Ethical Retailing Memo: Specialty Grocer Trader Joe's Says it Will Stop Selling Eggs From California Farm Where Group Says Video Shows Hen Abuse

Popular specialty grocery chain Trader Joe's said today it will stop selling eggs from a farm in California's San Joaquin Valley where a group named Mercy For Animals says its video showing abuse to egg-laying hens was taken.

Video footage released this week from Chicago-based nonprofit group Mercy For Animals, shows hens in crowded small or battery cages, as well as dead and rotting chicken corpses. The group says the video was taken at an egg farm owned by Turlock, California-based Gemperele Enterprises, also know as Gemperle Farms.

Gemperle Farms has said they don't believe the video is of their farm because the film is to "grainy" to see clearly.

However, Mercy For Animals says not only is the video from a Gemperle egg-laying farm in Merced County, California but that the person who took the video was an undercover operative for the nonprofit group, who got employed by the egg-producer, worked at the farm for sometime, and frequently observed the conditions which are depicted in the video he took.

You can view the Mercy For Animals video here.

Alison Mochizuki, a spokesperson for Trader Joe's, told Natural~Specialty Foods Memo (NSFM) today the grocery chain, which has its corporate headquarters in Southern California, decided to no longer carry eggs produced by Gemperle Farms because "it is of the utmost importance that all of our vendors abide by industry established animal care practices."

Trader Joe's stores in California and the Western USA, like all of its stores in the U.S., sell both conventionally-produced small cage hen eggs and cage-free eggs.

The supplier to Trader Joe's of the Gemperle Farms eggs, produced by hens in the small cages which is the norm in the U.S. egg industry, has been a company called NuCal Foods, Inc., which is the largest egg distributor in the Western U.S.

NuCal distributes eggs from Gemperle Farms along with those produced by dozens of other producers.

NuCal distributes eggs to numerous California and Western USA supermarket chains, including Sacramento-based Raley's (129 stores) and Modesto, California-based Save Mart, Inc. (about 400 stores).

Raley's and Save Mart said they currently plan to continue carrying eggs bought from NuCal in their respective stores but were considering whether or not to make sure none of those eggs come from Gemperle Farms' operations.

We have a feeling they will make that decision soon, as the issue only seems like it will get even hotter, both in the short term because of the video and the publicity it's starting to receive in California, and in the medium to longer term because of the small hen cage ban ballot measure which Californians will vote on in this November's election.

Related Reading On the Issue from NSFM:

May 8, 2008: Ethical Foods Memo: "Group Says it Has Video Showing Major California Egg Producer Abuses its Egg-Laying Hens."

May 8, 2008: Ethical Foods Memo: "Small Hen Cage Ban Ballot Measure Will Go to Voters in California."

Retail Memo: A Peak Inside a New Trader Joe's Store

On Friday, February 1, a new 13,000 square foot Trader Joe's market will open in the Kercheval Avenue business district in Grosse Pointe City, Michigan, a wealthy city of about 7,000 people in Wayne County, Michigan.

Grosse Point City, often referred to by locals merely as "the city," is a suburb of Detroit, and is about 8 miles from the motor city. It's one of six similar-sized cities--Grosse Pointe Farms, Grosse Pointe Park, Gross Pointe Shores , Grosse Pointe Woods and Lake St. Clair--that are located literally right next to each other in Wayne County. The region is often collectively called "The Pointes."

These six wealthy Detroit suburbs together should make for a healthy market for Trader Joe's and its eclectic selection of specialty and natural foods and products.

Trader Joe's stores are small-format, but are packed with everything from fresh produce and meat departments, wine and craft beers areas, to extensive selections of perishables, frozen foods and fresh, prepared foods, along with shelves of specialty, ethnic, gourmet, natural and organic gorcery products. About 75-80% of the grocery items in the stores are branded under Trader Joe's various private labels. The new Grosse Pointe City TJ's even has an in-store food sampling kiosk where shoppers can taste all kinds of foods and beverages.

Amy Salvagno, a writer for G& G Newspapers, a Michigan chain of publications that serves readers in many cities in the area, got a peek inside the yet to open store, and has a piece in today's paper about what she saw.

We like the piece--it's interesting, descriptive, consise and fairly brief--so decided to share it with our readers. You can read Ms. Salvagno's article here.

Trader Joe's, which is headquartered in Southern California and owned by the German retailer Aldi, currently has about 300 stores in the U.S. All Trader Joe's banner stores are in the USA.

The specialty grocer is expanding rapidly, building and opening new stores throughout the country, from California to New York, and nearly everywhere in between. The grocer is so popular in fact that numerous cities and neighborhood groups, such as those in Albany, New York and Nashville, Tennessee to site just two examples, have launched sophisticated lobbying campaigns to try and convince TJ's to open stores in their towns.

Trader Joe's is the leader in what we've termed the small-format food retailing revolution in America. It's quirky stores, full of specialty, natural and organic products, do so well in part because they make shopping fun. Store associates wear funky tropical island-print shirts, and all the in-store signs are hand-produced works of art, done with colored chalk on black or green chalkboards, rather than ink on paper signs like most grocery stores. All Trader Joe's stores have at least one--and often more than one--employee who's only job is to hand-create in-store product signs.

Trader Joe's private-label branded products also are a big hit with customers. They love the product names, quality, varieties and prices. And of course, TJ's famous "Two-Buck-Chuck" line of $1.99 bottle wines, which have won many awards over wines that cost ten-times the price, are another big hit with shoppers.

The specialty grocer also extends its fun-filled merchandising philosophy to its new store grand openings. The new Grosse Pointe TJ's grand opening, like all new store openings, will begin with a Hawaiian lei cutting (rather than a traditional ribbon) ceremony at 8:45 in the morning. As store officials cut the lei, a live band will play tropical music for those in attendance. Employees will, of course, be dressed as if they just returned from a tropical island vacation.

The grand opening fun also features clowns and face-painting for the kids, lots of free food and drink, and tons of free ballons and stickers, for both real children and children at heart.