Retail Memo: Bloody Recession Be Damned - Upscale, Premium UK Supermarket Chain Waitrose Reports Record Sales For the Day Before Christmas

Bloody recession be damned -- it's Christmas.

The sentiment above appears to be what was on the minds of tens of thousands of British consumers who flocked to the United Kingdom's most upscale and premium-oriented supermarket chain, Waitrose, on the days leading up to Christmas, December 25.

And December 23, Christmas Eve, was the biggest day of all. In fact, it was the biggest day in history for upscale Waitrose [Web site: Waitrose.com.]

The specialty, premium, gourmet, fresh-prepared and natural foods-focused supermarket chain, which is owned by Britain's John Lewis Partnership, took in £34.4m from more than 879,000 transactions on December 23, beating the previous record of 754,000 set in December 2006, the company reported this week. Waitrose is a full-service general format supermarket in addition to its upscale focus.

Waitrose says it benefited from a "late shopping surge" in the last three days before Christmas, which resulted in a 12% rise in same store sales for the chain.

On Christmas eve, sales were 5% over Christmas Eve 2007, while in the week leading up to Christmas, same store growth was 3.5%, according to Waitrose managing director (CEO) Mark Price.

Chief executive Price says shoppers were filling their carts with Christmas holiday foods, along with buying lots of specialty foods items as gifts.

Waitrose tossed out some numbers regarding item sales during the week leading up to Christmas: It says it sold 231,000 fresh and frozen turkeys, 350 tons of British cooked meats, over 12 million mince pies and millions of boxes of chocolates.

It appears that despite the very severe economic recession in the UK, thousands of consumers decided to spend their money on a traditional Christmas when it came to food.

Our analysis, and this holds for our observations in the U.S. as well, is that numerous consumers decided that instead of spending the amounts of money they normally have in previous years on Christmas presents -- clothing, electronics, toys and the like -- that this year they would spend much less on such gift items, but spend more on food, as well as purchase more food items as gifts.

The percentage decreases among department, toy and other gift-oriented stores in both the UK and U.S. bare out our analysis, we believe. In contrast, numerous supermarket chains, including upscale grocers such as Waitrose in the UK and similar format retailers in the U.S., are reporting very strong Christmas holiday sales in their stores.

Additionally, it appears to us that many consumers who might traditionally have had Christmas dinner out at a restaurant (holiday restaurant sales in both the UK and the U.S. were down over last year) or travel away from the home for the holiday (hotel bookings were down considerably for Christmas this year), stayed home, and dined at home, thus leading them to spend more money at the supermarket, including on fancy holiday foods -- money they saved by not dining out or staying home rather than going away for the holiday; or both.

Retail Memo: Upscale British Supermarket Chain Waitrose Opens its First Store Outside the UK in Oil-Rich Dubai

The gourmet deli and prepared foods department at the new Waitrose supermarket in Dubai offers in-store fresh, prepared foods with a local and international flair, including being halal certified. [Photo Credit: Talking Retail.]

The upscale British supermarket chain Waitrose may have found a way to help the United Kingdom balance at least a little bit of its massive petro-dollar outflow to the middle east oil Kingdoms by selling fancy groceries in a new, upscale supermarket the grocer opened on November 4 in the oil-rich (UAE) Kingdom of Dubai, and bringing the profits back home.

Waitrose's new supermarket in Dubai, it's first of two stores planned for the Kingdom and the retailer's first store outside of the UK and in the middle east, is a 5,000 sq m unit located on the ground floor of the tallest building in the world, the Burj Dubai.

Waitrose says the new store offers a mix of traditional branded products along with a selection of local produce to try and offer strong alternatives for Dubai locals.

The store is a gourmet food lover's (or aspiring gourmet food lover's) paradise. It features fresh, prepared foods like Waitrose is famous for in its United Kingdom stores, as well as lots of natural, organic, premium, international, specialty and gourmet food and grocery products across all categories. The supermarket also offers basic food and grocery items.

Taking its upscale Waitrose supermarkets to Dubai and other oil rich middle east Kingdoms is likely a good idea for Waitrose, which is owned by the UK's John Lewis Partnership. Doing so is the brain child of company CEO Mark Price, who has been wanting to grow the chain outside the United Kingdom for some years now.

Flush with oil money, most of the residents of Dubai shouldn't have trouble affording the high prices for all the imported gourmet delights offered in the new Waitrose supermarket in the Kingdom.

And of course, since Dubai is a Muslim country, all of the products in the store are certified halal, which are the set of dietary laws most Muslims follow.

Since Dubai also has many non-Muslim's, including scientists, high tech professions and businesses people from the west, Waitrose says the new Dubai supermarket also carrys conventional food and grocery products not certified halal. There also are numerous European, Asian and foods from the U.S. designed to appeal to these expats who work in the petroleum, banking, high-tech and other industries in Dubai.

As part of following the Islamic halal dietary laws for example, the Dubai Waitrose supermarket must seperate the sale of pork from other meats since eating pork is not permited for Muslims under the halal dietary laws. The store has a seperate fresh pork department away from the main meat department.

The British trade publication Talking Retail has been closely covering Waitrose's move into the middle east, along with the recent opening of the upscale grocers first store in Dubai.

Talking Retail just published a number of photographs of the new Dubai Waitrose fancy foods supermarket. You can view that photo essay here.

Additionally, you can read more about the Dubai Waitrose and the upscale food and grocery retailer's plans for the middle east at the links below:

>November 4, 2008: Waitrose has today opened the first of two new stores in Dubai, UAE, its first shops outside the UK. Click the link to read the story: Waitrose opens first store outside UK.

>October 24, 2008: Waitrose is set to open its first store in the Middle East next week, when the Dubai Mall is unveiled. Click the link to read the story: Waitrose targets Middle East despite UK sales worries.

Local Foods Retailing Memo" We Suggest the Next Steps in the Evolution of Local Foods Retailing Will Be 'Grocer Grown' and 'Store Grown'

By day Simon Richard is the produce department manager at the Bi-Rite Market in San Francisco, California's Mission District. Often by day he also is a farmer, growing a variety of fruits and vegetables, such as the heirloom tomatoes he's just harvested and is holding in his hand in the photograph above taken at his Sonoma County farm where he grows a variety of fruits and vegetables offered for sale in the store's produce department. We call it 'Grocer-Grown.'

Earlier this year Natural~Specialty Foods Memo coined the term "Local foods retailing 2.0" to explain a practice being conducted by a handful of retailers such as the upscale United Kingdom (UK) supermarket chain Waitrose, Wal-Mart's UK chain Asda and a few others that have taken the merchandising and sales of "locally-produced" food and grocery products to the next level by growing fresh fruits and vegetables on their own land, along with raising hogs, steers and other animals to be butchered and sold as fresh meat cuts and used in prepared foods items in their stores, as well as creating some specialty foods products from the produce they grow. We also call this phenomenon "Grocer-Grown." In the case of meats, we call it "Grocer-Raised. And in the case of value-added food and grocery products, "Grocer-Produced."

Waitrose is the pioneer and most aggressive retailer we've yet to find that is practicing "Local foods retailing 2.0," going from its own farm right to the supermarket shelf, offering numerous "Grocer Grown" fresh produce, fresh meat and value-added food products from it own large estate farm in England.

Wegmans experimenting with 'Grocer-Grown'

The innovative upstate New York USA-based Wegmans supermarket chain also is growing some of its own fruits and vegetables on a farm owned by CEO Danny Wegman and his family. The idea to do so came from one of Wegmans' daughters. So far, fresh fruits and vegetables grown on the Wegman family farm have been offered for sale at one of the Wegmans' supermarkets, a unit located nearby the farm.

Danny Wegman told Natural~Specialty Foods Memo earlier this year the family plans to produce more varieties (and increase production a bit) of fruits and vegetables on the family farm for that one nearby store, along with selling the produce at a few other stores in that same region. The retailer is experimenting with "Grocer-Grown" and doesn't want to over-produce because the idea is to offer a selection of seasonal, high-quality, artisan produce items grown on the family farm and sold at the company's supermarkets located in the region where the farm is in upstate New York.

Bi-Rite Becoming leader in 'Grocer-Grown'

Another innovative American grocer in the city of San Francisco, independent food retailer Bi-Rite Market, also is becoming a major player in "Local Foods Retailing 2.0" or "Grocer-Grown."

Bi-Rite Market, which is located in San Francisco's Mission District neighborhood, has a garden on the roof of the urban food store where it grows fresh herbs which are sold in the store's produce department.

Bi-Rite also locally raises and butchers its own hogs, which are then offered in the store in a variety of ways: fresh pork roasts and chops, sausage, bacon and other cuts of meat. The pork also is used by the food retailer in a variety of the numerous in-store fresh, prepared foods items it makes and sells in the upscale supermarket.

The independent grocer, which sells all sorts of natural, organic, specialty and prepared foods items (a great many which are produced locally) in its popular San Francisco market, along with a selection of basic food and grocery items, is now kicking up its local foods merchandising program into the 2.0 world. "Grocer-Grown" Bi-Rite Market has started growing a selection of its own fruits and vegetables and is selling the fresh produce in the store.

In Bi-Rite's case, the store farmer also is the store produce manager, Simon Richard. This spring Richard grew a variety of fruits and vegetables on land in Sonoma County, which is located about 45 miles from San Francisco.

His crop recently came in. Among the fresh produce grown by the farmer/produce manager being offered for sale in Bi-Rite's produce department include heirloom tomatoes, Romano beans, arugula and more.

What's unique and very interesting about what Bi-Rite is doing is that in this case the "locally-grown" fresh produce items being produced by the store to be sold in the store are being grown by the same person who then is in charge of how they are sold in the store. That would be produce manager turned farmer Simon Richard. Talk about not only a local but a personal touch as well. The produce at Bi-Rite Market isn't only "Grocer-Grown," its "produce manager-grown."

The San Francisco Chronicle recently wrote about Bi-Rite's newest entry into what we call "Local Foods Retailing 2.0," the offering of the first crop of "Grocer-Grown" fresh produce for sale in the store. You can read the story, "Food Conscious: S.F. grocery branches out into farming," by Chronicle staff writer Jane Tucks here.

"Grocer-Grown' more than a fad

Natural~Specialty Foods Memo expects to see more retailers, particularly innovative independent supermarkets and natural foods retailers, join the "Local foods retailing 2.0" movement by growing some of their own fresh produce, either on land they own or in special arrangements with small, family farmers in which the grocer takes a hands on role.

Numerous U.S. food retailers like Whole Foods Market, Inc., Raley's in Northern California, Wegmans, Publix in Florida and a others regularly contract with farmers to purchase 100% of a certain crop, such as melons, apples, onions and other fresh produce items; usually specialty crops. In some cases these retailers also have input into how the crops are grown.

This practice, although close, isn't quite "Local foods retailing 2.0" because there still remains a separation between the retailer and the grower rather than the retailer being the grower.

Whole Foods is getting much closer to becoming a "local foods 2.0 retailer" however. It's increasingly working in partnership with small farmers to grow crops just for the retailer as well as loaning money to a number of these farmers so they can expand there production.

The only thing keeping Whole Foods from being a "local Foods 2.0 retailer" like Waitrose, Wegmans and Bi-Rite is that it has yet to directly grow its own crops and then sell the fresh produce in a Whole Foods market store. At least that we are aware of based on our research.

Whole Foods Market and 'Store-Grown'

Natural~Specialty Foods Memo however has a way for Whole Foods Market not only to become a charter member of the "Local foods retailing 2.0" "Grocer-Grown" club but also to leap-frog over all the others and become the pioneer in what we call "Store-Grown" local foods retailing. Yes, we are coining another new term.

We would like to see Whole Foods Market include a good-sized organic hydroponic garden in one of its stores, along with an outdoor organic rooftop garden. Make the indoor hydroponic garden about 3,000 square feet to start (prototype store) and have it glassed in so store customers can watch workers tending the garden while they shop. This fits into Whole Foods educational mission as a food retailer very well we believe. Think of the glass-walled in-store garden as the store's version of a restaurant's open demonstration kitchen.

Why not skip the farm altogether and use the store as the farm? Single-store Bi-Rite in San Francisco is doing this in part with its small rooftop garden after all.

Additionally, we suggest devoting a substantial portion of the store's roof to the rooftop garden. The store needs to be in a geographical location -- California, Florida, ect. -- where there's lots of sunshine throughout the year.

There are a myriad of crops Whole Foods 2.0 could grow in this store rooftop garden and sell in the store below, including fresh herbs, tomatoes, greens, seasonal fruits and more. As is the case in any garden, Whole Foods' limitations would primarily be based on the climate, weather and the like. With modern, intensive farming techniques one can grow an abundance of different fruits and vegetables and achieve considerable yields in such a rooftop garden.

Between the in-store hydroponic garden, which has no climate or soil limitations, and the outdoor rooftop garden, that Whole Foods 2.0 store could produce a wide-variety and abundance of fresh produce to be sold in the store throughout the year -- putting an emphasis on seasonal fruits and vegetables. It would be a supplement to rather than a substitute for all the other fresh produce sold in the store.

We even have a name for this produce -- that which would be grown inside the Whole Foods store in the hydroponic garden and on the rooftop outside. That name -- and remember you read it here first -- is: "Store-Grown." We think that term would look rather impressive in the Whole Foods store's produce department alongside the other signs reading "Organic," "Locally-Grown," "Hand-Picked" and the like.

"Store-Grown" also would be a major point of differentiation for Whole Foods and that Whole Foods store. We think its an natural and logical progression for Whole Foods in terms of a "what's next" aspect to the natural products retailers innovation cycle. That's why we chose Whole Foods as the retailer we think would be best to do it right now.

Whole Foods Market, Inc. also needs to try something innovative to break out of its current malaise caused by its recent net profit decline and the significant drop in the value of its stock.

Creating the Whole Foods 2.0 store (it can be a remodel of an existing store as well) with the in-store hydroponic garden and outdoor rooftop garden (maybe toss in a garden on the side of the store as well if there is available land) also is a natural progression for the retailer in terms of its already extensive local foods procurement and retailing program. The "Store-Grown" aspect would merely be an addition to that and of course would be limited to the one test store for some time anyway.

Plus, you can't much fresher, higher-quality locally-grown produce than that which in the course of say one hour has been harvested from the store's rooftop garden and in-store hydroponic garden and stocked in the store's produce department bins and cases. That's why we call it "Store-Grown."

Small-Format Food Retailing Special Report: Waitrose to Create its Second Brand New Small-Format Chain This Year With Convenience-Oriented Format

Upscale British supermarket chain Waitrose says it plans to enter the lucrative and highly competitive small-format, convenience-oriented grocery store segment in the United Kingdom (UK) opening its first small-format grocery shop early next year.

With the launch of its new grocery-convenience store format, Waitrose will take on three of the UK's leading retailers: Tesco (Tesco Express format), Sainsbury's (Sainsbury's Local format) and Marks & Spencer (Simply Food format), all of which operate small-format grocery shops in the nation.

Tesco is the leading food and grocery retailer in the UK. Sainsbury's is number three, after Wal-Mart-owned Asda. Marks & Spencer (M&S) and Waitrose are the UK's two leading upscale food and grocery chains, with M&S holding a higher share currently than Waitrose.

Waitrose, which is owned by the John Lewis Partnership, which also operates department stores in the UK as well as opening its first upscale food halls last year, wants a piece of the small-format, convenience-oriented grocery retailing segment, what is a ~27.4 billion-p (British Pounds) market in the UK and fast-growing.

According to Waitrose, its convenience grocery shops will average about 3,000 -to- 4,000 square feet in size.

Although Waitrose didn't go into any detail in terms of describing the stores, based on Waitrose's upscale brand, and conversations Natural~Specialty Foods Memo has had with two UK industry observers, we think the Waitrose small-format, convenience-oriented food stores will be more similar to, as well as primarily target competitively, Marks & Spencers' Simply Food shops, which are smaller upscale food stores of a more upmarket nature and format than those of Tesco and Sainsbury's.

By contrast, Tesco's Tesco Express and Sainsbury's Sainsbury's Local convenience -style grocery stores are more middle-market in terms of design and merchandising.

Waitrose's new convenience grocery stores will be located primarily in urban and suburban cities in the UK.

The UK's Co-operative Group chain also operates numerous small-format, convenience-oriented grocery stores throughout the nation. The Co-op stores put an emphasis on natural and organic foods, as well as sustainability, but sell selections of basic groceries as well. The non-profit Co-op, already a significant retail force in the country, is preparing to become an even bigger player in UK food and grocery retailing with its pending acquisition of the Somerfield supermarket chain, which could come later this week. Somerfield has 900 stores.

Waitrose's new 3,000 -to- 4,000 square foot convenience grocery chain comes right on the heels of its recent creation of it's small-format "Market Town" chain, which is designed specifically for smaller towns and villages in the UK. We reported on the "Market Town" development in this piece on June 10. Thus far Waitrose has opened two small-format "Market Town" village grocery stores, with many more to come. The "Market Town" stores average about 13,000 square feet in size.

It's not surprising Waitrose wants to enter the convenience grocery store sector. According to UK retail market research firm IGD, overall sales in the small-format convenience grocery retailing sector grew by about 5.1% in 2007, which is about 30% more than in the larger supermarket sector.

Entering the convenience-oriented, small-format food and grocery retailing segment also gives Waitrose more options. Along with its Waitrose supermarkets, which average 20,000 -to- 35,000 square feet, its new "Market Town" small-format village grocery stores, and now its 3,000 -to- 4,000 square foot convenience grocery stores, Waitrose will likely be better able to compete against its competitors, who all have multi-retail format strategies.

The development also is a part of Waitrose CEO Mark Price's aggressive plans to make Waitrose a bigger player in UK food and grocery retailing. Price wants not only more formats and many more stores across all formats, he also wants to reach a larger segment of British consumers, rather than the generally upper income shoppers and food lovers who comprise its customer base.

To this end, Waitrose has been lowering everyday prices as a way to be more competitive with less wealthy UK consumers. They two new small-format chains also are part of Price's design to reach more consumers--both urban, suburban and rural residents--in the UK.

Waitrose also is the primary owner of Ocado, which is the UK's leading internet-based, home grocery delivery company. Waitrose and Tesco are currently going head-to-head in an Internet-based grocery store/home delivery price war, battling for the home delivery shoppers dollars.

A Waitrose spokesperson told Natural~Specialty Foods Memo that the food retailer could have its first of the convenience grocery store opened in the UK in just six months, and that it would be no later than nine months before the first store opens.

Retail Memo: Food, Glorious Food: An Interview With Waitrose UK Supermarket Chain Chief Mark Price; the Now 'Not As Chubby Grocer'

Natural~Specialty Foods Memo has written often about the United Kingdom's upscale Waitrose supermarket chain which is owned by the John Lewis Partnership, which operates department stores under that name in the UK as well as Waitrose, and its Managing Director (CEO) Mark Price (pictured at top), who because of the now ever-decreasing girth around his waistline first called himself "The Chubby Grocer and "The Jolly Grocer," and now... "The Not So Chubby Grocer"

Yesterday, we wrote this piece about Price and Waitrose's new "Market Town" small-format (10,000 -to- 15,000 square feet) small town-positioned food and grocery store format, the second store of a possible 100 which opened last Thursday in the UK.

We've also written about Price and his "The Grocer's Blog," which he posts in daily on the Waitrose website.

In his blog, which gets about 40,000 hits a month, Price chronicles his daily efforts, often in minute details, to lose weight by a combination of better (and less) eating and exercise. Waitrose's staff nutritionist Moira Howie--who has a blog of her own on the website, along with a local hog farmer who sells local pork to the supermarket chain--often posts comments to Price's blog, praising him when he has eaten healthy or done a serious regime of exercise, and reminding him about his weight loss goal when he strays. The blog's readers also offer their comments on his weight-loss program and the other topics he posts about.

Waitrose chief Price also uses the blog to write about a variety of other things, from making friendly but often digging jabs at his competitors like Tesco CEO Sir Terry Leahy, Wal-Mart-owned Asda's CEO Andy Bond, whom he likens at times to his partial namesake James Bond, and fellow upscale food retailing CEO Sir Richard Rose of Marks & Spencer, who Price calls "The King of Pants," in honor of the fact that in addition to being an upscale food retailer, Mark's & Spencer is the number one clothing retailer in the UK.

Price also chronicles his Waitrose store visits, business travels, family vacations and other food-related and sometimes non food-related topics on his blog.

You can read a number of pieces we've written about Waitrose MD (managing director) and his blog here, along with related topics. There are links to Price's blog as well as the others in the stories at the link.

In today's London Times online, staff writer Andrew Billen has a well-written and comprehensive interview with Waitrose chief Mark Price. The interview took place at the Waitrose Estate, a 4,000 acre working farm complete with a Victorian mansion and other delights located in the English countryside. Leckford, as the estate is called, produces a variety of foods that are sold at Waitrose supermarkets, including fruits, vegeatables, meats and other local goods. Food fairs and other events also are held at the estate, which is owned by the employees of the John Lewis Partnership.

Today's interview with Mark Price in the London Times, which you can read by clicking here, offers a good look at the Waitrose chief as a person, leader of a premium food and grocery chain, and UK business leader. It also includes some of the MD's plans for Waitrose in the future, along with his plans to continue positioning the upscale food chain as the UK's leading upscale premium, specialty and natural foods retailer.

Meanwhile, as you can see in the photograph at the top of this piece, Mark Price still has a way to go before he can retire the name he gave himself: "The Chubby Grocer." Even though he is now referring to himself as "The Not So Chubby Grocer" (which is fair), we want to continue to motivate the seller of premium and decadents foods and groceries to continue losing weight and a bit more of his girth. Therefore, we will refer to him for now as "The Not as Chubby Grocer."

We've seen Price prior to starting his diet and exercise regime, and without a doubt he isn't as chubby as before. But he remains "jolly," a flavor for which you can get in the interview, which we hope continues long after he reaches his weight loss and waist measurement goals.

Local Foods Memo: Never A Grocer to Have its Head in the Sand, Waitrose is Selling Locally-Produced Ostrich Eggs at its UK Supermarkets

Nobody can accuse the United Kingdom's Waitrose supermarket chain of having its head in the sand when it comes to local foods retailing.

The upscale British grocery chain, purveyor of fancy, natural and local foods, is now the exclusive seller in the UK of Clarence Court Ostrich eggs, which are produced locally by UK flocks. As pictured at top, the ostrich eggs come in an attractive pink box with a tote handle, which no doubt is needed as the huge eggs have some weight to them.

The huge, local ostrich eggs weigh 2kg, and are nearly equivalent to two-dozen large hen eggs. The massive ostrich eggs also take nearly two hours to hard boil.

For those who've never tasted an ostrich egg, the Clarence Court folks describe the eggs as having a distinctive yet light flavor and texture. They also say the eggs are ideal for a myriad of cooking uses.

One ostrich eggs goes a long way: Clarence Court says you can make about 100 meringues or 32 souffles with one of the 2kg giants.

The ostrich eggs are laid by special ostriches called South African Blacks, which the egg-producer describes as inquisitive and majestic birds. The big birds lay the eggs four or five hours before dusk to protect them from the heat of the sun, just like they do in the wild. The ostriches are raised free-range at the Clarence Court farm.

Ostrich egg shells are very thick. Many people drain the egg with just a pin prick at each end so that they can then decorate the large egg after it is used.

Waitrose's corporate egg buyer, Frances Westerman calls the Clarence Court Ostrich eggs a "real show stopper in terms of both looks and taste."

Ms. Westerman says Waitrose's customers love experimenting with new food ideas. "We've seen growing popularity of duck, pheasant and goose eggs, now it's the turn of the ostrich to take off," she says.

The locally-produced ostrich eggs, which are a seasonal product, will only be available in Waitrose's stores from now until August, 2008.

The UK's Clarence Court is a producer of specialty eggs of all kinds, ranging from the seasonal ostrich eggs to others including: Old Cotswald Legbar pastel eggs, Mabel Pearman's Burford Brons, Free-to-Fly Quails' Eggs, Gladys May's Burdock Whites, and additional seasonal specialty eggs like pheasant and goose eggs. You can view Clarence Court's egg range here.

All of Clarence Court's eggs are produced free-range, and are fed a primarily cereal-based diet, along with some maize.

The specialty egg-producer also has its own 10-point ethical guide to raising its eggs, which you can view here.

Clarence Court is considered a heritage egg producer in that today it still produces egg varieties that go back thousands of years in the UK.

The egg-producer also has high quality standards, along with its ethical and humane hen-treatment policy. Read more here.

In fact, Clarence Court is so proud of the way it treats its egg-laying hens, it's set up its own real time "Hen Cam" on its website, where you can watch the hens' roam the green free-range pastures at the farm.

You can view the royal birds at Clarence Court's farm on the "Hen Cam" here.

Clarence Court's heritage eggs are gaining quite an impressive following among the UK's food royalty these days. For example, celebrity chef Jamie Oliver uses Clarence Court's eggs at his "Fifteen" (the name not the quantity) restaurants, as does that top UK chef Gordon Ramsey.

As a way to market and promote the specialty eggs, such as those sold at Waitrose, the egg-producer has teamed-up with British chef and food writer Mark Hix, who has developed numerous recipes for Clarence Court's heritage eggs. You can view those recipes here.

Meanwhile, Waitrose's egg buyer Francis Westerman, who's head is never in the sand but rather always is looking for the next new thing in the egg world, might just have another locally-produced egg innovation on Waitrose's shelves soon. After all, the ostrich eggs are only available until August.

Green Retailing Memo: Upscale British Supermarket Chain Waitrose Comes Up With A Bright 'Green' Idea For its Chesham, UK Store

A Waitrose supermarket in the United Kingdom town of Chesham has introduced what the upscale food retailer is calling a "green till."

The Chesham branch of the Waitrose supermarket chain has created a "green" checkout lane which can only be used by customers who either bring their own reusable shopping bags or previously received single-use plastic or paper carrier bags to be reused in the store.

No single-use carrier bags will be given out at the "green" checkout.

The move by the Chesham Waitrose is in part a response to a campaign in the town to get the city's lawmakers to ban the use of single-use plastic carrier bags in that community.

A local group called CarryAbag is campaigning for a law that would ban retail stores in Chesham from giving out single-use plastic carrier bags to shoppers. It's the town's goal to be plastic bag-free, either with voluntary compliance by retailers and residents, or eventually through a law banning the single-use plastic carrier bags.

CarryAbag is even linked on the town's official webpage, where it sells an attractive "CarryAbag" canvas reusable shopping bag.

Julia Brammer, a spokesperson for the CarryAbag group, said the organization welcomes the Waitrose supermarket's "green" checkout lane idea.

"It's absolutely brilliant they're taking the issue of bag use seriously and are doing something to encourage shoppers to use their own bags," Ms. Brammer told Natural~Specialty Foods Memo.

Chesham, a town of about 20,000 residents, is a very "green"-conscious community. In fact, in 2006 the town adopted its own comprehensive environmental policy, which you can read here.

Chesham also is a "Fairtrade" town, meaning it's the city's official policy to support Fairtrade goods and services. The town was the first in Buckinghamshire to achieve Fairtrade status when it did so in 2005. Fairtrade status is granted to towns, organizations and businesses in the UK by the UK Fairtrade Foundation.

We think the Waitrose supermarket in Chesham's idea to create a "green" reusable shopping bag lane in its store is a good one.

Like "express" lanes for shoppers who only have ten items or less, it offers a priority to shoppers--in this case for exhibiting positive environmental behavior. It's also a reward in the form of faster checkout service for doing so.

The "green" checkout lane concept, which we haven't seen any other supermarket adopt as of yet, reminds us of freeway carpool lanes in concept. Drivers are rewarded for carpooling (positive environmental behavior) and thus allowed a special lane on the freeway, which always has far less traffic in it than the other lanes. In some countries drivers of hybrid vehicles also can use the carpool lanes.

Both of these concepts--the carpool lane for drivers and the Waitrose Chesham reusable shopping bags-only lane for customers--create an incentive for consumers to behave in an environmentally positive manner.

Human beings like and respond well to positive reinforcement--and as such we expect the Waitrose store's "green" checkout lane to not only be popular, but to change shopper behavior over time. Once many of the supermarket's customers notice the "green till," and how much faster its users are getting waited on, they will start to bring their own reusable carrier bags to the store.

We think this is a winning idea Waitrose should expand to its other UK supermarkets. It's also a great idea for grocery retailers throughout the world--especially in the U.S.

It would be simple for a typical supermarket that has say 12 checkout lanes, to convert one or two of those 12 lanes into "green lanes," in which only shoppers with either reusable shopping totes or their own "reused" single-use plastic or paper carrier bags could use.

We believe the "green" lanes would be a big hit. Further, the U.S. supermarket chain that does it first, for example, is going to have a competitive advantage--at least until others follow suit--and generate lots of publicity over doing so.

The idea is equally good for other UK supermarket chains like Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury's, which all have promised to reduce the amount of single-use plastic carrier bags they use in their stores by 25% by the end of this year.

In fact, Sainsbury's CEO Justin King recently announced the retailer is looking for ways to create incentives (carrots not sticks in his words) to get shoppers to request fewer single-use plastic carrier bags rather than to see the UK impose an outright ban or a per-bag charge on the carriers.

The Waitrose "green" checkout lane--which shoppers can only use if they bring their own bags--seems to us to be a very good and innovative carrot.

Retail Memo Breaking News: Waitrose Chief and "Chubby Grocer" Mark Price Acheives Half of His Weight-Loss Goal By Easter Sunday Deadline

News Flash: He didn't reach his own goal of losing 20 centimeters (nearly eight inches) from his girth by Easter Sunday. But Mark Price, the Managing Director (MD) and self-named "Chubby Grocer" of upscale United Kingdom grocery chain Waitrose, did lose half that amount when he held his own weigh-in and waist measurement in his hotel room yesterday while on holiday.

Price reports on his blog he lost 10 centimeters (3.937 inches) from his now a little bit less-ample waistline. [Read our piece on Price from yesterday here.]

Three months ago, the Waitrose MD (like CEO) promised himself--and his wife--he would begin a program of improved eating and exercise to reduce his girth. He also shared his plan and goal with his blog's readers on the Waitrose website. The "chubby grocer" also set a date--which he mentioned almost daily in his blog--of Easter Sunday 2008, in which he would measure his waistline using an industrial-strength measuring tape and report the results.

Well, the results from the big weigh-in and waist measuring are in. And, as we said, Price says he lost 10 centimeters--half of his three-month goal--as of yesterday, Easter Sunday.

Of course, this is self-report data, which can be suspect by serious researchers. However, since Price reported only a 50% girth reduction and has shown candor throughout the last three months on his blog, we will give him--and his self-report data--the benefit of the doubt. As such, we issue a firm congratulations to the now "not as chubby" grocer and Waitrose MD.

In fact, we're just the slight bit pleased that Price didn't lose the entire 20 centimeters, as we wouldn't want him to completely lose his fun "chubby grocer" persona. Although, they do say a once "chubby grocer" who becomes a "lean grocer" is still a chubby grocer inside. In price's case, we hope so.

Only reaching 50% of his goal also gives Price a reason to keep writing his blog, which we think makes him happy...it does us. Now, about all those organic, Fair Trade, premium dark chocolate Easter Eggs?

Read what Waitrose Managing Director and self-named "chubby grocer" Mark Price has to say about the big Easter Sunday weigh-in and waist measuring event here on his blog. It's a good first of the week read.

Will Price be able to approximate the svelt body of rival CEO Andy Bond of Asda? If so, the "chubby grocer" will have to at least double his efforts. Is he up to it? Stay tuned.

Retail Memo: Waitrose's 'Chubby Grocer' Mark Price 'Weighs-In' on His Rival; Marks & Spencer CEO and 'The King of Pants' Sir Stuart Rose

Let's face a cold, hard fact: When it comes to comparing grocery retailing in the United States and the United Kingdom, on thing is perfectly clear: The Brits just have a whole lot more fun with the business than their American counterparts, especially at the CEO or Managing Director level.

Sure, there are the occasional bursts of wonderment and mirth among U.S. grocery retailing CEO's, like the news last year that Whole Foods' chief John Mackey had been posting anti-Wild Oats Markets and pro-Whole Foods acquisition comments on various online financial bulletin boards during the run up to the Austin, Texas-based grocer's buyout of natural foods chain Wild Oats. The incident was good for lots of press--and some fun headlines such as "Wacky Mackey." We can't recall one U.S. supermarket chain CEO commenting on it though, although others from all walks of life did.

In the main though, U.S. retail grocery chain CEO's are pretty staid folks, no disrespect intended. Further, the retail grocery industry in the U.S. has very little prestige for some reason among the corporate and business community, as well as with the American news media.

On the other hand, the UK press has elevated its reporting and writing about that nation's grocery retailing industry to a high art form. The country's newspapers, tabloids and other media outlets report on the UK's top grocery chains daily. And, it's not just business stories these scribes write about either. UK Retail grocery industry CEO's often are covered and written about at near-celebrity levels. The good, the bad and the ugly are reported regarding the supermarket chains and their leaders.

For example, there's Sir Terry (Leahy) of Tesco, who appears in the British press more often than rock star Paul McCartney (pre-divorce of course). There's reports on the comings and goings of Wal-Mart, which owns the UK's number two retail chain, Asda, at least daily. Further, there's what we call the "Daily Sainsbury's," news all about the UK's third-largest grocery retailer. And, that's just the tip of the UK grocery industry and CEO media coverage iceberg.

Britain also holds its supermarket CEO's in rather high esteem. As such it gives them major props when they are up--and feels free to kick them when they are down.

United Kingdom CEO's or Managing Directors are a royal bunch as well. Sir Terry of Tesco has been knighted (hence the Sir in Terry), as has Stuart Rose, CEO of Marks & Spencer. Add to that list Sir Morrison, the just-retired CEO of the grocery chain Morrisons', which is the fourth-largest in the UK. There's even a Lord in the group, Lord Sainsbury.

Then there's Mark Price, the Managing Director (essentially the same as CEO) of upscale grocery chain Waitrose. Price, who calls himself the "chubby" and "jolly" grocer in honor of his slight girth, which he's in the process of reducing--an effort he chronicles daily in his blog by reporting what he ate for lunch and dinner the day before and breakfast that morning--daily in his own blog on the Waitrose corporate website.

Price may not have achieved "Sir" status yet like the others, but he is without peer in UK grocery retailing executive circles in terms of having fun with and loving his job as the head of Waitrose. Price also is the only supermarket CEO in the UK to write his own daily blog--and in the words of many readers tell them way too much about his personal eating habits.

We love Price's blog--and read it often. Another thing the "jolly grocer" uses his blog for is to have some fun with his UK retail grocery chain CEO peers. He especially likes to dig (slight, British digs mind you) Sir Terry Leahy of Tesco over this issue or that when the mood--and the issue--strikes him. The blog's digs on Sir Terry are all in jest mind you--but they do often have some larger meaning behind them as well.

Right now Waitrose (and its parent John Lewis) and Tesco are a bit at odds with each other competitively speaking. Waitrose, which also owns the online UK grocery-retailer and home delivery service Ocado, recently announced it would beat Tesco's retail prices on a couple thousand basic, everyday grocery items at the online supermarket. On its website, Ocado has a banner promotional ad which reads: 'Tesco Prices, Waitrose Quality, Ocado Delivery.'

Tesco shot back--and the battle has been enjoined--with some harsh words by both retailers and talks of lawsuits by Tesco. As a result, we expect the "chubby grocer" to either lay off writing about Sir Terry and Tesco for a while on the advice of legal council, or to do the complete opposite, and perhaps sharpen the nature of his digs just slightly.

But, it's Price's latest friendly dig at his friend and collegue Sir Richard Rose, CEO (and now Chairman as well) of Marks & Spencer, we want you to know about today.

First, a little background: Unlike is the case in the U.S., the top-three UK supermarket chains--Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury's-- and a number of others near the top like Marks & Spencer, sell soft goods like clothes and hard goods like electronics and appliances, in most of their stores in addition to food and grocery products. (Waitrose stores just sell food and groceries in the main, including the best of the best in terms of quality, but it's parent company, John Lewis, operates department stores.)

Additionally, all four of these retailers sell men's and woman's clothing as part of their soft goods' merchandising, including producing and selling pants, shorts and other garments under their own store brands. The retailers' are as competitive in the soft goods category in many ways as they are in the food and grocery category.

There are even awards for the best store brand clothing, as there are in the UK for best store brand grocery products. And, Mark's & Spencer was just recently named this year's best purveyor of own-brand pants out of all the UK soft goods (and those that sell groceries as well) retailers.

Lastly, Marks & Spencer CEO Sir Stuart Rose recently became the Chairman of M&S as well as its CEO. He also signed a new 10-year contract as Chairman and CEO of the popular UK retail chain.

Back to Waitrose Managing Director/blogger Price. Last week the "jolly grocer" used his blog to write about--and offer a gentle dig to--M&S CEO Rose. Price and Sir Stuart had dinner together last week at a male only event called the Solus Club, which was held in London's posh Dorchester Hotel.

Price used the occasion of being with Rose at the dinner, following the Chairman and CEO's inking his new 10-year contract, as well as Marks & Spencer's getting its "best pants' retailer nod," to try out some new nicknames or "official titles" on Rose, whom he calls "The King of Pants," (among other titles) in honor of the "best pants retailer" honor.

Among the "official titles" Price says in his blog he offered to Chairman and CEO Rose (which Sir Stuart confirms) were: El Presidente, Grand Formage, Defender of the Universe, the Silver Foxy Overlord of the High Street and--as a nod to the combined Chairman and CEO roles rolled in with the "best pants" honor--First Lord of the Knicker Drawer.

Price also can't resist commenting on Rose's dual positions at M&S in his blog, saying he (Rose)agreed on the new, 10-year contract between himself (the Chairman) and himself (the CEO). [Read the "chubby grocer's" post about his dinner with Rose here.]

Rose seems to be taking it all in stride. He says he takes all of Price's comments, in the blog and verbally, "in the spirit in which they are intended." That's a very Chairman-like comment, we must say.

Meanwhile, today is a big day for Price, the "chubby grocer." Today, Easter Sunday, is the day for his big weigh-in to see if his efforts over the last three months to lose weight will give him the new nickname, the "not-so chubby" grocer.

Price is spending the Easter weekend on holiday with his family. He did make a blog post today but there was nothing about the weigh-in because it was an early morning pre-weigh-in post. But the signs look ominous as evidenced by this mornings post.. In that post, Price mentions a huge breakfast he just finished at his hotel restaurant in Breton, where he is on holiday. The morning meal sounds huge.

We bet he waited until tonight for the weigh-in so he could digest that breakfast spread a bit. But, what about Easter lunch...and dinner? The calories, the carbs of it all. We will be checking the "chubby grocer's" blog first thing in the morning for a new, post weigh-in post...and the results. We won't be disappointed though if Price has only lost a couple pounds. After all, we kind of like his "chubby grocer" persona.

Food & Community Memo: Food, Culture and Community Come Together At A Waitrose Supermarket In-Store Cafe on Valentine's Day

The experiment yesterday by British supermarket chain Waitrose to hold live plays in an in-store cafe at a Norfork, Wymonham supermarket is being hailed as a big success by all who participated in the Valentine's Day dramatic production, as well as by those store shoppers who were in the audience. [We wrote all about the play, "Lonely Hearts" in a piece last week you can read here.]

"Lonely Hearts" is a play written by Wymonham resident and Waitrose store customer Tony Vale. It's a short, about 10 minutes long, play about a couple who find mutual companionship while waiting in a restaurant for their respective blind dates to arrive.

The play featured amateur playright Vale's wife Georgette in the female lead, and Richard Crawely, a friend of Vale's who is an amateur actor as the male lead. The Vales' and Crowely all belong to the Wymondham Players, a community theatre group.

Waitrose agreed to host the Valentine's performances (there were two) of the play in its in-store cafe as a way to make live theatre more accessible to the public, and as a way to build closer bonds between the store and the community. And the play, "Lonely Hearts," and the day, Valentine's Day, fit perfectly together.

Local TV station Norwich Channel 24 covered both performances of the play at the Wymondham Waitrose supermarket in-store cafe yesterday. Following the performance, playright Vale told a Channel 24 news reporter "I've have never done anything like this before in a supermarket, but it seemed to go well. The customers all laughed in the right places, and clapped at the end, which is a good sign."

Indeed the audience, or customers, seemed to enjoy the free live theatre performance in the cafe considerably. Waitrose shopper Rod Crockford told Channel 24 he was impressed watching the unusual performance of a play in a supermarket. "I would have paid extra to watch it," Crockford told the reporter. "It brings a new meaning to sitting down and having a cup of coffee after you've done your shopping."

Waitrose store and cafe management staff were pleased with the performance and the crowd it brought to the store as well. We were able to get a store employee on the phone earlier today. The store staffer told us the cafe did a brisk business in coffees, teas and deserts right before, during and after the two performances of "Loney Hearts" yesterday. She couldn't tell us though if there were any Valentine's Day love connections made as a result of the performances at the Waitrose.

Waitrose marketing assistant Fran Young was the person behind the live theatre production happening at the Wymonham Waitrose supermarket's in-store cafe. She says playright Hale came to her with the idea to put the play on in the store. She talked to the store's manager about it and he agreed. She says it's part of her role to get the stores invloved with the community, and believes the play, and the concept of in-store cafe-presented live theatre, does that well.

We think such creative ideas like producing a play and other forms of live theatre and entertainment in a supermarket in-store cafe are smart, both in terms of invloving the stores' more closely with the communities they serve, and as a way to create more business for the cafes.

In the U.S., Whole Foods Market recently started having a live DJ spin music in the evenings on the patio of its in-store Bistro/Cafe and Wine Bar at its fairly new lifestyle-oriented supermarket in the Potrero Hill neighborhood in San Francisco. The DJ has been packing the crowds in during his evening sets.

We believe Waitrose has stumbled on to something good and important yesterday at the Wymondham in-store cafe, where the play "Loney Hearts" received at least five stars from the store's shoppers. We hope the grocer branches out, and starts to experiment with similar dramatic productions at its in-store cafes at other Waitrose branches. (Listening Mark Price?) This would be a wonderful boost for the arts, and hopefully would get food retailers in other parts of the world to experiment with the concept as well. (Listening Whole Foods?)

We like the sound of it: "Coming to a supermarket near you; community theatre."

>You can view a video of the play "Lonely Hearts," which was taped yesterday while being performed live in the Wymondham Waitrose supermarket in-store cafe, at the Norwich Channel 24 website by clicking here. You also can read the station's full-coverage of the play's dramatic supermarket debut at the website.

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

A new trend is emerging among food retailing chains. We call it "store-grown" and "store-raised". It's a phenomenon in which a handful of grocers are taking the store-branded or private-label products' process to the next level. "Store-raised" refers to a retailer raising animals to store-brand and sell as fresh steaks, poultry and the like. "Store-grown" is the same process but involving exclusively growing fresh produce and related products for store-branding and sales. UK retailer Asda is taking the lead in these two areas, which we see emerging as a niche trend.

Wal-Mart, Inc.-owned United Kingdom (UK) supermarket chain Asda plc. is taking the concept of store brands to a entirerly new level. Asda CEO Andy Bond tells us the UK's number-two largest retail chain, which heretofore has positioned itself primarily as a discount food retailer, will take a decidely upscale approach and start breeding Japanese Wagyu cattle in England and undercut the prices gourmet department store food purveyers Harrods, Selfriges and others charge for the super-fat-marbled steaks, commonly called Kobe-Style beef.

Kobe beef steaks from Japanese-bred Wagyu cattle are considered the best beef in the world, as well as the most expensive. The beef is so completely marbled with fat that it is graded as beyond prime in terms of its quality. The beef is so expensive that it's generally only offered for sale in gourmet food boutiques, super high-end butcher shops, and the very most upscale of upscale supermarkets.

In order to sell the super-prime beef at more competitive prices, Asda plans to raise its first herd of beef a bit differently than is commonly done in Japan. That first herd, which will be raised for the grocery chain in Yorkshire, England will be a cross between the Wagyu breed and Holstein dairy cattle. The crossed-breed will produce beef with slightly less marbled fat than pure-bred wagyu, but will still be graded above prime, and full of the fat which makes it tender.

Because the Wagyu cattle are being cross-bred with the Holstein cows, Asda can't officially call the beef it sells wagyu. However, it can use the term "Kobe-style" beef, which is the brand name most consumers are familar with anyway. Wagyu cattle also are being raised in the U.S. However, no U.S. supermarket chain is having the cattle raised for it on an exclusive basis like Asda will be doing in England. In the U.S., the beef is generally called "U.S. Kobe-style" beef.

Asda, which currently operates 340 stores and five different retail formats in the UK, isn't only taking the concept of store brands to the next level by initiating what we call "store-raised" with its wagyu beef venture. Bond also says the grocery chain will soon start planting truffle forests in Yorkshire as well, near where the wagyu cattle are going to be raised.

Like Kobe beef, truffles are a delicacy, and generally reserved for the wealthy, or those who don't might spending more than they can afford for the treats which grow beneath the ground. In fact, super high-end restaurants often pair a fat-marbled Kobe steak along with a side-dish of truffles for indulgent--and cash-laden--diners. Lower-end truffles can sell for about $150 pound. Higher-end truffles, like the black truffle, sell for $350 -to- $500, depending on the quality, availability and other variables.

By eliminating the middle-man and growing its own truffles, Asda plans to be able to service the higher-end consumer market while at the same time selling the delicacies for far less than gourmet grocery stores in the UK currently do. Perhaps the retailer can expand the market for both items as well?

Asda's "store-raised" (Wagyu beef) and "store-grown" (truffles) approach is an interesting one as it retains the chain's discount positioning in that it plans to undercut the gourmet retailers' on price, but also demonstrates a new direction the retailer is moving in. That direction is to upscale its product offerings and merchandising--while still retaining its discount positioning--so as to go after Tesco plc., the UK's number one retailer.

Tesco, like Asda, operates numerous formats, ranging from hypermarkets that sell everything from groceries, to electronics and clothing, to Tesco Express stores, small-format, limited assortment convenient grocery market. Tesco also is a leader in the UK in upscale retailing, which is a niche it has been growing into for a few years now.

Asda has a major new store expansion program in progress, backed by its Wal-Mart parent's deep pockets. Wal-Mart is the largest retailer in the world. Tesco is the world's number three retailer.

We see what we term "store-raised" and store-grown" as an emerging trend in the food retailing industry. Whole Foods Market, Inc. has had organic produce grown specifically for the grocer in a limited experiment, and plans to do more. UK upscale grocer Waitrose has also done so. However, other than Asda, we know of no other food retailer who is specifically raising (or having raised) a special breed of animal for its stores. Nor do we know of a retailer who is growing a regular super high-end item like truffles on a regular basis as Asda will soon start doing.

Both of these proprietary concepts, "store-raised" and "store-grown," also have the added benefit of allowing the retailer to tap into the fast-growing "locally-grown" consumer market, if they choose like Asda is doing to have the animals and truffles raised and grown locally. We see this phenomenon then as a double marketing threat: the high-quality control and proprietary marketing benefits of controlling the products, and the advantages of tapping into the local consumer movement.

Look for other retailers to get involved with the "store-raised" and store-grown" concepts as an extension of their store product brands' programs and positioning. There is an "exclusiveness cachet" to doing so, as well as competitive and economic benefits which can be harnassed as a way to differentiate a retailer from all others.

Food & Community Memo: Coming to a Supermarket In-Store Cafe Near You: Live Theatre?

Innovative British upscale supermarket chain Waitrose believes good food retailing is all about creating theatre in-store with its merchandising activities. But on February 14, retail theatre won't be the only form of drama occuring at the Waitrose store in Wymondham, England. On Valentine's Day next week, its in-store cafe and coffee shop will be presenting a 10 minute play called "Loney Hearts" as part of an experiment to make live theatre more widely-available to the general public.

The Valentine's Day production with the appropriate title was written by a local resident and store customer Tony Vale, who is an amateur playright. Vale says he's thrilled to be able to bring his script to life at the Waitrose in-store cafe and gives the grocer "three cheers" for what he calls "their innovative approach to supporting community projects of this kind."

Vale's play, "Loney Hearts," focuses on a couple who find mutual companionship while waiting in a restaurant for their respective blind dates to arrive. Keeping the production in the family, the female lead in the play is played by Georgette Vale, the author's wife. The male lead is played by Richard Crawely, who is a professional writer, amateur actor and friend of the playright.

Their will be two performances on Tuesday, February 14, Valentine's Day: one at 2pm and the other at 2:45pm. And of course, their will be plenty of coffee drinks and sweet treats available to sip and eat before, during and after the play. Maybe even a heart-shaped cookie or two.

Vale hopes to see couples, single people, and even a few "lonely hearts" at the Waitrose in-store cafe performances of his play. Since upscale Waitrose sells fine champagnes, organic and Fairtrade flower arrangements, fine chocolates and more, the performances might just be the perfect way for couples to begin a romantic Valentine's Day adventure. And for those who are single, we suggest it might be an excellent venue to meet your future girlfriend, boyfriend, husband or wife.

We think this is an excellent example of using a supermarket to help encourage and build community. A grocer after all is more than the sum of its product offerings. It's also smart retailing. By creating events and activities which bond and strengthen communities, grocers offer more than mere product sales to residents and customers. They add value. This extends their brand and helps bond them to the people they sell to and serve. We join playright Vale in giving the Waitrose store in Wymondham "three cheers" for their innovative efforts.

Packaging Memo: Innovative UK Grocer Waitrose to Start Selling Fresh Milk Packaged in Bags That Require 75% Less Plastic to Produce Than Plastic Jugs

British Supermarket chain Waitrose plans to soon begin selling fresh milk in bags in many of its stores in the United Kingdom (UK).

Milk, in bags, you ask? Yes indeed. The plastic sacks, which use 75% less plastic than plastic milk bottles or jugs which Waitrose will continue to sell, were tested by the innovative British grocer in a number of its stores last year. Waitrose tells us the test went well, and that it soon will start offering the plastic milk bags, called Eco Paks, in about 50 of its stores in the nation.

The Eco Pak milk-in-a-bag was created by Calon Wen, a Welsh dairy and fresh fruit and vegetable cooperative owned by about 20 farm families. The Calon Wen branded sacks of fresh milk will also have a bold "Ethical Trade" label on them, along with the words, "75% less packaging" to indicate that it takes 75% less plastic to produce one Eco Pak milk bag than it does to make a plastic milk jug that can hold the equivelent amount of fresh milk. Source-reduction is green.

Waitrose will continue to offer fresh milk in traditional plastic containers as well as tetra-type packaging. The retailer says it hopes to create an eco-friendly choice by offering the organic milk in the Eco-Paks. Although the traditional plastic milk bottles and jugs in the UK--and most elsewhere in the west--are 100% recyclable, they aren't recycled by consumers at very high rates. In fact, according to studies in the UK, of the 9 billion plastic bottles sold in the country annually, only about 7% of that total is recycled.

The benefit of the Eco Pak milk bags is that they use 75% less plastic in their creation than the traditional milk bottles do. As such, even with low plastic container recycling rates, they require far less petroleum and energy to produce, and thus are much greener overall than regular plastic milk jugs. Such source-reduction is increasingly becoming the key to creating more sustainable packaging. Waitrose also told us they're going to sell a reusable milk jug that consumers can pour the bagged milk into once they get it home.

Calon Wen Cooperative says other major UK food retailers are interested in selling the Eco Pak bagged milk as well. Richard Tomlinson, chairman of Calon Wen, says the dairy cooperative is the first milk producer and marketer in the country to recieve the UK Soil Association's Ethical Trade Symbol, which will soon begin showing up on the bags of organic milk in Waitrose stores throughout Britain.

We suggest Calon Wen try to license this technology to dairy cooperatives or processors in the United States. Retailers like Wal-Mart, Whole Foods Market and others are currently looking for packaging innovations that focus on source reduction, especially when it comes to plastics. In fact, Wal-Mart buyers have just started using a packaging scorecard with suppliers. One of the key criteria of the packaging scorecard is the environmental sustainability of a supplier's product packaging, including the amount of energy inputs used in packaging production. Since the Eco Pak bag requires 75% less plastic per package to produce vs. plastic milk jugs, the source-reduction should be right up Wal-Mart's sustainability alley.

Since Wal-Mart sells its own private-label fresh milk in the U.S., and has a major packaging source-reduction program in process, it would be logical--and smart--for the mega-retailer to offer fresh milk for sale in the Eco Paks as well as in traditional cartons and plastic jugs in its U.S. stores. In fact, we expect Wal-Mart's Asda chain in Britain to follow Waitrose's lead and begin selling milk in the Eco Pak bags soon.

Friday Fishwrap

Week-ending news, analysis and insight

Retail Innovation: British grocer Waitrose opens second 'premium' store

Upscale British grocer Waitrose opened the second store in its new "premium" store format last week in North London. The new store follows on the heels of the first "premium" store, which opened in June 2007 in Central London, and has been deemed a success by the growing and innovative grocer.

Key to Waitrose's "premium" store concept and format is the tailoring of each store to the culinary taste's and shopping habits of customers in the store's local neighborhood. It's a form of "hyper local" merchandising by Waitrose, which is considered to be Britain's leading upscale specialty grocer.

The new North London store, located on Finchley Road, follows this localization concept established by the prototype Central London "premium" store. To accommodate all its premium features and offers, Waitrose expanded the formerly 9,000 square foot North London store to 28,000 square feet, by taking over and renovating a former retail store located next to the market.

Among the new premium features the grocer has added to the store include what is calls The Time of Day Shop. At the shop, customers can order prepared foods depending on what time of day it is. In the morning for breakfast shoppers can order granola, smoothies, muesli, fresh fruit and juices. For lunch, the shop features fresh, prepared soups and an extensive selection of made-to-order sandwiches. For dinnertime, customers can choose from a menu of ready-to-eat meals, entrees and side dishes.

The store's butcher shop features a bounty of fresh cuts of meat and lots of poultry. The extensive selection includes local dry-aged and organic Angus beef, local Berkshire free-range pork, and local organic and free-range birds.

There's also a fresh fish and seafood department that offers over 70 varieties of fresh-caught fish and other delights from the sea and the (fish) farm. Included are sustainable-farmed fish varieties and "cruelty-free" caught versions of wild fish and seafood.

In the center of the store is what Waitrose says is its "premium" format's showpiece, a grouping of patisserie, cheese and charcuterie counters that form a gourmet island right in the middle of the store. This "gourmet island" features the best quality cheeses, meats and baked goods. Local delights are mingles with the best from around the globe.

As part of it's "premium" format, the store (as does the Central London market) merchandises an expanded (and even more high-end) selection of specialty and gourmet groceries. Since all Waitrose stores carry more specialty, gourmet, ethnic, natural and organic packaged goods than the average supermarket in Britain, this means the premium stores are jam-packed with the specialty goods.

The store also carries this expanded theme in the specialty and natural foods categories over to it's produce department, where the store offers expanded selections of fresh organic, specialty and exotic fruits, vegetables and herbs.

Upscale, premium wines, spirits and beers also are given center stage in the "premium" stores adult beverage department. In particular, the wine selection is extensive and impressive.

The "premium" store format is Waitrose's attempt to take it's upscale everyday merchandising philosophy up further a notch into an even more culinary focus. It's also an attempt to drill-down even further on a neighborhood level and offer custom-tailored items, along with its premium selection, based on the particular tastes of local shoppers.

The launching of the premium format was prompted in part by the entry into London by U.S. grocer Whole Foods Market. Whole Foods opened it's first European store in London about six months ago. Waitrose is Britain's leader in specialty and natural foods merchandising and has said it doesn't plan to cede sales in any form to Whole Foods. The "premium" store format is in part a demonstration of that commitment by the upscale British grocer.

Friday Fishwrap Wrap-up

What others were writing about this week

Holiday Ham Promotion From Hell: Someone at Balducci's famed Greenwich Village, NY gourmet grocery store either made a monumental promotional merchandising mistake, or was stretching for some retail humor last Saturday, when they labeled a boneless spiral ham in the store's meat case as "Delicious for Hanukkah." (See pic below, left.)

The colorful red, white and blue sign, labeled with bold black letters, was spotted by Manhattan novelist Nancy Kay Shapiro, who took a picture of the ham and the sign and gave a copy to the New York Daily News, who reported on the incident today.

Shapiro, who refers to herself as an unobservant Jew, told the Daily News she first saw the sign on the ham in the store on Saturday. She returned on Sunday with her camera. The sign was still on the ham she said, so she snapped a few pictures. Rather than tell the store management about the promotional mix-up--observant Jews generally don't eat pork for those who don't know--she posted the pics on her personal blog.

"I just thought it was funny," Shapiro told the Daily News. "I wasn't offended in any way. I just thought, here's somebody who knows nothing about what Jews eat.'

Somebody must have let Balducci's in on what must be the worst kept secret in food history because Shapiro said when she returned to the store to do some shopping that following Tuesday night, the sign was gone. It was Hanakkah that Tuesday night. (read the New York Daily News story here.)

More Ethnic Marketing Failures: Wal-Mart, the world's largest corporation and international retailer, seems to have found itself in one country where it isn't having success--South Korea. At a recent symposium at South Dakota State University, South Korean exchange professor Dr. Kye-Song Chung told the audience Wal-Mart's lack of current success in the Asian country is largely do to it's failure to adapt it's stores' to South Korea's local custom's and practices, according to a report in The Collegian, the student-run campus newspaper. (Read The Collegian story here.)

Speaking of South Korea, and Koreans: Korean bakeries are booming--and raking in dough--in Atlanta, Georgia, according to a story in the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Not only are these growing, single-format ethnic bakeries drawing Korean immigrants by the throngs, they're also becoming increasingly popular with shoppers of all ethnic backgrounds.

Atlanta has the third-fastest growing Asian population in the U.S. The Korean-owned bakeries are a fusion of European-style breads, cookies and cakes, with Korean ingredients like sweet rice and red bean paste. They also have French and Germanic sounding names like Hansel & Gretel and Cafe Mozart, giving them a multicultural flair. (Read the AJC.com story here.)

U.S. Consumers Trust Grocers, Activists Far More Than Government: The old saying, "I'm from the government and I'm here to help you," is often used as a joke to warn of the evils of believing anything a government official tells you, or offers to help you with. In the case of food information, it seems consumers are taking that joke to heart, according to a just released study on who U.S. consumers believe most about food, nutrition and related information.

According to the survey, conducted by GFK Roper Public Affairs for a group of PR and communications firms, the majority of consumers (64%) in the national poll said they trust activist groups the most when it comes to getting the facts and information about food choices, according to a report in Progressive Grocer Magazine. Further, they said these groups have consumers' best interests in mind when giving that information to them.

The survey respondents ranked retail grocers a close second. Sixty-two percent said they trust grocers for their food choice and related information. Food manufacturers ranked third at 53%, followed by government, in fourth place. Only 47% said they trusted the U.S. government as a source for food choice information. The U.S. government should thank the fast food industry, as it was the only institution or business the government beat in the survey. Only 26% of the consumers polled said they trust fast food companies for food choice information. (You can read the Progressive Grocer story here.)

More About Consumers: Flavor Food Trends: Speaking of the consumer, a new report from Datamonitor says consumers are polarized between two new food trends: exotic flavors and retro flavors, those foods from their past that evoke feelings of comfort and simpler times.

The trend towards exotic tastes--and foods and beverages--is well known to those of us who analyze or work in the industry. It's what's fueling the double-digit sales growth of ethnic foods and beverages and "exotic" products like superfruits, new-age beverages and other foods and beverages that tickle the palate.

Datamonitor says the two trends--exotic and retro seem to be polar opposites. However, they do have hedonism in common the report says. A summary of the research published in Foodnavigator.com suggests marketers can use the knowledge of these two trends to increase sales. One example is the use of "scent story" marketing to engage consumers on a sensory level and encourage emotional buying. (make your food or product smell like Mom's meat loaf, and her kitchen at home, and consumers will beat a path to your brand.)

Both exotic flavors and retro flavors lend themselves to "experiential" marketing in many other ways as well. With the exotic, its that popping on your taste buds--the taste sensation. With retro, it's that emotional connection and comfort feeling. (You can read the Foodnavigator.com survey summary here.)

Connecticut Whole Foods' Team Leader is A Green Leader: There's an old saying in retail that "If it doesn't happen at store level, it won't happen at all." We agree. And in the case of green or environmental principles, philosophies and practices for retail chain's, the store-level saying is even more true.

Whole Foods Market, West Hartford, Conn. The handmade sign on the store's door is a store-level touch by Tom Neal and his retail team.

Lucky for Whole Foods Market, Inc. they have Tom Neal as store team leader at the grocer's West Hartford, Conn. store.. When it comes to green principles and practice's, Neal is a true believer, and motivator, according to a story in the Hartford Courant. Neal and his store department managers carryout Whole Foods' green principals with gusto. And when it comes to environmental retailing, they ass their own store-level touches at their West Hartford store. Neal and company believe a green shopper is a happy shopper, and do their best to prove it daily. (You can read the Hartford Courant story here.)

Product Marketing Report

New product-line of the week: Crummy Brothers Cookies

There's nothing crummy about Crummy Brothers Cookies. The three Crummy Brothers (there real last name), Todd, Brain and Mark, have produced a line of gourmet cookies which incorporate two of the fastest growing food trends: organic ingredients combined with premium taste.

The line of indulgent cookies, made with Dagoba premium organic chocolate, include: Original (chocolate chip with a high chip count), Orange Blossom (organic chocolate and orange), Lemon Ginger (with dark chocolate chocolate chips from Costa Rica), and Chocolate (an infusion of pure organic cocoa along with organic milk and dark chocolate chips.)

Each of the Crummy Brothers has his specialty when it comes to making premium tasting cookies. Todd is a culinary perfectionist. He's the brother who can nuance a cookie recipe to perfection--and insists on organic ingredients. Brian is the chocolate chip expert. He demands only the best organic chips for the cookies which bare the family name. And Mark says he's on a cookie mission--to save the world from syrupy-sweet cookies.

Together, the three brothers have created a line of organic, gourmet cookies which are tempting the the sweet tooth's of cookie lovers throughout the U.S. Word is, seldom is there ever a "crumb" left. The cookie line is currently being slotted in all of the Whole Foods Market stores in the U.S., and also is available in select specialty stores. and online at the Crummy Brother's website.

The indulgent organic cookies don't come cheap--but then quality foods that combine organic and premium ingredients into a gourmet-quality product seldom do. Less can be more--and better. Crummy Brothers cookies sell for about $5.99 for a box of six.

The brothers are expanding distribution rapidly as well as working on some new flavors for introduction in 2008. Among the new varieties in development include: Chai Town (made with organic Chai), Peppermint Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal Chocolate Chip, Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip and German Chocolate Chip. All are organic of course.

One of the Crummy Brother's fans is celebrity chef Rachael Ray, who featured the Orange Blossom Chocolate Chip cookie as the "Snack of the Day" recently on her Food Network show

The brothers Crummy are tapping into three of the fastest-growing food trends in the U.S., and elsewhere. These trends are organic, premium quality taste, and indulgence. By combining all three of these hot-button food trends into a product, and creating a cookie that tastes great, the brothers should find some sweet success--as long as they can keep prices as reasonable as possible, gain distribution, and continue their fun-loving approach to marketing the brand.