Store Brands - May 2017

Creative marketing for private brands

Improving perceptions of store brand food safety

Digital printing bolsters quality, efficiency May 2017 | www.storebrands.com

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Contents

Volume 39 No. 5 May 2017

16 Cover Story Champions of Private Brands

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Our 2017 Editors’ Picks wow with quality and innovation

Features 32 Marketing Innovation Imagine that Grocery retailing experts share how to get more creative with store brand marketing

36 Food Safety Building trust

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Educating consumers, improving transparency could go a long way toward ensuring confidence in private brand food safety

39 Flavor Forecast Flavors ‘planted’ in fruits, veggies Food and beverage ingredient trends geared toward health and wellness innovations

42 Packaging Going digital Whether product manufacturers team with an outside converter or bring it in-house, digital printing can improve quality and efficiency, among other things

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Departments 6 8 10 15 74

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Editor’s Note Minding the Store Around the Industry Getting Social End Cap

Category Intelligence 46 50 54 60 62 66 70

Frozen meals and entreés Candy Single-serve beverages Spices and seasonings Pizza and pizza crusts Baby care products Beauty care products

About the cover: In this issue, Store Brands honors the gold, silver and bronze medalists in the Editors’ Picks best new products competition. Cover design by Jeff Bowes.

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Store Brands (ISSN-0190-9851; USPS # 0488-370) is published monthly by EnsembleIQ, 570 Lake Cook Rd., Deerfield, IL 60015. Subscriptions: One year, $95; two years, $146.

One year, Canada $112; two years, Canada $150, One year, foreign $175; two years, foreign $285. Payable in advance with a bank draft drawn on a US bank in US funds.

Single copies $10, except foreign, where postage will be added. Reprints, permissions and licensing, please contact Wright’s Media at ensembleiq@wrightsmedia.com or (877) 652-5295. Canada Post: Canada returns to be sent to IDS, P.O. Box 456, Niagara Falls, ON, L2E6V2. Periodicals postage rates paid at Deerfield, IL and additional mailing offices. Printed in USA. POSTMASTER: send all address changes to Store Brands PO Box 1842 Lowell MA 01853. Copyright 2017 by EnsembleIQ. All rights reserved, including the rights to reproduce in whole or in part. All letters to the editors of this magazine will be treated as having been submitted for publication. The magazine reserves the right to edit and abridge them. The publication is available in microform from University Microfilms International, 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, MI, 48106. The contents of this publication can not be reproduced in whole or in part without the consent of the publisher. The publisher is not responsible for claims and representations.

Store Brands / May 2017 / www.storebrands.com

Editor’s Note Business Intelligence for an Evolving Market

570 Lake Cook Rd. Suite 310, Deerfield, IL 60015 (224) 632-8200 • Fax: (224) 632-8266

Brand Director

Kevin Francella

(973) 264-4389

kfrancella@ensembleIQ.com

EDITORIAL Editor-in-Chief

Lawrence Aylward

(330) 635-2586

laylward@ensembleIQ.com

Managing Editor

Carolyn Schierhorn

(224) 231-6359

cschierhorn@ensembleIQ.com

Contributing Writers

Kathie Canning, Dana Cvetan, Rich Mitchell

ADVERTISING & SALES Associate Brand Director Suzanne Caputo (201) 855-7628

scaputo@ensembleIQ.com

CUSTOM MEDIA VP, Custom Media Division Pierce Hollingsworth (224) 632-8229

phollingsworth@ensembleIQ.com

MARKETING VP, Marketing & Communications (224) 632-8214

Bruce Hendrickson

bhendrickson@ensembleIQ.com

AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT Director of Audience Development

Gail Reboletti

greboletti@ensembleIQ.com

Audience Development Manager (215) 301-0593

Shelly Patton spatton@ensembleIQ.com

List Rental

The Information Refinery

(800) 529-9020

Brian Clotworthy

Subscriber Services/Single-copy Purchases 978-671-0449

EnsembleIQ.com@e-circ.net

ART/PRODUCTION Director of Production Kathryn Homenick (973) 358-4875

khomenick@ensembleIQ.com

Advertising/Production Manager (224) 632-8251 Fax: (888) 445-1123

Bette Boyers bboyers@ensembleIQ.com

Creative Director

Jeff Bowes jbowes@ensembleIQ.com

REPRINTS, PERMISSIONS AND LICENSING Please contact Wright’s Media at ensembleiq@wrightsmedia.com or (877) 652-5295.

EVENTS • MARKETING • DIGITAL • RESEARCH • CIRCULATION CORPORATE OFFICERS Executive Chairman

Alan Glass

President & CEO

Peter Hoyt

Chief Operating Officer Chief Brand Officer

Richard Rivera Jeff Greisch

Chief Financial Officer

Len Farrell

Chief Business Development Officer & President, Ensemble IQ Canada President of Enterprise Solutions/ Chief Customer Officer Chief Digital Officer

Korry Stagnito Ned Bardic Joel Hughes

Chief Human Resources Officer

Greg Flores

Talking toilet paper, generic that is

F

or a minute I thought I was back in the 1970s. I glanced at my pants to make sure I wasn’t wearing bell-bottom jeans.

I was shopping at my local big-box retailer when this throwback moment occurred. I was in the household items aisle when I spotted the precarious product on the store shelf. I couldn’t miss it, considering it was at eye level.

I turned away and then looked at the product again. It was “generic” all right. The packaging was black and white and simply read “bathroom tissue.”

Funny thing, the packaging, even though it was as boring as a Grateful Dead jam session, got my attention. But that’s probably because I haven’t seen such artless design on packaging in so many years.

When I picked it up, the four small rolls comprising the package seemed as light as a finch’s feather. But, I must say, the generic bathroom tissue was worth its weight in toilet paper. I bought it for a song at 56 cents, and I would buy it again.

The buying experience also got me thinking about today’s private brands. For the past several months, I have heard industry people talk not so nicely about the old days of private label, when products like potato chips, ice cream, cookies, beer and bathroom tissue were available as generic goods. These items came in prosaic packages, weren’t promoted, and were clearly viewed as cheaper and inferior products to their brand-name counterparts.

It’s my impression that most of today’s store brands want nothing to do with products that even display a hint of being generic. We’re talking below the value tier here.

I’ve heard terms like “exclusive” being tossed about to define the way today’s private brands should be. While the consensus is that there’s still room for value lines (not generic), there is more emphasis being placed on retailers offering innovative store brands that their customers can’t find anywhere else. And if those products tell a good story, then all the better.

Funny, but telling a good story makes me think of another bathroom tissue, Charmin, which was the prevailing brand when I grew up. Charmin had one of the most recognizable characters ever in television advertising — Mr. Whipple — the finicky grocery store manager who constantly cautioned customers to “please don’t squeeze the Charmin!” Charmin, even today and long after the Mr. Whipple character retired, represents everything that modern store brands want to be.

That said, we’re not talking T-bone steaks here; we’re talking toilet paper.

Consumers aren’t as emotionally attached to toilet paper as they are to T-bone steaks.

So maybe generic, as outdated and bland as it is, still has a place in some private brand categories like bathroom tissue, where consumer emotion is more passive than passionate. And maybe consumers will choose to buy low with generic bathroom tissue and other emotionless products so they can afford more premium privatebranded products, like organic pasta and olive oil.

But retailers should be careful here. The ones that are taking store brands to another level — and have been running as fast as Usain Bolt to get away from generic’s unbefitting image — don’t want to risk what they have accomplished by painting their stores with too much black and white. Maybe a little dab here and a little dab there will do, but not nearly the amount that might make consumers think they are back shopping in the ’70s. SB

Lawrence Aylward, Editor-in-Chief laylward@ensembleIQ.com

2015

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Store Brands / May 2017 / www.storebrands.com

Minding the Store

Opportunity barks for private brands in pet segment

By Jordan Rost

ne thing can be said for certain: Americans love their pets. Whether cats, dogs, birds or fish, consumers cherish them as part of their family or household. As a result, pet owners spend a great deal on food and care items for their furry friends. And consumers, who are increasingly paying more attention to health concerns and ingredients in the food they consume, are taking a similar approach when it comes to the foods they purchase for their dogs and cats.

Across center store aisles in traditional* retail channels such as grocery stores, mass merchants, drug stores and convenience stores, the pet aisle is valued at more than $20 billion annually, and that shouldn’t be ignored. In fact, total pet care saw growth four times that of the overall center store sales rate. This indicates that pet owners across the country are likely to continue spending their dollars on pet food and other pet care items.

For private brand retailers with skin in the game, two trends worth paying attention to may provide opportunities for growth as consumers continue to shop more mindfully for their pets.

Private brands preferred Nielsen data shows that consumers are increasingly turning to store brand pet accessories and other non-food items such as litter, flea repellent and medicine/treatment products. Growth across private brands in this space demonstrate consumers’ willingness to sacrifice brand-name items for the store brand alternative.

In the latest 12 months ending Feb. 25, flea and tick pet products (netting sales of $395 million in center store, traditional retail channels) jumped 68.4 percent in private brand dollars, while its branded competition declined 1.7 percent. Fish care products drove $171 million in sales, with private brands owning 14 percent share of the category and increasing by 18.8 percent from the previous year. Store brand litter supplies

grew 15.7 percent in dollars, owning 8 percent of the total litter supplies category. But it doesn’t end with maintenance items; consumers want their pets to have fun. Private-branded pet toys increased 7.7 percent in dollar sales over the past year.

Healthy pet food equals opportunity While the humanization of pet food isn’t a new trend, it may offer more of an opportunity than retailers realize. And for health-conscious consumers, that means focusing more on package claims that point to healthful ingredients, such as food without artificial colors and with natural ingredients and a high vitamin and mineral presence.

Overall with pet food, consumers are looking for food with no artificial colors or flavors. In fact, over the past year, pet care sales surrounding this wellness claim have soared by 20.5 percent. Dog food with package claims stating the absence of artificial colors and flavors represented $2 billion in sales (up 20.9 percent), while the same claims for cat food drew $313 million in sales (up 13.8 percent).

For natural pet foods, these product claims have led to a 22.3 percent increase among pet care products, particularly for dog and cat food (up 26 percent and 12 percent in sales, respectively). In the case of pets’ nutrient intake, vitamin and mineral presence is critical. Pet medicine products that display this claim represent $14 million in sales, up 29 percent from the previous year.

While brand name in pet care is certainly important, store brands should take note of the opportunities in the category segments where consumers are the most versatile in their brand preference. From a health and wellness perspective, noting certain claims such as natural and vitamin/mineral presence are important attributes for pet owners. In addition, store brands should also strategize to ensure that pet care accessories are front and center, as they are some of the highest-growth segments within private brands across the pet aisle. SB Rost is vice president of consumer insights for New York City-based Nielsen. His work explores emerging trends, shifting buying and media consumption behaviors.

*NOTE: The data included in this article represents retail sales of UPC-coded items within U.S. grocery stores, drug stores, mass merchandisers, convenience stores, select dollar stores, select warehouse clubs and military commissaries (DeCA).

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Store Brands / May 2017 / www.storebrands.com

AroundtheIndustry SHORT TAKES Sam’s Club reinvents Member’s Mark brand Bentonville, Ark.-based Sam’s Club, a division of WalMart Stores, has reinvented its Member’s Mark brand, the result of heavy investment over the past year and streamlining 21 private brand names into one.

As part of the overhaul, Sam’s Club said in a press release that it formed a dedicated team of product developers, culinary experts and food scientists to ensure each item emphasizes quality and value.

“In the past, we made sure we were competitive with national brands,” said Chandra Holt, vice president of private brands for Sam’s Club. “But in today’s environment, a lot of our members want better than that. Our goal is to make sure every Member’s Mark item is developed based on what our members want today.”

Alongside buyers, the private brand team traveled the globe tapping experts — including top sommeliers in France and local olive and tomato farmers in Italy — to procure best-in-class ingredients and processing methods, according to the press release.

This year, Sam’s Club is introducing 300 new items while renovating twice that number. The company plans to add about 300 new items per year. The product lineup will span from fresh food to apparel to health and wellness. The Member’s Mark brand also received a fresh design, which Sam’s Club described as a new modern, bold and stylish look with a unifying logo.

More consumers like C-stores for food According to a survey from the Alexandria, Va.based National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS), Americans are increasingly seeking out fueling locations based on the quality of the food associated with the gas station.

While survey results show that gas price is still the primary determinant in selecting a station, an increasing percentage of consumers say that the quality of items inside the store dictates where they buy fuel. One in seven drivers (16 percent) say that in-store offerings are driving fueling decision, a 5 percent increase since 2015. While 51 percent of American drivers still say that gas price is the reason that they prefer a specific store or chain, the number represents a 6 percent drop over the past two years.

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Store Brands / May 2017 / www.storebrands.com

Private brands could ‘explode’ in next five years

By Lawrence Aylward

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et ready for private brands to explode.

That was the message from Diana Sheehan, director of Kantar Retail’s grocery channel research team, at an ECRM conference focusing on store brands last month in Orlando. Sheehan cited an influx of private brand products on the coasts and an increase of millennial shoppers as her reasons for feeling bullish about private brands in the United States.

“We have seen strong growth in private label over the last few years,” Sheehan said, noting Kantar Retail estimates store brand sales at $120 billion. “My expectation is you are going to see private label sales increase at a faster rate in the next five years than in the past five years.”

Sheehan said while store brands have performed well at retailers throughout the Midwest, the East and West coasts have yet to embrace private brands. But that is about to change, thanks to Lidl, Aldi and Ahold Delhaize.

German retailer Lidl plans to open 20 stores in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina this summer and 100 stores total by mid2018. Aldi, Lidl’s German counterpart, recently announced an aggressive remodeling and expansion program, including the opening of 34 stores in Southern California, and aims to have 2,000 U.S. stores by the end of 2018. Ahold Delhaize already has a strong presence on the East Coast and has plans to ramp up its private brands through its new “Better Together” strategy.

“I think you will see a lot more investment and more creativity (on the East and West coasts),” Sheehan said, noting that Lidl’s, Aldi’s and Ahold Delhaize’s impact could spur other regional and national retailers to up their private label games.

Sheehan also said millennial shoppers will continue to spur even more growth in private brands.

“Millennials tend to be much more open about private label,” she added. “They don’t have the hang-ups, the legacy or past perception that older shoppers have in the private label space. So when you have retailers doing private label well and you have shoppers open to (those products), it’s a perfect situation to see a jump in growth.” SB

German retailer Lidl plans to open 20 stores in Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina this summer and 100 stores total by mid-2018.

AroundtheIndustry SHORT TAKES Target commits to sourcing wood-based products responsibly Minneapolis-based Target Corp. recently released a statement that it is committed to sourcing woodbased products from well-managed forests to avoid contributing to deforestation or forest degradation.

Target said the commitment applies to all of its store brand products and packaging containing a majority of wood-based material.

Target said it will work actively with its vendors, suppliers and other stakeholders to implement its policy by eliminating any unacceptable sources, and progressively increase the amount of responsible wood, paper, paper-based packaging and woodbased fiber over time. The retailer said its longterm intention is that all wood, paper, paper-based packaging and wood-based fiber used in products that it purchases and sells be sourced from wellmanaged forests that have been credibly certified and/or are from post-consumer recycled materials.

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Store Brands / May 2017 / www.storebrands.com

Millennials shown to be heavy buyers of private brands

By Lawrence Aylward

I

t’s hard to keep pace with the changing consumer these days, especially millennials, but supermarkets and regional grocers must persevere.

That was a key message delivered April 20 in the second of four webinars, titled “From the Consumer: Understanding Disruption,” that Store Brands is conducting with the Food Marketing Institute (FMI), Daymon and IRI. The webinar series explores the recent “The Power of Private Brands” report by FMI’s Private Brand Leadership Council, Daymon and IRI that offers insight into private brand opportunities and challenges at supermarkets and regional grocers.

“Everyday we have consumers coming into the marketplace that are different than I am, different from my parents and different from their own parents,” said Heath Osburn, director of private brands for Ahold Delhaize, who participated in the webinar with Mark McKeown, client insights principal for IRI, and Heidi Dethloff, vice president of marketing at the Digimarc Corp. “These consumers have new demands. We have to engage with (them). That’s not something new, but it has been evolving. It is overwhelming today.”

Today’s consumers, led by millennials, are mobile, active on social media and very demanding Osburn said. “We see people far

AroundtheIndustry more interested in what they eat, how they eat it, how it was manufactured and where it’s coming from,” he added.

Despite the challenges, McKeown said he was “very bullish” on future sales of private brands, noting that the “Power of Private Brands” revealed millennials are embracing private brands

at supermarkets and are more likely to be heavy buyers of the products.

“When you have this type of generational shift, it tells you that there is something really unique going on there,” he added.

While millennials and other consumers are driven to purchase private brands to save money, they are also driven by purchasing quality products, McKeown said.

“If retailers want to convert more light buyers of private brands (to heavy buyers), they need to focus on quality,” he stated, noting that the supermarkets and grocers as well as mass merchandisers and club channels that are doing it well have become “curators” of private brands.

“They are saying, ‘We’re not going to mimic something that is already on the shelf. … We are going to deliver something that is high volume and unique to them that nobody else in the industry (is doing),” McKeown added.

He also stressed the importance of using social media to engage heavy buyers of private brands, especially millennials.

“It probably shouldn’t be any surprise that millennials are using a store app to get information from retailers, and they are using the newspaper the least of any generation,” he said. “This is what we call disruption.”

Dethloff cited Digimarc research showing that 61 percent of retailers say “investing in an effective digital/mobile strategy to improve the customer experience is essential” and that 69 percent of retailers say that “offering multimedia digital content in-store and/or via a mobile device impacts profitability.”

To listen to the webinars on demand and to sign up for remaining webinars, please visit www.storebrands.com. SB Aylward, editor-in-chief of Store Brands, can be reached at laylward@ensembleiq.com.

www.storebrands.com / May 2017 / Store Brands

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AroundtheIndustry SHORT TAKES Whole Foods may be up for sale The Wall Street Journal reported that an activist investor, Jana Partners LLC, has amassed a large stake in Whole Foods Market and wants the organic retailer to explore a possible sale. According to other reports, the Albertsons Cos., The Kroger Co. and Amazon are candidates to purchase the Austin, Texas-based retailer.

Bloomberg reported that Amazon considered a takeover of Whole Foods last fall but backed off. According to Barclays, Whole Foods has lost between nine and 14 million customers over the past six quarters.

White named president of own brands for Albertsons Geoff White was appointed president of own brands for the Albertsons Cos., a new position within the Boise, Idaho-based retailer.

In his role, White will lead the own brands team, including the culinary kitchen and technical center. He is responsible for furthering the growth, development and innovation of the company’s own brands products, including O Organics, Lucerne, Open Nature and the extensive line of Signature products.

Fernhill Beverage enters private brands Carlsbad, Calif.-based Fernhill Beverage said it will begin offering its products as store brands to national retailers. In a press release, Fernhill said it has been approached by several national discounters and national grocery chains inquiring about its Roadkill and Roadkill XL brand drinks.

“The feedback pertaining to the products has been overwhelmingly positive,” Fernhill stated.

“The majority of retailers feel the brands are the best-tasting, as well as the best-looking, brands in their category.”

Fernhill said it will work directly with each retailer to develop a look and a label unique to the retailer. SB

“Clearly, this has been the most challenging deflationary environment we have experienced since 2009, and the longest period of sustained food deflation in decades.”

— Sprouts CEO Amin Maredia

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Store Brands / May 2017 / www.storebrands.com

When national brands beat store brands on price

By Jim Holbrook

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rivate brands have come a long way since the days when they were the “generic” option with black and white labels. The retail industry has been through a lot in the more than four decades since Daymon was founded: recessions, technology disruptions, shifts in shopper perceptions. Through all of this — and the differentiation advances that private brands have made with packaging, design and experiential marketing — purchasing decisions can still hinge on one not-so-simple concept: price.

Pricing and the perceived value proposition of private brands play a vital role in today’s industry, especially for those defined as key value items. These are the items that are consistently on promotion and purchased by price-sensitive shoppers on a frequent basis. Our data shows that while 83 percent of retailers are running price checks on their key value items, only 60 percent of those checks include their private brands. In most cases, we found that even when a retailer is price-checking private brands, it is not being done consistently.

The lack of private brand price-checking has a real impact. Based on our research, private brand key value items are being undercut by national brand promotions on average of 12 weeks a year.

Let’s consider the implications of that statistic: • You are giving your price-sensitive shoppers every reason to choose national brands over your private brands 12 weeks out of the year.

• National brands are gaining 12 weeks’ worth of chances for shoppers to decide they prefer their product over yours.

• You are missing 12 weeks’ worth of opportunity to demonstrate to your shoppers a clear message on price.

If your private brands aren’t price-competing with national brands, why even have them on the shelf?

The most obvious solution here is that private brands should run their promotions at the same time as the national brand to reduce being undercut. This strategy is in fact supported by sales data. When retailers sync their private and national brand promotions, the combined sales from both brands exceeds the combined sales that would result from two separate stand-alone promotions.

But you’d be surprised how seldom that technique is employed.

Fascinatingly, we found that only 17 percent of retailers are employing a price protection program. The other 83 percent? Well, they lost $147 million in private brand sales last year.

Define and protect your key value items, and they will earn their spot on your shelves through returns that garner customer loyalty, larger shares and sales gains. Combine that strategy with a retail merchandising solution and provide a custom in-store event during the promotion, and your private brand will become a triple threat that drives consumer engagement and fosters stronger brand relationships. SB Jim Holbrook is CEO and a member of the board of directors of Stamford, Conn.-based Daymon.

Getting Social

A

Q A with Scott Williams

The vice president of own brands and quality for Westborough, Mass.-based BJ’s Wholesale Club How did you come to the world of private brands?

I started in the laboratory, testing products for claims and national brand equivalency.

What is the biggest obstacle you have ever overcome?

Moving from the world of science to the world of business.

Describe the store brands industry in one word.

Evolving.

What’s the best advice someone ever gave you?

Give your all every day.

What do you like most about the industry?

The high quality of the products. Our Wellsley Farms and Berkley Jensen brands offer premium quality at the best value.

It’s 5 o’clock (or later), what do you do for fun?

Spending time with my family or going out for a run.

What do you dislike most about the industry?

That the industry hasn’t found a way to move past the “generic” image, but we’re making strides. More than 90 percent of BJ’s members purchase our Wellsley Farms and Berkley Jensen products.

Home. I travel frequently to visit with our vendors and partners.

You have a week off.

Where do you go and why?

If you were born 100 years ago, what would you do for a living?

Be a doctor.

What one great thing does the industry have going for it?

That retailers and manufacturers take a lot of care and oversight with the products.

What song do you love to crank up in the car?

I like silence in the car, it’s one of the few places I can get it.

What is the industry’s biggest challenge?

The scattered message to the consumer.

If you could invent one private label product for yourself, what would it be?

I already did, our Wellsley Farms Fair Trade Brownie Bites.

Who is your hero and why?

My dad, who found a great way to manage the work-life balance.

Who is the business person you admire the most?

Bill Gates, who is working to solve the world’s challenges (from getting a computer on every desk to malaria).

What trait in yourself do you attribute most to your success?

Conscientiousness. I like to see projects through to the end and make sure that BJ’s Wholesale Club is really thinking through solutions.

Scott Williams (left) says his father, Michael, is his hero.

What’s the best book you’ve ever read?

“Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.”

What movie can you watch over and over?

“Saving Private Ryan.” SB www.storebrands.com / May 2017 / Store Brands

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2017 Editors’ Picks

Champions

of Private Brands

Our 2017 Editors’ Picks wow with quality and innovation

By Lawrence Aylward and Carolyn Schierhorn

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rom birthday cake-flavored popcorn to bread bowls with pizza fondue, from scent boosters for laundry to freeze-dried rabbit ears (dog treats), the sheer assortment of entries in Store Brands’ second-annual Editors’ Picks Awards competition impressed those who evaluated products submitted by nearly 50 companies in 19 categories.

Open to private brand manufacturers and retailers that self-manufacture their own brands, the Editors’ Picks Awards program recognizes the best new product concepts made available in 2016 for private branding. Editors agreed that many of the products submitted hit on today’s key trends impacting store brands — ingenuity, personalization and quality, among others — to take private brands to another level.

A team of editors judged the food and beverage entries on taste, innovation and visual presentation, while assessing non-food entries on their functionality and quality as well as innovativeness and presentation.

“This is delicious” and “My family would love these” were common comments as the judges independently rated the submissions.

The champion products stood out for their originality, flavor or scent and evidence of social or environmental responsibility.

We congratulate the following winners, which took gold, silver and bronze honors in 19 categories.

Store Brands / May 2017 / www.storebrands.com

DESSERTS

GOLD: Wells/Blue Bunny — Great Value Chocolate Shadow Crunch Ice Cream Cone: A clear favorite of the judges, the Great Value Chocolate Shadow Crunch Ice Cream Cone earned top scores for flavor and innovation. The chocolate waffle cone integrates rich chocolate and creamy vanilla ice cream and features a “fudge revel” dipped in a white confectioner’s coating. “It’s absolutely scrumptious,” noted one editor. Manufactured by Wells/Blue Bunny, the cones seize on the growing trend toward periodic indulgence.

SILVER: Satispie LLC — Great Value Traditional Apple Pie: “A delightful blend of sweet and tart,” according to the judges. Satispie’s Great Value Traditional Apple Pie makes it easy to prepare a festive and satisfying dessert. The flakiness of the crust is “just right,” the raters agreed.

BRONZE: JTM Foods — JJ’s Bakery Duos Snack Pies: JTM Foods’ JJ’s Bakery Duos Snack Pies are individual-serving pies that feature two fillings inside a lightly glazed fried outer shell. The editors tasted two varieties: Boston Cream (chocolate and vanilla creams) and Strawberry & Cream (strawberry and vanilla creams), noting that the high quality of the ingredients stood out with every flavorful bite.

GOLD

SILVER

BRONZE

DESSERT TOPPINGS

GOLD: Herkner Farms — Cherry Chipotle Fruit Drizzle Topping: Three fruit toppings manufactured by Herkner Farms swept this category. The editors particularly liked the Cherry Chipotle Fruit Drizzle Topping for being on-trend in combining sweet and spicy flavors. Although the product can be used as a topping for ice cream, cheese, French toast and waffles or mixed with plain yogurt, it has many other applications. For example, the manufacturer notes that the topping is a popular marinade or glaze for meat and poultry.

SILVER: Herkner Farms — Peach Drizzle Topping BRONZE: Herkner Farms — Blueberry Drizzle Topping: Just as versatile, the more traditionally sweet Peach Drizzle and Blueberry Drizzle toppings would be favorites with children, the judges observed.

GOLD SILVER

BRONZE

CANDY

GOLD: Mount Franklin Foods/Sunrise Confections — Organic Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Caramel Cashew : One judge remembers being “blown away” by the flavor of Mount Franklin Foods’ Organic Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Caramel Cashew candy.

While indulgent, this non-GMO product also appeals to the growing consumer preference for healthful and organic foods. According to the manufacturer, each serving of the candy contains 4 grams of protein and 20 percent of an adult’s dietary iron requirements.

SILVER: GKI Foods LLC — Market District Chocolate Candy in assorted varieties: Coffee Beans Covered in Dark Chocolate, Caramelettes Covered in Milk Chocolate and Sea Salt, and Pretzel Balls Covered in Milk Chocolate and Peanut Butter are among the 10 varieties of Market District Chocolate Candy manufactured by GKI Foods. The editors admired the creativity of the assortment and loved a number of the flavors.

SILVER

GOLD

www.storebrands.com / May 2017 / Store Brands

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2017 Editors’ Picks BRONZE: Kruger North America — Candy Bar Stick Multipacks: Kruger North America’s Candy Bar Stick Multipacks (10 sticks per box) represent a packaging innovation in the United States for both private brand and national brand chocolate candy. The judges thoroughly enjoyed the three flavors they sampled: Smooth & Caramel, Peanut & Caramel and Biscuit & Carmel.

BRONZE

SNACKS

GOLD: HoneyBar Products International — Quinoa & Cranberry HoneyBar : Whether consumed as a snack or breakfast bar, the Quinoa & Cranberry HoneyBar satisfies most every foodie’s desire to experience surprising ingredient combinations.

The blend of crunchy nuts, dried fruit and quinoa held together with honey is wheat- and gluten-free, according to HoneyBar Products International. Not only does this product have an appealing flavor and texture, but also its packaging drew kudos from the judges.

SILVER: Anne’s House of Nuts/TreeHouse Foods — Sam’s Choice Berry Granola Nut Blend Trail Mix : Made by Ann’s House of Nuts, a division of TreeHouse Foods, Sam’s Choice Berry Granola Nut Blend Trail Mix includes oven-roasted pecans and walnuts to provide extra crunch and dried cranberries and blueberries for added sweetness. The editors scored the product highly for taste and visual presentation, commenting on the attractiveness of the packaging, which shows the product inside.

GOLD

SILVER

BRONZE (TIE): NSI LLC — Organic Dried Mango; Woodstock Farms — Pumpkin Patch Trail Mix: NSI LLC’s Organic Dried Mango won

the judges over not only for taste, but also for the product’s many health attributes, including being non-GMO and free of artificial preservatives, colorants and flavors. The stand-up pouches are designed to better preserve freshness and flavor while optimizing merchandising space.

Woodstock Farms’ Pumpkin Patch Trail Mix blends dry-roasted salted pumpkin seeds, coconut “smiles,” dry-roasted almonds, diced apples and dark chocolate chips with Pumpkin Crème seasoning. With millennials snacking throughout the day rather than eating three square meals, this high-protein product is on-trend for convenience, the editors noted. Reminiscent of fall colors, the product also garnered praise for its visual appeal.

APPETIZERS/CONDIMENTS

GOLD: Mario Camacho Foods — Sam’s Choice Organic Garlic Stuffed Olives: One could say that Sam’s Choice Organic Garlic Stuffed Olives really bring it — as in flavor … make that an explosion of flavor. The product, by Mario Camacho Foods, scored high not only in the taste category but in innovation as well, considering its certified organic stature and inventive fusion. The stuffed olives can be used for party trays, on salads, in drinks or in recipes.

SILVER: The Perfect Bite Co. — Market District Appetizers :The Perfect Bite Co.’s Market District Appetizers, including Quiche Trio and Raspberry Chipotle Baby Brie Bites, aimed to create “a memorable food experience that infuses excitement.” The pastry appetizers do just that.

BRONZE: Acorsa USA — Gazpacha Olives: Acorsa USA’s Gazpacha Olives, featuring Spanish pitted green olives with gherkins, red peppers, onions, carrots and chilies, were cited by judges for inducing a great spicy flavor.

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BRONZE

GOLD

SILVER

BRONZE

2017 Editors’ Picks SNACKS/POPCORN AND PEANUTS

GOLD: King Nut Co. — Market District Sweet & Spicy Pecans: What comes first, the sweet or the spicy flavor? For the King Nut Co.’s Market District Sweet & Spicy Pecans, it really doesn’t matter. The pecans are sweet for sure, but the sass of the spice hits home just as flavorfully. The combined taste makes for a standout and distinguished product, noted by judges for its premium appeal, among other things. It didn’t take long for judges to respond favorably after sampling them.

SILVER: Oogie’s Snacks — Oogie’s Grandpa Ben’s Spicy

GOLD

SILVER

Sriracha Popcorn

BRONZE: Oogie’s Snacks — Oogie’s Toffee Butter Popcorn: Oogie’s Grandpa Ben’s Spicy Sriracha Popcorn and Toffee Butter Popcorn also generated a mouthful of taste. The Spicy Sriracha Popcorn is sweet and tangy; the Toffee Butter Popcorn seems to melt in the mouth. The all-natural products are also on-trend from a free-from ingredient standpoint.

BRONZE

DIPS & SPREADS

GOLD: Kruger North America — Pumpkin Spice Cookie Butter: We could eat Kruger North America’s Pumpkin Spice Cookie Butter any time of the year, not just during the fall and winter when pumpkin-flavored products are all the rage.

It tastes like pumpkin pie, only sweeter. It’s not only delicious, it’s versatile. It can be spread on everything from pancakes to crackers to celery to apples. Sometimes taste doesn’t live up to a product’s innovativeness. That’s not the case here.

SILVER: Jardine Foods — Roasted Tex Mex Salsa BRONZE: Jardine Foods —Pineapple Mango Salsa: Jardine Foods’ Roasted Tex Mex and Pineapple Mango salsas, sold at Tops Friendly Markets, are also products that live up to their innovation. The Roasted Tex Mex satisfies the bold and spicy palette while the Pineapple Mango offers a fruitier taste. From a visual perspective, the salsas’ sumptuous appeal backs its creative packaging.

OIL

GOLD: Bono USA Inc. — Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil : The best olive oil is extra virgin, organic, healthy and cold-pressed.

Bono USA’s Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil is all four. The oil is also manufactured from olives grown in the Val Di Mazara region of west central Sicily. It exhibits a fine aroma and slightly fruity taste.

Bono USA’s olive oil also has Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) certification, which means it is traceable to its source.

SILVER: Catania Oil — Marconi Organic Balsamic Vinegar and Extra Virgin Olive Oil Single-Serve Packets : Catania Oil’s Marconi Organic Balsamic Vinegar and Extra Virgin Olive Oil Single-Serve Packets scored high in innovation for the ever-important convenience factor. They are packaged in foil for maximum freshness and portability.

BREAD ITEMS

GOLD: Ardent Mills — Whole Grain Trail Mix Bread and Organic Pumpkin Bread: Ardent Mills’ Whole Grain Trail Mix Bread and Organic Pumpkin Bread are hearty, tasty and easy to

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GOLD SILVER

BRONZE

GOLD

SILVER

GOLD

CLEAN LABEL non-GMO INGREDIENTS Private Label ~ In-Store Bakery ~ Our Brand

BRC Certificated ~ A Scored for 2017

Sales Inquiries: sales@satispie.com or 716-982-4600 SatisPie, LLC - 155 Balta Drive - Rochester, NY 14623

2017 Editors’ Picks feel good about eating. The former is packed with whole grains and seeds, and raisins and walnuts. The latter is made with real pumpkin and dressed with rolled-out oats, sunflower and flax seeds. “Fantastic taste and appeal,” is how one judge described the offerings.

SILVER: United States Bakery — Sam’s Choice Double Cheese Please Gourmet Bagels : United States Bakery’s offering, Sam’s Choice Double Cheese Please Gourmet Bagels, also scored high on taste, and the product was cited for its appetizing appearance.

The gourmet bagels are packed with Asiago and cheddar cheese.

BRONZE: Vibrant Health Products — Nature’s Basket GlutenFree Whole Grain Bread : Vibrant Health Products’ GlutenFree Whole Grain Bread has a motto: “Your favorite sandwich never had it so good.” We won’t argue that.

SILVER

BRONZE

GOLD

SAUCES, SOUPS AND MARINADES

GOLD: Chelten House — Organic Smokey Tomato, Carrot Pasta Sauce: Chelten House’s Organic Smokey Tomato, Carrot

Pasta Sauce impressed us across the board. It embraces the exclusive and distinctive factors, which are vitally important in today’s private brands. Here’s how one judge described it, “A top-notch organic jarred pasta sauce with great flavor.” One might not think that “smokey, tomato and carrot” could make for too interesting of a combination. But it’s a fantastic fusion, with all the flavors evident but not overpowering.

SILVER: Chelten House — Green Ghost Salsa BRONZE: Chelten House — Poke Marinade : Chelten House swept the category with its Green Ghost Salsa and Poke Marinade also gaining medals.

Both products scored high in taste and innovation. Chelten House’s culinary team is clearly churning out some excellent products for private brands.

SILVER

BRONZE

MEAT & POULTRY

GOLD: Godshall’s Quality Meats — All Natural Turkey Breast: After just one or two bites, the judges were sold on the top-notch taste and mouth feel of Godshall’s Quality Meats’ All Natural Turkey Breast. Fully cooked and sliced, the product can be eaten hot or cold, as a main course or in sandwiches.

The minimally processed product, which contains no artificial ingredients, satisfies consumer cravings for both convenience and clean labels. Dry-rubbed with seasonings, the turkey breast slices come in several flavors, including Cuban Spice, Honey Peppercorn, Maple Apple Cinnamon, Cranberry and BBQ Seasoned.

SILVER: Les Plats Du Chef USA — Great Value Cheeseburger Bites : With hints of onion flavoring, Les Plats Du Chef USA’s Great Value Cheeseburger Bites kindled the editors’ fond memories of devouring White Castle sliders in their youth. The frozen bite-sized cheeseburgers would be an especially fun, tasty and easy-to-prepare snack for kids.

BRONZE: Tyson Foods — Marketside Chipotle Boneless Chicken Thighs: The editors raved about the flavor and value-added convenience of Tyson Foods’ fresh Marketside Chipotle Boneless Chicken Thighs — a healthful main course that is ready to place in the oven. One judge gave the product a perfect 10 out of 10 points for taste.

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GOLD

SILVER

BRONZE

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2017 Editors’ Picks PACKAGED VEGETABLES

GOLD: Seneca Foods — RTS Low Sodium Organic Vegetables in a Plastic Cup : Consumers today care about health and wellness, and they prioritize convenience. Seneca Foods caters to both preferences with its RTS Low Sodium Organic Vegetables in a Plastic Cup. The aseptically packaged, single-serving cups of corn brought smiles to the editors’ faces. The product was moist and flavorful. Positioned as a convenient item for kids’ lunchboxes or for someone who wants a healthful on-the-go snack, the shelf-stable vegetables in plastic cups exemplify on-trend innovation, the judges agreed.

SILVER: Pacific Coast Producers — California Salad Ready Tomato Wedges: Ready to serve right out of a can, Pacific Coast Producers’ California Salad Ready Tomato Wedges are kept moist with a light topping juice of water and olive oil and are seasoned with Italian spices. The editors praised the flavor and shelf-stable convenience of this product.

GOLD SILVER

BABY FOOD

GOLD: Baxters North America/Wornick Foods — Parent’s Choice Squeezable Meals in Assorted Varieties: Packaged in flexible pouches for ease of use, Parent’s Choice Squeezable Meals come in a variety of flavors in both conventional and organic lines. Impressed with the baby food’s BPA-free packaging plus the absence of artificial colors and preservatives, the editors tasted four product samples: Sweet Peas with White Chicken; Sweet Potatoes

GOLD

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2017 Editors’ Picks with Cinnamon; Cheesy Potatoes with Pork Loin; and Organic Carrot, Zucchini & Broccoli. One judge was so taken with the products that he quipped he could envision himself enjoying the food in old age.

COFFEE

GOLD: Massimo Zanetti Beverage USA — Tops Certified 100% Compostable Single-Serve Coffee Pods: Massimo Zanetti Beverage USA teamed with Williamsville, N.Y.-based Tops Friendly Markets to develop the compostable single-serve coffee pods, which scored high in on-trend innovation for being able to completely break down in commercial composting facilities, returning valuable nutrients to the soil. The pods also provide the fine taste of 100 percent Arabica premium coffee.

SILVER: Mother Parkers Tea and Coffee — Publix Premium Coffee: Mother Parkers Tea and Coffee’s Publix Premium Coffee also scored high in taste and visual presentation, thanks to its elegant black packaging, giving it a premium look. Mother Parkers reports that the beans used in Publix Premium Coffee are higherquality 100 percent Arabica beans cultivated and grown only at certain elevations between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn.

BRONZE: Euro-Caps — Nespresso Compatible Coffee Capsules: Euro-Caps’ Nespresso Compatible Coffee Capsules, also scored high in on-trend innovation. Euro-Caps says it is “extremely flexible” in creating any roast or strength for private brands.

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GOLD

SILVER

BRONZE

TEA

GOLD: Mother Parkers Tea and Coffee — Organic, Fair Trade Simply Balanced Tea: Organic and fair trade Simply Balanced Tea comes in nine flavors spanning herbal, black, green and white tea varieties. The judges sampled Voice Tamer, one of Mother Parkers’ Organic Flavored Herbal Teas. This delicious hot beverage is a blend of elderflowers and honey with complex rooibos tea and mint flavors, the manufacturer points out.

One editor noted the tea’s soothing taste and praised the product for being organic and for reflecting the manufacturer and retailer’s commitment to social justice.

SILVER: Mother Parkers Tea and Coffee — President’s Choice Jasmine Large Leaf Tea: “Fragrant and refreshing” is how one judge described Mother Parkers’ President’s Choice Jasmine Large Leaf Tea. The on-trend package includes a cleverly positioned window that allows the tea to be seen.

GOLD

SILVER

RTD BEVERAGES

GOLD: Lassonde Pappas — Free-From Sparkling Juice Beverage (Grapefruit): Lassonde Pappas hits on healthy attributes with its Free-From Sparkling Juice Beverage (Grapefruit), which contains fewer calories and less sugar than soda. It also contains 70 percent juice and vitamins C (30 percent), B6 (10 percent) and niacin (10 percent). The grapefruit taste, minus the sugary sweetness, comes shining through in a product you feel good about consuming.

GOLD

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2017 Editors’ Picks SILVER: Lassonde Pappas — Free-From Electrolyte Solution (Fruit Punch): Consumers can also feel good about drinking

SILVER

Lassonde Pappas’s Free-From Electrolyte Solution (Fruit Punch), made without artificial colors, ingredients or preservatives.

The oral electrolyte solution replenishes zinc and rapidly replaces electrolytes and fluids to aid in rehydration.

BRONZE: Ice River Springs — Ice River Green Water: Ice River Springs gets high marks for innovation for its 4-gallon, 100-percent recycled bottle, which the company says fits on all water coolers. The company says its strives for zero plastic going to waste and takes in baled, post-consumer plastic from municipal recycling centers, purifying and transforming it into new bottles.

BRONZE

HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS

GOLD: Fruit of the Earth — Equate Ultra Sheer Sunscreen Lotion SPF 100: Noting how gloppy many sunscreen lotions are, the judges took special notice at how smoothly and evenly Equate Ultra Sheer Sunscreen Lotion SPF 100 applies to the skin. One editor praised the sunscreen’s “pleasant scent and feel” and “good coverage.” The oil-free product absorbs quickly, won’t clog pores and provides broad-spectrum protection against the sun’s UVA/ UVB rays, according to the manufacturer, Fruit of the Earth.

SILVER: Rockline Industries — Parent’s Choice Berry Melon Wipes: Rockline Industries’ Parent’s Choice Berry Melon Wipes have a wonderful scent, the judges agreed. The moist, soft

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GOLD SILVER

but strong wipes also perform well, and the product’s mild cleansing solution is gentle enough for use on a baby’s face and hands.

BRONZE: Value Smart Products — Meijer In-wash Scent Booster: Meijer In-wash Scent Booster by Value Smart Products can be added directly into a washing machine to give clothes a long-lasting fresh scent. The editors commended the sample fragrances and noted how easy the product is to use.

BRONZE

PAPER PRODUCTS

GOLD: Atlas Tissue — Green Heritage 100% Recycled Bath Tissue: Atlas Tissue received a near-perfect score in on-trend innovation for Green Heritage, which the company says is manufactured from 100 percent recycled fiber and is biodegradable. It is also dye- and fragrance-free, septic-safe and economical. Green Heritage carries the Green Seal certification mark of environmental responsibility. The company bills Green Heritage as “soft on you and easy on the planet.” We agree.

SILVER: Kruger Paper Products — Great Value Ultra Strong Bathroom Tissue: Kruger Paper Products’ Great Value Ultra Strong Bathroom Tissue comes in a package of 18 rolls. The 2-ply, unscented and septic-safe toilet paper is strong and soft.

BRONZE: U.S. Alliance Paper — TAD Household Paper Towels: U.S. Alliance Paper says it introduced its TAD (Through Air-Dried) technology, where virgin fiber is dried with extremely hot air to develop a soft and airy structure, rather

GOLD

SILVER

BRONZE

www.storebrands.com / May 2017 / Store Brands

29

2017 Editors’ Picks Looking for beverages that grow your category?

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GOLD

BRONZE

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SILVER

PET FOOD

GOLD: Ainsworth Pet Nutrition — Pure Balance Wild & Free Bison, Pea & Venison Dog Food: Presented in an 11-pound glossy black package with rich photography showing a platter of raw game meat and green peas, the Pure Balance Wild & Free dog food sample immediately seized the judges’ attention. They were impressed with the eye-catching and informative labels explaining that the Bison, Pea & Venison Recipe is grain-free and provides healthy immune system and digestion support. The main product ingredient in the dog food is real bison; that, along with real venison, helps build lean muscle mass in dogs, according to Ainsworth Pet Nutrition, the manufacturer. The true test, however, came when one of the judges took the product home and gave it to two discriminating wire-haired fox terriers. The verdict: cleaned bowls and wagging tails.

SILVER: Carnivore Meat Co. — Braided Bully Stick: Intended as an entertaining snack for dogs that promotes oral health, each Braided Bully Stick

by Carnivore Meat Co. consists of three U.S.-sourced bull pizzles. Once braided, the Bully Stick enters a 48-hour freeze-dryer that locks in vital nutrients without cooking the raw product. The judges noted that the product is on-trend for championing pet health and wellness. The grain-free, gluten-free Braided Bully Stick contains no added hormones, antibiotics, fillers or artificial preservatives or flavorings.

BRONZE: Carnivore Meat Co. — Freeze-Dried Rabbit Ears: Carnivore’s Freeze-Dried Rabbit Ears are another clean label dog treat. The cartilage in rabbit ears is a natural source of glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate, which can help protect against osteoarthritis, the manufacturer says. Warning: Although devoured ravenously by dogs, the raw, hairy freeze-dried ears in see-through packaging might not immediately appeal to squeamish human customers. SB

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Supporting your commitment to sustainability

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Marketing Innovation

IMAGINE THAT

By Carolyn Schierhorn

Grocery retailing experts share how to get more creative with store brand marketing he world of private brand marketing includes many examples of striking creativity.

Consider H-E-B’s solicitation of new product creations from consumers and small businesses across Texas. Or Food Lion’s “Quarter Back” promotions, which encourage shoppers to purchase up to 40 store brand items at a time for 25 cents off each and make unlimited return visits for additional discounts. Or more recently Earth Fare’s “Dirty Food Swap,” which calls on customers to bring in non-cleanlabel store brand items from other retailers for 25 percent off Earth Fare’s own-brand, clean-ingredient products.

Certain private brand names also reveal tremendous imagination. Take Amazon’s new Wickedly Prime brand, for instance, or Walgreens’ Soap & Glory skincare and cosmetics line.

Indeed, from product development to package storytelling to its “TJ’s Fearless Flyer” circular, Trader Joe’s is arguably the apotheosis of inventiveness when it comes to marketing store brands.

But more often than not, grocery retailers fall short in the realm of innovation, contends Tom Stephens, founder of Brand Strategy Consultants in North York, Ontario.

“No question about it, there is a need for more creativity,” 32

Store Brands / May 2017 / www.storebrands.com

he says. “Retailers are not doing a good job of pulling together all of their private brand lines as a platform for the consumer.

They are not doing a good job of convincing customers that they are the destination for a bunch of great unique products that can help consumers and their families live well and get through each week.”

It’s also important to keep in mind that ideas that resonate in one region or with one demographic group can bomb elsewhere. Consequently, imitating the marketing initiatives of highly creative chains isn’t necessarily a sound business proposition. Store brands that cultivate and champion local products, for example, might not work as well in Illinois as in Texas, which has a superabundance of state pride.

In addition, creativity must be based on more than wild flights of fancy, caution private branding experts. To be effective, innovation needs be on-trend and reflect a deep knowledge of one’s customers.

“First and foremost, you need to know who is shopping at your stores,” emphasizes Diane Colgan, senior vice president of marketing and decision support for Williamsville, N.Y.-based Tops Friendly Markets. “And you need to stay true to the fundamental marketing principles that are key to driving your business.

“Sometimes we like to do all kinds of things that are

different and unique. But you can’t lose sight of the most important principles: product quality, packaging that reflects the quality of the product inside, and strategic pricing — providing good value for the money.”

UNDERSTANDING TODAY’S CONSUMERS Creativity can’t happen in a vacuum; it must be grounded in reality, retailing thought leaders agree.

Of course, retailers glean a substantial amount of information on shoppers through point-of-sale transactional data. But knowing what customers are currently purchasing is insufficient, according to William Gillispie, the retail and CPG leader for IBP Global Business Services.

Bob Mariano, a former chairman and CEO of Milwaukeebased Roundy’s (a division of The Kroger Co.), advises grocery executives to strike up conversations with customers and employees in a sampling of stores to learn what they like and don’t like about existing private brands and what’s on their wish lists.

In addition, retailers need to capture “unstructured data” outside of the store, Gillispie says. Searching through social media postings, YouTube videos and Yelp reviews and paying closer attention to the comment section of consumer surveys are ways to tap this type of information.

Understanding the evolving and increasingly influential millennial generation is especially important, adds Helena Yoon, a creative director with Anthem Worldwide in Mississauga, Ontario. Millennials appreciate authenticity and are less likely to be swayed by conventional advertising, she notes.

Having a website and a strong presence on social media channels is critical, but even that isn’t enough, Yoon says.

Retailers need to offer ideas on how consumers can live more responsibly and healthfully by incorporating store brand products into their busy lives, she adds.

For example, the Canadian retailer Sobey’s, headquartered in Stellarton, Nova Scotia, provides many grocery-related “life hacks” online such as one Yoon found useful on what to do with leftover cabbage.

“Food waste is a big concern,” so this brings a solution that meshes with a consumer’s desire to live more sustainably, Yoon explains, noting that in providing such tips, “Sobey’s is acting as your trusted friend.” The retailer is showing how individual consumers can make a difference — just as the company is doing at the corporate level through various environmental initiatives.

Millennials, moreover, seem to have an insatiable desire to learn everything they can about anything they consume.

“Yes, we are very demanding,” confirms Store Brands columnist Ryne Misso, a member of the millennial generation and the director of marketing for Chicago-based Market Track.

Transparency about the provenance and composition of products is a key driver in his generation’s purchasing decisions, he says.

“A lot of the center store manufacturers such as Kellogg’s and General Mills have probably put out more on how their products are created, where they’re sourced and what

Top tips for jazzing up own-brand marketing

T

here are many ways to bolster creativity in the marketing of store brands, notes Bryn Banuelos, director of marketing/own brands portfolio for Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons Cos. She offers the following suggestions with examples from Albertsons: 1. Show customers that creating great meals doesn’t have to be elaborate or expensive.

Albertsons Executive Chef Jeff Anderson teamed up with Oprah Winfrey’s “Favorite Party Pro” Debi Lilly on a satellite media tour in February 2017 to share tips for creating the perfect Valentine’s Day dinner at home using high-quality meat from the retailer’s O Organics and Open Nature private brands. The recommended meals featured either cedar plank beef tenderloin finished with sweet honey rosemary butter or polpette (lightly packed meatballs) with sage butter and angel hair pasta.

2. Tell engaging stories about your store brands.

Albertsons Cos. demonstrated that organic food is for everyone in a September 2016 campaign for the O Organics brand that communicated “quality, affordability and wide selection” via a TV spot and a video that aired across digital and pre-roll placements (ads shown prior to Internet videos). “The TV spot takes customers from inside the grocery store into the outside world in a fun and inclusive ‘shopping cart rally,’ showcasing the brand’s warm, approachable personality,” Banuelos emphasizes.

3. Engage influencers to help drive awareness and trial of your products.

To coincide with the launch of the chain’s “Organic for All” campaign and generate awareness of O Organics products, Albertsons treated bloggers from across the country to “an immersive culinary and wellness experience” that showed how easy and affordable it is to go organic with O Organics, Banuelos observes.

4. Draw national media attention to a big launch with a celebrity spokesperson.

Albertsons celebrated the launch of its Signature brands — including Signature SELECT, Signature Kitchens, Signature Farms, Signature Café, Signature Home and Signature Care — by partnering with actress Tiffani Thiessen, host of the Cooking Channel’s popular TV show “Dinner at Tiffani’s.” As Banuelos puts it, Thiessen inspired shoppers with her tips and recipes for Signature meals in a number of marketing efforts, including public relations, blogger and social media events in April 2016.

5. Get your retail associates excited about your store brands.

When Albertsons launched its Signature family of brands, the retailer used associate engagement as a key strategy.

“We asked associates in all [of our] stores to tell the company ‘Your Signature Story’ — a great meal, a lasting memory or better care that started with a Signature product,” Banuelos explains. Nearly 500 Albertsons associates submitted stories via their online portals. The first 130 employees each received a $15 gift card.

www.storebrands.com / May 2017 / Store Brands

33

Marketing Innovation ingredients are included in the past five years than they did in the previous 50 years,” Misso observes. “In order to stay competitive with those national brands from a marketing perspective, there is actually an opportunity for retailers to shed more light on where they’re sourcing their private label products; who their suppliers are; and what their goals are for improving the ingredients, improving the health attributes and improving the environmental footprint of the products.”

HARNESSING TECHNOLOGY Besides insisting on greater transparency, today’s consumers want to spend less time shopping, Stephens points out. Better use of technology is essential both to drive store traffic and to promote store brands, he says.

“Nobody wants to spend time in a supermarket — that’s not something people enjoy doing,” Stephens contends. “So how do you get consumers into the store, and how do you get them to focus on your private brands?”

Given that some 75 percent of consumers use smart phones and shopper apps of one sort or another, Stephens suggests that retailers with strong store brands focus their creative energies on building a sophisticated, versatile smart phone platform that allows shoppers to quickly find the items, especially private brand SKUs, that meet their specific needs, whether it be gluten-free products, organic offerings or lowglycemic-index foods for diabetic consumers.

Retailers that can candidly say, “Our private brands offer you the best opportunity to shop efficiently, healthfully and creatively,” will be able to leverage such technology to the fullest, Stephens says. And they will be able to effectively convey to customers the robustness of the app, as in this hypothetical example: “Our smart phone platform will help you find special offers on our store brand products, the meal kits from scratch we are now offering, the brand-new products in our dairy case, and the new fish that just came in.”

It shouldn’t be difficult for grocery retailers to harness technology that already exists to give consumers the information they keep saying they want, Stephens insists.

BREAKING THROUGH Retailers with private brands that span many categories have advantages over national brands when it comes to storytelling.

But revamping product formulations and packaging is much more time-consuming for retailers that have thousands of store brand SKUs than it is for national brands.

Tops Friendly Markets, for one, recently redesigned its private brand packaging to better represent the quality of the products inside and reformulated a large number of its products to meet the clean label expectations of contemporary consumers. The entire undertaking took about three years, Colgan says.

And it can take considerably longer to conceptualize, develop and roll out a completely new store brand. As a result, much of the creativity in private branding comes from breakthrough new products and line extensions as well as promotional campaigns.

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Be that as it may, retailers today are urged not to be just fastfollowers of national brands but to develop unique offerings.

One way to do this cost-effectively is by aiming to complement national brands on the shelves, Colgan suggests. That means listening to customers and looking for the gaps between what they are requesting and what national brands are providing.

This approach led to Tops’ being “first to market” with its 100 percent compostable single-serve coffee pods, the Gold winner of Store Brands’ Editors’ Picks competition in the Coffee category (see page 26). Manufactured by Massimo Zanetti Beverage USA, the compostable pods help to prevent the growing problem of K-cup waste in landfills.

But innovation isn’t easy, Colgan concedes. In the fiercely competitive grocery environment, retailers need a strong brand identity to attract customers. But most chains, like Tops, have a diverse customer base.

“You really have to offer different tiers because consumers aren’t all looking for the same things,” says Colgan, who notes that Tops offers value, premium and certified-organic tiers.

“Price is the most important factor for certain customers, while others want premium-quality products. And although more people today are looking for organic items, a large percentage of the population remains uninterested in organic.”

In other words, grocery retailers need to satisfy different customer needs — but not with a single store brand.

“Consumers want choices, and they want to have control over their shopping experience,” Misso adds. “Retailers that have successfully rolled out tiers to appeal to healthyeating shoppers and less-price-sensitive shoppers tend to be much more creative than those that are simply sticking with their legacy brands. The innovative retailers are integrating themselves with today’s consumer reality.”

RULES OF THUMB Whenever retailers contemplate establishing a new brand, as opposed to improving their existing store brand lineup, Colgan recommends that they look inward and assess what they expect to accomplish.

“You need to clearly understand what the brand’s objective is,” she says. “When you create your own brand, there should be a reason for creating it. And if you understand what that reason is, you can then develop your strategy much more easily because you’re not trying to be everything to everyone.

You can be very specific to a specific audience.”

But, as Yoon emphasizes, it’s far easier for grocery retailers to refresh their marketing communications than it is for them to launch totally new brands, lines and SKUs. “You don’t have to introduce a whole new assortment of products to be creative,” Yoon stresses. “But you do need to consistently update your customers with news and ideas about your brand; otherwise the brand will die. A brand is like a living organism that you constantly need to feed.” SB Schierhorn, the managing editor of Store Brands, can be reached at cschierhorn@ensembleiq.com.

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Food Safety

Building trust Educating consumers, improving transparency could go a long way toward ensuring confidence in private brand food safety

recent Trace One study unattractive packaging might have suggested By titled “Consumer Confidence to some consumers that corners were cut in Carolyn in Private Label” reveals both terms of food safety as well.

Schierhorn good news and bad news for “Over time, we’ve seen retailers invest retailers with store brands. in bigger private brand teams, including packaging On the positive side, the survey teams,” Bossons continues. “The products are of 2,000 private brand consumers from eight countries looking better, and quality testing and control is (in North America and Europe) shows that 83 percent excellent.” But some consumers have been slower to of respondents view private brand food products to be recognize these developments, he observes. equally as safe as national brands. Nevertheless, less In Bosson’s opinion, ongoing improvement in than a quarter of consumers have total confidence in private brand product quality and packaging design store brands, according to the study. will only increase consumer confidence in the safety “A scant 23 percent” of consumers “completely of store brands. trust the safety of the private label brands they consume,” the Trace One report states. In addition, MULTIFACETED ISSUE 19 percent of “economy shoppers” say that private The top priorities of retailer food safety teams brand products “are less safe than national brands.” include preventing potentially fatal microbial Shaun Bossons, chief revenue officer for Trace contamination throughout the supply chain and One, emphasizes that these survey statistics have ensuring that allergen-free products are not exposed less to do with any actual shortcomings in private to any traces of the allergen in question during brand quality assurance and more to do with production, transport, storage and handling. consumer perception.

Globally, laws such as the Food Safety “That perception is changing for the better, but it Modernization Act (FMSA) in the United States takes time,” he says. set the requirements that retailers and private Bossons notes that because private brand label partners must meet. The Global Food Safety products traditionally were lower-cost alternatives Initiative (GFSI), meanwhile, establishes rigorous to national brands, retailers and their store brand standards and offers benchmarking tools for food suppliers at first didn’t invest much in packaging manufacturers and producers. design. The resulting plain and even at times U.S. retailers and their private brand vendors

36

Store Brands / May 2017 / www.storebrands.com

must comply with FSMA, and many private brand manufacturers are certified to GFSI-recognized standards. But most U.S. consumers are unfamiliar with food safety laws and guidelines, points out Don Low, a solution consultant for Trace One. “I definitely think a lot could be improved in terms of consumer education,” Low says. “I think that the government should do more to educate consumers about the legislation put in place to protect people.

But I also think that retailers should emphasize compliance in-store and on their websites.”

Costco Wholesale Corp., for one, educates consumers about its QA initiatives in part through “Buying Smart” articles in Costco Connection magazine, “the largest circulated monthly print magazine in the United States,” notes Craig Wilson, vice president and general manager of quality assurance/food safety at the Issaquah, Wash.-based chain.

“Costco is well-known for its quality measures in all of the things that we do,” adds Wilson, who serves on the GFSI Board. “Continuous auditing of all of the Kirkland Signature items” is one of Costco’s most important food safety protocols for ensuring and maintaining the safety and quality of its private brands, he says.

But when consumers today express reservations about private brand food safety, are they referring primarily to concerns about microbial contamination?

Or are consumers — particularly the millennial generation, known for its fears about the chemicals in food — worried about GMOs, artificial preservatives, bisphenol A in can linings, and dozens of other ingredients and additives they can’t pronounce?

“It’s a little bit of both,” Low says. “Consumers are asking for healthier products and products where they recognize the ingredients. But consumers are also driving the recent legislation to ensure that manufacturers and retailers have strong action plans and corrective action plans to prevent contamination.”

TRANSPARENCY IS KEY Whether concerned about food-borne illness or unhealthful food constituents, consumers view transparency as extremely important, notes Doug Baker, vice president of industry relations for the Food Marketing Institute, who oversees the FMI’s private brand initiatives among other responsibilities.

“It’s the lack of transparency in some instances that causes people to have anxiety about whether or not a product is in their best interests,” he says.

www.storebrands.com / May 2017 / Store Brands

37

Food Safety One industry initiative that will significantly improve transparency and, in turn, consumer trust in food safety is SmartLabel, according to Baker. As he describes it, “SmartLabel is a digital platform that is going to bring every piece of information that a consumer would want to know about a product together in one place so he or she can make an educated and informed purchasing decision.” The technology involves both a Quick Response (QR) code affixed to the product and a special smart phone scanning application.

Ahold Delhaize and Albertsons Cos. are already testing the SmartLabel technology on hundreds of SKUs, Baker shares.

“It’s very clear that this is going to become an important platform for communicating with consumers,” he says.

“As consumers In a podcast with Store Brands’ Editorcontinue to in-Chief Lawrence Aylward, Trace demand more One’s Shaun Bossons explains why information about he expects consumer confidence to products, digital grow in private brands. Listen online at has become the www.storebrands.com. platform that all

Listen online

retailers need to engage in because it’s the best way to provide the most information,” Baker adds.

“It’s the best way to educate consumers and create consumer trust.”

REASON FOR OPTIMISM The United States is years behind Europe when it comes to private brands, Bossons observes. There, grocery retailers differentiate themselves by — and become destinations because of — their store brands, he says.

But certain U.S. grocery retailers such as Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods Market and Roundy’s Mariano’s banner in the Chicago area (owned by Cincinnati-based The Kroger Co.) have done a great job of generating fun, unique, immersive in-store shopping experiences, Bossons points out.

For these retailers, the concept of “own brand” extends way beyond private brand packaged goods to include made-to-order stations, full-service restaurants and a wide variety of product tasting opportunities.

Because such stores connect with customers, “you trust them more,” Bossons says. “And if you trust them more, you’ll trust the safety of their private brands.” SB

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Flavor Forecast

Flavors ‘planted’ in fruits, veggies Food and beverage ingredient trends geared toward health and wellness innovations

C

onsumers’ collective health and flavors in myriad foods, including By kick — their desire for snack chips.

Lawrence more natural and free-from “The selling point is that they are made Aylward ingredients — is driving from real vegetables,” Shieh says, noting current flavor and ingredient trends. that another differentiation factor is the chips’ “Across food groups, we’re colors come from the vegetables, not an added seeing flavor and ingredient profiles driven toward coloring agent. health and wellness innovations,” says Jean Shieh, Consumers like the signature and earthy flavors marketing manager for Turlock, Calif.-based of chips manufactured from root vegetables like Sensient Natural Ingredients. beets and carrots, Shieh says.

Retailers and manufacturers of private brands “Consumers are willing to give vegetables that should take note that vegetables and fruits are have more of an earthy and bitter taste a try as at the forefront of these flavors and ingredients, long as they are paired well with other ingredients appearing in everything from, literally, soups to and the overall flavor complexity delivers a good nuts, Shieh notes. experience,” Shieh says.

“I feel like 2017 is less about reducing or More vegetable flavors are also appearing in adding [something to your diet],” she adds. “It’s beverages as flavors and ingredients. Aloe vera is more about going back to natural ingredients, like one that is also being combined with various fruits vegetables and fruits. But you don’t have to get in some concoctions. Some of the drinks contain them from the actual source. You can have them in bits of aloe vera and fruit. your drinks and snacks.”

Among fruits, mango continues to be a popular Kale has made its mark as a vegetable flavor option, especially as an ingredient and flavor to the past few years, appearing as a powder in chips offset the heat associated with spicy foods, Shieh and crackers and as an ingredient in frozen foods says. Peach is also gaining popularity as it pairs well and other fare. But Shieh says that more familiar with spicy foods, she adds. vegetables such as tomatoes, broccoli, spinach, “Our culinary team recently developed a beets and carrots are showing up as ingredients habanero peach yogurt combination that turned www.storebrands.com / May 2017 / Store Brands

39

Flavor Forecast out quite well,” Shieh notes. “The sweetness from the peach is complimentary to the heat and slight fruitiness of habanero.”

Global connections Kim Cornelius, a senior food scientist for St. Francis, Wis.-based Wixon, which develops and manufactures spices and seasonings, says more American consumers are discovering “the world of cuisines,” thanks to a record number of people traveling overseas in 2016 and surfing the Internet, where they are learning more about exotic flavors.

“Their food interests have become more adventurous,” Cornelius says. “They are willing to try more unique flavors, flavor combinations, cuisines and food mash-ups. Ethnic foods such as Moroccan, Philippine, Indian and Middle Eastern bring new spice and seasoning ingredients to the consumer table.”

In its 2017 Flavor Forecast, McCormick cites “the new Mediterranean cuisine of the 21st Century” as a trend.

McCormick states that barberries, a tart-tasting red dried fruit, can be used to liven up sweet and savory dishes. McCormick also highlights baharat seasoning in its forecast, calling it an “indispensable, flagrant blend.”

AnnMarie Kraszewski, Wixon’s R&D lab manager, says that “heat” is popular with consumers and notes that spices and seasonings are the perfect delivery system for it.

“But the flavor that surrounds the heat is also important,” Kraszewski adds. “Consumers today are looking for more complex heat with characterizing flavor. Using a balance of spices, acids, sugar, salt and flavor modifiers enable the food scientist to create seasonings with depth.”

McCormick states in its forecast that pepper is “finally capturing the spotlight” and offers the next wave of spicy flavor, especially when combined with fruits. “Exotic tropical fruits like dragon fruit, mangosteen, green mango and jackfruit accent the citrus notes of pepper, delivering the perfect sweet heat combination,” McCormick states.

Smoke is another flavor that’s gaining popularity in food and beverage, Shieh says. Sensient recently rolled out a line of smoked vegetables to satisfy

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customers who want vegetables combined with savory flavors.

“Smoked vegetables can be marketed as charred, burned or roasted,” she adds.

Coconut has been trending the past few years and will continue to trend, according to Whole Foods Markets’ top food trends.

“Move over coconut oil and coconut water — coconut flour tortillas, coconut sugar aminos (sauces) and more unexpected coconut-based products are on the rise,” Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods states.

“Virtually every component of this versatile fruit-nutseed (coconuts qualify for all three) is being used in new applications. The sap is turned into coconut sugar as an alternative to refined sweeteners; the oil is used in a growing list of natural beauty products; and the white flesh of the coconut is now in flours, tortillas, chips, ice creams, butters and more.”

Whole Foods also cites Japanese food and flavors as trending. “Long-celebrated condiments with roots in Japanese cuisine, like ponzu, miso, mirin, sesame oil and plum vinegar are making their way from restaurant menus to mainstream American pantries,” according to Whole Foods. “Seaweed is a rising star as shoppers seek more varieties of the savory greens.”

While older popular flavors are not falling out of favor, they are morphing into something different, Shieh says. Consider salt, always a popular ingredient, but a changing one. Sea salt has been popular for several years but has now morphed into smoked salt, which is gaining popularity, she adds.

Millennials, iGens making impact Millennials’ use of social media has had a profound impact on flavor and ingredient trends, Shieh says. Someone can post a recipe on Instagram featuring a trendy taste and the next you thing it goes viral, Shieh adds.

The iGeneration, made up of individuals aged 13 to 19, is also bringing its flavor and ingredient perspective to social media.

“Hot and spicy food is really popular with the iGeneration,” Shieh says. “They are constantly daring each other to try different things.” SB Aylward, the editor in chief of Store Brands, can be reached at laylward@ensembleiq.com.

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41

Packaging

Going digital Whether product manufacturers team with an outside converter or bring it in-house, digital printing can improve quality and efficiency, among other things

By Lawrence Aylward

M

ost manufacturers of store brands aren’t keen to the technology behind the printing that goes into their labels and packages.

But what if they were told that switching to digital printing could help improve label quality, allow for quicker turnarounds and, last but not least, help reduce costs?

Not knowing the technology aside, those advantages would probably get their attention. And they are reasons that more product manufacturers are looking into digital printing as an alternative to using flexographic and analog presses to print labels for packaging, says Taylor Buckthorpe, director of sales and marketing for Colordyne Technologies, a Brookfield, Wis.-based manufacturer of high-speed, high-resolution label and tag digital color printers.

Whether product manufacturers team with a label converter or purchase a digital printer to bring printing in-house, they are impressed with the efficiencies and precision quality that digital printers can bring to their operations, Buckthorpe adds. Digital printing offers shorter lead times, lower minimum order quantities, more freedom in versioning and added flexibility, among other things, he states.

Ultimately, digital printing allows manufacturers to meet customers’ needs faster by turning around orders quicker. Manufacturers can receive an order in the morning and have it packaged, labeled and ready for shipment that night, Buckthorpe says, noting that 42

Store Brands / May 2017 / www.storebrands.com

more label converters are switching to digital presses to serve their clients.

Marketing accuracy Personalization, a big buzzword in the private brands world, is about catering to consumers with innovative products that display creative and standout packaging and labels. Digital printing can help drive the personalized message and help manufacturers market more accurately to their user bases, including the promotion of regional and seasonal product offerings, Buckthorpe says.

“When it comes to marketing, the golden rule is ‘Know your target market,’ ” he adds.

Lancaster, Ohio-based Blue Label Digital Printing caters to private brand manufacturers, citing their need for small quantities of labels.

“Specializing in producing and packaging a specific good or type of packaging for a customer means you may produce multiple varieties of a product for multiple customers. And because of this, you need multiple small runs for your labels at an affordable price,” the company states on its website.

Digital printing allows manufacturers to reduce run lengths or minimum order quantities of labels for different products because of the significant reduction in set-up waste, Buckthorpe stresses.

And as Blue Label points out, manufacturers can use their own art anytime and not worry about the additional cost. In addition, manufacturers can

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Packaging use digital printing for embossing, UV-coating or laminating and for high-quality four-color process labels, variable QR-code labels and barcode labels.

“If your new line of limited-edition cold-pressed juices or craft spirits feature several flavors or versions, short-run labels are far more efficient than

The benefits of going digital for label printing: • Reduce costs

• Quicker turnarounds

• Improve quality

• Accurate marketing

• Eliminate waste, obsolescence

44

Store Brands / May 2017 / www.storebrands.com

flexographic printing,” according to Blue Label.

“Since there are no plates, you can modify your art, add new products, and mix and match products at your convenience. With short-run printing, quantities are entirely up to you.”

One of Colordyne’s private brand customers purchased a digital printer and moved label printing in-house partly because it was a less expensive way to sign up potentially new retail customers.

“Acquisition costs for new retail customers can become expensive, especially if [customers] want to do a short trial product launch where they put a few hundred products in their stores to see how they sell,” Buckthorpe says. “Then the private brands manufacturer has to purchase thousands of labels, and it is only using a few hundred.”

The manufacturer isn’t charging its retail customer for the labels; it is making the investment just to get the business, Buckthorpe notes. But with a digital printer, the manufacturer can create only the amount of labels it needs and not have to pay for 5,000 of them.

Buckthorpe says that the ability to quickly print labels is also helpful when any new government regulations are mandated, which often require

changes to the fine print on labels. By reducing inventory and printing on demand, manufacturers can edit copy on the labels to conform to new regulations, print new labels and have them ready for use the same day. Manufacturers can do the same when they want to add logos to labels to deem products certified organic, gluten-free or non-GMO. Blue Label has no minimum order size. Of course, a manufacturer that has an in-house printer can control the number of labels it prints.

In both cases, the bottom line is the bottom line: Manufacturers no longer must carry a large volume of pre-printed label inventory, much of which they may not use.

“Manufacturers are kind of handcuffed into buying a year’s worth of labels,” Buckthorpe says.

“With digital printing, they can eliminate their preprinted label inventory, which in some cases can be a few thousand dollars [worth] of labels. They are eliminating waste and obsolescence.”

Bringing it in-house Many companies haven’t thought about bringing digital printing in-house, but they start

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thinking about it when they learn of its benefits, Buckthorpe says.

For a manufacturer offering several hundred SKUs in different packaging sizes, an in-house digital printer can make a huge difference, Buckthorpe says.

Rather than carry a large label inventory for all of those products in various packaging sizes, the artwork and labels for the SKUs are stored electronically as PDFs on a local network, which is connected to the digital printer. When the artwork and label for a particular product are needed, it is simply selected and loaded onto the printer when the product is ready for packaging.

If a label needs to be changed, it can simply be adjusted by a graphic artist and resaved on the network to be resubmitted to the printer.

“It opens up new efficiencies, flexibility and cost savings across the whole business,” Buckthorpe says of having a digital printer in-house.

The technology is also easy to use.

“If you can send an email, I can ultimately teach you how to run one of our machines, Buckthorpe says.” SB Aylward, editor-in-chief of Store Brands, can be reached at laylward@ensembleiq.com.

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45

Category Intelligence: Frozen Meals and Entreés

Easy does it Time-strapped consumers want convenience foods — with clean ingredients

By Dana Cvetan

Do

offer snack-size packaging.

n its role as an attribute that consumers find nearly irresistible, convenience is the frozen meals and entrées category’s superpower.

And yet, the prepared meals sector has had its challenges. Weak sales reveal that people are choosing meal options they perceive as fresher and healthier, according to global market research firm Mintel.

After three straight years of decline, the sector’s sales did tick up slightly by nearly 1 percent in 2015 on the strength of both frozen and refrigerated side dish sales. However, overall sales remain below their 2010 benchmark. The category’s largest segments, frozen single-serve and multi-serve meals, have suffered, Mintel reports in “Prepared Meals U.S.,” published in May 2016.

These downward trends illustrate the public’s move away from processed foods. To reverse course, Mintel advises retailers to build on the compelling appeal of convenience by offering products made from natural ingredients while being sure to direct consumer attention to their specific health benefits.

Product formulations with all-natural ingredients are a particular priority for households where two or more children are present, the report states.

Expanding the variety of cuisine and snacking-

sized packaging could also grow sales, particularly among young adults aged 18 to 34, who are likely to say they don’t have enough time to cook and are more likely than other age groups to eat smaller meals or snacks throughout the course of a day, the report asserts.

First, clean up Artificial preservatives, flavors, colors and sweeteners continue to gain disfavor, and retailers with store brands are responding by moving away from them as well.

“Retailers are asking for cleaner labels for their private brands,” says Jeff Gehres, senior director of sales and product development for Holland, Mich.based Request Foods Inc., a copacker of frozen prepared entrées, side dishes and specialty items for retail, club store and foodservice customers.

Gehres says his company’s research and development team is always looking for additional clean ingredients when developing new items and partners with ingredient suppliers that are focused on cleaning up their product formulas.

More and more private brand retailers are compiling “prohibited ingredient” lists for their products, points out Al Greenwood, vice president of sales for Astoria, N.Y.-based Water Lilies Food Inc., a maker of frozen Asian foods.

“We are increasingly making our products more ‘clean.’ This means removing (artificial) preservatives, additives and coloring,” he says. “We have developed improved items that maintain taste and also follow these requirements. We also try to get ahead of the curve by offering these even to those retailers not yet demanding these changes.”

Nancy Ragozzino, president of Meriden, fail to cater to Conn.-based demand for clean Ragozzino Foods label products.

Inc., adds that her customers “are looking

Don’t

46

Store Brands / May 2017 / www.storebrands.com

Category Intelligence to clean up and shorten their labels and are not so hung up on knocking off a national brand equivalent.”

Next, seek adventure Injecting excitement is important to revitalize this category, Ragozzino says.

“Many of our retail customers are introducing unique items to their stores with no national brand equivalent,” she notes.

“It makes it so much easier for us as a custom manufacturer to set the gold standard, since there is nothing to compare against. Today’s consumers are more food-savvy and more adventurous and willing to try new items. If it tastes great, they’ll come back for more.”

Greenwood, who works with retailers on their private brand frozen category programs, says they are focusing on developing and expanding their ethnic offerings.

“For Asian (cuisine), many of the programs started with egg rolls and General Tso’s chicken, but we have watched them evolve into specialty spring rolls like shrimp lemongrass or a high-quality vegetable spring roll,” he shares. “And now dumplings are starting to meet the sales volumes of some of the Asian favorites I just mentioned.”

Retailers will continue to move into even more authentic ethnic items, Greenwood predicts. For Water Lilies’ customers, that means bao buns.

“A favorite bao is the barbeque pork, which is wrapped in a slightly sweet breading ball,” Greenwood explains. “So keeping the energy with new, authentic items is important, and we see the payback that retailers get in increased sales.”

Packaging improvements will be equally important when it comes to growing the category, Ragozzino says.

“We are seeing that retailers are trying to utilize their optimum space on the shelf with no spaces or gap,” she observes. “That means creating packages that fit perfectly in sets of three, four or five facings across the freezer door.”

Winning formulations

It’s all about the food!

Thanks to the proliferation of cooking shows and competitions on television, consumers are familiar with more ethnic fare as well as with ingredients that were once uncommon, Ragozzino says.

“Let’s face it, the pomegranate was not just invented. But in the last few years, it has made its way into our everyday beverages, salad dressings, sauces and more,” she adds. “Same thing with kale.”

Ethnic foods are increasingly popular in the frozen section,

Ragozzino Foods, Inc. • 10 Ames Ave., Meriden, CT 06451 • 800-348-1240 nancy@ragozzino.com • www.ragozzino.com

48

Store Brands / May 2017 / www.storebrands.com

outpacing the category by about 10 percent over the past few years, Greenwood says.

Winning over millennials, known for being taste adventurers, should be a top priority, he emphasizes.

Millennials read labels, know what they want and are influential, Ragozzino agrees.

“Millennials are so important to attract to the frozen section, as they are naturally skeptical

of the items offered in this department,” Greenwood says. “But they love authentic ethnic items. And if we continue to do our job and offer more healthy, ‘clean’ items, these products can play a role in turning around the whole department for the future.” SB Cvetan is a freelance writer from Barrington, Ill.

Frozen meal and entreé category performance Frozen Dinners and Entrees Private Label

All Brands

Dollar Sales (in millions)

$267.5

Change vs. Year Ago

+12.4%

Frozen Hand-Held Entrees (Non-Breakfast) Private Label

All Brands

$8,659.1

$94.1

+0.1%

+16.5%

3.1%

100%

3.9%

Unit Sales (in millions)

75.5

2,841.4

34.7

Change vs. Year Ago

+3.1%

-2.5%

-0.5%

Avg. Price Per Unit

$3.54

$3.05

$2.71

$3.46

Dollar Share

Multi-Serve Frozen Dinners and Entrees Private Label

All Brands

$2,436.7

$108.8

-0.4%

+12.0%

100%

Single-Serve Frozen Dinners and Entrees Private Label

All Brands

$1,984.1

$64.5

$4,238.3

-0.3%

+7.4%

+0.6%

5.5%

100%

1.5%

100%

703.9

12.9

300.8

27.9

1,836.7

-0.7%

+6.4%

-2.6%

+6.3%

-3.1%

$8.42

$6.60

$2.31

$2.31

Source: InfoScan Reviews, IRI, a Chicago-based market research firm. Total U.S. supermarkets, drugstores, mass market retailers, military commissaries and select club and dollar retail chains for the 52 weeks ending Feb. 19, 2017.

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49

Category Intelligence: Candy

A sweet deal Trend toward ‘healthy indulgence’ is propelling product innovation

By Carolyn Schierhorn

Do

remember that even premium candy is an impulse purchase.

othing says indulgence like candy. Whether savoring a chocolate bar or a big colorful lollipop, people of all ages consume candy for sheer enjoyment. These sweet confections can even provide an emotional lift after a trying day.

U.S. retail sales of candy reached $35.8 billion in 2016, according to the National Confectioners Association. The fastest-growing segment of the category is “sugar confectionery” (non-chocolate candy), which posted a 4 percent increase in value sales in 2016 to reach $11.3 billion, notes Euromonitor in its latest “Confectionery in the US” report, published last December.

In this segment — which includes hardboiled sweets, caramel and toffee, gummies and jellies and mints, among others — chewy candy has surged in popularity in recent years, with innovation coming in the form of sour flavors and unique textures, Euromonitor reports.

Although chocolate confectionary grew only 1 percent in sales last year, according to Euromonitor, it remains the largest candy subcategory. In its August 2016 report “Chocolate Candy Market in the U.S., 11th Edition,” Packaged Facts pegged chocolate candy sales at $21.6 billion.

The chocolate subcategory has also seen the most innovation, in response to consumer demand for better-for-you snacks. As health-focused shoppers increasingly turn to snack bars over candy bars, “manufacturers have innovated with products that incorporate dark chocolate, fruit, nuts or other ingredients that provide a more nutritious or lowercalorie indulgence,” Euromonitor states.

While private brands account for just 1.5 percent value share of chocolate candy sales, reports IRI (see table), the growth potential is significant, especially given the influence of millennials, who are less loyal to dominant national brands. Although The Hershey Co. and Mars Inc. account for a combined value share of 64 percent in the chocolate confectionery subcategory, no other company maintains a share higher than 4 percent, Euromonitor says. Consequently, there is considerable room for private brand manufacturers to snare market share.

Premium and wellness rule Despite Euromonitor’s depiction of sluggish growth overall for chocolate confectionery, Nassau Candy has seen tremendous growth in the chocolate portion of the candy market during the past five years, particularly in the premium segment, says Barry Rosenbaum, president of the Hicksville, N.Y.-based private brand candy vendor, which manufactures panned, enrobed and molded chocolate candy and distributes sugar confectionery products as well.

One reason for Nassau’s success is that more adult consumers are snacking on premium chocolate candy. “It’s not just for gift-giving,” Rosenbaum points out. “As a matter of fact, gift-giving has become less significant. There is a lot of impulse purchase today.” forget to tout That helps explain better-for-you the increasing attributes on popularity of candy packaging. beautifully designed stand-up pouches

Don’t

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Store Brands / May 2017 / www.storebrands.com

Category Intelligence: Candy of premium chocolate candy, such as the gold and silver candy category winners in our Editors’ Picks competition (see page 17).

In accommodating the requests of its retailer customers, Nassau increasingly concentrates on wellness attributes. “The consumer trend today is toward premium and, of course, better-

Candy category performance Chocolate candy box/bag/bar < 3.5 oz.

Chocolate candy box/bag/bar > 3.5 oz.

Private Label

All Brands

Private Label

All Brands

$14.6

$1,890.0

$132.0

$4,793.3

+16.2%

+3.7%

-4.9%

+0.9%

0.8%

100%

2.8%

100%

Unit Sales (in millions)

9.9

1,810.7

40.3

1,374.4

Change vs. Year Ago

+3.1%

+2.3%

-10.7%

+0.5%

Avg. Price Per Unit

$1.48

$1.04

$3.27

$3.49

Dollar Sales (in millions) Change vs. Year Ago Dollar Share

for-you products,” Rosenbaum says. “So as a company, we are focused very much on nonGMO, all natural and fair trade [ensuring that cocoa farmers are fairly paid]. And we’re trying to eliminate anything that is artificial and chemicalbased. In addition, we’re trying to reduce sugar as much as possible.”

Nassau also strives to include ingredients that are on-trend such as almonds, coconut, quinoa and acai. “These are ingredients that we are

Source: Infoscan Reviews, IRI, a Chicago-based market research firm. Total U.S. supermarkets, drugstores, mass market retailers, military commissaries and select club and dollar retail chains for the 52 weeks ending Jan. 22, 2017. Note: Does not include all candy subcategories.

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using as a foundation for product development,” Rosenbaum says.

At The Warrell Corp., a Camp Hill, Pa.-based confectionery manufacturer, the healthful eating trend is also dramatically impacting product innovation, notes Annette Jones, the company’s marketing manager.

Warrell recently developed a line of products available for private branding called Nut’n But Natural, which features non-GMO ingredients,

clean labels, high-protein tree nuts, dried fruits, ancient grains and in-vogue seasonings, Jones says.

“This selection of caramelized nuts and nut squares spans the healthy snacks and good-foryou indulgent categories aimed at millennials,” she elaborates. “Our best-selling item has been a 4-ounce stand-up pouch of glazed cashews with blueberries, cranberries and quinoa.”

Step up cross-merchandising Most candy is purchased on impulse, Jones emphasizes. “The best way to promote it is to place an attractive display in the highest-traffic area near the checkout stands,” she says.

Rosenbaum agrees, adding that retailers should also merchandise candy in other busy areas on the perimeter of the store.

Candy’s packaging, a crucial merchandising tool, needs to sell the product with bold, eye-catching designs, clean ingredient decks, and prominent callouts of attributes that resonate with contemporary consumers such as non-GMO and gluten-free. SB Schierhorn, the managing editor of Store Brands, can be reached at cschierhorn@ensembleiq.com.

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53

Category Intelligence: Single-Serve Beverages

Trimming down On-the-go consumers are drinking a lot of different things, but soda not so much

By Dana Cvetan

Do

consider innovative replacements for sodas.

54

right, intriguing flavor is in. Convenience is in. Instant gratification is in. Drinking a lot of sugar calories though, that’s on its way out.

The array of single-serve beverages available is vast: fruit juices, juice drinks, waters, flavored waters, fizzy waters, functional waters, energy drinks, sports drinks, coffees, teas, milks.

Soda pop consumption, which surpassed 50 gallons per capita in the late 1990s and early 2000s, fell to 38.5 gallons in 2016, as bottled water took the lead, international news agency Reuters reported on March 10.

Sugary carbonated beverage sales have suffered amid weight and health concerns, which have spurred soda taxes in some cities, according to Reuters.

Bottled water sales have been growing for decades, and total volume rose about 9 percent to 12.8 billion gallons in 2016, compared to 2015, Reuters reported.

Other temptations Driven by an influx of news and trending stories about beverage sugar tax reform and articles showcasing the effect of these beverages on the human body, “consumers are now more aware

Store Brands / May 2017 / www.storebrands.com

Don’t

than ever before about sugar content in many traditional carbonated soft drink offerings,” load beverages with too much and as a result, consumption is declining, says Todd Mullane, sugar, which vice president of private label consumers for Dakota, Ill.-based Berner don’t want.

Food & Beverage LLC. This compels retailers to search for innovative replacements for soda, Mullane points out.

In the case of single-serve coffee pods, the growth is all in private brands, notes Clay Dockery, vice president of retailer brands for Massimo Zanetti Beverages USA in Suffolk, Va. “It is more critical than ever for private brands to have the right mix in terms of blends and sizes,” Dockery adds. “Quality is also critically important, as customers are continuing to pay a premium price for convenience.”

Retailers are trying to meet consumer demand for big, bold coffee tastes that work well in iced drinks, says David Goldstein, CEO of Barrie House Coffee Co. LLC in Elmsford, N.Y. “Coffee quality in K-cups is a differentiator, and innovating new flavors to hold the attention of thrill seekers looking for exciting flavors instead of classical coffee flavors will influence sales,” Goldstein adds.

Coffee consumption is on the rise in many formats, especially single-serve, as nearly one in three Americans own single-cup brewers, says Jonathan White, executive vice president, White Coffee Corp., Long Island City, N.Y. Not only is coffee a caloriefree beverage, studies support its beneficial health effects, White adds.

Another growth area for single-serve pods is hot chocolate. “It serves a wider age range,” White says. “It’s a fun, relaxing kind of drink, and people are looking for a release from their very busy lives. Hot chocolate allows you to do that.”

Espresso-compatible pods are another important new trend, says Reid Chase, U.S. partner for EuroCaps, based in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

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Category Intelligence: Single-Serve Beverages Consumers want “a premium experience and ethical sourcing,” in their single-serve espresso, Chase says. Euro-Caps provides a private label program for a top national U.S. grocery chain.

Espresso has been growing in popularity among U.S. consumers over the past five years, amid a growing appetite for “a better cup of stronger coffee in different roasts for different palates,” Chase says.

Advancements Product improvements are focused on environmental and social certifications, indicating whether a product is organic, fair trade and/or naturally flavored, Goldstein says, noting that retailers are requesting more transparency in product sourcing.

QR codes can also be effective marketing tools, communicating a brand’s farm-to-cup “story” and

Single serve beverage category performance Single-Serve Bottled Juice Drinks Private Label

All Brands

Dollar Sales (in millions)

$858.6

Change vs. Year Ago

+0.9%

Dollar Share

Single-Serve Bottled Juices

Single-Serve Bottled Cranberry Cocktail/Juice Drinks

Single-Serve Bottled Apple Juice

Private Label

All Brands

Private Label

All Brands

Private Label

All Brands

$5,582.4

$51.2

$1,631.3

$127.2

$876.8

$338.2

$750.1

+1.3%

-14.0%

+6.0%

+1.1%

0.0%

+2.3%

+0.1%

15.4%

100%

3.1%

100%

14.5%

100%

45.1%

100%

Unit Sales (in millions)

362.9

2,304.9

29.8

875.3

55.3

316.9

151.8

296.9

Change vs. Year Ago

+1.3%

+0.9%

-16.5%

+2.5%

+2.2%

-0.9%

+5.3%

+1.3%

Avg. Price Per Unit

$2.37

$2.42

$1.72

$1.86

$2.30

$2.77

$2.23

$2.53

Source: InfoScan Reviews, IRI, a Chicago-based market research firm. Total U.S. supermarkets, drugstores, mass market retailers, military commissaries and select club and dollar retail chains for the 52 weeks ending Feb. 19, 2017. Note: Does not include all single-serve beverage categories.

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Store Brands / May 2017 / www.storebrands.com

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Category Intelligence: Single-Serve Beverages enabling retailers to leverage their packaging to engage with consumers, Goldstein says.

Coffee quality continues to improve, Dockery says. “Consumers today, especially millennials, have grown up with experiential moments with coffee. It’s critical that the quality of the blend continues to meet their expectations.”

Packaging improvements within single-serve beverages are focused on the conveyance of quality

to the final user, Mullane says. “Glass packaging does this effectively, showcasing the product to consumers in a hefty, yet fragile container,” he notes.

In the alcoholic beverage category, 42 percent of consumers consider glass packaging to be the strongest indicator of quality, ahead of all other factors, Mullane says, citing market research firm Mintel’s figures from its January report “Beverage Packaging Trends, U.S.” “It is not unreasonable to expect a resurgence of bottle-packaged single-serve beverages as more private brands enter the category looking to compete as premium options,” Mullane adds.

Private brands could also benefit from marketing the recyclability of their glass bottles, or if applicable, the bottling of their beverages in a solar-powered facility, Mullane adds.

In the coffee pod subcategory, “retailers recognize that the single-serve ecosystem has not been environmentally friendly, so many roasters are pursuing sustainable solutions,” Dockery says.

Massimo Zanetti’s Purpod 100 is 100 percent compostable, Dockery adds. (This product also took top honors in the coffee category of our Editors’ Picks competition. See page 26.)

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Flavor and functionality are major purchasing factors for single-serve beverage consumers, Mullane says.

Flavor is likely the bigger influence, but functionality is becoming especially important to brands as a way of bridging the gap from the negatively perceived “unhealthy” soft drinks to beverages such as readyto-drink teas, sports drinks, energy drinks or fusion beverages, he adds.

“Instead of consuming a beverage that is potentially harmful to one’s well-being, a beverage purchaser can now be actively investing in their health with ingredient components intended to positively impact the human body,” Mullane explains.

Coffee has been validated as providing many health benefits, specifically for brain and liver function, to adults who drink about three cups daily, Dockery adds.

Health is the underlying driver of much of the recent shifts in single-serve beverages, Mullanesays. “U.S. consumers have identified sugar content and the presence of high fructose corn syrups as a key factor in what types of beverages they are not willing to consume. One unifying characteristic amongst newly released beverages seems to stem from what added health benefit a product can provide.” SB Cvetan is a freelance writer from Barrington, Ill.

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Category Intelligence: Spices and Seasonings

Worth its salt Category sales continue to rise overall and for private brands, thanks to consumers’ preference for more exotic tastes

By Lawrence Aylward

Do

consider bold flavors like chili and red pepper.

rett Cramer is peppered with enthusiasm when he speaks of the spices and seasonings category. And for good reason.

The category grew to $3.8 billion in 2016, a 6 percent increase from the previous year, according to market research company IRI. Total sales of spices and seasonings grew nearly 15 percent in 2016 among store brands.

Cramer, vice president and co-founder of The Spice Lab in Pompano Beach, Fla., expects growth to continue, noting that Americans are getting more adventurous with their palates.

“People are looking for spicier and more exotic tastes from around the world,” says Cramer, whose company offers an extensive line of sea salts, spices and seasonings. “Also, people are looking to spices and healthier natural products to include in their diet.”

Nielsen stated in a recent report that that it expects growth in products that are often staples in cuisine from outside the United States such as bold flavors like chili, cinnamon and red pepper that are often used in Hispanic and Indian dishes.

Shannon Cushen, director of marketing for Fuchs North America, a custom seasoning manufacturer in Hampstead, Md., says there is an increase in demand for ethnic-inspired seasoning blends.

“People are becoming more adventurous eaters, and they want their food to tell a story,” Cushen says.

“That’s why we are seeing so many more foods from

Don’t

around the globe popping up in both retail and foodservice. Asian-, Mediterranean- and Latin-inspired discount the importance of seasoning blends are particularly popular right now.” transparency Cramer says spicy salts, in ingredient seasonings and rubs from a listings. variety of different cultures are finding more shelf space, including Himalayan pink salt, which he says is a big seller. The Spice Lab will import 10 million pounds of Himalayan food-grade pink salt this year.

Cushen says “sweet heat” combination flavor profiles have taken off in popularity.

“With the rise of ethnic-inspired items, we’re also seeing an increase in more exotic ingredients,” she adds. “Spices like turmeric are especially popular.

Not only are they flavorful, but they’re also valued for their health benefits.”

“Super-spicy” flavors are also in, Cushen adds.

“People view eating super-spicy flavors as a challenge and an experience, which is why flavors like ghost pepper have made their way onto grocery store shelves,” she notes.

Cramer notes that turmeric is coveted for its natural health benefits.

“When consumer media gives it coverage, from ‘CBS News’ to the ‘Dr. Oz Show,’ then you know it has gone mainstream,” he says.

Who’s driving growth?

Cushen says millennials are driving much of the flavor expansion of spices and seasonings at retail.

“They’re adventurous eaters, and they’re always looking for new and exciting flavors,” she says. “A plain barbecue flavor isn’t going to cut it with millennials; they want flavors that are more exotic and unique.”

Ralph Krawczyck, a food technologist for St. Francis, Wis.-based seasonings and flavor manufacturer Wixon, says consumer demand for transparency is driving more major grocery retailers and foodservice companies to create “no-no lists,” as consumers increasingly pay attention to what ingredients are present in the foods they consume.

“We get many requests from our customers who want nothing artificial, including colors, flavors, preservatives and sweeteners,” he says.

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One of Cramer’s challenges is educating retailers and consumers about certain spices, such as turmeric.

For example, the percentage amount of curcumin (the active healthy ingredient in turmeric) may be more important than the spice having an organic label.

“So turmeric with 5 percent curcumin would be a better choice than a 2 percent curcumin organic version,” he adds. “Organic does not automatically mean better.”

Private brands own more than 18 percent of dollar share in the spices and seasonings category, which is expected to grow as flavor trends continue to take off. With store brand product development often influenced by restaurant trends, a recent report from Technomic bodes well for even more category growth. Technomic, a foodservice consulting firm, reports that a more globally inspired selection of seasonings and spices is helping restaurant operators add heat to their menus. Indian garam masala and Middle Eastern za’atar are two of the enhancements offered by manufacturers to help operators satisfy a growing consumer interest in international flavors.

Cramer sees no slowing down for The Spice Lab. “We think the world offers a wealth of exotic

tastes and cuisines to keep us busy developing new seasoning blends for years to come,” he adds.

“We source products from around the world so we can create a wide range of seasonings to appeal to any ethnicity.” SB Aylward can be reached at laylward@ensembleiq.com.

Spice and seasoning category performance Total Spices and Seasonings Private Label

All Brands

Dollar Sales (in millions)

$685.4

$3,756.2

Change vs. Year Ago

+14.6%

+6.1%

Dollar Share

18.3%

100%

Unit Sales (in millions)

308.0

1,393.4

Change vs. Year Ago

+4.4%

+2.6%

Avg. Price Per Unit

$2.23

$2.70

Source: IRI, a Chicago-based market research firm. Total U.S. supermarkets, drugstores, mass market retailers (including Walmart), military commissaries and select club and dollar retail chains, for the 52 weeks ending Oct. 6, 2013.

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61

Category Intelligence: Pizza and Pizza Crusts

There’s a bigger slice out there By focusing product development on key overlapping trends, retailers could bolster sales of store brand pizza, particularly in the underdeveloped frozen side

By Kathie Canning

hen it comes to convenient meals, it’s hard to beat a ready-to-bake retail pizza. The quality of today’s refrigerated and frozen pizza offerings comes close to — or in some cases is on par with — takeout and delivery options.

But U.S. sales of frozen pizza still trail those tied to takeout and delivery offerings, global market research firm Mintel notes in its September 2016 “Pizza — US” report. Sales in the overall U.S. retail pizza and pizza crust segment (frozen, refrigerated and shelf-stable) did increase modestly in 2015 and 2016, Mintel reports, buoyed by consumers’ growing interest in pizzas that skew premium.

Trinity of trends

Do

list all of the specialty ingredients on the package.

Private brands already rule the refrigerated pizza segment, with data from Chicago-based IRI showing they have a 71.7 percent dollar share (see the table, p. 64). But private brands represent only 11.9 percent of sales in the frozen pizza category, so retailers have much room to grow. A product development focus on current and emerging trends could be the shot in the arm they need.

Amy Lotker, owner and president of Better For

Don’t

You Foods in Delray Beach, Fla., points to a trinity of trends neglect nascent worthy of retailers’ attention: trends such natural and organic, free-from and gourmet. as sprouted “Consumer trends are grains in crust not mutually exclusive,” she development. stresses. “Frequently, the gluten-free consumer is also a natural and/or organic consumer — and most consumers desire innovative gourmet toppings, whether they’re cured meats, roasted vegetables or zesty Mediterranean flavors.”

Anthony Russo, president of Houstonheadquartered Russo’s Retail LLC, suggests that these trends overlap with those tied to consumers’ desire for homemade-type pizza with better, fresh ingredients. Driving the trends is the reality that consumers are more conscious than ever before about the ingredients in their food.

“The new generations are developing a strong connection to the more natural or healthier food they can get in all categories, including pizza,” he says. “These generations are growing [up] now in an environment where they have access to all types of media, mobile technology and useful gadgets to select just what they are interested in. That’s why continued innovation is critical.”

And size need not be an obstacle to innovation.

Scott Ashby, president of Lucia’s Pizza Co. in St. Louis, says his company has seen smaller chains, those with 75 to 200 outlets, start to offer innovative, trendy and healthier pizzas “to appeal to the growing number of health-conscious customers and the all-elusive millennial who is willing to try new products.”

Pizza innovation need not be limited to lunch and dinner occasions, either. Shahnawaz Hasan, president of American Kitchen Delights Inc. in Harvey, Ill., points to breakfast pizzas as an emerging trend.

Beyond thick and thin On the pizza crust side, artisanal variations are trending, notes Tobias Goercke, executive vice president with Morris Plains, N.J.-based Freiberger USA Inc. 62

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Category Intelligence: Pizza and Pizza Crusts Shahnawaz agrees, adding specialty crusts such as naan and flatbreads and specialty shapes such as square to the list of crust trends. And ultra-thin is still in here, he says.

Another emerging trend — this one aligned with the gluten-free slant — is the use of ancient grains and sprouted grains, Lotker says. She says her company produces a line of frozen pizzas in its USDA certified organic and certified glutenfree facility with a gluten-free crust made from sprouted grains.

“For our private label customers, we offer a delicious new 100 percent vegan gluten-free thin pizza crust that serves as a natural starting point for creating pizzas in line with the emerging free-from trend,” she adds. “Made with all-natural non-GMO ingredients, this new pizza crust is gluten-, wheat-, egg-, milk-, nut-, soy- and corn-free.”

Also aligned with the slant toward healthful eating and gluten-free offerings are new vegetable-based pizza crusts. Joe Tedeschi, president of Venice Bakery in Torrance, Calif., says his company debuted a cauliflower crust at this year’s International Pizza Expo to “rave reviews.” Squash and broccoli also have potential in crust product development, he adds.

attractive and easy-to-read format.

“What we do is a full-color box with a real pizza photo cover so the consumer will know immediately that our product is different,” he says, “and that it is a gourmet pizza, not just the typical pepperoni one. We add callouts like awards and highlights for our fresh and premium ingredients such as imported olive oil, Wisconsin cheese logo, hand-topped, etc.”

Consumers also want transparency when it comes to packaging, Lotker notes. A clean design, coupled with appealing and accurate images of the product or ingredients, has the best chance of attracting consumers’ attention.

“The emerging packaging trend is adherence to a stricter code of honest portrayal,” she adds, “with callout copy that touts product benefits without overstatement.”

With fresh ingredients a current emphasis, windowed boxes are on trend, too, Tedeschi notes.

To gain trial for store brand pizzas — for chefdriven and other higher-price-point offerings, in particular — retailers will want to invest in more tastings, Russo says.

And those tastings don’t necessarily have to take place in store. Food trucks could be an attentiongetter, Goercke suggests. Store brand pizza should be treated like a brand, too, getting its fair share of Gain trial promotions and ad campaigns, he adds.

On-trend product development certainly can help Social media and blogs also present potential retailers bolster sales of own-brand pizza and pizza marketing tools for private brand pizza, Russo says. crusts, but a little effort on the packaging and “Also work with public relations agencies and marketing fronts couldn’t hurt, either. keep planning special promotions and coupons Russo believes it is critical to list all of the online to generate traffic to stores,” he advises. “A specialty ingredients on the front of the package new trend is geo-targeting using mobile platforms like cell phones and tablets.”

But perhaps the most important thing retailers can do to market pizzas — or private brands in any other category — is in an invest in employee education related to Frozen pizza* Refrigerated pizza** trends and product differentiation, Lotker suggests. For example, ancient grains Private All Private All are popping up as callouts on packaging Label Brands Label Brands in categories throughout the store, so Dollar Sales (in millions) $529.6 $4,469.1 $314.2 $438.0 employees should be prepared to answer Change vs. Year Ago +7.1% -1.0% -7.9% -5.4% shoppers’ questions pertaining to them.

Dollar Share 11.9% 100% 71.7% 100% “Progressive markets can also gain Unit Sales (in millions) 156.2 1,269.8 55.4 93.6 favor by including store signage that helps Change vs. Year Ago +2.0% -3.0% +0.3% +1.0% educate consumers as well,” she adds. SB

Pizza and pizza crust category performance

Avg. Price Per Unit

$3.39

$3.52

$5.67

$4.68

*Includes frozen pizza, pizza crusts/dough and pizza kits. **Includes refrigerated pizza, pizza crusts/dough and pizza kits.

Source: IRI, a Chicago-based market research firm. Total U.S. supermarkets, drugstores, mass market retailers, military commissaries and select club and dollar retail chains for the 52 weeks ending Feb. 19, 2017.

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Canning is a freelance writer from Libertyville, Ill.

Category Intelligence: Baby Care Products

Cater to mom — and dad Retailers that address the wants and needs of today’s parents could boost private brands’ share of the category

By Kathie Canning

recent baby boom is bringing good news to the U.S. baby care product category. Sales of disposable baby products (diapers/training pants, wipes and toiletries) reached a five-year high in 2016, increasing almost 5 percent to surpass $8 billion, according to “Disposable Baby Products — US,” a March 2017 report from global market research firm Mintel.

Growth was led by disposable training pants, thanks to a 2014 rise in birthrates.

Sales of private label products and natural brands also helped drive category growth, Mintel notes. Retailers that cater to the wants and needs of today’s parents could boost private brands’ share of the category.

Thin is in

Do

marry quality and value when meeting the needs of millennial parents.

66

Within the diaper space, William Lutz, vice president of sales and marketing with Hauppauge, N.Y.-based Premier Care Industries, says today’s parents are seeking out stretch fabric components with customized elastic performance and a soft, cloth-like feel; a thinner composition with superior fluid absorption/ retention; and “brilliant printing” for components.

“As superabsorbent polymers improve, we may see thinner products that take up less space,” adds Minh Nguyen, associate category manager, HBC for

Store Brands / May 2017 / www.storebrands.com

Don’t

Topco Associates LLC in Elk Grove Village, Ill. ignore the Eco-friendly diapers are importance of growing in demand, too, says Dianne Galang, director of sales convenience for of health, beauty and baby for today’s young Stamford, Conn.-headquartered parents.

Daymon.

“Having a store brand offering against the strong national brands allows for the retailer to gain increased loyalty by meeting a consumer need at an affordable price point,” she adds.

Nguyen notes that younger consumers are more open to store brand diapers, considering both quality and value in the purchase decision. And when it comes to diaper packaging, Topco is predicting a move to smaller pack sizes to fit the increasingly urban lifestyles of today’s millennials.

Quality counts On the baby wipes front, quality and efficacy are critical to parents, Galang notes.

“While natural and sustainable are also important, softness, durability and thickness of a wipe are the top attributes as to why a consumer returns or doesn’t return to a brand,” she says.

And “less is more” when it comes to baby wipe ingredients, Nguyen says. Parents also want “cleaner” ingredients and an eco-friendly formulation — at a competitive price point. And they don’t want to sacrifice quality and value to get these attributes.

Lutz says his company is also seeing more demand for eco-friendly formulations and hypoallergenic options with all-natural ingredients.

Wipes that skew premium are gaining ground, too.

“Premium-quality baby wipes are marketed as having advantages such as greater thickness, stretchability … interfolded to make for easy release from the package and high absorbency — in addition to being alcohol-free, hypoallergenic, pH-balanced and unscented,” he says.

As for baby wipe packaging, Lutz points to trends toward large refill packs and more on-pack rigid lens enclosures.

The addition of flip-open lids to baby wipes has expanded the products’ portability and encouraged broader use, Nguyen notes.

“Retailers are increasingly using sustainable and

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Category Intelligence: Baby Care Products recyclable materials in their packaging, adding clearouts to the packaging itself,” he adds.

Packaging for baby wipes — as well as diapers — also gives retailers a large billboard to communicate with shoppers, Galang notes.

Outside of price, parents are most influenced by specific skin health benefits such as hydration

Baby care product category performance Baby needs* Private Label

All Brands

$140.5

$853.7

Change vs. Year Ago

-2.3%

-1.1%

Dollar Share

16.5%

100%

Dollar Sales (in millions)

Unit Sales (in millions)

58.0

195.5

Change vs. Year Ago

-4.8%

-4.9%

Avg. Price Per Unit

$2.42

$4.37

*Baby lotions, baby oils, baby ointments/creams, baby powder, baby shampoo, baby soap, petroleum jelly.

Source: IRI, a Chicago-based market research firm. Total U.S. supermarkets, drugstores, mass market retailers, military commissaries and select club and dollar retail chains for the 52 weeks ending Feb. 19, 2017.

within the baby toiletries space, Mintel says. And more parents are opting for natural and organic purchases here, thanks to the perception that they are safer and gentler on the skin.

Similar to the baby wipes segment, a clean label also is becoming more important within the baby toiletries space, Galang says.

“Consumers are becoming more aware of products which are free from parabens, phthalates, SLS, dimethicone, etc.,” she says. “Products which are dye-free and scent-free are seeing an increase due to an enhanced awareness surrounding reactions to babies’ sensitive skin.”

Offering store brand baby products that align with today’s parents’ needs is critical to growing sales. But retailers also could benefit from some well-thought-out marketing and merchandising.

Lutz says retailers could build trial by providing a free trial-size private brand item with the purchase of another — for example, a five-count package of store brand baby wipes pack could be attached to the store brand diaper package.

“Use offers and pricing strategies to help drive trial and win repeat purchases,” Nguyen says. “Drive traffic to the baby aisle using store brands.” SB

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Category Intelligence: Beauty Care Products

Put their best face forward To expand private brands’ share of facial beauty-care sales, retailers need to home in on clean labels, emerging skincare segments and cosmetics with skincare benefits

By Kathie Canning

hen it comes to their beauty-care routines, Americans, primarily women, are hyper-focused on the face.

Facial skincare products, for example, account for 62 percent of U.S. skincare market sales, according to “Skincare Ingredient and Format Trends — US,” a December 2016 report from global market research firm Mintel.

Facial skincare’s higher share is attributed to the wide availability of premium-priced options, as well as the regimented approach of facial skincare routines that call for the purchase of multiple products.

Sales of facial BB (blemish or beauty balm) and CC (color control or color correcting) creams rose dramatically from their introduction in 2011 through 2015, for example, to reach $220 million, notes London-based Euromonitor International in its April 2016 “Colour Cosmetics in the US” report.

Do

recognize that portability and easy dispensing are important.

70

Focus on clean labels To expand private brands’ share of facial beauty-care sales, retailers must be willing to invest in current and emerging trends. On the facial skincare side, that means cleansing products that “clean smarter, not harsher,” says Minh Nguyen, associate category manager for HBC with Elk Grove Village, Ill.-based Topco Associates LLC.

Store Brands / May 2017 / www.storebrands.com

Don’t

“Also, portability and easy dispensing are important fail to notice that benefits,” he says. “Consumers the clean label continue to be increasingly interested in natural formulations trend extends with easily recognizable to skincare ingredients — vitamin C, fruitproducts. based ingredients, oatmeal and honey — due to concerns about chemicals, pollution and unfamiliar ingredients.”

Jessica Koontz, business manager with Stamford, Conn.-based Daymon, agrees with the trend toward recognizable ingredients, pointing to “clean label” as the No. 1 facial skincare trend. One booming brand — Beautycounter — actually outlines for consumers the 1,500-plus questionable or harmful ingredients that are not going into its products, she notes.

And when it comes specific types of facial skincare products, masks are a booming segment, Nguyen suggests.

“Masks using clay, volcanic, tea, charcoal and caffeine are hot right now, along with dry sheet masks, splash masks and second-skin masks,” he says.

Koontz also sees masks as a huge trend, noting that they are expanding in usage to lips, eyes, hands and décolletages. And retailers that want to be a true beauty destination, with cost-effective store brand items at the forefront, will want to consider adding dry masks to the mix, she suggests. They infuse a dry woven cloth with active anti-aging ingredients, which are absorbed by the skin.

“These masks fit into an active lifestyle by securing behind the ears, allowing one to walk and move around without having to lie flat with a moist sheet mask,” she explains.

Products containing hyaluronic acid or retinoids represent another growing segment within facial skincare, Nguyen says. These products help fight wrinkles, scars, acne and sun damage.

“We are also seeing popularity with Korean beauty products, especially products that feature interesting textures or textures that change during use,” he says.

Probiotics-infused formulations are of growing appeal, too, within facial skincare, Koontz points out.

There’s growing evidence that the benefits of these “good” bacteria go beyond the digestive system.

“Skin prone to acne or rosacea has shown im-

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Category Intelligence: Beauty Care Products provement with daily probiotic use, giving dermatologists reason to consider supplementing traditional acne therapy with a dose of this beneficial bacteria,” the American Academy of Dermatology notes.

Store brands account for only a minute share of retail facial cosmetic sales (1.5 percent, 1.7 percent and 2.1 percent of the eye, facial and lip cosmetic

Beauty care product category performance Facial cosmetics*

Dollar Sales (in millions) Change vs. Year Ago Dollar Share

Private Label

All Brands

$35.5

$2,073.2

+40.4%

+5.0%

1.7%

100%

Unit Sales (in millions)

4.4

261.3

Change vs. Year Ago

+36.5%

+4.4%

$8.07

$7.93

Avg. Price Per Unit

*Blush, body accessories, bronzer, concealer, foundation, makeup combos and powder.

Source: IRI, a Chicago-based market research firm. Total U.S. supermarkets, drugstores, mass market retailers, military commissaries and select club and dollar retail chains for the 52 weeks ending Feb. 19, 2017.

segments, respectively, according to data from Chicago-based market research firm IRI for the 52 weeks ending Feb. 19, 2017). But a consumercentric approach to product development could go a long way toward boosting own brands’ share.

Today’s consumers want facial cosmetic formulations that not only make them look good, but also promote healthy skin, says Juan Luis Miranda Padilla, production director for Nanat, Mexico City.

Retailers also should keep in mind that consumers want natural, eco-friendly, sustainable, safe and effective formulations, Padilla says. And they should be careful to select the right package or container to maintain the cosmetic’s stability.

And when it comes to removing those cosmetics, facial wipes remain popular.

“Some of the key benefits consumers are looking for in the facial wipe makeup remover market include the ability to clean and remove makeup effectively, to soothe and condition skin, and to leave the face and skin feeling moisturized,” says Greg Fries, vice president of marketing for Guy & O’Neill Inc., Fredonia, Wis. “Additionally, consumers are looking for facial wipe products that are soft and strong and that do not cause skin or eye irritation.” SB

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Ad Index ADVERTISER NAME

PAGE#

Acorsa USA Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 Ardent Mills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Atlas Paper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Axium Foods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41 Berner Food & Beverage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12, 13 Chelten House Products Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Colordyne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Copper Moon Coffee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Eastsign Foods (Quzhou) Co Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Euro-Caps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Expresco Foods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Fine Foods International . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Furlani’s Food Corporation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 G .S . Gelato . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Global Tissue Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IFC, 3 Godshalls Quality Meats Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Herkner Farms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Hickory Harvest Foods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 ITI Tropicals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Ice River Springs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 J&J Snack Foods Corporation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51 JTM Foods LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Kruger North America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Lassonde Pappas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Lidestri Food & Beverage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Massimo Zanetti Beverage USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Mother Parkers Tea & Coffee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CT Nepa Carton & Carrier Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Optima Machinery Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Pacific Coast Producers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Ragozzino Foods Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Red Gold LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Request Foods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Safety Quality Foods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 SatisPie LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Snack Innovations Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Snak King Corporation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 The Spice Lab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61 Superior Pack Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BC US Nonwovens Corp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69, 71, IBC Value Smart Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 WS Packaging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Westrock Coffee Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Woodstock Farms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 The Wornick Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

570 Lake Cook Road, Suite 310, Deerfield, IL 60015 Phone: 224-632-8200 Fax: 224-632-8266

Advertising Sales and Business Staff Peter Hoyt President and CEO 773-992-4456 phoyt@ensembleIQ.org Richard Rivera Chief Operations Officer 973-264-4380 rrivera@ensembleIQ.com Jeff Greisch Chief Brand Officer 224-337-4029 jgreisch@ensembleIQ.com Ned Bardic President of Enterprise Solutions Chief Customer Officer 224-632-8224 nbardic@ensembleIQ.com Kevin Francella Brand Director 973-264-4389 kfrancella@ensembleIQ.com Suzanne Caputo Associate Brand Director 201-855-7628 scaputo@ensembleIQ.com Bette J. Boyers Advertising Manager 224-632-8251 bboyers@ensembleIQ.com

www.ensembleiq.com United States Markets Canadian Markets Convenience • Grocery/Drug/Mass • Convenience Store Brands Specialty Gourmet • Pharmacy Multicultural • Green • Technology • Foodservice Hospitality • Apparel

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73

EndCAP Category Closeup: Frozen and Refrigerated Pizza Frozen Sales Heat Up

Refrigerated Sales Cool Down

Today’s private brand frozen and refrigerated pizza is not your grandfather’s boring, bland pizza. An increase in average unit price over the past several years points to private brand pizza as taking on a more premium position.

DOLLAR SALES

190.8 million

414.4 million $

Frozen Pizza Unit Price

$

$

195.7 million

441.0 million $

441.4 million

199.0 million

$

$

$

204.8 million

389.2 million $

353.9 million

261.8 million

$

$

$

3.901 billion

3.961 billion $

3.873 billion

‘Premium’ upgrade

Sales of private brand refrigerated pizza have risen since 2012, but sales dipped the last two years.

Still, private brand owns the category.

$

3.887 billion $

$

3.882 billion

Sales of private brand frozen pizza have increased year on year since 2012, while sales of branded products slipped in 2016 after rising three straight years.

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

PRIVATE BRANDS

TOTAL BRANDED

2.84 $ 2.86 $ 2.95 $ 3.04 $ 3.23

3.16 3.17 $ 3.25 $ 3.45 $ 3.53

$

$

$

Refrigerated Pizza Unit Price DOLLAR SALES

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2012

2014

2015

2016

Yearly Dollar Sales

Yearly Dollar Sales

Private Brands

2013

Total Branded Products

Source: Chart comparing sales from 2012-2016 (Nielsen)

Private Brands

Total Branded Products

Source: Chart comparing sales from 2012-2016 (Nielsen)

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

PRIVATE BRANDS

3.74 $ 3.30 $ 3.09 $ 4.00 $ 4.25 $

TOTAL BRANDED

2.84 3.80 $ 3.93 $ 4.22 $ 4.35

$

$

Source: Nielsen

Pizza Purchase Factors Topping types are the top attribute for consumers purchasing store brand and national brand frozen and refrigerated pizza.

63%

38% 35%

Types of Toppings

54%

Types of Crust (eg thick, thin, stuffed)

54%

Cost

Amount of Toppings Types of Cheese

33% Fresh Ingredients 30% Specific Brand 18% 14% 9% 9% 8% 74

No Artificial Additives, Colors, Preservatives or Sweeteners All-Natural or Organic

Whole Grain Crust Vegetarian or Vegan Gluten-Free

Store Brands / May 2017 / www.storebrands.com

Source: Lightspeed GMI/Mintel

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