet-off" begin.

[Follow Natural~Specialty Foods Memo (NSFM) on Twitter.com at www/twitter.com/nsfoodsmemo]

Reader Memo: NSFM Away Until Friday, April 17

2009-04-13T07:57:00.000-07:00

Natural~Specialty Foods Memo (NSFM) will be away until Friday, April 17. We're on a research project.

You can follow us on Twitter.com at www.twitter.com/nsfoodsmemo for updates until Friday though.

Stay tune for a whole new batch of fresh news, features, insight and analysis beginning again on Friday, April 17.

Editor.

Retail Memo: Newest Texas 'Newflower Farmers Market,' Which Sprouted From Parent 'Sunflower Farmers Market,' Blooms in Dallas, Texas

2009-04-10T14:14:00.000-07:00

What's a "Newflower?"

Well, for purposes of this piece, it's a seedling that sprouts from a Sunflower, in this case Boulder, Colorado-based Sunflower Farmers Market, the fast-growing, fighting tiger chain of natural foods grocery stores founded and run by Mike Gilliland, who's first crack at the natural foods retailing game was Wild Oats Markets, which he founded in Boulder and ran for many years, and which today exists only as a now near-fully integrated part of Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods Market, Inc., which acquired Wild Oats in 2007 and finally gained full control of it on March 6 of this year, when it reached a settlement agreement with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over the regulator's nearly two year antitrust legal challenge against the acquisition. [See a linked bibliography on FTC v. Whole Foods here: Retail Memo: David Wales, Who Headed Up the FTC's Nearly Two Year Legal Challenge Against Whole Foods' Acquisition of Wild Oats is Leaving the Agency.]

Sunflower Farmers Market opened its third and newest "Newflower Farmers Market," banner store in Dallas (pictured at top), deep in the heart of Whole Foods Market country in Texas on March 18, less than a month ago. Whole Foods was founded in the 1970's and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.

Sunflower Farmers Market opened its first Texas store in November 2008 in Plano. It's second "Newflower Farmers Market" store bloomed in February 2009 in Austin, Whole Foods Market's hometown.

Why "Newflower" and not "Sunflower" in Texas?

When Sunflower Farmers Market opened its first store in Plano, Texas in November 2008 it went by the Sunflower Farmers Market banner.

However, the name "Sunflower Market" for natural foods stores happens to be owned by the supermarket chain Supervalu, Inc. Supervalu used to operate a handful of natural foods markets in the Midwest named Sunflower Market. The chain closed the stores in 2008, ending what was a new format test for Supervalu. However, the company retained the ownership of the Sunflower brand as it pertains to retail natural foods stores. [See our January 25, 2008 piece here: Breaking Retail News: SuperValu, Inc. to Close Sunflower Market Stores.]

Boulder, Colorado-based Sunflower Farmers Market, which currently operates 23 stores has a license from Supervalu to use the "Sunflower" name in the states of Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and Utah, where it operates 20 of its 23 stores.

But Sunflower Farmers Market doesn't have a license from Supervalu, Inc. to use the "Sunflower" name in Texas, as well as in numerous other U.S. states, hence why the natural foods grocer changed the name of its then one store in Texas to "Newflower," and why the newest two Texas stores, and the all the other stores in the Lone Star State it will open, are and will be named "Newflower."

There's been some speculation that the reason Sunflower Farmers Market is using the "Newflower" name for its Texas stores is because there is an independent heath foods store in Texas named Sunflower. That's true, there is such a store. But the reason for the Newflower rather than Sunflower Farmers Market banner in Texas is because of the Supervalu ownership of the Sunflower name in the state.

Newflower Market, Inc. (the business name Sunflower Farmers Market uses) has a license from Supervalu, Inc. for the name Sunflower for certain states, but not for Texas," Bennett Bertoli, vice president of real estate for Sunflower Farmers Market, told Natural~Specialty Foods Memo (NSFM).

Additionally, Supervalu, Inc. confirmed to us that is owns the Sunflower Market name and currently licenses it to Sunflower Farmers Market only in Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and Utah at present.

Supervalu, Inc. has no plans to bring back its small-format Sunflower Market natural foods format or stores anytime in the near future. The stores were a test of a standalone natural foods retailing format for the supermarket chain, and Supervalu decided to close the stores and beef up the natural and organic foods item selections in its over 2,000 U.S. supermarkets, including creating a new natural and organic store brand, rather than go forward with opening more Sunflower stores and creating a natural foods store chain.

Although from a retail marketing standpoint being able to use the Sunflower Farmers Market name in Texas and in other new states the natural grocer enters is a plus, there is a certain delight in the fact it is using "Newflower" in its newest state and market -- Texas. After all, sunflowers are plants that shed lots of seeds. And for Sunflower Farmers Market, other than being able to use its flagship "Sunflower" banner in Texas, which it obviously wanted to do, "Newflower," which sprouted from the "Sunflower" banner, seems to us to be about the next best thing. And to take the metaphor to a further extreme, more Newflower Farmers Market stores will "bloom" in Texas over the next couple years.

Dallas Newflower Farmers Market blooms

The grand opening on March 18 of the Dallas "Newflower Farmers Marke"t store, which is located at 1800 North Henderson Avenue at Lewis Street in the city, was jam-packed. The Sunflower-Newflower format (the store formats are the same, just the names are different) focuses on offering natural and organic groceries and fresh foods at discount prices. In fact, it's slogan is "Serious Food...Silly Prices."

Dallas residents aware of the discount pricing focus of the stores, along with hearing about it via the pre-Dallas store opening press attention and advertising in the city, turned out in large numbers for the store's grand opening, many with reusable shopping bags in hand, looking for natural and organic food and grocery bargains.

Newflower didn't let the shoppers down. The natural grocer offered hot grand opening deals in every department of the store. Sunflower-Newflower puts a major emphasis on offering fresh produce at everyday low prices, and the Dallas store's produce department was packed with opening day shoppers grabbing up cart fulls of low-priced fruits and vegetables.

The store's grand opening began at 6:30am with a free breakfast served in the store's parking lot to opening day early birds courtesy of the natural grocer.

The Dallas "Newflower Farmers Marke"t store's doors were opened at 7am on March 18. And the first 200 shoppers to enter the store and make a purchase were given a nice surprise -- each was presented with a free reusable shopping bag filled with $50 worth of free groceries courtesy of the Newflower store team.

Day-long grand opening activities included lots of food sampling throughout the store, a free beef bbq and even free chair massages for the bargain hunting grand opening day shoppers.

Sunflower-Newflower founder and CEO Mike Gilliland, who attends every new store grand opening, was at the Dallas store event on March 18, spotted throughout the store, and often in the produce department, which some say is his favorite part of the stores.

Sunflower Farmers Market founder and CEO Mike Gilliland stationed in the Dallas "Newflower Farmers Market" store's produce department on grand opening day. The word is that the produce department is the grocer's favorite of all. In fact, a Dallas Newflower store employee says that on the March 18 grand opening day that the CEO, who also bagged customers grocery as part of the opening, kept running off from the store front end to spend more time in the produce department.

Never the shy entrepreneur and grocer, Gillian said at the grand opening: " We're thrilled to bring our grocery store concept to Dallas, especially with today’s hard economic times. Newflower is the most cost-effective grocery choice, by offering fresh produce and all-natural meats from local vendors at down-home prices. We make healthy cooking easy, with in-store recipe cards, nutritional programs and the lowest prices around."

The Sunflower-Newflower markets are a bit of what we call a hybrid natural foods store, reminiscent of what Gilliland did with the Henry's (Southern California) and Sun Harvest (Texas) banners when he was at Wild Oats and the banners were a part of the chain. By this we mean they aren't orthodox natural-organic foods stores. The stores feature more mainstream-type and specialty items, along with natural and organic products.

Whole Foods Market, Inc. sold off the 35 Henry's and Sun Harvest stores in Southern California and Texas to Los Angeles-based Smart & Final shortly after acquiring Wild Oats in 2007. Gilliland had left Wild Oats long before the Whole Foods acquisition.

The format

The Sunflower-Newflower stores are no frills markets in terms of their design; attractive but basic. This allows the natural grocer to have less overhead, which allows it to achieve cost savings, and in-turn offer natural and organic food and grocery items at generally everyday lower prices than Whole Foods market and most supermarket chains do.

In a sense, Gilliland and team are attempting a natural-organic foods retail natural-organic category killer format, while at the same time trying to make sure sure the markets are both destination as well as neighborhood-oriented markets. The format seems to be working so far in all three regards, from our observations and analysis.

The new Dallas "Newflower Farmers Market" store also has a number of "green" features, according to the retailer. These include: energy efficient light fixtures, the use of recycled and refurbished equipment, cases and fixtures whenever possible, and cash registers that use double sided receipts to reduce paper waste by 40%.

The front of the store also features a skylight-style awning designed to let natural light into the front of the store, as the photograph at the very top of this piece shows.

One of the fighting tigers

Natural~Specialty Foods Memo (NSFM) has termed Colorado-based Sunflower Farmers Market one of what we call the three fighting tiger natural grocery chains. The other two fighting tigers are Arizona-based Sprouts Farmers Market and Colorado-based Natural Grocers.

All three of the Western U.S.-based natural grocers are fast-growing, and all three fear not to take on Whole Foods Market head-to-head in various markets, hence the fighting tiger name. All three, for example, are taking on or plan to take on Whole Foods right in its very own backyard of Texas, as they are in Colorado, Arizona, Southern California (Sprouts only so far there), New Mexico and Utah.

All three of the fighting tigers are using a similar, no frills everyday low-price formula as well, although each does so in its own unique way. It's not an accident that Whole Foods is focusing much more on value and pricing these days in its stores. The competition from these three fast growing natural grocery chains, along with the bad economy, has and is forcing Whole Foods to become much more price competitive, both on everyday prices and in its promotions. And Whole Foods is doing so.

Competition good

This competition, along with the competition from supermarkets and discounters that are getting deeper and deeper into the natural and organic foods categories, is good for the industry overall because it will lead to a greater democratization of healthy, natural and organic foods.

The better the prices on the category items the more consumers can buy them, changing the industry from a niche (and some might say even elitist) enterprise to one aimed more at the masses. That's good for retailers and suppliers as well. More shoppers equals more sales. And more sales equals more efficiencies, which translates into higher profits.

That's a prescription both Dr. Natural and Dr. Organic would love to write.

Below are photographs from the grand opening of the new Dallas Newflower Farmers Market that sprouted in Dallas, Texas on March 18, 2009:

Shoppers check out and get "checked out" at the Dallas "Newflower Farmers Market" store on grand opening day, March 18, 2009.

The produce department is a central departmental feature in the Sunflower-Newflower stores. Although the stores average about 15,000 -to- 25,000 thousand square feet, the produce department in the stores is much larger than an average store of that size would have. This is by design. Sunflower-Newflower prices both conventional and organic fresh produce at low everyday prices. This serves not only as a way to draw shoppers to the store but helps grow market basket sizes in the stores as well. Notice the no frills, farmers' market-style design of the produce department above in the new Dallas Newflower store. Doing so provides cost savings which allows for the everyday low produce pricing practice. It obviously also fits in with the chain's overall theme and name.

Inside the Newflower Farmers Market store that opened in Dallas, Texas on March 19, 2009. Notice the basic, no frills product refrigerated cases and the painted cement floors. This is part of the chain's no frills store design which allows it to offer natural and organic products at lower everyday prices than many of its competitors. The focus is on the the product and its price rather than on the store's design. The balloon the happy little girl is holding were given out to children, along with other treats, all day at the store's March 19 grand opening event. The balloon is doing a great job of holding her attention so that mom can concentrate on her shopping.

Below is a selection of related, past stories and posts from NSFM:

~March 12, 2009: Retail Memo: Whole Foods Market is Selling Brand 'Wild Oats'- We Offer Three Retailers We Suggest Could Benefit From Buying the Brand

~December 6, 2008: Retail Memo: Fast-Growing and Scrappy Sunflower Farmers Market Ventures Deep in the Heart of (Whole Foods Country) Texas

~October 27, 2008: Retail Memo: Sprouts Farmers Market Store Number Eight 'Sprouts' in Texas; Deep in the Heart of Whole Foods Market Country

~October 21, 2008: Retail Memo: Natural Grocers Joining Sunflower Farmers Market in Opening First Stores in Whole Foods Market's Home City of Austin, Texas USA

~October 21, 2008: Retail Memo: H-E-B Set to Open 127,900 Square Foot Hybrid Mega-Store in Houston, Texas Suburb; Miles and Aisles of Organic and Premium Delights

~August 15, 2008: Retail Memo: 'Business Week' Discovers Sunflower Farmers Market, Just As Many Shoppers Are Doing Daily

~June 19, 2008: Retail Memo: Two Food Retailing Chains (Among the Growing Legions) Who Fear Not the Whole Foods Market, Inc.-Wild Oats Juggernaut

~July 8, 2008: Retail Memo: Former Raley's CEO Michael Teel and Partner Developing New Prepared Foods, Natural-Specialty Foods Chain in Sacramento, California

~May 18, 2008: Small Format Food Retailing Special Report: Raising (the stakes in) Arizona: Wal-Mart On-Track to Open First Marketside Stores in Arizona This Summer

~May 13, 2008: Small Format Food Retailing Special Report: Sprout's Farmers Market Gets $22 Million in New Financing; Will 'Sprout' 100 New Stores Over Next 5 Years

~April 29, 2008: Independent Grocer Memo: Utah's 75 Year Old Harmons Combats the Big Chains With Low-Prices; Gets Ready For Whole Foods' By Going Upscale & Natural

~February 24, 2008: Retail Memo: The Whole Foods Mrkt., Inc. as Monopolist Fallacy: How Sprouts Farmers Mrkts. and Others Are Growing Into the Heart of Whole Foods Country

~December 20, 2007: Retail Memo: Natural-Born Category Killers

[You can follow Natural~Specialty Foods Memo (NSFM) on Twitter.com at www.twitter.com/nsfoodsmemo.]

Small Format Food Retailing Memo - Design Innovation: Supermarket Design Firm Wins Award For Design of Independent 'The Market' Specialty Grocery

2009-04-09T17:23:00.000-07:00

Design Services Group (DSG), the supermarket design firm owned by supermarket chain Supervalu, Inc. has won the 2009 Outstanding Merit Award from the Association for Retail Environments (A.R.E.) design association for its design work on the independently-owned small-format specialty and natural foods store "The Market" (pictured above), which is located in Plymouth, Massachusetts USA.

DSG won the prestigious Outstanding Merit award at the just-ended 2009 A.R.E. Retail Design Awards event at GlobalShop, held in Las Vegas.

The award recognizes excellence in retail store design, craftsmanship and innovation. This is the second time DSG has been awarded an A.R.E. Retail Design Award: it won a grocery store category award in 2006 for its design of "Highland Park Market" in Windsor, Conn.

The 13,500 square foot "The Market" is the creation of specialty and natural foods retailing veteran Michael Szathmary, who is the store's managing director, and his associates. Szathmary's 40 year retailing career includes having founded and launched the Nature’s Heartland grocery store and Szathmary’s market/cafes in Needham and Brookline, Massachusetts. [Related post - January 20, 2008: Retail Memo: Designing the 'Perfect' Small-Format Grocery Store in a 'Near-Perfect' Place.]

The store's manager is food retailing veteran Mark Guinasso. Guinasso been in the grocery business for over 30 years, with previous management positions at Purity Supreme, Western Beef Supermarkets, Walter’s Meat Market and Nature’s Heartland, where he worked closely with Michael Szathmary.

The fresh produce department (above), named "Farmers Market," at the small-format "The Market" store keeps with the store's overall design theme of showcasing fresh foods in a rustic setting modeled after a 19th century farmers' market.

This is how the owners and management of "The Market" describe the store's format and retailing approach: "We’re The Market. And we want to change the way you shop — for the better, quicker, healthier and happier. With fresh, locally grown foods in season, expert help and our everyday value pricing on the everyday conventional groceries you need . . . every day.Our name says it all: simple, direct, not too fancy — full of good things waiting to be discovered. In fact, we want to make shopping an experience you actually enjoy.

It begins with healthy, high-quality food: like locally grown, seasonal produce. Freshly baked artisan breads. A delectable deli. Certified Angus beef and naturally raised chicken. And fish right off the boat. Fresh is best.

We also offer a constantly changing array of specialty items created in our own kitchen by our own chef and team — in case you’re too busy or tired to cook. Just heat and serve.

Plus, we have experienced people who know their stuff and are ready to help you. Whether it’s catering a party of fifty or just carrying your bags to your car. We’ve made the aisles more convenient, the displays a little tastier. You can pick up a bouquet by Martin’s Flowers just next to our bakery. And we’ve opened a doorway to Long Ridge Wine & Spirits next door. We’ve even selected great music for you to shop by."

You can learn more about the small-format grocery store at its Web site here.

The Deli department (above) at the independently-owned, small-format "The Market" features scores of deli items and ready-to-heat and ready-to-eat fresh, prepared foods.

DSG's Architecture and Engineering department designed the interior of "The Market" the store, working closely with Elkus Manfredi Architects, a Boston firm that designed the exterior shell.

With only 13,500 square feet to work with, DSG store planners had to carefully account for every bit of available space. They settled on an open layout with relatively low shelves to give shoppers a broad view of the entire store from nearly every vantage point, the design firm says. The small-format store has the look of a country store of decades best with a modernistic twist.

The store's design philosophy, according to DSG, is to showcase fresh foods in a rustic setting modeled after a 19th century farmer's market.

"The Market" looks like a modernistic barn by design. An open floor plan directs customers from one department to the next, from the full-service cheese, deli, meat and seafood departments to the bake shop, seasonal and locally grown produce department, the prepared-food section, salad bar, dairy, frozen foods, chef’s cove and floral department, and then to the aisles of groceries.

The 13,500 square foot store features basically all of the departments a large supermarket offers: dry grocery, fresh produce, meat-seafood, deli-prepared foods, bakery, wine, cheese and the like, each designed to fit into the small-format footprint and limited store interior space.

The store has high arched ceilings which make it appear much larger than its 13,500 square feet.

The small-format store is in the Pinehills development in Plymouth, Massachusetts. "The Market" opened in September, 2008.

As Natural~Specialty Foods Memo (NSFM) first declared in the summer of 2007, there's a small-format food and grocery store mini-revolution happening in the U.S. and in many other parts of the world. This includes chains like Aldi (Europe and U.S.), Lidle (Europe), Supervalu, Inc.'s Sav-A-Lot (U.S.), with there small-format, deep-discount grocery stores; Tesco (globally) with its mid-range small format stores like Tesco Express in Europe and Fresh & Easy in the Western U.S., along with Giant Eagle and its small-format Giant Eagle Express format; Safeway (its The Market format), Supervalue (Urban Fresh by Jewel), Wal-Mart (Marketside) and others in the USA (plus Waitrose and Sainsbury's in the UK) on the more upscale end, and numerous independents focusing on small-format stores, the original small-format grocers. Many other chains are playing in the small-format world as well, in the U.S. and internationally.

The current severe global economic recession has slowed down what in 2007 to mid-2008 was a very robust small-format revolution. But the fact is it has slowed down a ll new store development in the U.S. and globally considerably.

But despite the recession, small-format innovation continues.

And in the case of "The Market" in Plymouth, Massachusetts, it continues on an award winning pace.

[You can view "The Market" store's complete design project from DSG at the link below:
Download Project PDF (7790kb).]

[You can view a slide show of the store's interior here. There are links to photographs and information about other food stores designed by DSG at the site.

[Readers: You can follow Natural~Specialty Foods Memo (NSFM) on Twitter.com at www.twitter.com/nsfoodsmemo.]

Green Retailing Memo: One Year Since Eliminating Plastic Bags Whole Foods Market Says Reusable Use Has Tripled; 150 Million Less Bags in Landfills

2009-04-08T19:30:00.000-07:00

Whole Foods Market teamed up with singer Sheryl Crow (pictured above, right) to design its value-priced "A Better Bag" reusable canvas shopping bag (pictured above, left). The reusable bags, which feature a tree drawn by Crow, come in two sizes and sell for 79-cents and 99-cents (large bag) respectively.

Nearly one year ago, on Earth Day, April 22, 2008, Whole Foods Market, Inc. eliminated offering free single-use plastic carrier bags as an option in all of its stores in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom. Instead, Whole Foods' decided to offer shoppers only free 100% recyclable paper grocery bags (made from at least 50% post-consumer recycled paper), along with making a major push to encourage customers to bring there own reusable shopping bags with them to the stores, as well as offering a variety of reusable bag varieties for sale at a variety of price points in its natural and organic foods markets.

[Read our April 21, 2008 story about Whole Foods Market's banning the plastic bags in its stores here: Green Retailing Memo: Whole Foods Market, Inc. Self-Bans the (Plastic) Bag Tomorrow; Has Related Regional Earth Day Promotions Planned For All Stores.]

A.C. Gallo, Whole Foods Market, Inc.'s co-president and chief operating officer says the Austin, Texas-based natural grocery chain decided to eliminate the single-use plastic carrier bags on Earth Day last year "in an effort to help protect the environment and conserve resources, a move that aimed to protect nature and wildlife and reduce litter by encouraging customers to bring reusable bags when they shop for groceries."

Last year hundreds of Whole Foods Market's store-level team members joined the non-profit Ocean Conservancy group's annual coastal cleanup day in which thousands of volunteers pick up litter and catalog what they found along beaches and coastal waterways throughout the world.

"During Ocean Conservancy's 2008 International Coastal Cleanup, 1.4 million plastic bags were found littering our oceans, lakes and rivers," says Dianne Sherman, Director of the International Coastal Cleanup. "Trash travels. Even if we live thousands of miles inland, our actions have a profound effect on the ocean. A bag can blow from a picnic table, wash down a storm drain into a river and wind up harming or killing a sea turtles, birds or other marine life. Trash is one of the most pervasive - but solvable -- pollution problems facing our oceans and waterways. Whole Foods Market and their customers are demonstrating how simple lifestyle changes can make a sea change."

When it eliminated the plastic grocery bags last year from the checkouts in all its stores Whole Foods Market became the first major U.S. grocery chain to do so.

Gallo says that in the one year since Whole Foods' eliminated the single-use plastic carrier bags from all of its natural foods supermarkets the chain has seen the amount of reusable bag use among its customers triple. Additionally, Gallo says that the natural and organic grocer has kept an estimated 150 million plastic bags out of landfills since last Earth Day.

That's a considerable amount of plastic bags for one food retailing chain with just under 300 stores to keep from going into municipal landfills, which is where most of the single-use bags go because there isn't a comprehensive recycling system for the plastic bags in the U.S. like there is for paper grocery bags.

"At first we wondered if shoppers would just switch to paper but to our great surprise, people have been truly excited about using reusable bags," Gallo says. "I think Whole Foods Market has also helped that along by offering various versions of stylish, affordable 99 cent bags that have become quite popular - our shoppers have been inspired to make a positive environmental change and have really incorporated the reusable bag mindset into their daily lives. Eliminating plastic bags was definitely the right move at the right time."

Whole Foods' sells a variety of reusable bags in its 279 stores in the U.S., Canada (six stores) and the United Kingdom (five stores). Its value-oriented "A Better Bag," which sell for 79 and 99-cents respectively, depending on size, is constructed primarily (80% of its content) from recycled plastic bottles. The bags currently feature a charcoal sketch of a tree drawn and signed by singer Sheryl Crow.

The natural grocery chain also sells a variety of lower -to- mid-ranged priced reusable tote bags on up to its premium $29.99 cotton and burlap FEED 100 bag. Each FEED bag purchased by shoppers helps provide 100 nutritious lunches to hungry Rwandan school children through the United Nations World Food Program's School Feeding Program, as part of charitable program Whole Foods Market contributes to.

Whole Foods Market also offers customers a refund of either five or 10 cents per-reusable bag used at the stores' checkouts. The amount varies depending on the store and where it is located.

Paper bag use has increased at Whole Foods' stores since the retailer self-banned the plastic bags nearly a year ago. We know this because we've talked to store-level employees in at least 40 Whole Foods Market stores over the last year who have told us this is the case. However, that's to be expected, and we have no problem with it for a couple reasons.

First, the paper grocery bags are 100% recyclable. Nearly every city and town in the U.S has convenient, curbside recycling programs. And many of the smaller town that don't have the curbside programs allow resident to toss their paper waste into their green waste garbage cans. Since paper, including paper grocery sacks, is compostable, the disposal companies turn it and the green waste into compost which the towns use in parks and also sell to companies and often give away for free to town residents to use in their gardens

Additionally, the paper bags used at Whole Foods Market stores are at made from at least 50% post-consumer recycled materials, and the grocer is working on 100%. This means the bags a shopper gets today came from at least half of a bag that was recycled and turned into the new bag.

Unfortunately single-use plastic carrier bags are seldom recycled in the U.S., largely because there isn't a comprehensive recycling system established to do so . Few if any curbside recycling programs allow single-use plastic carrier bags, for example.

In states like California and New York, supermarkets are required by state laws to place bins in the stores so that shoppers can return the plastic bags. The retailers also are required to arrange to have the bags picked up by a company that will have them recycled.

But the simple fact is that American consumers generally will only recycle if its convenient to do so, which is why residential the curbside system works best. Before that cities used drop off centers. Recycling rates were minimal. Curbside increased the rates dramatically.

In addition, only about three or four states have such laws.

In 2007, Whole Foods Market introduced all-natural fiber packaging at its in-store salad and food bars that comes from plants that grow wild or are cultivated and harvested annually.

Whole Foods' is currently searching for alternatives to its use of plastic bags and plastic containers in its stores' produce, seafood, bakery and bulk foods departments, according to Gallo. Since customers generally use a single plastic bag for each individual item purchased in these departments, that adds up to using lots of these single-use small bags storewide for Whole Foods.

Any replacement bag for these uses though requires that the material used in the bag is food grade, since it will be coming into contact with fresh and ready-to-eat foods.

Before the invention of the plastic bag for use in produce and plastic bags and containers for in-store bakery, supermarkets used paper bags and paper boxes (remember those pretty pink bakery boxes?) in these departments.

Some supermarkets still use paper along with plastic in their in-store full service bakeries. However few do largely because the cost of plastic is cheaper.

Switching to paper is something we think Whole Foods should take a look at and consider for both bakery and bulk foods. It's a bit more difficult for produce, although their are supermarkets that still offer a choice of plastic and paper bags for shoppers in the produce departments. Paper can be used to wrap fresh fish but usually stores put it in a bag first in order to preserve its freshness. That could be more difficult to find a solution for.

One of the reasons retailers like using plastic in produce, bakery and bulk departments is because the store checkout clerks can see the item through the bag, which speeds up checkout. However, we think in the case of bakery and bulk, going to paper for Whole Foods wouldn't slowdown checkout all that much, particularly once the clerks got used to peeking inside the bag when the need to, mostly in the case of produce since the bulk bags are supposed to be identified by code numbers anyway.

It would be hard of course to go to paper completely in any in-store bakery we realize because in some cases clear packaging, prepacked cakes and the like, is needed to display the product in self-service. But items in the full-service cases could be packaged using paper bags without much difficulty. Safeway Stores, Inc. for example does this in its stores, using a mix of paper (for service bakery) and plastic.

Of course, a truly biodegradable-compostable plastic bag for seafood, fresh meat, produce, bakery and bulk that doesn't cost retailers an arm and a leg would be a great solution. But none are available at a decent cost yet on the market that we've been able to find.

There is a slow behavior change going on among consumers in terms of bringing their own bags to the grocery store. And since Whole Foods Market happens to cater to the "greenest" of "green" consumers it's likely the behavior change is and will always be more dramatic in its stores, compared to say conventional supermarkets.

But with steady education, along with economic incentives designed to decrease plastic and even paper bag use by shoppers, its our analysis that over the next few years we will see more and more shoppers, regardless of where they shop, bringing there own bags to the grocery store.

In fact, it is some of the no frills, deep-discount grocery chains like Germany-based Aldi (Europe and the U.S.) and Lidl (Europe), and Supervalu's Sav-A-Lot (U.S.) that are leading the way in encouraging shoppers to bring their own bags to the store because they charge customers a small fee (usually five to 15-cents per-bag) for each single-use plastic bag they request at checkout, providing a small but still real economic incentive to shoppers to bring their own bags to the store. Many shoppers bring single-use plastic bags or paper bags from previous trips or from other stores with them to these stores, not just specifically designed reusable tote bags. Doing this takes the "single-use" out of the paper and plastic bags.

And of course more and more cities, counties and even states and nations (Ireland, China) have and are passing plastic bag ban laws or laws requiring shoppers to pay for the single-use plastic bags in stores if they request them. As more of these laws are passed, which they will be, that obviously will decrease the amount of single-use plastic bags used overall, both in the U.S. and globally. [Related story: Green Memo: Ireland Has Reduced the Use of Single-Use Plastic Carrier Bags By 94 Percent With Bag-Fee Law; Has Exceeded EU Recycling Targets.]

For example, China banned the bags nationwide last year. That resulted in a huge global decrease in usage in one legislative fiat. Of course it would be better if consumers adopted the use of reusable bags without all the added new legislation.

What's needed are additional and new creative ways to change shopper behavior more towards the bring-your-own-bag concept, along with some solid economic incentives designed to move the behavior change along more rapidly. We see both coming.

Reader Notes

~Click here to read a selection of past posts in Natural~Specialty Foods Memo (NSFM) on the plastic and reusable bag topic and issue. You can also use the search box at the top of the Blog. Just type in the search terms "plastic bag issue," "reusable bags," "plastic grocery bags," or "single-use plastic carrier bags."

~You can follow Natural~Specialty Foods Memo (NSFM) on Twitter.com at www.twitter.com/nsfoodsmemo.

Retail Memo: David Wales, Who Headed Up the FTC's Nearly Two Year Legal Challenge Against Whole Foods' Acquisition of Wild Oats is Leaving the Agency

2009-04-06T20:59:00.000-07:00

FTC v. Whole Foods Market, Inc.: Settlement Agreement Post-Mortem

David P. Wales, the Acting Director of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) Bureau of Competition, and the man who in that role spearheaded the nearly two year antitrust legal challenge by the regulatory agency against Whole Foods Market, Inc.'s acquisition of Wild Oats Markets, Inc., is leaving the FTC to, as they say, pursue other interests.

Mr. Wales' departure comes just one month after the FTC and Whole Foods Market reached a settlement agreement over the Austin, Texas-based natural grocery chain's 2007 acquisition of Wild Oats Markets, its then main rival in the natural foods retailing class of trade segment.

New FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz offered some strong praise about the departing Acting Director of the FTC's Bureau of Competition, which among other tasks is charged with enforcing antitrust regulations and bringing charges of antitrust violations involving mergers and acquisitions, saying about Mr. Wales: "Dave has done a terrific job in leading the Bureau of Competition during an active period of antitrust enforcement and a successful time for the agency in court. American consumers owe him a debt of gratitude, and all of us at the Commission are grateful that Dave agreed to stay on to help ensure a smooth transition."

Chairman Leibowitz's comment about Wales' staying on has to do with the fact that he was the Bureau of Competition's Acting Director.

Mr. Wales joined the FTC in April 2006 as Deputy Director of the Bureau of Competition.

As Acting Director of the competition bureau since August 2008, he has supervised nearly 300 lawyers and staff in the merger and non-merger enforcement divisions and led the bureau in bringing more than 20 enforcement actions, according to Chairman Leibowitz.

According to the FTC's public affairs office, David Wales directed several litigated enforcement efforts that blocked proposed corporate mergers in CCS/Newpark Environmental Services, Oldcastle/Pavestone, and CCC/Mitchell.

In CCC/Mitchell, the Bureau obtained the first preliminary injunction order from a district court in nearly seven years.

Wales also led the Bureau in challenging several consummated mergers in court, including Polypore/Microporous and Ovation Pharmaceuticals, both of which are still pending, and he oversaw the continuing litigation and subsequent March 6, 2009 settlement involving Whole Foods/Wild Oats.

He also helped lead the FTC in obtaining important relief for consumers in other merger matters, including Reed Elsevier/ChoicePoint, Fresenius/Daiichi Sanyo, Dow/Rohm & Haas, King Pharmaceuticals/Alpharma, Hexion/Huntsman, Teva/Barr Pharmaceuticals, Herff Jones/American Achievement, Getinge/Datascope, and Lubrizol/Lockhart, according to the FTC's public affiars office.

Additionally, according to the public affairs office, in the anticompetitive conduct area, Mr. Wales oversaw the Bureau’s two lawsuits against pharmaceutical firms that entered into exclusion payment agreements – Cephalon and Solvay Pharmaceuticals.

The departing head of the competition bureau also helped lead the FTC in obtaining critical relief for consumers in other conduct matters in the health care, retail, consumer product, and real estate industries, including Dick’s Sporting Goods, Boulder Valley Independent Practice Association, AllCare IPA, Inverness, ESL Partners/ZAM Holdings, West Penn MLS, National Association of Music Merchants, and Bristol-Myers Squibb, the FTC says.

Further, in the energy sector, Mr. Wales oversaw several regional gas price investigations, as well as the Commission’s rulemaking to prohibit market manipulation in the petroleum industry, according to the FTC Office of Public Affairs.

David Wales' departure in many ways helps turn the page on the FTC v. Whole Foods Market, Inc. legal case and overall issue. As the Assistant Director of the Bureau of Competition in 2007 Mr. Wales played a major role in the FTC's challenging Whole Foods' acquisition of Wild Oats Market's in 2007.

And as the bureau's Acting Director since August 2008, Mr. Wales was in-charge of the FTC's legal challenge against the deal until the settlement agreement was reached on March 6 of this year.

The first page-turner at the FTC was the naming in late February, 2009 by President Obama of then FTC Commissioner Jon Leibowitz as the regulatory agency's new Chairman. Just a couple weeks after Mr. Leibowitz took over as the FTC's new Chairman, the agency reached the March 6 settlement agreement with Whole Foods Market, Inc., as we reported and wrote about in this piece: Daily Memo: It's A Done Deal: Whole Foods Market and the FTC Reach A Settlement Agreement On Wild Oats' Acquisition Antitrust Challenge.

Take our word for it, that timing wasn't accidental. The fact a settlement agreement was reached so soon after Chaiman Leibowitz assumed his position involved more cause than effect in turns of the settlement deal getting done. Chairman Leibowitz is a registered Democrat but was appointed an FTC Commissioner by Republican President George W. Bush. [Suggested reading: Retail Memo - Breaking: FTC Commissioner Jon Leibowitz Odds On Favorite to Be Named Chairman; Positive Development For Whole Foods' Settlement Talks.]

FTC Chairman Leibowitz has yet to announce who will replace David Wales as the competition bureau's chief. However, we expect the Chairman's choice to be a person who is proactive and strong on antitrust actions, as well as consumer protection issues. Mr. Leibowitz has said he plans strong enforecemnet of both antitrust, competition and consumer protection during his tenure at the FTC.

Meanwhile, perhaps the FTC, as a gesture of good will, should have one of the Washington, D.C. Whole Foods Market stores provide the food and drink, paid for by taxpayers of course, for David Wales' retirement party from the regulatory agency.

After all, it at least would be a small gesture in terms of giving Whole Foods Market, Inc. and its shareholders a little cash back towards the about $30 million the natural grocery chain spent defending the company against the taxpayer-financed, wrong-headed, nearly two-year false premise-based antitrust challenge to Whole Foods' acquisition of Wild Oats, which tried as it might in 2006-2007 to find a buyer, but couldn't until Whole Foods Market, Inc. came along.

It's just a thought.

Reader Notes:

>Natural~Specialty Foods Memo (NSFM) predicted that the settlement agreement between WHole Foods Market, Inc. and the FTC would have as its central proposition or condition the divestment and sale of certain stores by Whole Foods. We were correct. You can read an overview piece about it here: Retail Memo: The FTC-Whole Foods Market Settlement Agreement Looks Much Like Our January 'Blueprint-Template For A Settlement Deal' Proposal
>Follow Natural~Specialty Foods Memo (NSFM) on Twitter.com at www.twitter.com/nsfoodsmemo.

>Below is a linked bibliography to Natural~Specialty Foods Memo's (NSFM) coverage and analysis of FTC v. Whole Foods Market and related issues and topics.

FTC v. Whole Foods Market, Inc. Recent Bibliography

Post March 6, 2009 Settlement Agreement:

March 31, 2009: Retail Memo: The 'Legal Times' Offers A Legal Legacy of the FTC-Whole Foods' Settlement Agreement; We Offer an Antitrust Case Blast From the Past

March 19, 2009: Retail Memo: Whole Foods Market Opens New Store in Santa Cruz, California Today ... And There's Plenty of Competition

March 12, 2009: Retail Memo: Whole Foods Market is Selling Brand 'Wild Oats'- We Offer Three Retailers We Suggest Could Benefit From Buying the Brand

March 8, 2009: Retail Memo: The FTC-Whole Foods Market Settlement Agreement Looks Much Like Our January 'Blueprint-Template For A Settlement Deal' Proposal

March 6, 2009: Daily Memo: It's A Done Deal: Whole Foods Market and the FTC Reach A Settlement Agreement On Wild Oats' Acquisition Antitrust Challenge

Pre-Settlement Agreement

March, 2009:

Retail Memo - Alternate Formats: Toys 'R' Us Testing Store-Within-Store 'R Market' Grocery Departments in Three Chicago-Area Toys 'R' Us Toy Stores

2009-04-03T15:32:00.000-07:00

Will All Retailers Become "Grocers"?

The Toys "R" Us toy store chain has never been just for kids. After all, it's mom and dad who have the cash. Plus, we all know mom and dad also love shopping at the toy stores nearly as much as the kids do. After all, doing so can be the retail version of the fountain of youth, at least until checkout time.

But if what the New Jersey, USA-based retailer appears to be up to from a merchandising standpoint in at least three stores in the metropolitan Chicago, Illinois market is a harbinger of things to come for the chain's hundreds of other Toys "R" Us branded retail stores in the U.S. (and perhaps internationally), mom and dad might just have a far more practical reason for shopping at the toy superstores on a much more frequent basis. [The retailer operates a total of 846 Toys "R" Us toy superstores (about 600) and Babies "R" Us stores in the U.S. Additionally, it operates 700 stores internationally, in 32 countries, along with having four online stores.]

What's the mega-toy store chain up to?

Toys "R" Us has remerchandised three of its Toys "R" Us flagship toy stores in the Chicago area to include a selection of shelf-stable food, grocery, beverage, snack and household packaged goods items.

The packaged goods items are being merchandised in a store-within-a-store department setup in the toy superstores, which has been named "R Market."

The grocery store-within-the-toy store is clearly set-off with colorful green signage featuring the "R Market" name, according to a Natural~Specialty Foods Memo (NSFM) correspondent who visited one of the stores this week.

The perimeter of the "R Market" department features primarily household-oriented packaged items like bath tissue, paper towels, laundry detergent, cleaning supplies and similar related goods. It's the draw, the lure, into the store-within-the-toy store.

Inside the "grocery store" gondolas are stocked with a limited assortment of shelf-stable packaged goods and beverages representing numerous categories. Among the items include beverages such as juice, bottled water and various types of drinks; breakfast cereals, cereal and nutritional bars, cookies, crackers, various types of snack foods, and an assortment of other packaged foods.

There's also a full aisle dedicated to baby foods and drinks, a fitting tie-in for the Toys "R" Us core offering, which are toys and related products for kids of all ages.

The retailer has carried baby-related packaged goods items like disposable diapers, wipes and the like for some time in its stores. But a full-section of baby consumables is unique to the three Chicago-area test stores.

The grocery department also features a wall of candy. The wall of treats has a header at top that reads "Candyland," according to the NSFM correspondent. That signage is a tie-in to the popular "Candyland" board game, which is one of the chain's all time top-sellers.

The Toys "R" Us consumables and packaged goods store-within-the-store carries a mix of well-known national brand products, along with an assortment of lessor-known brands. There's also some natural, organic, specialty and healthy food, grocery and beverage items on the shelves.

Big brands include General Mills (cereals, snack bars), Kellogg (cereals), Gerber (baby), Proctor & Gamble (laundry detergents, bath tissue, paper towels, disposable diapers and related household items), Nestle (packaged goods and beverages) and some others.

Proctor & Gamble items like Pampers, Bounty Paper Towels and Charmin Bath Tissue are featured at discount prices on pallet-style displays on the floor inside the store-within-the-store area.

Among the natural, organic, specialty and healthy food and beverage items include: Barbara's Bakery (cereals, snacks), Kashi (cereals and related items), Dr. Sears' brand organic snack food items, Nestle nutrition items, Apple & Eve's Fruitables fruit drinks, and Clorox's and Seventh Generation's "green" household cleaning items.

Our correspondent also reports that there is some cross-merchandising in the "R Market" store-within-a-store department, featuring related consumable items and toy items, which is a logical and smart merchandising move.

Additionally, there's some cross-merchandising tie-ins with baby food and baby products in the aisle dedicated to baby and toddler consumables.

Further, a number of healthy, natural and organic snack and beverage items targeted to kids were also displayed on endcap-type displays in the department.

Toys "R" Us is keeping hush about the three store test, not publicly commenting on what it is up to, or if it's more than just a test. We call it a test because we spoke this week with a representative of one of the companies supplying grocery products to the toy store chain, who told us from what he has been told the "R Market" department and remerchandising scheme is just that for now -- a test.

It appears Toys "R" Us is attempting strategically a few things with its limited assortment, store-within-a-store "R Market" consumer packaged goods sections.

First, based on the item selection, the retailer has selected consumable and other packaged goods products that (1) primarily complement its core target demographic: toys and related goods; and (2) it's mixing that core shopper demographic-focused limited assortment with a selection of basic household items targeted to adult shoppers who are likely to pick up a few things on impulse (cleaning products, bath tissue, ect.) while taking their children toy shopping. The retailer has seen this to be the case in the past with items like disposable diapers.

And of course, the focus on kid-related breakfast cereals, juices, snacks and other consumables fits both of the criteria described above. Kids will ask mom to buy the juice boxes, candy and snack items, for example, along with mom grabbing some needed household items, especially if the price is right.

This is our analysis. As we said, Toys "R" Us isn't commenting publicly at present on the development.

With nearly 600 flagship Toys "R" Us stores and about 250 Babies "R" Us stores, the retailer could feasibly move lots of volume of consumable and other packaged goods items nationally were it to install the "R Market" departments in all of its 846 U.S. units. (We would think the focus would be more limited in the Babies "R" Us stores, concentrating on baby and toddler foods and the like.)

We also suspect the current economic recession has much to do with the development or test of the consumables/packaged goods departments in the three Chicago-area Toys "R" Us stores. After all, consumers aren't buying much in the way of durable items like toys at present.

In fact, Toys "R" Us just introduced what it calls $1, $2 and $3 value toy sections in the front of all of its flagship stores as a way to add value and create sales in the down economy. [You can read more about those new departments here.]

A very popular and long running advertising campaign jingle from Toys "R" Us features a person singing: "I don't want to grow up... I want to be a Toys R" Us kid."

It appears, based on the three store test, that if the retailer decides to put the limited assortment, petite grocery departments in all of its toy superstores, adults will have another reason to be even more frequent "Toys "R" Us kids," along with their children, picking up toilet paper, breakfast cereal, laundry detergent, and healthy snacks and drinks, along with toys and board games, at the toy superstores.

Retail Memo: Whole Foods Market's April Fools Day Web Page Offers Mirth, Pokes Fun At Itself, But Also Good PR Move For Natural Grocer's Image

2009-04-01T12:47:00.000-07:00

The April Fools Day spirit has struck the Whole Foods Market Web site today.

The natural grocery chain, which gets its share of ribbing with nick names like "Whole Paycheck," has turned the front page of its Web Site into a humorous self-look at itself in the spirit of April Foods Day, which is today, April 1, 2009.

The Web site home page is full of mirth. You can view the site here.

For example, the mock advertisement pictured at the top of this story leads off the Whole Foods Market April Fools Day Web site home page. As you can see, the natural grocer is offering four varieties of Organic Air under its "365 Everyday Value" store brand. It's not just air packaged in an attractive clear bottle with a spritzer top mind you -- but organic air at that. We don't see the USDA Organic certified seal on the product though, which bothers us a bit.

Good humor is that which comes closest to reality in many cases. That's why we wouldn't be surprised if Whole Foods Market were to put up a display of its "new" organic air item in its stores that sales would probably be fairly decent -- at least for a while.

And since "air" is a 365 day a year essential, offering the organic air under the "365 Everyday" store brand is pure brand marketing genius, of course.

Below its "365 Everyday" store brand organic air advertisement, Whole Foods then gets into the news of the day -- April Fools Day news at Whole Foods.

First up is a brief item about "today's featured local grower at Whole Foods. Here it is: "Featured Local Grower Peter Parker of Tulsa, OK raises Huntsman spiders, often mistaken for deadly Brazilian Wandering Spiders. Whole Foods Market is proud to offer one free spider with every 50-lb. purchase of organic bananas."

A rare spider was recently found in bananas at a Whole Foods Market store. This is a great way to "hang a lantern" on a problem. Poke fun at yourself, using April Fools Day to do so. PR grade=A+

In the spirit of its green retailing philosophy, Whole Foods Market then announces its latest strategic move in the paper v. plastic and reusable carrier bag controversy. That breaking April Fools Day news is this: "An Even Better Bag: Continuing our quest to keep plastic bags out of landfills, we introduce our reusable pet waste bags. Pick up after your pooch with our eco-chic Better Doggie Bag, designed by Cookie Fleck and Whole Foods Market."

Whole Foods pokes fun at its own image in the above "news" item. The grocer eliminated single-use plastic carrier bags from all its stores in April, 2008, on Earth Day. It's also been teased for selling numerous varieties of designer chic reusable carrier tote bags. The item shows Whole Foods can make fun of and laugh at itself. Consumers love this. PR grade=A+.

Whole Foods Market also tosses in some new store breaking news on its April Fools Day homepage. You have to click here to read this breaking news. But we will give you a hint: The store is "green" because it doesn't need refrigerated or frozen food cases to keep perishable products fresh.

The natural grocery chain also incorporates the April Fools Day theme into some of its regular Web site features.

For example, below are today's featured items in Whole Foods' regular "What's Cooking" at the stores feature:

~Deep-Fried Pork Eclairs
~Chianti-Gorgonzola Popsicles
~Indian Amazonian Guatemalan Honduran Balinese Rice
~Toast

The natural grocer's "Whole Story" Blog also gets the April Fools Day treatment.

Below are the five April Fools Day posts in today's "Whole Story" Blog:

Whole Story Blog

~When milk goes bad: 12 daring recipes
~No such thing as too much salt
~Experts find: eating food curbs hunger
~"Whole Deal" splits into 500 tiny deals
~Money-saving tip: bathtub wine

We actually think Whole Foods' could be on to something with the money-saving tip: bathtub wine post. After all, it taps into a number of hot-button consumer issues.

First, consumers are attempting to save money with every purchase in this severe recession, including wine. That hits the frugal hot button.

Another popular trend right now is "do it yourself" (DIY). Stomping grapes in the bathtub fits the DIY bill extremely well. Ties in with frugality in the recession as well.

Making bathtub wine at home is extremely sustainable production. You can't get much more natural-sustainable than bare feet, after all.

Combine all these factors with making sure the grapes used are organic and locally-produced, and Whole Foods just might want to make this do it yourself wine production idea a regular feature in its stores. We suspect it also might tap into the small but significant foot fetish consumer segment out there among America's natural products consumer base.

Whole Foods concludes its April Fools Day 2009 special feature page with... what else, a featured video. The title of the featured video: Change a flat tire the organic way with our step-by-step tutorial.

Some thoughts - and breaking news

Kudos to Whole Foods Market for stepping outside the box and offering up a bit of merchandising mirth for April Fools Day. Double kudos for poking fun at itself and some of its practices in the feature as well.

Consumers certainly need as much humor as we can get at present. And showing it has a sense of humor, including of the self-deprecating variety, is a good image booster for Whole Foods Market, which often comes across as...well, stuffy and a bit elitist.

Cheers to the creative minds who came up with the items featured in today's April Fools Day Whole Foods Market Web site extravaganza.

But all kidding aside...we have a funny feeling that the organic air item would probably be a pretty solid seller if it were to be marketed in the Whole Foods stores.

In fact, we were going to hold this back for a separate, breaking news story in the Blog, but we'll reported it here and now because of the ironic tie-in.

So here it is: According to our sources, Safeway Stores, Inc. is preparing to introduce what CEO Steve Burd is calling another revolutionary new product line under its popular, $500 million a year grossing "O' Organics" organic food and grocery product line.

Safeway has kept the new line, which Burd says will show Safeway to be the leading retail private label organics brand marketer in the U.S., under wraps in a secret campaign borrowed from the CIA.

However, Natural~Specialty Foods Memo has learned about the new "O' Organics" brand line from the Safeway Stores, Inc. buyer who came up with the new product line, and was so excited about it he said he just had to tell somebody.

The Safeway Stores' buyer, who spoke to us on the condition we not mention his name, said Safeway's research shows that consumers will perceive the new "O' Organics" product as "a breath of fresh air" in new product development. That new product line: Safeway "O' Organics" organic fresh air, packaged in clear bottles with a spritzer top. April Fools!!!

[You can follow Natural~Specialty Foods Memo (NSFM) on Twitter.com at www.twitter.com/nsfoodsmemo. And that's no April Fools.]

Retail Memo: The 'Legal Times' Offers A Legal Legacy of the FTC-Whole Foods' Settlement Agreement; We Offer an Antitrust Case Blast From the Past

2009-03-31T20:37:00.000-07:00

FTC v. Whole Foods Market, Inc. - Post Mortem

As regular readers of Natural~Specialty Foods Memo (NSFM) are aware, we've been reporting on and offering extensive analysis about the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) v. Whole Foods antitrust case, which ended on March 6, 2009 in a mutual settlement agreement signed off on by both the FTC and Whole Foods Market, Inc. [Regular and less than regular readers alike can click here to view a recent bibliography of our FTC v. Whole Foods Market, Inc. coverage.]

Potential FTC-Whole Foods settlement legal legacy

In today's Legal Times, a professional legal trade journal, writer Jenna Green has an interesting piece about the potential legal legacy of the FTC-Whole Foods Market, Inc. antitrust settlement, in which the FTC dropped its nearly two year attempt to overturn the 2007 acquisition of then Wild Oats Markets Inc. by Whole Foods, in return for Whole Foods Market, Inc. (the combined Whole Foods-Wild Oats) agreeing on March 6, 2009 to sell 13 current operating stores, 19 closed stores, and the Wild Oats brand and related intellectual property.

As we've written, the agreement is much ado about nothing, as the net result of it actually is to only force Whole Foods to sell the 13 existing operating stores.

The 19 closed stores are...well, already closed. Many were already on the market for sale prior to the March 6 settlement agreement.

And Whole Foods has essentially killed the Wild Oats brand since acquiring the company in 2007. Therefore, selling the brand and its related intellectual property, assuming a buyer even emerges, won't materially hurt Whole Foods, except that the natural grocery chain would most likely prefer to see the brand die rather than possibly get brought back to life by another food retailer.

But the Legal Times piece offers a look at the settlement agreement from more of an antitrust legal precedent perspective in that it suggests the divestiture agreement (selling the stores) between the FTC and Whole Foods could set an example for future deals.

Such agreements between government regulators and merging and acquiring food retailing chains aren't really new however.

An antitrust blast from the past: The American Stores - Lucky merger

For example, in a major case in California in the late 1980's, then state Attorney General John Van de Kamp held-up the post-acquisition integration of the Lucky Stores supermarket chain by then Salt Lake City, Utah-based American Stores Company (which was later acquired by then Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons, Inc., which was later acquired by Supervalu, Inc. and private equity firm Cerebus) until American Stores agreed to divest a number of its existing Alpha Beta and acquired Lucky stores in the state.

American Stores was at the time the third-largest supermarket chain in the U.S., after Kroger and Safeway.

A brief history: Right after the deal was announced, Van de Kamp asked the Federal Trade Commission to void it, claiming that a combined (over 400 stores in California) Lucky-Alpha Beta would cost California consumers $400 million by reducing competition. The FTC refused to void the deal, although it did force the divestiture of 37 Alpha Beta stores, which were sold in December 1988, the same month 38 Lucky stores in Arizona were also sold.

Van de Kamp then took his case to court, and on September 29, a federal judge in Los Angeles issued a preliminary injunction against the merger. American Stores appealed, and in April 1989, an appeals court judge in San Francisco overturned the injunction. Van de Kamp appealed this reversal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

In April, 1990 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the California attorney general. Subsequently, and wishing to avoid additional, lengthy litigation, American Stores reached an agreement with Van de Kamp, whereby the company was allowed to convert 14 Alpha Beta stores to the Lucky name, but also had to sell--within five years--161 southern California stores -- 152 Alpha Beta markets and nine Lucky supermarkets.

Sound familiar? The difference though was that in the American Stores case there were real antitrust results in our analysis because (1) the combined Lucky-Alpha Beta stores gave American Stores Company too much of a supermarket concentration in California; and (2) the stores were supermarkets, where the majority of shoppers, especially in the late 1980's, bought there food.

The concentration therefore didn't offer consumers enough competitive choice in the market (California), although despite the merger there still was quite a bit of competition, mostly from Safeway and numerous regional chains and independents.

At the time, Lucky was the number two market share leader in Northern California, after Safeway. Alpha Beta was number two. The deal put the combined Alpha Beta and Safeway about tied for number one in Northern California, eliminating an independent number two, Lucky.

The combined Lucky and Alpha Beta placed as the number two market share leader in Southern California. Vons and Ralphs were prior to that numbers one and two. Lucky a very strong number three. Alpha Beta number four. The deal eliminated a strong, independent number three, Lucky.

We essentially agree with the U.S. Supreme Court and the California Attorney General on the merits of the American Stores-Lucky merger, although we would have been a bit less harsh on the number of stores the company was ultimately forced to sell. It was too many.

After the multi-year legal challenge and resulting store sell-off, American Stores never was able to get its footing back as a supermarket chain, despite its increased size. It eventually sold the company to then Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons, Inc., which also went away a couple years ago when Supervalu, Inc. and the private equity form Cerebus acquired it.

In an ironic twist, Cerebus bought what was then Albertsons' Northern California division in the Albertsons, Inc acquisition with Supervalu, Inc., which included all of the former Lucky banner supermarkets in that part of California. Albertsons had long before changed the name of the former Lucky stores to Albertsons. In 2007 Cerebus sold the division to Modesto, California-based Save Mart supermarkets. After operating the about 200 Northern California Albertsons stores for a number of months, Save Mart decided that rather than rebrand them as "Save Mart," which it originally planned to do, it would rebrand the Albertsons banner stores back to the old Lucky name, which is the banner they fly under today.

Whole Foods on the other hand is a niche retailer. And as we've argued, a combined Whole Foods-Wild Oats never presented any anti-competitive threat in 2007, or today.

Below (in italics) is the first part of the piece in today's Legal Times by Ms. Greene. After the text, just click the link to read the full story.

Having covered and written about FTC v. Whole Foods Market, Inc. extensively since the deal was announced in the summer of 2007 -- and still doing so in what we are calling our "post mortem pieces -- Natural!~Specialty Foods Memo (NSFM) suggests reading Ms. Greene's piece, as she does an excellent job detailing the antitrust legacy post settlement.

Whole Foods-Wild Oats Deal Leaves Controversial Legacy
By Jenna Greene
Legal Times
March 31, 2009

As corporate mergers go, the purchase of natural foods grocer Wild Oats by its rival Whole Foods Market looked like small potatoes (organic yellow fingerling, perhaps). Nobody expected the proposed $565 million acquisition to spark a food fight of epic proportions.

But on March 6 -- after two years, $28 million in legal fees and expenses, and dozens of lawyers -- Whole Foods cut a deal to end the battle. And the Federal Trade Commission carved another notch in its reputation for aggressive antitrust enforcement.

The most important result of the battle may be a controversial opinion out of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit that some fear will make it too easy for the FTC to effectively block future mergers. As one antitrust expert says, "so long as their lawyers don't get up there and fall asleep at the podium," the FTC wins. Less than a week after Whole Foods and the FTC settled, a $1.4 billion merger collapsed in part due to the D.C. Circuit opinion.

As for the dispute over merging grocery chains, it's not clear who actually won. The FTC, which snatched significant concessions from the jaws of initial defeat, asserts it came out on top. "Obviously, [the settlement] wasn't the maximum relief we could have obtained," says David Wales Jr., acting head of the FTC's Bureau of Competition, discussing the case at length for the first time. "But we feel it substantially restores competition and did so a lot sooner than if we had continued to litigate."

Whole Foods points out that the merger survived; it wasn't forced to unscramble all the eggs. "It was a settlement -- nobody got what they wanted," says lead lawyer Paul Denis, a partner in Dechert's D.C. office. "If everybody leaves unhappy, you must have gotten it right."

Still, agreeing to divestitures in the face of an antitrust agency's opposition looks a lot like business as usual. Why did Whole Foods spend so much money to reach that settlement? In retrospect, the company may have been too determined to go toe to toe with the FTC -- and caught off-guard by the FTC's similarly battle-ready approach.

GOING FROM 0 TO 60

When the merger between the two grocery chains was announced on Feb. 21, 2007, analysts' reaction was largely positive. UBS called it "a slam dunk," while Morningstar said it was "strategically and financially sound." No one, it seems, had any inkling of the antitrust train wreck ahead. Standard & Poor's was lukewarm on the deal for the opposite reason: The stores faced "increased competition from traditional grocers."

Whole Foods, which is based in Austin, Texas, didn't even start off with specialized antitrust counsel -- it used its M&A lawyer, Bruce Hallett of Dallas' Hallett & Perrin, to submit the required pre-merger notification, a 15-page form with information about each company's business. Whole Foods, with 194 stores, would buy Boulder, Colo.-based Wild Oats, which owned 110 stores total, 74 of them under the Wild Oats brand, for $18.50 per share of stock. The two chains were prime competitors in just 22 markets.

While the FTC and the Justice Department's Antitrust Division sometimes fight over which agency will review a merger for its potential effects on competition, supermarket mergers have always gone to the FTC.
"In the overwhelming majority of cases, it makes absolutely no difference which agency reviews a merger," says Ronald Wick, an antitrust partner at Baker Hostetler not involved in the case.

But as Whole Foods would soon discover, sometimes differences in the two agencies' statutory authority can prove crucial.

The filing was routed to the FTC Mergers IV group, which specializes in retail sector transactions. The deal, Wales says, "quickly jumped out as having potential overlap, potential competitive significance." A partner at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft before joining the FTC in 2006, Wales, 39, has been acting director of the Bureau of Competition since Jeffrey Schmidt left in August 2008.

A team quickly took shape. Mergers IV lawyers led by Assistant Director Matthew Reilly began gathering information, talking to the parties, their competitors, and their customers. Less than three weeks later, on March 13, 2007, the agency issued a second request for documents. "It was not a close call," Wales says.

Even before the second request was officially made, Whole Foods got the hint that trouble loomed. But in seeking experienced counsel, it still looked for a familiar firm. The company turned to antitrust lawyer Neil Imus and commercial litigator Alden Atkins, partners in the D.C. office of Houston-based Vinson & Elkins. Atkins had previously handled litigation for Whole Foods involving a store in Washington, D.C. Although Whole Foods would run the litigation, Wild Oats retained Clifford Aronson of New York's Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.

If settlement with the FTC was desirable or even possible at that point, Whole Foods' lawyers had little time to explore the option. They were too busy fulfilling the second request. The companies turned over 16.5 million pages of material, one of the largest document productions in recent agency history. While once this would have meant 10,000 boxes stacked in a conference room, the data largely came on hard drives -- along with a computer virus. ("Obviously we didn't think they did it on purpose," Wales says). Dozens of FTC staff lawyers began their review.

Then on June 6, 2007, the FTC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia seeking a preliminary injunction to halt the merger. All five commissioners -- three Republicans, one Democrat, and one independent -- voted in favor of bringing the case.

[Click here to read the full story from today's Legal Times.]

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Store Brand - Private Label Memo: 'Big Score' At 'Big Y' Chain For Safeway's 'Eating Right' Healthy Foods Brand

2009-03-30T18:22:00.000-07:00

Retailer Store Brands: Special Report

The family-owned, Springfield, Massachusetts-based Big Y supermarket chain is the first major food and grocery retailer in the U.S. to introduce and carry at least one of the two Safeway Stores, Inc. organic and healthy foods store brands -- "O' Organics" and "Eating Right" -- that the Pleasanton, California-based supermarket chain began marketing to other U.S. grocery retailers and wholesalers through its Lucerne Foods Inc. brands division last year, in its stores.

In Big Y's case, the popular supermarket chain is introducing numerous "Eating Right" brand healthy food and grocery items across multiple categories in its stores in New England.

Privately-held Big Y, which was founded in 1936 by Paul and Gerald D'Amour and was named after an intersection in Chicopee, Massachusetts where two roads converge to form a Y, currently operates 57 high volume supermarkets located in Massachusetts and Connecticut.

Among the Safeway Stores, Inc. "Eating Right" healthy food products being introduced this week at Big Y include: frozen entrees; cereal; soups; pasta; salad dressings; snack bars; cookies; and items in numerous other dry grocery and perishable categories, according to Carrie Taylor, Big Y's corporate dietitian, who's in charge of the supermarket chain's "Living Well Eating Smart" chainwide healthy foods program.

"With healthier eating a priority for many of our customers, we are pleased to bring new options to our shelves with the introduction of the 'Eating Right' brand at Big Y stores," Ms. Taylor says. "Our shoppers have long relied on us to meet all of their supermarket needs and with 'Eating Right' we're able to offer a great selection of functional and tasty products designed to help our customers reach their specific health objectives."

Safeway Stores Inc.'s Lucerne Foods, Inc. brand marketing division is handling the marketing of the "O 'Organics" and "Eating Right" brands to supermarket chains and wholesale grocers in the U.S. and globally.

There are currently 225 SKUS in 20 categories under the "Eating Right" brand, according to Alex Petrov, president of Safeway Stores' Lucerne Foods Inc. division.

Neither Big Y supermarkets nor Safeway Stores, Inc. is touting the fact that the "Eating Right" brand being introduced in the 57 Big Y supermarkets in Massachusetts and Connecticut is produced, owned and marketed by Safeway Stores, including the fact that the brand is a Safeway healthy foods store brand. Both are handling the introduction and marketing of the brand just as they would any other brand, regardless of its origin or ownership.

That's also why the marketing of the "Eating Right" brand to grocers like Big Y is being conducted by Safeway's Lucerne Foods Inc. division as a separate function from the store brand merchandising and marketing of the brand (and of "O' Organics") in Safeway's about 1,750 supermarkets in the U.S. and Canada. Safeway Stores, Inc. strategically views the brands not just as store brands, but as what the company hopes will become standalone organic and healthy food brands both in the U.S. and globally in the future.

Safeway doesn't operate any supermarkets in the New England states of Massachusetts or Connecticut where Big Y has its 57 supermarkets.

The closest states where Safeway has stores are in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virgina.

This is an important distinction because in Big Y's case its customer base won't in most cases even be aware that the "Eating Right" brand items are a Safeway store brand, since there are no Safeway-owned supermarkets in the two states.

Our analysis is that Safeway will need to use this type of strategy to launch the two brands in the U.S., focusing on regional chains like Big Y which operate in markets where Safeway does not have a retailing presence.

For example, we don't see many retailers in the Western U.S., where Safeway is a major player and in many markets is the market share leader, carrying the "O Organics" and "Eating Right" brands because with little exception every retailer in the Western U.S. is a competitor of Safeway's.

Major competitor's like Kroger Co, Supervalue, Inc., Wal-Mart and Costco have their own organic and healthy store brands and aren't going to offer the store brands of a major competitor in their respective stores.

Major regional chains throughout the west also in many cases either have their own organic and healthy foods store brands or carry such private label brands through arrangements with a wholesaler. Additionally, since these regional chains are direct competitors with Safeway in states like California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Arizona and the like, they won't in all probability offer Safeway's "Eating Right" or "O Organics" store brands on their respective shelves either. It makes little sense for these chains to compete with Safeway on the brands.

We believe this will hold true in other parts of the U.S. where Safeway has a retail presence like the Washington D.C./Maryland/Virgina tri-state market region, Texas, Florida, Illinois-Indiana and Alaska, in addition to the Western U.S.

As a result, that's why we believe Safeway will have to conduct a niche retailer strategy, placing its "O Organics" and "Eating Right" brands in non-competitive, select chains primarily in parts of the U.S. where it isn't a retail player.

Natural~Specialty Foods Memo (NSFM) was one of the first, if not the very first, publication to report that Safeway Stores, Inc. was marketing its "O Organics" brand to another retailer, France's Carrefour (the world's third-largest global retailer) internationally, in the three stories from December, 2007, and the January 8, 2008 piece, linked below:

~December 27, 2007: Marketing Memo: Safeway's O' Organics Brand in Asia
~December 23, 2007: Safeway's O' Organics Brand: Part Duex
~December 21, 2007: Friday Fishwrap: Safeway's O' Organics Brand
~January 8, 2008: Media Memo: Safeway's O' Organics Brand In Asia

In April of 2008, we first reported in this piece [April 28, 2008: Marketing Memo: Safeway Stores, Inc. to Market its 'O' Organics' and 'Eating Right' Organic and Healthy Brands to Other Retailers in U.S. and Globally] about Safeway's corporate plans to market its "O 'Organics" and "Eating Right" brands to other supermarket chains in the U.S.

Linked below are four related past pieces on the topic from Natural~Specialty Foods Memo (NSFM):

~August 6, 2008: Marketing Memo: Safeway's Challenge: Going From Store Brand Marketer to Consumer Brand Marketer With its O' Organics and Eating Right Brands
~April 28, 2008: Marketing Memo: Safeway Stores, Inc. to Market its 'O' Organics' and 'Eating Right' Organic and Healthy Brands to Other Retailers in U.S. and Globally
~April 28, 2008: Retail Memo: Safeway CEO Burd Says Shoppers Buying Store Brands Over National Brands By As Much As Six -to- One in it's North American Supermarkets

Safeway's Lucern Foods, Inc. division isn't confirming or not confirming, but based on our reporting, sources and research, Springfield, Massachusetts-based Big Y appears to be the first U.S. supermarket chain that's agreed to carry one of the two Safeway brands, "O Organics" and "Eating Right." In Big Y's case, it's carrying the "Eating Right brand" only at present.

Big Y is a popular, high volume retailer in New England. As a result, landing the chain is a major niche retailer score for Safeway and its "Eating Right" brand, in our analysis.

Big Y also is a well-known regional chain in the trade. Safeway's landing of the chain for its "Eating Right" brand should create greater interest in the brand from similar retail chains in other parts of the U.S., particularly in market regions where Safeway doesn't operate supermarkets in.

We expect to see at least two more regional chains in the U.S. announce their respective plans to carry either just the "Eating Right" healthy foods brand or both the "Eating Right" and "O' Organics" brands from Safeway in the next couple months.

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Store Brand - Private Label Memo: Cost Plus World Market Introducing A Spate of New 'World Market' Store Brand Items; We Report and Offer Analysis

2009-03-27T17:39:00.000-07:00

Retailer Store Brands: Special Report

Specialty, natural-organic foods, beverage and import goods retailer Cost Plus World Market is introducing a number of new store brand natural-organic and specialty foods items under its "World Market" store brand into its stores.

The Oakland, California-based chain, which has nearly 300 stores located throughout the U.S., sells an eclectic mix of products in its stores, including: specialty and natural foods; beverages; wines and craft beers; confections; specialty coffees (consumables); bath and body care items; and various hard goods products like furniture; kitchen goods-gadgets; gifts and related household-oriented items; most of which are imported from throughout the world.

The new items Cost Plus is introducing under its "World Market" store brand include:

~A new, three-item line of all natural pasta sauces imported from Italy. The three varieties are Marinara, Tomato-Basil and Artichoke. The pasta sauces are in 16oz jars with the "World Market" store brand name featured at the top of the label. The country of origin, "Italy," also is plainly marked on the label.

~A new six-item line of organic pasta, also imported from Italy. The pasta line includes specialty cuts like Conchiglie and Strozzapreti. The pasta comes in 16oz clear packages. The word "organic" is on the package, highlighted in white on a red background.

~A new line of "World Market" all natural specialty salsa in five flavors: Three Bean & Corn, Southern Peach, Three Chili, Roasted Tomato and Roasted Tomatillo. The salsa line is in 16oz glass jars with a black lid.

~Two new varieties (line extension) of its "World Market" all natural Tortilla Chips. The two new varieties, in 12 oz bags, are Blue Corn with Flaxseed and Sweet & Spicy with Flaxseed.

~Four new flavors in its "World Market" 3oz all natural Premium Chocolate Bar line. The new flavors are: Chili & Lime Dark Chocolate, Chipotle Chili Dark Chocolate, plain Dark Chocolate and Toffee Caramel Milk Chocolate. There are now 12 varieties in the line. All have a high cocao content ranging from 64% -to- 99%. The chili and lime and chipotle chili varieties are part of a trend towards combining savory flavors with sweet in chocolate confections. We think you will see this trend grow among confection product producers and marketers.

Cost-Plus aggressively growing brand 'World Market'

Cost Plus World Market has been introducing new items under its store brand, along with extending existing lines with new SKUs aggressively since early last year.

For example, in mid-to-late 2008 the retailer introduced a 12-flavor line of pyramid-shaped organic tea bags under the "World Market" brand.

Additionally, in late 2008, Cost Plus introduced a new line of single-origin extra virgin olive oils. The three item line features extra virgin olive oil from a single country -- Italy, Spain and Greece -- in the bottle. The country of origin is clearly marked on the respective bottle.

Many extra virgin olive oils contain oils mixed from more than one country. Olive oil lovers often prefer single-origin oils. This is the consumer (foodies mostly) market Cost Plus is going after with the line. The retailer recently promoted the 750ml bottles of single-origin extra virgin olive oil for $7.99 each, a discount of about 30% over the regular shelf price.

Cost-Plus and consumables

Cost Plus stores devote a significant amount of floor space to specialty and natural foods items, both under the "World Market" brand and those marketed by domestic and international specialty and natural foods companies.

The stores also feature large wine and craft beer departments. Those departments also include non-alcoholic beverages like bottled waters, specialty sodas, new-age beverages and related drinks.

The stores also sell bulk and packaged specialty coffees, including a nine-variety line (24oz bags) under the "World Market" store brand.

Taken together, consumables comprise the largest overall percentage of category sales in the Cost Plus World Market stores.

More store brand items

The "World Market" store brand has increasingly been comprising more of the shelf space in the stores' food section. This is a part of the retailer's strategy to differentiate itself more in the specialty and natural-organic foods category as a retailer by offering and promoting its own brand.

Cost Plus has been struggling as a company for the last three or so years. In the last year things have been even tougher for the retailer because of the recession. A significant percentage of Cost Plus World Market's sales are in categories such as furniture, housewares and gifts, all items shoppers are buying much less of because of the bad economy.

Additionally, overall sales of specialty and natural foods are down as well because many consumers are trading-down and buying convention grocery products instead of specialty, natural and organic items in order to save money on their overall food bills.

As a way to fight this trend, Cost Plus has been promoting its store brand specialty, natural and organic items regularly, both in its weekly advertising circulars and in-store, reducing prices by 15% -to- 30% and sometimes more on the items.

The "World Market" items also are priced below similar manufacturers' brand specialty and natural foods items on the store shelves. By doing this Cost Plus is attempting to build sales of the store brand, which in many cases it obtains a higher gross margin on than it does the manufacturers' brands.

Like most retailers selling store brands, it also hopes to build consumer brand loyalty to the "World Market" brand, thus resulting in repeat trips to the stores, since the only place shoppers can buy the brand is at Cost Plus World Market.

Expect to see Cost Plus continue its aggressive store brand program, including more natural and organic items, both in the form of line extensions and completely new products.

store brand strategy and manufacturers brands

Of course, this strategy isn't so good for specialty and natural foods brand manufacturers-marketers, since there's only so much shelf space on the stores' shelves. Each time a new "World Market" store brand SKU or line is introduced that means room has to be made for the items on the shelf. That room most often comes from discontinuing manufacturers' items or reducing the number of shelf facings given to the items, as is the case with all retailers with store brands.

Additionally, since the store brand items are priced below competing manufacturers' brands, those brand marketers with like items in the Cost Plus stores are experiencing reduced sales, compared to say when there wasn't a competing "World Market" similar brand item on the shelves.

As an example, Cost Plus now merchandises a complete line of store brand spices and seasonings. Prior to completing the full line last year, specialty spice company Spice Hunter was the only full spice and seasonings line in the stores. This resulted in very high sales volume for the Spice Hunter brand at Cost Plus World Market. But now with a competing full spice and seasonings line under the "World Market" brand, the store brand items take sales away from Spice Hunter, as they do in each category in which the "World Market" brand competes with the various manufacturers' brands on the shelves, both domestic and imported.

More consumables' space: store and manufacturers' brands

Cost Plus would likely benefit right now from actually increasing the amount of square footage it devotes in its stores to consumables since few shoppers are buying much in the way of the other hard goods items the stores sell. Even though specialty and natural category sales are down because of the recession, consumers are still buying far more of the items than they are furniture, imported kitchen gadgets and exotic gift items from places like South America.

Perhaps more consumables in the form of both store brand and manufacturers' brand specialty, natural and organic, and even a few niche conventional items, might be the best way for Cost Plus World Market in helping it not only in the current recession, but overall as a way to reverse its fortunes. After all, the retailer was having trouble prior to the recession . Therefore the difficulty is more systemic than it is a result only of the current economic recession, although it is making the problems worse.

Perhaps an additional 1,000 square feet or so (the stores are about 20,000-30,000 square feet in size) devoted to consumables, taken from furniture, gifts and the like, in the Cost Plus stores would be part of the ticket to creating a more healthy Cost Plus World Market for the company? Based on the retailer's continued struggles, we think its worth a shot.

[Related past posts: January 28, 2008: Monday Marketing Memo: Cost-Plus World Market Restructuring: We Think Specialty Foods and Beverages Can be the Key to a Successful Repositioning ...July 25, 2008: Retail Field Report Memo: Specialty Retailer Cost Plus World Market Is At A Serious Crossroads: We Offer Analysis and Suggestions For Moving Forward]

[Natural~Specialty Foods Memo (NSFM) Editor's Note: Beginning today and over the next week NSFM will be offering extensive news, features and analysis on and about the fast-growing retailer store brand or private label movement. These stories can be indentfied by the header: Store Brand - Private Label Memo. Additionally, each of the pieces will have the sub title: Retailer Store Brands: Special Report.

The growth in conventional, natural, organic and specialty-premium store brands has been moving fast for about the last five years. The current economic recession has been and is increasing store brand or private label product development, marketing, merchandising and sales even more so. It's an important topic and issue. We plan to bring NSFM readers analysis and insight on the topic you can't read elsewhere. Stay tuned.

Read the first story in the special report series here: March 27, 2008: Store Brand - Private Label Memo: Store Brand Organic Products Gaining Prestege With Consumers Says New Study of What Shoppers Are Discussing Online.]

[You can follow Natural~Specialty Foods Memo (NSFM) on Twitter.com at www.twitter.com/nsfoodsmemo.]

Store Brand - Private Label Memo: Store Brand Organic Products Gaining Prestege With Consumers Says New Study of What Shoppers Are Discussing Online

2009-03-27T11:32:00.000-07:00

Retailer Store Brands: Special Report

The introduction and aggressive marketing of high-quality retailer store brand organic products is leading to a change in consumer perceptions in a positive direction, according to a soon to be released research report called the J.D. Power & Associates Private Label Industry Report.

The report is from J.D. Power & Associates Web Intellegence Division, which conducts content analysis research using information from a variety of online sites and sources as a way to guage consumer attitudes and perceptions. Most people know J.D. Power for its industry ranking of automobile quality. However, it's a full service research firm which also focuses on consumer package goods in addition to other consumer products research.

Janet Eden-Harris, vice president of J.D. Power and Associates Web Intelligence Division, which is based in Westlake Village, California, offered a preview of the firm's research into consumer attitudes of store brand organic products this week at the IRI (Information Resources, Inc.) Summit in Las Vegas, Nevada.

She said the J.D. Power Web-based research project shows that consumer attitudes about many store brands have shifted in the last couple years. Rather than has has been the case in the past, in which generally store brands, including organics, have been considered by consumers to be of lower-quality, with a low-price focus (including poor packaging quality), private label brands, particularly store brand organics, are now being thought of as unique and as having quality commensurate with that of traditional manufacturer-marketer brands.

"It's clear that consumers have begun to discard the idea that private label brands are of lower quality than traditional brands, which provides an opportunity for retailers to differentiate themselves with high-quality, reasonably priced store brands," Ms. Eden-Harris said in her presentation at the IRI conference.

The firm's report analyzed about 50,000 spontaneous conversations between March, 2008 and March, 2009 in various Blogs and online message and review boards that mentioned and discussed store brand/private label products from a variety of retailers, according to Ms. Eden-Harris.

Retailers with one-half of 1 percent or more of all discussions during the year are included in the report, she said.

The research report is designed to provide insight to retailers on what drives consumers to purchase their private label brands, as well as to help consumer packaged goods manufacturers develop strategies for differentiating and marketing their brands.

Ms. Eden-Harris said in her presentation at the conference that the complete study and its results will be released in April.

Below are a few highlights of the firm's report regarding private label or store brand organic products from Janet Eden-Harris' presentation at the IRI Summit:

>The report finds that the amount of online conversation about private label products has increased steadily during the past year, with volume peaking during the fall of 2008 as the economic crisis was unfolding.

>Organic store brand pricing is a strong motivator for consumers. But the quality and flavor of private label organic products drive the highest levels of positive sentiment, according to the Web-based content analysis study.

> Store brand food products from Safeway, Trader Joe's and Whole Foods garner particularly high levels of positive consumer recommendations, compared with other private label brands, and are perceived as being particularly healthful and flavorful.

>Positive consumer sentiment for store brand food items, especially organics, is higher than it is for non-food products such as diapers, paper products and cleaning supplies. The report's conclusion: This suggests that these products are perceived by consumers as commodities, purchased for their lower cost rather than as a favored brand in their own right.

In her presentation, Ms. Eden-Harris said the improved perception of store brand organic products doesn't mean opportunity has to be lost by brand manufacturers' and marketers.

"While retailers continue to gain ground with their private label products, there is still enormous opportunity for consumer packaged goods manufacturers," she said. "Innovation is still a big growth driver, and CPG companies still lead in that regard. New and differentiated products that are priced to value will win market share."

We agree with that conclusion since at least in "phase one" of store brand organic product development most of the retailer brand products have been versions of products already produced and marketed by brand manufacturers' and marketers. In fact, retailers like Safeway Stores with its O' Organics brand used sales data from its in-house natural-specialty foods department to decide which items to create under the private-label organics brand.

Additionally, most retailers rely on traditional manufacturers not only to produce their store brands but in many cases to offer advice and suggestions on private label product development.

However, we're now seeing what we call "phase two" of retailer brand organic product development in which select retailers like Safeway, Kroger, Wal-Mart, Trader Joe's (TJ's has always been a "phase two" natural-organic product developer and innovator), Target, Whole Foods, Costco and a few others are innovating and actually creating some products under their respective natural and organic store brands that don't exist under manufacturer brands in the retail marketplace.

In our analysis though food company manufacturers and marketers, particularly in the natural and organic segment, continue to be the innovators when it comes to new product creation and development. Retailers still tend to be followers rather than brand innovators overall in the categories.

J.D. Power's Web Intelligence Division analyzes consumer behavior online by using proprietary Natural Language Processing and machine-learning algorithms to dissect the who, what and why of online opinion, offering in-depth insights for some of the world's leading brands, according to Ms. Eden-Harris. It's a form of content and opinion analysis based on what consumers are commenting and opining on on the Web.

The purpose of the Web-based content and attitude analysis research is to glean what consumers are saying online as a way of better understanding consumer behavior, attitudes, opinions and trends.

With so many consumers now using online product review sites, Blogs, chat forums and social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook, we think such research is now essential, along with more traditional methods, in order to better understand consumer attitudes in the food, grocery and consumer products space.

In fact, Natural~Specialty Foods Memo (NSFM) uses our own form of Web-based content analysis often to spot, analyze and write about consumer behavior and trends based on information gleaned from search engines, social networking sites, online review sites and message boards and Blogs.

Using the Web to better understand consumer behavior and attitudes will become even more important sense so many consumers are using the Web to search for products, retailers and related information, along with reviewing products at online review boards, and generally increasingly using the Web as an integral part of overall consumer and shopper behavior.

Below is a linked selection of past stories from Natural~Specialty Foods Memo (NSFM) on and directly related to the retailer store brands topic:

~March 12, 2009: Retail Memo: Whole Foods Market is Selling Brand 'Wild Oats'- We Offer Three Retailers We Suggest Could Benefit From Buying the Brand

~January 31, 2009: Store Brands - Private Label Memo: Smart & Final-Owned Henry's Farmers Market Preparing to Debut New Natural & Organic 'Sun Harvest' Store Brand

~August 24, 2008: Marketing Memo: Store Brands 2.0: Better Store Brands and Brand and Shopper-Marketing Changing How Food Retailers Sell Their Own Brands

~August 6, 2008: Marketing Memo: Safeway's Challenge: Going From Store Brand Marketer to Consumer Brand Marketer With its O' Organics and Eating Right Brands

~April 28, 2008: Marketing Memo: Safeway Stores, Inc. to Market its 'O' Organics' and 'Eating Right' Organic and Healthy Brands to Other Retailers in U.S. and Globally

~April 28, 2008: Retail Memo: Safeway CEO Burd Says Shoppers Buying Store Brands Over National Brands By As Much As Six -to- One in it's North American Supermarkets

~June 4, 2008: Marketing Memo: Ingredients For 'Free Media' Marketing Success: Safeway Stores Finds Them With Announcement of its New 'Eating Right For Kids' Line

~May 9, 2008: Retail Marketing Memo: Safeway Uses Mother's Day Holiday to Launch its New 'mom to mom' Store Brand Baby Products Line in its Stores

~December 27, 2007: Marketing Memo: Safeway's O' Organics Brand in Asia

~December 23, 2007: Safeway's O' Organics Brand: Part Duex

~December 21, 2007: Friday Fishwrap: Safeway's O' Organics Brand

~January 8, 2008: Media Memo: Safeway's O' Organics Brand In Asia

~February 6, 2008: Retail Memo: Raley's Attempts to Come 'Full-Circle' With New Private-Label Natural and Organic Products' Brand

~April 7, 2008: Retail Memo: Wal-Mart, Target, Drug Chains Further Blur the Natural~Specialty Foods' Retail Class of Trade Lines

~October 11, 2007: Thursday Talking Points Memo:
Category Marketing Dominance: How Whole Foods Market, Inc. Became King of the Supernatural Retail Grocery Category and Why it Will Continue to Reign For Some Time

~February 11, 2008: Retail Trends Memo: UK's Asda Pioneering the 'Store-Grown' and 'Store-Raised' Niche: Will Raise its Own Kobe-Style Beef and Grow its Own Truffles

~December 9, 2008: Organics Category Memo: Wither Organics? Organic Food & Grocery Category Sales Down; But Double-Digit Growth Still Possible With Mass Market Lift

~November 28, 2008: Consumer Behavior Memo USA: 'Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Frugality' - America's New Consumer Frugality

~November 28, 2008: Retail Memo: Target Corp. Launching Major Expansion of Food and Grocery Products in its Target Discount Format Stores

~May 3, 2008: Retail Memo: Loblaw's New President Charts A Course to Return the Grocer to Its 'Glory Days' of Being Canada's 'Best' as Well as Biggest Food Retailer

~December 12, 2007: Mid-Week Marketing Memo: Tesco's Fresh & Easy

~January 28, 2008: Monday Marketing Memo: Cost-Plus World Market Restructuring: We Think Specialty Foods and Beverages Can be the Key to a Successful Repositioning

~July 25, 2008: Retail Field Report Memo: Specialty Retailer Cost Plus World Market Is At A Serious Crossroads: We Offer Analysis and Suggestions For Moving Forward

~January 30, 2008: Retail Memo: A Peak Inside a New Trader Joe's Store

[Reader Note: You can follow Natural~Specialty Foods Memo (NSFM) on Twitter.com at www.twitter.com/nsfoodsmemo.]

Retail Memo: Hybird Natural-Specialty Foods Grocer 'Wholesome Choice' Set to Open New Store Tomorrow In Anaheim Hills, Orange County, Southern CA

2009-03-26T14:29:00.000-07:00

Hybrid specialty-international-natural and fresh foods grocer "Wholesome Choice" is set to open its second unit in the Southern California city of Anaheim Hills in Orange County tomorrow, according to our sources.

The new market is located in a former Albertsons supermarket at the corner of Imperial Highway and La Palma in Anaheim Hills.

The flagship "Wholesome Choice" store is in Irvine, California, which is also in Orange County. That store opened in 2003.

The independently-owned grocer hasn't officially announced the new store's opening. However, our sources say it will be a soft opening tomorrow, March 27, will a grand opening to follow later.

The "Wholesome Choice" format is an interesting one. Below (in italics) is how the independent grocer describes its format and merchandising philosophy:

"Since 2003, Wholesome Choice Market has been providing the best the world has to offer. With a variety of products as diverse as the cultures that shop at our store, you can trust Wholesome Choice to carry your favorite American brands, plus an impressive line of Asian, Mediterranean, Russian, Eastern European, and even have South African foods. We even have the natural and organic foods you've come to expect, along with delicious market-fresh produce that arrives daily.

The Wholesome Choice difference begins with our hearthstone bakery, located at the front of the store. The special breads we bake can't be found at the supermarket, but you'll see them rising in our ovens throughout the day here! We also feature an international food court, feeding our community with the foods they love - both foreign and domestic! We cater to all cultures, so everyone feels welcome here at Wholesome Choice. You'll find lots of locals eating in our dining area rather than taking their food home, so feel free to come and sit, eat and talk. Then shop around for the extraordinary, which can be found on every aisle of the store."

The grocer has combined a selection of basic groceries with natural-organic, international and domestic specialty foods, fresh foods (produce, meat-seafood and bakery) and prepared foods under one roof.

The stores also include beer,wine and spirits departments along with fresh floral sections, making them a full-service supermarket with an international specialty and natural foods flair.

Below we take you on a brief departmental tour of the Irvine 'Wholesome Choice" market. The new Anaheim Hills store will be the same basic format with a few additions and differences, we are told.

Fresh Produce

Fresh produce is a big part of "Wholesome Choice," including organics and locally-produced fresh fruits and vegetables.

Produce department specialists also offer shopper information in-store on where the produce comes from (imported, local), as well as offering nutritional information and preparation tips.

The grocer's merchandising approach in the Irvine store to fresh produce is farmers' market style. The fresh fruits and vegetables are stacked high in bulk form in dry bins and in the refrigerated produce cases. Full case displays are also attractively used throughout the produce department, creating an abundant look and feel.

The place of origin -- domestic, local, imported -- are labeled with colorful signs. The nature of the produce, conventional or organic, also is indicated on the signs.

The store also encourages shoppers to taste many varieties of the fresh produce it sells, particularly the more exotic varieties and locally-grown items.

The fresh produce pricing is competitive.

Meat & Seafood

The meat and seafood department offers the same conventional-specialty-natural and organic hybrid theme that's apparent throughout the Irvine "Wholesome Choice" market, and will be the same in the new Anaheim Hills store.

The department offers conventional cuts of meat, although all of the meats sold are antibiotic-free, 100% vegetarian fed, and have no added hormones, along with specialty items and cuts. For example, the poultry selection includes Rosie Organic Chicken and Empire Kosher poultry.

The meat department also offers a full selection of Halal meats for observant Jews and Muslims, as well as for others who just prefer Halal certified meat products.

A full selection of beef, pork, lamb and other meat cuts are offered in the department, both conventional and organic.

Butchers also will prepare custom cuts by order for customers.

The department also offers a complete selection of fresh fish and seafood, along with a refrigerated case featuring a selection of hot and cold smoked fish products.

Fresh Bakery

The in-store bakery is mostly a made-from-scratch operation. It features varieties of breads from around the world baked daily in hearth ovens. Among the fresh-baked breads are several organic varieties, artisan loaves, French and Mediterranean breads, Russian, Eastern European, Greek and Persian varieties.

The bakery department also offers an extensive selection of fresh-baked pastries and cakes from around the world, along with other sweet treats.

There's also a full aisle of packaged breads and bakery products, ranging from basic brands to specialty and natural-organic brands and varieties.

Grocery

"Wholesome Choice" integrates its extensive selection of basic groceries, domestic and international specialty and ethnic foods, natural and organic items by category throughout the core of the store grocery section. There's no segregation by product type (organic, conventional) or origin (domestic, international).

Below is how the grocer describes its product selection and merchandising philosophy and practice:

"Imagine a variety of little specialty grocers rolled into one big store: your neighborhood American market, a Mexican Mercado, a Mediterranean open-air bizarre, an Asian greengrocer, and a Spanish Boqueria: now you get the idea behind the selection at Wholesome Choice. Every aisle is packed with grocery items grouped by category, not culture. From Organic cereals to wasabi paste, tamarind fruit snacks to German vanilla sugar, it's here. Dried herbs, packaged products and canned goods from all countries, for all types of cuisine. We've got the brands you're sure to know, others you're sure to discover.

Wine, Beer, Spirits

"Wholesome Choice" carries over its eclectic international foods merchandising philosophy and hybrid natural-specialty products focus into its wine, beer and spirits department. The store offers a massive selection of wines, beers and spirits from throughout the world, as well as numerous organic and locally-produced wines and craft beers.

Wines and spirits are merchandised on utilitarian yet attractive warehouse-style racks. There's a large refrigerated case for the beers. Some wines are refrigerated as well. Lots of cross-merchandising tie-ins are created with items such as snacks, cheeses and the like in and around the department. There are also end-caps featuring various wine, beer and spirits items.

Bright yellow signs above the shelving (and refrigerated case) designate each section -- wines, beers, spirits.

Floral

"Wholesome Choice" offers an extensive selection of fresh flowers and green plants in its floral department. These varieties range from the basics to the more exotic. The department also does lots of seasonal floral merchandising, even offering trees and shrubs on a seasonal in-and-out basis. Organic flower varieties are included in the offering.

The floral department also is staffed with specialists who make custom floral arrangements for customers, along with doing special events like weddings, charity functions and the like. It's full-service in that regard.

Deli-Prepared Foods Court

Closing out (last but not least though) our departmental tour of the "Wholesome Choice" market in Irvine, California is the Deli-Food Court. The store's prepared foods department offers an impressive variety of ready-to-eat foods. These include: fresh in-store prepared pizzas; a cold and hot deli; soups and salads; an international grill; and Chinese, Thai, Indian, Persian and Mediterranean foods offerings, all prepared fresh in the store. You can learn more about the food court offerings here.

'Wholesome Choice': Natural~Specialty Foods Memo Analysis

Having toured the "Wholesome Choice" market in Irvine, California, it's our analysis that the grocer is on to something with its specialty-international-ethnic-conventional-natural-fresh foods hybrid format. It's a somewhat similar format to Stew Leonards (although the store isn't as big) on the east coast of the U.S. and Harry's Farmers Market in Atlanta, Georgia, which is now owned by Whole Foods Market, Inc.

The format is sort of a Whole Foods Market without the ingredient restrictions, times an international food court, plus an ethnic and specialty food and grocery emporium.

"Wholesome Choice" waited nearly seven years to open a second store, the new market set to open tomorrow in Anaheim Hills, which proves it's a prudent operator. It's used that time to fine tune its Irvine store.

The only danger we can see with the format is in trying to be all things to all categories. But in our analysis "Wholesome Choice" has avoided that happening thus far by using good product selection and merchandising criteria and skills.

Some years ago, way before its acquisition by Whole Foods Market, Inc., Wild Oats Markets, Inc. repositioned its Henry's Farmers Market banner stores in Southern California into a hybrid format similar to what "Wholesome Choice" is doing. But Wild Oats never got it right, in our analysis. Perhaps it takes an independent, hands on daily, to be successful at what can be a difficult format.

Wild Oats later changed the format a bit more closer to orthodox natural-organic but still left elements of that hybrid nature intact.

Henry's (and the Sun Harvest stores in Texas) are now owned by Los Angeles, California-based Smart & Final, which bought the chain of 36 stores from Whole Foods shortly after the 2007 acquisition of Wild Oats by the Austin, Texas-based natural grocery chain.

Smart & Final-owned Henry's, which operates largely as a separate division from Smart & Final's retail operations, has improved the look of most of the Henry's stores since taking them over in 2007, in our analysis. The stores are still a natural-specialty foods hybrid of sorts but not in the way Wild Oats took them years ago, which included selling mainstream grocery brands next to natural and organic products on the shelves. It will be interesting to see what direction Smart & Final takes the Henry's Farmers Market stores from here.

Meanwhile, although a single-store retailer up until now, and soon to be just a two-store retailer when its second unit opens, we think "Wholesome Choice" has an opportunity to extend its format into additional store locations successfully if it chooses.

We're told the new unit in Anahiem Hills will feature some additional touches that the current Irvine market doesn't have, but will keep the same basic format and focus, which in our analysis is a good idea.

We think taking a basic format blueprint and then "localizing" it to the particular community and neighborhood a store is in is the best approach. But we do mean real "localization" rather than just lip service. For "Wholesome Choice" that won't require much "localization" since the two cities are close by and share many characteristics. But they also have qualitative differences, which is why "localizing" a unit to its neighborhood within its basic blueprint is so important for grocers to do. "Wholesome Choice" has a good eye and ear for local merchandising based on our observation.

"Wholesome Choice" adds an additional element to the already competitive, multi-format Orange County, Southern California, food and grocery retailing mix. We think that based on how the independent grocer has performed with its Irvine market, "Wholesome Choice" should do well with its new store in Anaheim Hills, despite the current recession.

Of course, like all retailers regardless of format, our basic rule applies. That rule is that in the current economy, all grocers must focus on the value-proposition in their own unique and individual ways, whatever the format.

Retail Memo: Whole Foods Market Opens New Store in Santa Cruz, California Today ... And There's Plenty of Competition

2009-03-19T04:02:00.000-07:00

Pictured above is the famous "Giant Dipper" roller coaster at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk in Santa Cruz, California. Built in 1924 it is one of the oldest roller coasters of its kind in America. With Whole Foods Market opening its first store in Santa Cruz today, we suggest there will be a natural foods retailing competitive roller coaster ride soon hitting the city.

Fresh from reaching its settlement agreement with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on March 6, Whole Foods Market, Inc. today opened a 31,500 square foot natural foods supermarket in the coastal Northern California city of Santa Cruz, home to the famous Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, and what's considered one of the most attractive campuses of the University of California, the University of California, Santa Cruz, the campus with the unique mascot -- Sammy the Banana Slug.

The new store is the first for Whole Foods Market in the city of Santa Cruz, which has a very high natural-organic foods shopper demographic. Northern California, which is one of the U.S. regions in which Whole Foods Market has the greatest number of stores, is one of the best market regions for the natural grocery chain in the country.

An interesting aspect of Whole Foods' opening its new natural foods supermarket in Santa Cruz so soon after its March 6 settlement agreement with the FTC regarding the regulatory agency's near 20-month legal battle to overturn the 2007 acquisition by Whole Foods Market, Inc. of Wild Oats Markets, Inc., is that Santa Cruz, a city of about 100,000 residents, is a very competitive natural foods retailing town.

For example, in the natural foods retailing class of trade, locally-based New Leaf Community Markets has long been the leader in Santa Cruz. In fact, New Leaf just opened on March 11 a brand new nearly 18,000 square foot natural foods market on the westside of the city. The New Leaf store is about three miles from the new Whole Foods store, which is located on the city's east side. The new store replaces an older New Leaf market on the westside. There's also a New Leaf store in downtown Santa Cruz. There are six New Leaf units in the region.

Another popular independent natural foods market in Santa Cruz is Staff of Life Natural Foods Market, which has operated in the city for many years and has a loyal following.

There's also a Trader Joe's natural and specialty grocery store in Santa Cruz. With its extensive selection of natural, organic and specialty products, Trader Joe's draws many of the same customers that Whole Foods Market stores do.

Safeway Stores, Inc. has a supermarket in Santa Cruz. The grocery chain, which is based in Northern California's San Francisco Bay Area, is in the process of building one of its brand new "Lifestyle" format supermarkets in the coastal community.

In addition to being filled with conventional food and grocery products, the new Safeway in Santa Cruz will be stocked full with natural, organic and premium food and grocery items, including the chain's popular "O' Organics" organic products brand and its "Eating Right" healthy foods brand. The two Safeway brands combined did about $1 billion in gross sales in Safeway's 1,750 stores in the U.S. and Canada in 2008.

The new Santa Cruz "Lifestyle" format Safeway also will feature a fresh, prepared foods-deli department and in-store special features like a fresh nut bar, which Safeway includes in its new "Lifestyle" stores. The new wave "Lifestyle" format stores often look in many cases very similar in design to a larger, new Whole Foods store.

Sacramento, California-based Raley's (130 stores, $3.5 billion in annual sales) has one of its Nob Hill banner supermarkets in Santa Cruz. Raley's is a major player in natural and organic foods retailing and the Santa Cruz Nob Hill store offers a strong selection of natural and organic products, reflecting Raley's competitiveness in the categories.

Add to this competitive mix Shoppers Corner, a longtime Santa Cruz independent supermarket that offers both conventional groceries and natural, organic and specialty foods. The grocer "stacks product high" and "sells it cheap," often offering natural and organic items for less than all its competitors.

In other words, Santa Cruz is a perfect laboratory to test the FTC's (now historic) antitrust argument that a combined Whole Foods-Wild Oats is monopolistic. As we argued throughout the legal case, in today's natural-organic foods retailing world in the U.S., Whole Foods competes against not only natural foods stores, but also certain supermarket chains (like Safeway) and hybrid format retailers (like Trader Joe's).

Therefore, since Santa Cruz has three high volume and competitive natural foods markets -- the two New Leaf units and Staff of Life -- along with Safeway and Trader Joe's, plus Shoppers Corner, it's our analysis that Whole Foods will have its competition cut out for it in the coastal city. It won't be a cakewalk on the boardwalk for Whole Foods Market in Santa Cruz.

By the same token, Whole Foods will inject a massive dose of competition into the food and grocery retailing business in Santa Cruz. The natural foods supermarket chain is going after the city's consumers aggressively with discount pricing, hot promotional deals, special events and other merchandising and marketing schemes designed to fill the store's aisles.

But the local guys will fight back. That's why the market was right, and why the FTC ultimately gave Whole Foods a sweet settlement deal. The competition abounds and is always changing and growing.

[Suggested reading: Jondi Gumz, a staff writer for the Santa Cruz Sentinel newspaper, has a comprehensive and insightful piece published in the paper today about Whole Foods' opening of its new store in Santa Cruz, and the competitive aspects having the new big league player in town might have on the city's existing retailers. Read the story here. There's also a color slideshow of photogrpahs of the new store at the link.]

Retail Memo - UK: Sainsbury's CEO and Tesco Marketing Chief Offer Differing Analysis of Food Retailing and Shopper Behavior at Retail Week Conference

2009-03-18T20:41:00.000-07:00

News & Analysis

The British trade publication Retail Week is holding its annual retailing conference this week in the United Kingdom.

Today, executives from two of the UK's top supermarket chains, number one Tesco and number three Sainsbury's, addressed the UK retaling conference focusing on what each chain views as the state of food and grocery retailing and food shopper behavior in the nation at present in these recessionary times.

Representing Sainsbury's and speaking at the conference was its CEO, Justin King. And representing Tesco was Carolyn Bradley, the supermarket chain's director of marketing for the UK.

Interestingly, Sainsbury's CEO King and Tesco's Ms. Bradley painted an almost complete opposite picture of how their respective chain's are currently viewing consumers and food retailing in the UK, which like the U.S. and most elsewhere in the world is in the midst of a severe recession.

For example, Tesco UK marketing chief Bradley said the nation's leading supermarket chain believes consumers are trading down. Therefore Tesco has and continues to adjust its merchandising, marketing and promotions in a more discount price, value-based direction, she said in her speech.

According to a story in Retail Week today, she said UK consumers' trading down behavior is "manifesting itself through them changing lots of little things: consumers doing without a latte, finding cheaper ways to treat themselves and trading off larger purchases such as sofa or a holiday."

But in contrast, in his speech, Sainsbury's CEO Justin King said he doesn't see a significant consumer trade-down in the UK. Rather, he argued in his speech that the middle, where Sainsbury's is positioned in the market, continues to hold.

Below (in italics) is a summary of what CEO King said in his talk, from a report in Retail Week today:

"King said assertions that consumers are downtrading, that people revert to selfish behaviour and that the middle ground erodes in a recession is not what the supermarket is experiencing.

Sainsbury's is seeing that its customers are largely sticking with the company, but changing what they buy, cooking more and transferring spend from eating out to buying things like family ready-meals, King said.

Despite the warnings of many, Sainsbury's is not feeling the middle ground being squeezed, he added.

He said: "Being in the centre is a good place and you are uniquely positioned to work with customers as they make changes."

He added that the £10 million Sainsbury's has banked for Comic Relief so far this year proved that consumers were not becoming less altruistic.

King said that while his customers genuinely fear for their jobs, those that still have jobs also have household budgets that are under less pressure than they have been for a very long time.

Sainsbury's has conducted research into how different sectors within retail have been affected by previous downturns, and food has traditionally been the most resilient.

He also demonstrated the consistent messaging - "having the "same DNA", as he described it - in Sainsbury's adverts over the years, and over previous downturns.

He said that Sainsbury's focus on cooking and ingredients in its adverts is as relevant today as ever, with more people rediscovering cooking as a way to mitigate the food inflation that has been experienced.

King is keen to provide leadership to his staff and customers with a "glass half-full attitude".

He said that even if 1 million consumers lose their jobs this year, as economists predict, that will still leave 97 per cent of the workforce in employment, and Sainsbury's must continue to serve them.

At the same time, he believes that everything Sainsbury's is doing, with its focus on value, switching to own-label and more home cooking, will be even more relevant to those who are unfortunate enough to lose their jobs this year."

Now, read below (in italics) the Retail Week summary of Tesco's Ms. Bradley from her speech at the conference:

"Bradley said Tesco has been tracking consumers changing confidence, and where as price and fuel inflation were the main concerns last year, this has given way to job security as the biggest issue.

Unlike Sainsbury's chief executive Justin King, who spoke at the conference earlier in the day, Bradley said that she believed consumers are trading down.

She said that this is manifesting itself through them changing lots of little things: consumers doing without a latte, finding cheaper ways to treat themselves and trading off larger purchases such as sofa or a holiday.

Unlike King, Bradley also sees that consumers' concern for ethical matters giving way to price. She says that mums' main concerns right now are providing for their family, and not letting them suffer even when budgets have to be cut.

She defended Tesco's decision to launch its Discounter range, and said that it was done after Tesco had identified a substantial gap in the market between generic branded value products, and big brand merchandise.

She used the example of one customer who had been able to cut her weekly shopping bill in half by moving to the Discounter products.

She said price is where retailers need to start, and so Tesco has focused on reducing the cost of reducing everyday items, and giving customers more price choice for each item they buy.

Finally, she said that it was important to allow customers to retain a sense of fun and treats. Tesco has seen an increased take up of its Clubcard Deals, where customers can exchange Clubcard points for vouchers for days out and other leisure activities.

She said: "It is a way that they can still afford to go out to [places like] Café Rouge. These little luxuries offer huge value to customers."

She also pointed to deals on Finest meals, and entertainment promotions, as other ways the supermarket is allowing its customers to treat themselves."

Reading the summaries of the speeches given at the conference by the Sainsbury's CEO and Tesco's UK marketing chief, one could easily come to the conclusion they aren't talking about the same country or market, if we hadn't told you in advance that they are.

What makes the stark differences in Tesco and Sainsbury's analysis of the UK food and grocery retail marketplace all the more interesting is that historically both supermarket chains have a very similar customer base -- the middle. Neither are discounters like Wal-Mart-owned Asda. Nor are Tesco and Sainsbury's upscale supermarket chains like Waitrose or Marks & Spencer. They are historically mid-range operators.

For example, both competing supermarket chains offer an extensive selection of natural, organic, specialty and premium foods on store shelves alongside conventional manufacturers' and store brands. These natural, organic, specialty and premium products include the retailers' own brands, as well as premium prepared food items, organic produce and meats.

However, because of the recession, Tesco has made a strategic decision to go more discount; to put a much more aggressive focus on price than it has ever done. This decision is largely because the UK's leading supermarket chain (it has a nearly 31% sales market share) has been losing market share points (about 2.5 points in the last 18 months) to Asda and to the small-format, hard-discount German chains Aldi-UK and Lidl.

Sainsbury's on the other hand has resisted getting into the discount game full-force, although it to has been sharpening its pricing, promotions and value offerings, as CEO King said in his speech. But unlike Tesco, it hasn't strategically made a strong price- discount move.

This got us to thinking: Could it be that the main reason the viewpoints of the two executives representing Britain's leading supermarket chains are so differing is because each of the respective chain's has staked out a very different recession strategy and therefore used their speeches at the conference more to defend what each supermarket chain is doing strategically instead of actually attempting to diagnose what British grocery shoppers are really doing in terms of their behavior in these tough economic times?

We aren't making a value judgement on what either of the executives said in their speeches. Rather we're attempting to account for the major differences in how each of them says their supermarket chains view the current state of the British grocery shopper and UK food retailing.
Were Tesco and Sainsbury's radically different formats and food retailers, such an attempt at understanding these differences would be a moot point. But they aren't -- in fact the two chains have far more merchandising, positioning and and operational similarities than they do differences.

Lastly, the explanation could be simple. It's always difficult to attempt to describe consumer behavior in any global way. Perhaps what's happened is Sainsbury's has retained more mid-range shoppers than Tesco has. Therefore, Sainsbury's has yet to see a loss in sales of the same volume as Tesco has because of this possible scenario. So, based on this observation, CEO Justin King's "the center continues to hold" position makes more sense.

And if this scenario is true, that in the case of Tesco it has lost more customers to the discounters like Asda and Aldi, as the market share data tends to suggest, and it needs to win back these shoppers, then it makes sense the retailer tends to see the trading down consumer behavior much more so than Sainsbury's does.

From a macro perspective though, all data in the UK suggests shoppers are trading down when it comes to food and grocery shopping. The Tesco scenario. This is why Aldi and Lidl are the biggest percentage gainers in market share. There's also an abundance of other evidence that the trading down behavior has been going on in the UK for at least a year -- and increasing as the economy worsens.

If Sainsbury's isn't seeing it, that's good news for the chain and its shareholders. But if instead of not seeing it, Sainsbury's is missing it, then that will be bad news for the chain and its shareholders.

But fortunately we have a scorecard to track it. Sainsbury's will soon release its financial results. And new UK market share numbers will also be released soon.

By the same token, is what Tesco seeing, and doing about it, a clear picture of UK shopper behavior? Since Tesco is set to release it financials soon as well, along with the upcoming market share numbers coming out as mentioned above, we will be able to make some analysis of Tesco's approach, as voiced by UK marketing chief Bradley in her talk at the Retail Week conference, soon.

Local Foods Memo - Farmers' Markets: Farmers' Market Season is Fast-Approaching

2009-03-17T21:14:00.000-07:00

Customers line the vendor stalls at the popular farmers' market in the small city of Sonora in Northern California's Gold Country foothills region. It's a social market as well as a farmers' market. [Photo courtesy of ianandwendy.com.]

Farmers market season is fast approaching in the U.S., as well as elsewhere in North America and the world.

The end of March and first of April marks the opening (although some have already opened) of thousands of farmers markets throughout the U.S., where local farmers and other food purveyors sell their fresh produce and artisan foods directly to consumers.

The farmers' market season is part of spring, that time of renewal in all things lifestyle.

The farmers' market movement in the U.S. has been growing super-fast over the last decade, and even picking up more steam in just the last few years, as new open-air markets open in cities, suburbs and small towns throughout America. There are thousands of farmers markets operating in the U.S. today.

What makes farmers' markets a unique format for fresh produce and artisan-specialty-natural foods retailing are essentially five key elements:

>In most cases the vendors grow all of the produce they sell at the markets. In states like California and a number of others, "state certified" farmers' markets exist in which all of the sellers must also be the growers. Non-growers-sellers can sell at non-certified farmers' markets but consumers like the certified markets because it ensures they are buying directly from the farmer.

>Most of the fresh produce sold at farmers' markets in the U.S. is "locally grown," coming from a distance of generally no more than about 100 miles from the market location.

>Organic fruits and vegetables abound. Since many of the growers-sellers at farmers markets are on the cutting edge of farming, the fresh produce they offer is in many cases organically-grown. Much of it also is biodynamic. For many farmers who sell at the markets doing so is more about saving money by not buying chemical fertilizer, pesticides and fungicides than it is a marketing tool. It's also about being conservationists of their land.

>Price is generally good. The prices on both conventional and organic fresh produce at local farmers markets are generally as good or better than supermarket prices. Even in the cases when the prices are a bit higher, the value often is better because the produce tends to be fresher and of higher quality. There's also the added benefit of supporting local farmers.

>Farmers' markets are a social event. Farmers' markets allow consumers to get closer to the food they eat. As mentioned, most of the sellers at farmers' markets also are the growers. This allows for interaction between the farmers-vendors and consumers. Farmers' markets also provide a forum, centered around food, in which residents of a community can interact, visit and network. It's community at its best.

Since farmers' market season is fast-approaching, Natural~Specialty Foods Memo (NSFM) decided to search the web and choose a selection of stories and articles about farmers' markets in the U.S. (and one in the UK at the bottom of the list) for our readers. (We will have more about Canadian and UK farmers' markets in upcoming posts.)

Below are links to the articles we've selected. All of the stories are from March 17, 2009:

~Tampabay.com: Tampa farmers markets a boon for frugal food shoppers
~Seal Beach Daily: The beauty of buying local: fresh and fun at the new Seal Beach farmers market
~Valley Courier: Local flavor
~Vernon Morning star: Eating close to home
~California Farm Bureau magazine: Considering organics? Farmers offer advice on how to get started. And: Growth in organic food sales continues, at slower pace
~Boston Globe: Economy of scales
~Christian Science Monitor: Refugee job hopes wax and wane at farmers market
~Minneapolis City Pages: Great news from Chef Shack!
~Hobby Farms.com: Top 10 Ways to Support Agriculture
~WXII12.com: New Farmers Market To Open In Downtown Winston-Salem
~MPNNow.com: Farmers, families like veggie coupons
~Rural Northwest.com: Growing the Farmers' Market
~The Post-Standard: Farmers markets seminars coming up
~Richmond TimesFarmers market in western Henrico opens April 25
~United Kingdom: Liz Hurley to take up stall at Stroud Farmers' Market

Enjoy.

Natural~Specialty Foods Memo (NSFM) will be visiting a variety of farmers markets in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom in the upcoming spring and summer months, bringing first-person reports about local foods' selling and buying, along with photographs, to the Blog. Stay tuned.

Reader Memo: If You Sent Us an E-Mail Last Week -- Please Resend it Today

2009-03-16T17:16:00.000-07:00

Natural~Specialty Foods Memo (NSFM) had a problem with our nsfoodsmemo@yahoo.com e-mail account late last week. The problem, now fixed, resulted in all of the e-mails sent to us in the latter part of last week being deleted.

There were 7-8 reader e-mails from Wednesday, Thursday and Friday we were in the process of responding to. If you sent us an e-mail anytime last week and haven't received a response, would you please resend your e-mail to us so we may respond.

The e-mails deleted included one or two labeled "Newflower," about the Sunflower Farmers Market natural foods chain and its "Newflower" stores in Texas. Would that reader please resend those e-mails to us at either nsfoodsmemo@yahoo.com or nsfoodsmemo@gmail.com, or to both of those accounts.

Additionally, for all readers who sent e-mails to Natural`Specialty Foods Memo (NSFM) last week but haven't yet received a response from us, you too can resend those e-mails to either one of the above accounts, or to both.

Thank You

Ethical Foods Memo: Does (Egg) Size Matter? Size of Eggs Emerging as Hen Welfare, Taste Issue in United Kingdom

2009-03-13T19:45:00.000-07:00

If laying larger eggs is painful for a chicken, imagine what it must be like for an Ostrich, an Emu and a Pheasant. Pictured above, left -to- right: An Ostrich egg (far left), a Emu egg, a Pheasant egg, and (far right) a chicken egg (large grade). [Click on the photograph to enlarge.]

In the United Kingdom, when it comes to eggs, most consumers like them larger rather than smaller. For example, while in the U.S. large grade eggs (with medium grade not far behind) are the number one seller in retail stores (as well as the most promoted by grocers), extra large and even jumbo hold that honor in UK supermarkets.

The upscale Waitrose supermarket chain even sells Ostrich eggs, which make a jumbo grade egg from a chicken look tiny. [Read our May 1, 2008 piece here: Local Foods Memo: Never A Grocer to Have its Head in the Sand, Waitrose is Selling Locally-Produced Ostrich Eggs at its UK Supermarkets.]

But like all things involving food, and eggs particularly seem to generate lots of debate -- the back and forth good for you, bad for you debate, for example -- the latest egg controversy, this time in the UK where "egg size truly matters," has to do with whether or not larger eggs are bad.

Specifically, some "eggs-perts" in the UK are now sounding the alarm, saying all the fuss about the desirability of larger eggs in the UK is...well, "egg-cessive."

These folks argue that not only is it painful for chickens to lay larger eggs, but that smaller eggs actually taste better than the larger cousins.

This arguments isn't new all together, at least in the case of other foods. For example, chefs tell us that smaller fish generally taste better than larger versions of the same family or variety. And, generally speaking, most smaller-sized version of vegetables (like Italian Squash, for example) tend to taste better than there large or jumbo relatives.

But this is the first time we've heard the "smaller tastes better" argument applied to the humble and wonderful egg.

The "does egg-size matter" debate took to the pages of one of Britain's leading newspapers, the Daily Mail," yesterday in a piece by staff writer Marcus Dunk titled: "Egg-cessive? Large eggs are painful for hens to lay, claim experts. What's more they're less tasty. So should we stop shelling out for them?

Large egg cruelty: In the Daily Mail story, Tom Vesey, chairman of the British Free Range Producers' Association, claimed: "It can be painful to the hen to lay a large egg … it would be kinder to eat smaller eggs," he is quoted as saying.

The Daily Mail piece also attributed to Mr. Vesey this: "He also said medium-sized eggs 'taste better'. So in a world that is constantly downsizing, is it time that we embraced the smaller-sized egg"?

Backed up by some science: The story also quotes a scientist in the piece. "Christine Nicol, professor of Animal Welfare at Bristol University, agrees. 'There is no strong published evidence of pain in egg-laying hens but it's not unreasonable to think there may be a mismatch in the size of the birds and the eggs they produce.'"

"We do often spot bloodstains on large eggs. I would never buy jumbo eggs."

The "does egg-size matter" debate appears to have begun in the UK in full force. Will it soon travel across the pond to America? We predict PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) will soon get involved in the "egg size" issue, focusing on the hen welfare aspects. Remember we predicted it first.

Click here to read the story, "Egg-cessive? Large eggs are painful for hens to lay, claim experts. What's more they're less tasty. So should we stop shelling out for them"? in the Daily Mail. [There's a companion story from the Daily Mail here: "Lay off large eggs: Shoppers warned big varieties cause pain and stress to hens."]

[Reader Note: You can follow Natural~Specialty Foods Memo (NSFM) around on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/nsfoodsmemo.]

Retail Memo: Whole Foods Market is Selling Brand 'Wild Oats'- We Offer Three Retailers We Suggest Could Benefit From Buying the Brand

2009-03-12T16:03:00.000-07:00

Whole Foods Market, Inc. - FTC Settlement Agreement: Post-Mortem Analysis

As we reported in this piece [Daily Memo: It's A Done Deal: Whole Foods Market and the FTC Reach A Settlement Agreement On Wild Oats' Acquisition Antitrust Challenge] on March 6, 2009, the settlement agreement reached between Whole Foods Market, Inc. and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over the FTC's antitrust legal challenge to Whole Foods' 2007 acquisition of Wild Oats Markets, Inc. included three elements or terms. Those terms are:

>The selling of 13 (12 former Wild Oats' units, one existing Whole Food's unit) stores currently being operated by Whole Foods Market, Inc.;

>The selling of 19 closed stores; 10 closed by Wild Oats before the acquisition and nine closed by Whole Foods Market, Inc. post-acquisition and;

>The selling by Whole Foods Market, Inc. of the "Wild Oats" brand and all related intellectual property.

As part of the settlement agreement, a third-party receiver is handling the sale of the 32 stores and the "Wild Oats" brand and intellectual property.

It is the third element of the settlement agreement -- the selling of the brand -- that we focus on in this piece today.

It's our analysis that having to sell the brand is something that hurts Whole Foods Market not at all.

In fact, since acquiring Wild Oats Markets, Inc. in 2007, Whole Foods' has done pretty much all buried the brand by design and strategy. Therefore, we see no downside -- nor do we believe Whole Foods Market, Inc. does -- in the natural grocery chain's selling of the "Wild Oats" brand.
If Whole Foods Market gets a decent price for the brand and related intellectual property, it's our analysis and opinion that the retailer probably will view that aspect of the settlement deal as pure blue sky. [We don't think the selling of the stores hurts Whole Foods in anyway either, as we mentioned in our March 6 story. It's all blue sky for Whole Foods.]

Natural~Specialty Foods Memo (NSFM) does see some value in the "Wild Oats" brand -- not particularly to Whole Foods Market, especially at this point in time since the natural grocery chain already made a strategic decision not to use the brand long before the FTC settlement requirement to sell it -- but to a handful of other retailers.

In this vein, we offer an analysis below of three very different retail chains -- natural foods grocery chain Sunflower Farmers Market, mega-retailer Wal-Mart, and online retailer Amazon.com -- that could benefit from buying and using the Wild Oats brand.

Sunflower Farmers Market

The fast-growing Boulder, Colorado-based natural foods chain, which was founded by and is run by Mike Gilliland (CEO), who also founded Wild Oats in 1984 in Boulder, might want to take a look at buying the "Wild Oats" brand from Whole Foods Market, Inc.

This is not just because of the nostalgic fact that Gilliland founded and named the grocery chain Wild Oats, although that aspect has a heart warming aspect to it, but rather because the brand name could offer some merchandising and marketing advantages to Sunflower Farmers Market.

The Texas connection: First, probably because an existing health food store in Texas has the name "Sunflower," Sunflower Farmers Market has chosen to name its stores in the Longhorn state "Newflower." Might it not be interesting if Sunflower Farmers Market buys the "Wild Oats" brand from Whole Foods and then changes the name of those Texas stores to "Wild Oats," using the old Wild Oats logo (which is attractive) and related intellectual and brand properties?

We think doing so could offer benefits to Sunflower in its Texas stores. The "Wild Oats" brand name still has brand equity, in our analysis, particularly among primary natural foods shoppers, and particularly in the Western U.S.

It would also be an ironic development were this to happen since Whole Foods Market is based in Texas. Sunflower just opened its first "Netflower" store in Austin, where Whole Foods' corporate headquarters is located, a couple weeks ago.

Additionally, brand "Wild Oats" might also offer Sunflower Farmers Market some additional options and benefits.

For example, the natural grocer could use "Wild Oats" as a private label brand. Wild Oats Markets, Inc. had a full line of natural and organic products under the brand, even selling the brand and line at Kroger stores throughout the U.S. for a few years, in addition to in the Wild Oats Market stores.

Whole Foods Market, Inc. has now sold off most of the "Wild Oats" brand items, replacing them in the converted former Wild Oats Market banner stores with Whole Foods Market store brands. But the recipes, graphic design for the labels and all of the other intellectual and material property still exists for the brand's product line. All Sunflower, or any other grocer, need do if they acquire the brand is to decide what products they want to put under it and hire vendors to produce the products.

Perhaps brand "Wild Oats" would make a good premium natural products brand for Sunflower Farmers Market, featuring either just organic or both natural and organic items, for example.

Further, owning the brand would allow Sunflower Farmers Market and Gilliland to use it on any stores it desired at any time. For example, Perhaps as the chain grows it creates a second retail format, branding it "Wild Oats." We could see a higher-end format from Sunflower (after the recession), for example, that used the Wild Oats retail brand on it. This would fit with the positioning of the brand on products being of a more premium natural and/or organic nature, under that scenario.

Lastly, imagine the marketing-oriented public relations attention buying the "Wild Oats" brand would have for Sunflower Farmers Market and Mike Gilliland.

We can see the headlines now: (1) "Wild Oats' brand returns to founder." (2) Mike Gilliland sows his 'Wild Oats': plans Texas stores under the Wild Oats Market banner." (3) It's 'Back to the Future' for Sunflower Farmers Market founder and CEO Mike Gilliland, as he prepares to launch a new line of private label natural and organic products in the Sunflower stores under the 'Wild Oats' label."

This could be publicity no amount of money can buy, particularly timed with the launch of the rebranded "Newflower" stores under the Wild Oats' retail banner in Texas, or the launch of a new proprietary natural product line under the "Wild Oats" brand for Sunflower. Just some food for thought.

And, since the settlement with the FTC requires a third-party receiver to sell brand "Wild Oats," Whole Foods Market, Inc. can't veto a sale of the brand and its assets to Gilliland and Sunflower Farmers Market (or to any other competitor), should the natural grocer decide to acquire it.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

We go from small but fast-sprouting Sunflower Farmers Market to global giant Wal-Mart in this journey.

We think buying the "Wild Oats" brand from Whole Foods has some merit for Wal-Mart. For example, Wal-Mart brands its fast-growing line of natural and organic products under the "Sam's Choice" brand. While it's nice that this brand honors Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton, it really has very little resonance in consumers' minds when it comes to natural or organic food. In fact, since Sam Walton was a very frugal man, we doubt he would have spent the extra money that natural and organic food and grocery items cost anyway.

Wal-Mart could use brand "Wild Oats" for private label brand natural-organic products in a few ways.

First, it could brand all of its natural and organic products under the brand, including changing existing "Sam's" items to brand "Wild Oats."

Second, it could create a two-tier brand system. "Sam's" would be used for lower price-point natural and organic items, "Wild Oats" for higher-end, premium natural-organic items.

Lastly, Wal-Mart could use the "Wild Oats" brand name strictly for organic food and grocery items, then use "Sam's" or something else for "natural" only.

We think Wal-Mart needs a better brand for natural-organic using one of the above three product scenarios

Wild Oats' is a good brand name, still has equity, and is for sale. Therefore, although we know this is way down on the list of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.'s priorities list, we think acquiring the brand from Whole Foods Market would offers a nice opportunity in the natural-organic products categories for Wal-Mart, which continues to move deeper into the categories, and will move much faster once again in the natural-organic private label and retailing spaces once the recession ends.

Wal-Mart also now operates four (soon to be five when it opens a new store in Peoria, Arizona later this year) of its small-format Marketside grocery and fresh foods stores. (Wal-Mart also has two Marketside stores under construction in San Diego County, California, with three more planned in California.) The 15,000 -to- 20,000 square foot markets feature a limited assortment of basic food and grocery items, including natural, organic and specialty items, fresh meats and produce, perishables and in-store prepared foods.

The Marketside stores are more upscale than any of Wal-Mart's other formats. A selection of natural and organic items in the stores under the "Wild Oats" brand could be a nice addition to the natural and organic item selection-segment in those stores for Wal-Mart.

Amazon.com

In 2007 the online retailer Amazon.com started selling shelf-stable food, grocery, household item, health and body care and related packaged goods. Today the online mega-store's inventory in these respective categories is vast and extensive, including offering lots of natural, organic and specialty food and grocery items for sale.

Shoppers order the food and groceries online just as they do everything else that Amazon merchandises. The orders are then delivered to shoppers' homes via Federal Express, UPS or other basic delivery service.

In a little over two years, Amazon has gone from merely experimenting with selling food and groceries to actually selling a considerable volume of product, including a decent amount of natural and organic food and grocery products.

We think Amazon should take the logical next step in its progression as an online grocer and start offering its own brand products. Since the web retailer doesn't have the volume needed to really yet have a store brand everyday or discount grocery brand, we suggest a good place to start would be with a natural and organic products store brand.

Therefore, why not brand "Wild Oats"? The brand still has consumer awareness and equity. Everything is there to rapidly start producing whatever products are desired; all that's needed are vendors. And, the brand is for sale.

Amazon could create its own natural and organic food and grocery proprietary brand under the "Wild Oats" brand. It could start small, say with about 45-75 items in a half dozen -to- a dozen categories to start. We would suggest all the products be consumables and health and body care to start. Then it could go from there with the brand.

Amazon also could extend the brand "Wild Oats" across the numerous categories it sells products from. For example, how about "Wild Oats'" proprietary brand organic cotton clothing? What about body care, vitamins, supplements? How about a line of "green" cleaning products under the brand."

In other words, brand "Wild Oats" could allow Amazon to have a proprietary brand that it could use to create it's own "brand" in the numerous categories -- from food and drink to clothing and health and body care -- that avail themselves of a natural-organic products focus.

Amazon is without a doubt big enough to do this. We think it would be a very positive development for the online mega-retailer. It also, in our analysis, would help build better product brand equity for the online retailer.

Amazon.com is a major player in natural products retailing across numerous categories. The Wild Oats brand could allow it to become a much bigger category player in many mainstream and niche natural and organic products segments, from consumables to clothing, and much more.

Conclusion: Brand 'Wild Oats' - will any retailers bite?

There are other retailers besides the three we offer that could benefit from acquiring the brand from Whole Foods Market, Inc. Most interesting to us will be if a competitor -- like Sunflower Farmers Market, Sprouts Farmers Market or Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage -- buys brand "Wild Oats" with the design of using it as the name for a chain of stores.

Or, if another format retailer, say Target or Wal-Mart, were to buy it with the idea of someday using "Wild Oats" for a chain of natural foods markets. We doubt this scenario -- but that doesn't make it any less interesting.

It's our analysis that the FTC hopes something like the first scenario above happens -- that some competitor of Whole Foods Market buys the brand and uses it to compete against Whole Foods.' That's the key reason the FTC required there be a third party receiver appointed to handle the sale of the brand and the store sales: It wanted to make sure that Whole Foods Market, Inc. couldn't veto the sale of brand "Wild Oats" or the sale of any of the stores on the block to a competitor.

It will be interesting to see if any retailers bite and make an offer to buy the brand. Readers: Which retailers do you think could benefit from buying brand "Wild Oats" from Whole Foods Market, Inc? Offer your idea(s) and opinion(s) by using the "comments" link below. Just click and type.

[Related posts: March 8, 2009: Retail Memo: The FTC-Whole Foods Market Settlement Agreement Looks Much Like Our January 'Blueprint-Template For A Settlement Deal' Proposal ... March 6, 2008: Retail Memo: The 'Whole Bibliography' - FTC v. Whole Foods Market Antitrust Case & Issue ... March 6, 2008: Daily Memo: It's A Done Deal: Whole Foods Market and the FTC Reach A Settlement Agreement On Wild Oats' Acquisition Antitrust Challenge ... March 5, 2008: Daily Memo: Whole Foods Market - FTC - Settlement Deal Watch - Countdown to March 6]

[You can follow Natural~Specialty Foods Memo (NSFM) on Twitter.com at: www.twitter.com/nsfoodsmemo.]

Guest Memo: Satire From The Onion - 'FDA Approves Salmonella'

2009-03-10T17:13:00.000-07:00

FDA director Stephen Sundlof okays the bacteria for eating, drinking, and applying directly to the skin. [the Onion. March 10, 2009.]

On The Lighter Side

From the Natural~Specialty Foods Memo (NSFM) Editor's Desk: As we're all too aware, the food-borne pathogen salmonella is a tough one to shake. In 2007 it showed up in salad greens in the United States. In 2008 it appeared in fresh peppers and Roma tomatoes. And now -- its peanut butter. Salmonella appears to be the enterobacteria that keeps on giving when it comes to appearing in various parts -- and products -- of the U.S. food supply chain.

And try as it might, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) just hasn't been able to figure out how to stop these frequent and very serious food safety issues centered around Salmonella contamination in a host of very different foods and food products.

Perhaps the satirical publication "the Onion" has the right approach in a piece it published today. In that piece, "FDA Approves Salmonella," "the Onion" offers an "if you can't beat it embrace it" approach to the Salmonella contamination issue.

We reprint the humor piece from "the Onion" below (in italics). Remember -- it's satire:

WASHINGTON—Calling it "perfectly safe for the most part," and "not nearly as destructive or fatal as previously thought," the Food and Drug Administration approved the enterobacteria salmonella for human consumption this week.

The federal agency, which has struggled in recent years to contain the food-borne pathogen, and repeatedly failed to prevent tainted products from reaching store shelves, announced Monday that salmonella was now completely okay for all Americans to enjoy.

"Rigorous testing has shown that salmonella is...fine," FDA director of food safety Stephen Sundlof said. "In fact, our research indicates that there's no need to pull any more foodstuffs from the market. Not raw chicken. Not contaminated spinach. Not thousands of jars of harmful peanut butter. Not anything."

"It's approved," Sundlof continued."Healthy, delicious salmonella is finally approved."

Following the announcement, the FDA released a 20-page report, which included evidence that salmonella is barely more dangerous than other live-culture products such as yogurt, and results from a clinical trial which found that participants who ingested salmonella were totally fine for up to three minutes.

The report also concluded that salmonella has been around American kitchens for centuries now, and must therefore be at least harmless, if not actually good for us.

"Of course, as with everything, we encourage moderation," lead FDA researcher Phillip Millar said. "Don't just eat a whole pint of salmonella in one sitting. It's like ice cream or, for example, E. coli in that respect."

Added Millar, "A little bit goes a long way."

According to FDA officials, the intracellular bacterium will be commercially available in a variety of forms. Plans are already in the works to offer salmonella as a flavorful topping, food spread, powdered drink mix, dessert gelatin, and as a "no frills" yellow liquid guaranteed to enhance one's overall eating experience.

With hundreds of possible applications, the newly approved gram-negative microbe will also open the door for many innovative and exciting products.

"This is thrilling news," Hellmann's CEO Robert Reichert said. "We've been waiting for the federal go-ahead to produce salmonella for decades now. In fact, we have an entire line of lukewarm, sun-soaked, and partially turned mayonnaises that we just know Americans will love."

A variety of products containing the newly approved food-borne microbe will hit non-refrigerated shelves this month. [the Onion. March 10, 2009.]

One of several new foods to feature the motile microorganism is Salmonell-Os—an O-shaped breakfast cereal packed with hearty typhoid clusters—which is expected to hit grocery stores by April.

Other products currently in development include Salmonella Helper, Kraft's Extremely Painful Mac, 'Nella Wafers, and peanut butter.

"Now that salmonella's been approved, we're working overtime to get our products to market," said David Wellbrook, head of sales for Oscar Mayer, the nation's leading producer of bologna-based goods. "I've never seen so many orders come through in a single year, much less a single day. It's incredible."

News of salmonella's approval also comes as a relief to many homemakers, who, until now, had been cautioned against letting the bacteria spread.

"It used to be such a pain to have to sanitize my kitchen," Chicago resident Margaret Thewles said. "Now all I need is one cutting board. I'll cut raw poultry on it, prepare my salad veggies on it, and then use it to serve dessert when I'm done."

Salmonella is said to contain the seven essential forms of bacteria growing infants need. [the Onion. March 10, 2009.]

Michael Weinback, a California native and father of two young children, agreed with Thewles."

This is…arrghhh…great," Weinback said from the bottom of his living room stairs. "Oh, Jesus…here it comes agai—uuuuhhhhh, Christ. Get hel…just get…aarrghh.

[Natural~Specialty Foods Memo (NSFM) Editor's Note: NSFM thanks"the Onion" for permission to reprint the satirical story above. Click here to read the original satirical piece at "the Onion" Web site.

Retail Memo: The FTC-Whole Foods Market Settlement Agreement Looks Much Like Our January 'Blueprint-Template For A Settlement Deal' Proposal

2009-03-08T15:24:00.000-07:00

The FTC - Whole Foods Market, Inc. Settlement Agreement

The four members (their normally are five but the FTC is currently one short) of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted unanimously on the settlement deal with Whole Foods Market, Inc., announced on Friday, March 6, ending the nearly 20-month legal battle waged by the FTC to overturn the 2007 friendly acquisition by Whole Foods Market of Wild Oats Markets, Inc. [Read the details of the settlement agreement in our March 6 piece here: Daily Memo: It's A Done Deal: Whole Foods Market and the FTC Reach A Settlement Agreement On Wild Oats' Acquisition Antitrust Challenge.]

Additionally, the 4 -to- 0 unanimous vote in favor of a settlement by the FTC's Commissioners came just eight days after President Obama named the only Democrat on the FTC, Jon Leibowitz, as its new Chairman, and just a few days after Chairman Leibowitz officially assumed the duties of FTC Commission Chairman.

[Read: Daily Memo: Whole Foods Market - FTC Settlement Deal Watch - Countdown to March 6, And: Daily Memo: Whole Foods Market - FTC Settlement Deal Watch - 9 Days to March 6. And: Retail Memo - Breaking: FTC Commissioner Jon Leibowitz Odds On Favorite to Be Named Chairman; Positive Development For Whole Foods' Settlement Talks.]

Below is a link to the press release issued by the FTC on Friday, March 6, announcing the settlement deal ending its antitrust legal challenge to Whole Foods Market's 2007 acquisition of Wild Oats:

[Link: FTC Consent Order Settles Charges that Whole Foods’ Acquisition of Rival Wild Oats was Anticompetitive.]

Below is the key quote from FTC Commissioner Jon Leibowitz in the March 6 press release regarding why the federal regulatory agency responsible for antitrust enforcement and consumer protection decided to reach and agree to a settlement with Whole Foods Market, Inc., despite for 20 months saying it's goal was to overturn the acquisition in order to preserve competition in what it called the "premium natural and organic retailing segment (PNOS) in a number of U.S. markets:

"As a result of this settlement, American consumers will see more choices and lower prices for organic foods,” said FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz. “It allows the FTC to shift resources to other important matters and Whole Foods to move on with its business."

Although we've previously suggested the two parties should reach a settlement agreement in numerous pieces beginning some time ago, Natural~Specialty Foods Memo (NSFM) formally called for the FTC and Whole Foods Market, Inc. to reach a settlement on the legal case in this January 29, 2009 piece, where we focused the argument on the need for a settlement to be reached: Retail Memo - Breaking: Whole Foods Makes Settlement Offer to FTC; FTC Halts Action For 5 Days; Natural~Specialty Foods Memo Calls For A Settlement.

In that call for a settlement, we said achieving a settlement is important in part so that the FTC can move on to more important matters, including finding real antitrust cases to challenge, and so that Whole Foods Market can get back to what it does: merchandising and selling natural and organic food and grocery products.

In other words, FTC Chairman Leibowitz basically says in the March 6 press release what we said in our January call for a settlement, as well as in a number of stories prior to that.

In our January 29 piece, [Retail Memo - Breaking: Whole Foods Makes Settlement Offer to FTC; FTC Halts Action For 5 Days; Natural~Specialty Foods Memo Calls For A Settlement], we also offered a settlement blueprint or template for the FTC and Whole Foods. The basis of the settlement blueprint comes from the reporting, writing about and analysis we've been offering on the deal and antitrust challenge since the summer of 2007.

Below is a part of what we offered in the January piece:

A settlement blueprint or template

"In other words, the universe of stores we are talking about regarding a post-merger, combined Whole Foods-Wild Oats isn't much more than 100 nationally throughout the U.S. in these 29 markets where the FTC deems Whole Foods Market, Inc. a PNOS segment monopoly.

Our argument since the summer of 2007 has been that a post-merger, combined Whole Foods-Wild Oats isn't a monopoly. [You can read a recent story in which we made our argument as to why that's the case at the link here: Retail Memo: Natural-Organic Foods and U.S. Retail Marketplace Realities; Why the FTC's Case Against the Whole Foods-Wild Oats Merger is Pure Folly.]

However, looking at FTC v. Whole Foods Market, Inc. today from a completely practical standpoint, we see no reason why the FTC and the natural grocer should not be able to achieve a settlement. After all, we are talking about a universe of just slightly more than 100 stores that the FTC is saying a "PNOS" category monopolist (Whole Foods) makes. We're also talking about just 29 specific U.S. markets. These two key facts need to be the starting point for negotiation, we suggest.

The FTC and Whole Foods need to look at each of these 29 markets and the number of stores the combined Whole Foods-Wild Oats has in each of the markets. Both parties then need to do an independent competitive analysis on each of these markets, including in the analysis not just natural foods class of trade retailers but also food retailers that are hybrid natural-organic-specialty supermarkets. These include retailers like Gelson's and Bristol Farms in Southern California, Raley's and Andronico's Markets in Northern California, The Fresh Market (chain), which has stores in the south, Midwest, Mid Atlantic and eastern regions, Wegmans in the east, Haggen Foods in the Pacific Northwest, and the numerous other natural-organic-specialty "hybrid" chains that fit this category in the 29 markets designated as monopolist by the FTC.

Once this real competitive analysis is done in the 29 U.S. markets, the FTC and Whole Foods then need to agree on Whole Foods' closing an agreed upon number of those 100-plus former Wild Oats stores in each of the respective markets. There still might remain 29 of those markets after the independent competitive analysis work is done, which is something that can be completed in a matter of a few days. But there also could be fewer than 29 remaining after the analysis.

The burden in the FTC's administrative process is on Whole Foods in reaching a settlement, that's why the natural foods grocery chain reached out to the FTC and submitted a settlement offer. In return the FTC suspended action on the case for five days. We think thus far that's a positive spirit of cooperation.

As all lawyers and negotiators know, first time settlement offers are seldom accepted. Instead they tend to be the opening entree to get settlement talks started. Whole Foods has served that opening entree with its offer. The FTC has responded in kind with the temporary halt of legal activity. Both moves are good negotiation openers. After all, another thing all good negotiators know is that the best negotiations come when both sides give a little something right at the start." [Read the entire story here.]

What we suggested is essentially the framework the FTC used in arriving at the settlement deal.

The FTC required (and the natural grocer agreed) Whole Foods Market, Inc. to put up for sale 32 stores -- 13 stores (12 former Wild Oats units and one existing Whole Foods unit) currently in operation and 19 stores that already have been closed, some by Wild Oats before the Whole Foods Market acquisition, the others closed by Whole Foods post-acquisition. [Read the details, including a list of the stores to be sold, here.]

Additionally, the FTC required Whole Foods to put the Wild Oats brand and associated intellectual property up for sale. This is really nothing to Whole Foods since if it thought the Wild Oats brand had value to the company it would be using it in some way. Instead, Whole Foods has intentionally shelved the Wild Oats brand. Now perhaps it can even make a few bucks from selling it.

[Of course, in the dynamic and interesting world of food retailing anything can happen. Perhaps Mike Gilliland, the founder of Wild Oats and now founder and CEO of fast-growing Boulder, Colorado-based Sunflower Farmers Market, will buy the brand from Whole Foods and bring back the Wild Oats name in the form of a chain of natural foods stores bearing the banner. For example, Sunflower is opening stores in Whole Foods' hometown market of Texas. However, because of what likely is a trademark issue with a natural foods store in Texas that uses the "Sunflower" name, the natural grocer has renamed its thus far handful of Texas' stores "Newflower." Wouldn't it just be ironic if Gilliland bought the Wild Oats brand from Whole Foods Market, Inc. and instead changed the name of the Texas stores to "Wild Oats"? It's intellectual property and retail brand marketing food for thought. And you read it here first.]

So, in a nutshell, the FTC seems to have used a very similar process to the one offered in our blueprint-template to arrive at a settlement deal; the key element of such a settlement agreement being, as we suggested, having Whole Foods agree to sell some selected stores in return for the antitrust regulator dropping its legal action, so that both parties could move on to doing what they should respectively be doing, antitrust enforcement and consumer protection for the FTC, and selling natural-organic groceries for Whole Foods Market.

We think the settlement is a good one for Whole Foods.

Reader Resource: Below are links to all of the FTC-filed information on the settlement deal with Whole Foods Market, Inc.:

>Agreement Containing Consent Orders
>Decision and Order [Public Record Version]
>Order To Maintain Assets
>Analysis of Agreement Containing Consent Orders To Aid Public Comment
>Commission Letter Approving the Divestiture Trustee Agreement
>Divestiture Trustee Agreement [Public Record Version] [Appendices B, D, and E Redacted]
>Amended Part 3 Administrative Complaint [Issued on September 8, 2008]
>News Release
>Order Withdrawing Matter From Adjudication

Retail Memo: The 'Whole Bibliography' - FTC v. Whole Foods Market Antitrust Case & Issue

2009-03-06T17:26:00.000-08:00