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Trade promotions rule in nonfood grocery, meat, frozens
Retailers have finite opportunities to promote, and seemingly infinite choices among trade programs offered by CPG suppliers in every area of the store. Today's increasing sophistication in customizing such efforts, and in ensuring the right inventories, prices and merchandising support are in place to succeed, have retailers and suppliers honing in on the programs that deliver best.
Promotions are more prevalent now36 percent of dollar sales in grocery, up from 32 percent four years ago, and 30 percent in drug stores, up from 28 percent four years ago. read more
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A Boring Industry - I'd Beg To Differ!
I recently heard a conference speaker refer to the consumer-packaged-goods retail industry as being rather boring. While I would agree that there are more than a few retailers within our industry that have lost a step or two, and there are more instances of retailers going through a significant amount of change as they react to consumer trends or respond to competitive activities in driving marketplace success. read more
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Growth of Organics Continues Unabated; Retailers Need to Move Quickly to Take Advantage
It has become a truism over the past few years that organics are a top-performing category in the supermarket industry, with sales in U.S. food, drug, and mass merchandiser stores (excluding Wal-Mart) more than doubling to more than $3.5 billion between 2002 and 2006. And it may not be surprising to those who watch the category that the northeastern and western US are the places where people are most likely to buy organic products, with organics enormously popular in markets such as San Francisco, Denver, Boston, Portland, Seattle, New York City, Hartford, Syracuse, Sacramento, Miami. read more
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Sales Growth of Yogurt and Kefir Continues
SPINS' proprietary product coding and categorization provides unmatched retail sales insight into the Yogurt and Kefir category. Unprecedented growth of this category has continuedfor the most recent 52 weeks, SPINSscan data shows a combined channel sales increase of 33.4 percent. This makes Yogurt and Kefir the fastest growing refrigerated category in both natural supermarkets and conventional Food, Drug, Mass (FDM) outlets, with combined sales of $718.9 million, compared to previous year sales of $538.8 million. read more
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Target consumers by their health-wellness behaviors
So much talk about health and wellness can't obscure the fact that America is a fat nation, or that most consumer segments identified by Homescan and Spectra, a service of The Nielsen Company, are limited in their efforts to actually be healthy and well.
First, the harsh numbers affecting men, women and children:
More than one child in three (34%) between ages two and 19 was overweight or at risk of becoming so in 2004, up six points from 2000. read more
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Diet 'disconnects' stymie good health
Americans desperately want to be on a good health track when it comes to diet. Too bad they don't fully know how to eat properly, and their rampant misbeliefs and time-pressed lives often sidetrack good intentions.
The new 2007 study of how consumers approach overall diet, physical activity and weight to manage their physical health, by the International Food Information Council Foundation, revealed numerous common disconnects between healthful intent and proper dietary practice. read more
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Table Wine: Costlier varietals gain popularity
America's shift toward alcoholic beverages and away from beer hasn't left table wine behindeven though people sometimes think of it as a less classy cousin of higher-alcohol content, fortified or sparkling wines. This notion likely stems from the European presumption of table wine as a lesser-quality product that is often barred from declaring geographic origin on the label.
The U.S. market, however, seems oceans apart from this wine snobbery. read more
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New, narrow price comparison sites embolden shoppers
Retailers know this story all too well: Savvy consumers come to the store knowing as much, and sometimes more, about products and prices than the floor staff. Armed with online printouts, their persistence often earns them greater values than most consumers will get in a given store.
Now motivated shoppers can apply that same tenacity to online merchants, and be even better informed when going to physical stores. read more
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Ready To Drink Iced Teas Quenching Need For Growth
Summertime, the living is easy, and consumers once again can be expected to reach for iced tea as a favorite refresher when mowing the lawn, playing golf or just soaking up the sun. Indeed, consumers are shopping for tea almost as much during the year as they shop for coffee5.5 times annually, compared to seven times for the coffee categorythough both are still dwarfed by the carbonated soft drink segment, which consumers patronize 27.2 times a year. read more
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CHANNEL WATCH
An index of 100 means there has been no change
Among the key findings...
The drug channel's average dollar sales index increased to 107¯the highest index since October 2004¯from its sharp descent at the end of 2006.
Dollar stores saw a spike in dollar sales in February 2007 compared to a year ago of average sales since hitting a high during the holiday season of 2005. read more
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The Honey Bee Shortage (& Einstein)
Have you noticed how just about every story about the very real and troubling issue about the disappearance of the honey bees includes a quote attributed to Albert Einstein?
Walter Isaacson's latest tome, Einstein: His Life and Universe, is a fabulous and in-depth look at one of the world's most fascinating people; but it doesn't include the quote. In fact, Isaacson has publicly stated that he doesn't know anything about the purported statement. 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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FMI Annual Financial Review
This annual report provides you with a complete financial picture of the supermarket industry as well as the external business environment, including key ratios, balance sheet, income statement and statement of cash flow. The results are provided for the entire industry as well as by annual sales for more accurate benchmarking. read more
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Management Compensation Study for Retailers and Wholesalers 2006-2007
The 2006-2007 Management Compensation Study is the industry's most comprehensive source of salary and benefits data. Representing nearly one million employees, 56 companies located around the country shared their salary and benefits information.
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Speaks
FMI's Speaks is the annual state of the industry report a must-have for everyone in the food industry. The report reviews important changes affecting the industry that took place in 2006 and evaluates industry performance in sales, profits, margins and productivity measures. It presents detailed information on supermarket operations, store-level benchmarks and outlines strategic and competitive issues. read more
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The problem many Americans face at mealtime each day is figuring out exactly who they are when they enter their kitchen. Not to simplify this too much, but the choice for many may be whether they are: 1. Martha Stewart; 2. Rachael Ray; or 3. Michael Sansolo.
There's no denying the significance of the Hispanic population in the United States: as the fastest growing demographic group, it is expected to reach the 50 million mark by 2010, with purchasing power of nearly $2 trillion by 2015. Critically important to the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) market space, the Hispanic population will yield 18 percent of all U.S. households with children by 2010. 
