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Key times for more efficient promotions
The truism 'timing is everything' applies especially to trade promotion plans. It seems as if shoppers have internal clocks that prompt them to spend, somewhat predictably, on certain product categories in certain seasons.
Most evident is the week leading up to Christmas, which is the top sales week of the entire calendar year for women's fragrances ($462 million annual sales, 12.0% of annual sales); men's toiletries ($302MM/9.6%); computers and electronics ($3.2 billion/6.9%); film and cameras ($999MM/6.5%); baking supplies ($1.8B/5.6%); candles and incense ($783MM/4.8%); housewares appliances (($3.6B/5.3%); refrigerated dough products ($1.4B/4.0%); batteries, flashlights and chargers ($1.7B/4.2%); and nuts ($2.2B/4.1%). read more
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Cashing in on the promise of probiotics
More openly self-service now than ever, probiotics sales have multiplied rapidly since the early 1990s and seem on course to become a billion-dollar category soon. While the National Institutes of Health (NIH) reports that Americans' spending on probiotics dietary supplements nearly tripled between 1994 and 2003, the more recent surge in the total category including probiotic foods and prebiotics is even more impressive. read more
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Boosting Veggies After the Holidays
Christmas is almost here, and with it all the delectable dishes that make getting the recommended daily servings of vegetables as easy as well... pumpkin pie. Walk into any store this time of year, and you'll see beautiful displays of traditional seasonal offerings - everything from candied yams to beans for casserole to pumpkin in all its various forms.
But what happens when the holidays are over? According to data from The Nielsen Company, looking at the equivalized unit volume (16-ounce basis EUV) of vegetables over a two-year period, vegetable consumption peaks in November and December, and then declines into the hotter months. read more
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Retailers milking private label organics
As retailers map their margin opportunities for 2008 and beyond, it's a good bet that organic private label will be near the top of their lists. Why not? With organic entries spreading like wildfire throughout perishables and center-store categories, retailers have the singular opportunity to catch the updraft not only as a seller of brands, but as a marketer of its own products.
So, further up the supply chain they go, assuming new responsibilities to possibly benefit from America's sales surge in organic consumables. read more
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"Millennial" consumers open to new tastes in alcoholic products
Even if youth is wasted on the young, a new study suggests that Millennial consumers - those between the ages of 21 and 30 - aren't wasting any time trying new kinds of alcoholic beverages. And because of their willingness to try new things, this opens up an opportunity to marketers to educate them with new information, tantalize them with new tastes, and generate sales with new and trendy products. read more
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Why San Francisco's ban on plastic grocery bags is important?
Mark down this day, Tuesday, November 20, 2007, as one where yet again, the Bay Area leads the food world. Northern California has given us Alice Walters and Chez Panisse, Tiburon's cutting edge ban on Trans Fats and now the nation's first ban on plastic grocery bags.
It was almost three years ago that the city's Board of Supervisors considered a 17 cent tax on each petroleum-based plastic grocery bag to force supermarkets and drug stores to use alternative materials that would have less of an impact on the environment and landfills. read more
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Hummus on a hot streak
Americans might be thought of as hummus neophytes because they don't consistently pursue superior ingredients, preparation methods and nutritional choices that Middle Easterners know from their homelands, contend some postings on the enthusiast hummusblog.com.
Purists may have a point, and they may be irked because their insights tell them how much better it could be for consumers here with different approaches (for one, they say, hummus is a primary meal item abroad, while we treat it mainly as a dip). read more
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Nutrition rating systems to battle for acceptance, supremacy
A new nutritional guidance system, called the "Overall Nutritional Quality Index" (ONQI), was unveiled late last month, with the system's creators saying that it was the best option to bring conformity and credibility to the nation's nutrition labeling system. However, even as ONQI was being introduced, Delhaize-owned Hannaford Supermarkets announced its plans to begin licensing its own nutrition labeling system - known as Guiding Stars - early next year. read more
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CHANNEL WATCH
An index of 100 means there has been no change
Among the key findings...
-Drug stores saw a decrease in dollar sales from 9/1/07 through 11/3/07. The drop in sales was driven by the lessened number of trips per household, while projected number of shoppers stayed constant. read more
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Our 2008 Trend Predictions!
As we enter into the New Year, food retailers and brands are faced with a myriad of new challenges: sustainability, transparency, undeniable price increases and the continued search for the Holy Grail that will lead us to health and wellness.
Trend #1: It's all about the garbage!
It is not about local versus organic, although that seems to be where most of the debate still rests. read more
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Phil's Supermarket
Give your products a Second Life! Where can more than seven million consumers connect with your brand around the clock? CLICK HERE for more information.
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U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends 2007
FMI's best-selling report, U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends, tracks the consumer environment as well as the attitudes and behaviors of American consumers as they relate to and impact the food industry. The report focuses on better data and knowledge of the grocery shopper, understanding the role of food and nutrition in today's society and providing retailers and suppliers with operationally useful information needed in serving, communicating and improving relations with their customers. read more
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Facts, Figures, & the Future Newsletter
Click here for your FREE subscription to Facts, Figures, & the Future.
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Food, Nutrition & Science
We've just launched a brand new monthly newsletter: Food, Nutrition, & Science from The Lempert Report.
Our mission is to provide retailers and brands with the latest food news and the tools needed to better serve and empower our shoppers to make the best food choices possible. Each issue will contain interviews with leading researchers, nutritionists and trend setters. read more
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Images of mobsters, gangsters and robber barons unwittingly spring to mind when the phrase 'organized crime' is referenced. While the modern organized retail crime (ORC) leader is not exactly Al Capone, the crimes committed by these offenders are no less serious, and laws targeting perpetrators of these crimes are being sought at both the state and federal level.
Michael Sansolo's post-Thanksgiving 2007 article in Kevin Coupe's always informative and entertaining MorningNewsBeat.com e-newsletter came on the heels of some observations that I had made while perusing Cincinnati newspaper and retail circular ads preceding Thanksgiving week. In the article, Michael questioned why food retailers lower prices during periods of high item demand - certainly a common practice for our blessed Thanksgiving Day turkey. 
