June 2012
Where our foods come from
Your shoppers are asking more questions about where the foods you sell come from, how they are produced and who is producing them. It is more challenging than ever to be a food retailer and be able to keep up with the latest food news; which is why we publish the monthly e-newsletter Food, Nutrition & Science the last Monday of each month.
I invite you to sign up for your free subscription today to receive the latest unbiased information about our food supply. You'll hear directly from farmers as they offer video tours of their farms and operations, you'll read the pros and cons of major issues including BPA, organic vs. conventional farming and even raw milk from some of the most influential leaders and producers in our industry, and you'll even hear from supermarket RDs about their challenges and successes.
Food, Nutrition & Science is written to answer your questions and delve into the food issues that others gloss over.
Sign up today, the next issue of FN&S will be delivered to your email on June 25.
Tea outperforms, calmly
Tea. It looks like the beverage darling of scientists.
Barely a month goes by without a new study identifying another supposed health benefit of the 5,000-year-old drink. Some have thousands of human subjects, and others just a small fraction of that; some research lasts for years, and other studies last for months; some are funded by tea brand manufacturers, while others aren’t.
In 2012 alone, green tea has been associated with fewer aging disabilities, and less bad breath and mouth cancer, while black tea has been linked to a potentially slight reduction in blood pressure.
Mobile drives new ways of shopping—and selling
Food buying in 2012—it’s not the way moms used to do it.
No longer do chief household shoppers rely only on their own wits, energy and leg power to make the family food budget work each week.
According to NPD Group’s National Eating Trends survey, about 25 million Americans each month use coupon apps on their smartphones to find grocery deals. Households with kids do this the most—and they eat plenty of eggs, cold cereal, bacon, sausages, macaroni and cheese, soup and fruit juice.
Making more out of milk
To supermarkets, milk is the staple that pulls traffic to the back of the store. To drug stores, it is a promoted beverage typically near the front that adds convenience and underscores grocery presence. Other channels leverage milk in different ways.
Naturally. It’s a $12 billion+ annual sales behemoth that Americans consume at a 204 pounds per capita pace, according to 2010 U.S. Department of Agriculture figures posted by the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board.
Who wouldn’t want in?
Retailers try to evolve with social media
The face plant by the Facebook IPO was ugly, even by Wall Street standards.
The opening $38 issue price lasted only a couple of hours, as new revenue forecasts dampened demand for the social-media stock. Lawsuits quickly followed about how underwriter investment banks handled information and may have hurt investors.
It was the second hit within a week for Facebook. Prior to the IPO, General Motors said it would no longer spend $10 million a year to advertise on Facebook—though the automaker does reportedly have eight million friends on Facebook and would continue its non-advertising presence. Granted, this decision was part of a massive marketing expense cutback by GM—but, says BloombergBusinessweek, it still made some people wonder about Fecebook’s business model.
What if wholesale clubs went mini-food?
If supercenters can go small and succeed (ten Walmart Express stores profited in their first year) and supermarkets can distinguish with fresh foods in small formats (Fresh & Easy), The Lempert Report suggests that warehouse clubs spin off mini-versions of themselves that focus only on food.
They have the enormous buying clout and operating efficiencies to keep their winning formulas intact. They’d continue to show compelling value. And they’d be far more convenient in, say, 15,000 to 20,000 square-foot formats that could penetrate more markets. Moreover, TLR feels that any potential cannibalization of traffic to their larger sites would be far outweighed by their new, expansive reach into many more U.S. households.
The Debate over BPA
Sonya Lunder, MPH and senior analyst, Environmental Working Group (pro-ban) vs. Dr. Mitchell Cheeseman, Managing Director, Environment and Life Sciences, Steptoe & Johnson LLP (anti-ban)
Recently, the FDA rejected a petition to ban the chemical bisphenol-A (BPA) in food and beverage containers, angering and frustrating environmental activist groups like the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC). The NRDC filed their petition against BPA in 2008, referencing the health effects linked to the chemical, including asthma and diabetes, and possible hormonal changes during pregnancy that could lead to disorders like autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
The lack of sufficient data provided by NRDC led the FDA to deny the petition, but the debate is long from over. We talked to Sonya Lunder, senior analyst for the Environmental Working Group (EWG) and Dr. Mitchell Cheeseman, Managing Director of Environment and Life Sciences at Steptoe & Johnson LLP about what the debate actually means for manufacturers – and consumers.
Innovation wins - evolve or lose
Factors that rob retailers and CPG brands of sales can come from anywhere.
Consider how showrooming agitates stores today and threatens their growth. Did they wait too long to learn and track the evolving relationships between America’s consumers, online competitors and the technology advances empowering both? Did they focus too much on other physical stores as their primary competitors?
The Lempert Report thinks so.
