PG - May 2020 by ensembleiq

PUT YOUR BEST Charcuterie is taking off with customers â&#x20AC;&#x201D; driving shopper trips and increasing market baskets.

Inside the magazine you’ll find a specialty guide to grocery’s vibrant new category, presented by Columbus Craft Meats, the fast-growing artisan deli brand. Dig in — you’ll find everything you need to know to create an amazing charcuterie destination to inspire your shoppers and fuel specialty purchases in your deli. > Creating growth, opportunity and shopper experience in a trending category > Expert salumi pairings to successfully build baskets with specialty cheese, olives, chocolate, and spirits through expert merchandising > Fun facts, definitions, and the anatomy of a Great Charcuterie Board > Key sales stats, market data and more

855-566-2800 ¥ COLUMBUSCRAFTMEATS.COM

Committed to Clean: How Retailers Are Winning Back Fearful Shoppers BETTER FOR ALL Healthier snacking key during pandemic DELI DRIVERS Leverage rising consumer interest in cheese, charcuterie COKE IS IT Exclusive research on building in-store shopper loyalty

May 2020

Volume 99, Number 5 www.progressivegrocer.com

North Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Top Retailers of Food and Consumables

Contents 05. 20

Volume 99 Issue 5

46 Features

40 GROCERY

Necessary Indulgences

During an unprecedented public health crisis, healthier treats take on a more important role than ever. 46 FRESH FOOD

An industry in transition Departments 6 EDITOR’S NOTE

The Great Grocery Migration 8 IN-STORE EVENTS CALENDAR

Deli Growth on a Platter Now is the time to leverage rising consumer interest in charcuterie and cheese.

12 NIELSEN’S SHELF STOPPERS

16 ALL’S WELLNESS

Household Care

CBD Primer for Retail

14 MINTEL GLOBAL NEW PRODUCTS

Shampoo, Conditioner and Hairstyling Products

July 2020 10 MENU TRENDS

Cheese Will Always Please 4

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18 EXCLUSIVE RESEARCH

In Retail We Trust 80 EDITORS’ PICKS FOR INNOVATIVE PRODUCTS

8550 W. Bryn Mawr Ave. Ste. 200, Chicago, IL 60631 Phone: 773-992-4450 Fax: 773-992-4455

www.ensembleiq.com GROCERY GROUP PUBLISHER John Schrei 248-613-8672 jschrei@ensembleiq.com

54 TOTAL MEAL

GROCERY GROUP EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Mike Troy 813-857-6512 mtroy@ensembleiq.com

Ask a Chef

Saladworks’ CMO and head chef discuss bringing their stand-alone fast-casual operations into grocery stores’ produce sections. 56 SOLUTIONS

Cream and the Crop

EDITORIAL EXECUTIVE EDITOR Gina Acosta 813-417-4149 gacosta@ensembleiq.com MANAGING EDITOR Bridget Goldschmidt 201-855-7603 bgoldschmidt@ensembleiq.com SENIOR DIGITAL & TECHNOLOGY EDITOR Abby Kleckler 773-992-4405 akleckler@ensembleiq.com

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Peter Breen, Princess Jones Curtis, Kathy Hayden, Bob Ingram, Lynn Petrak and Barbara Sax ADVERTISING SALES & BUSINESS

Dairy brands ramp up variety and innovation as plant-based alternatives help create a new look in the department.

SENIOR MARKETING MANAGER Nella Veldran (NEW ENGLAND, SOUTHEAST) 201-937-7972 nveldran@ensembleiq.com SENIOR MARKETING MANAGER Theresa Kossack (MIDWEST, GA, FL) 214-226-6468 tkossack@ensembleiq.com REGIONAL SALES MANAGER Tammy Rokowski (SOUTHWEST, MI) 248-514-9500 trokowski@ensembleiq.com

62 PG PET

JUNIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER-GROCERY GROUP Natalie Meehan p 773-992-4410 m 619 823-4926 nmeehan@ensembleiq.com

Cannabis Connection

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE/CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING Terry Kanganis 201-855-7615 • Fax: 201-855-7373 tkanganis@ensembleiq.com

CBD products may be just what the vet ordered.

CLASSIFIED PRODUCTION MANAGER Mary Beth Medley 856-809-0050 marybeth@marybethmedley.com

56 65

65 TECHNOLOGY

Going Beyond People Counting

AUDIENCE LIST RENTAL MeritDirect Elizabeth Jackson 847-492-1350, ext. 318 ejackson@meritdirect.com SUBSCRIBER SERVICES/SINGLE-COPY PURCHASES 847-564-1468 or email at PG@Omeda.com PROJECT MANAGEMENT/PRODUCTION/ART VICE PRESIDENT OF PRODUCTION Derek Estey destey@ensembleiq.com

COVID-19 has sparked a huge need for occupancymonitoring technologies that will have long-term benefits.

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Colette Magliaro cmagliaro@ensembleiq.com ADVERTISING/PRODUCTION MANAGER Jackie Batson 224-632-8183 jbatson@ensembleiq.com ART DIRECTOR Bill Antkowiak bantkowiak@ensembleiq.com

68 EQUIPMENT & DESIGN

REPRINTS, PERMISSIONS AND LICENSING Wright’s Media ensembleiq@wrightsmedia.com 877-652-5295

Prepared With Care Retail foodservice infrastructure is ensuring the safety of this critical category.

CORPORATE OFFICERS CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Jennifer Litterick CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Jane Volland

74 OPERATIONS

CHIEF INNOVATION OFFICER Tanner Van Dusen CHIEF HUMAN RESOURCES OFFICER Ann Jadown

Solving the Sanitation Challenge

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, EVENTS & CONFERENCES Ed Several SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, CONTENT Joe Territo

Best practices and new solutions for food retailing during a pandemic. 77 NONFOODS

Beating the Baby Blues

Grocers should focus on other items in the category to compensate for sagging sales of traditional products.

EVENTS VICE PRESIDENT, EVENTS Michael Cronin mcronin@ensembleiq.com

PROGRESSIVE GROCER (ISSN 0033-0787, USPS 920-600) is published monthly by EnsembleIQ, 8550 W. Bryn Mawr Ave. Ste. 200, Chicago, IL 60631. Single copy price $20, except selected special issues. Foreign single copy price $85, except selected special issues. Subscription: $125 a year; Canada $190 (Canada Post Publications Mail Agreement No. 40031729. Foreign $270 (call for air mail rates). Periodicals postage paid at Chicago, IL 60631 and additional mailing offices. Printed in USA. POSTMASTER: Send all address changes to brand, PO Box 3200 Northbrook IL 60065-3200. Copyright ©2020 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 may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the consent of the publisher. The publisher is not responsible for product claims and representations.

EDITOR’S NOTE By Mike Troy

The Great Grocery Migration e’ve heard a lot this year about how retailing will never be the same. As conversations shifted from the immediate disruption caused by COVID-19 to its longer-term impacts, lots of opinions have been offered about how shopper behavior and retail will evolve. These are hot topics even when the retail world isn’t coping with the effects of a pandemic, but the conversations take on a new dimension when mortality rates, flattening curves and social distancing enter the mix. In the current unsettled environment, even asking shoppers about their future behaviors is of limited value. Turns out we shoppers are pretty bad at predicting our own behaviors in a normal environment, often acting in ways much different from our stated intentions. So, here we are looking ahead with a very murky view of consumer behaviors, but a very clear view of other major industry trends. For example, there are two things that can be said with a high degree of conviction about the post-COVID-19 world of retail overall, and food retail in particular. They are:

Trends in motion will stay in motion and intensify. Everyone wants to be a food retailer. We saw this prior to the pandemic and going forward, there will be more, not fewer, retailers vying for shoppers’ food and consumable dollars. 1. The strongest retailers will become even stronger. This happens every time a crisis weakens the economy and causes consumer spending to tighten. Fewer dollars to go around leads to an inevitable shakeout in an industry where survival of the fittest is a fact of life. 2. Trends in motion will stay in motion and intensify. Everyone wants to be a food retailer. We saw this prior to the pandemic and going forward, there will be more, not fewer, retailers vying for shoppers’ food and consumable dollars. The first point is a sad reality for some nonessential retailers, but an opportunity for food retailers to secure new store locations and cherry-pick talent at failed or failing organizations. Meanwhile, 6 progressivegrocer.com

the second point creates new competitive challenges for traditional food retailers. More and more companies will accelerate their efforts to further penetrate the world of food and consumables. This second point is a macro trend that has been unfolding for decades. A flashback to 40 or 50 years ago shows that it was easy for a supermarket executive to identify a competitor: It was the retailer down the street with a store about the same size, with a similar assortment. Go back 20 or 30 years ago, and things start to look a lot different. New concepts like supercenters and warehouse clubs emerged, and retailers such as drug stores added core grocery items and staples to improve customer traffic. Now, think back just 10 years ago, and how the marketplace gained an even wider array of nontraditional food retailers such as dollar stores and Amazon selling — and gaining market share — in food and consumable categories. Now, there are all manner of subscription boxes, meal delivery services and direct-to-consumer offerings from major suppliers, the same suppliers that have seen their traditional distribution methods challenged by retailers’ aggressive own-brand efforts. Meanwhile, traditional food retailers as well as convenience store retailers have elevated their food service game, offering an increased competitive challenge to traditional foodservice operators. Everything about food retailing and the universe of companies competing in it has changed. Progressive Grocer has changed, too. We are looking at the world of food and consumable retailing the way a consumer does rather than through the lens of an outdated and narrow industry classification. This philosophy is reflected in our inaugural PG 100 ranking of North America’s Top Retailers of Food and Consumables, replacing an annual ranking known as The Super 50 that was more limited in scope. Progressive Grocer, as the name implies, is about looking forward. Heck, our tagline is “Ahead of What’s Next.” The PG 100 is the latest example of this. The ranking includes many companies that aren’t thought of as grocers today, but are in fact grocers, and quite progressive ones at that, to millions of shoppers spending billions of dollars on food and consumables with the retailers on this list. Mike Troy Editorial Director, Grocery Group mtroy@ensembleIQ.com

THANK

©/

/®

IN-STORE EVENTS

Calendar

07.20

Independent Retailer Month National Baked Bean Month National Culinary Arts Month National Grilling Month

National Hemp Month National Horseradish Month National Hot Dog Month National Ice Cream Month

S M T W T F S

National Creative Ice Cream Flavors Day National Gingersnap Day

National Apple Turnover Day National Graham Cracker Day

National Pecan Pie Day

National Fried Chicken Day. Feature grab-andgo containers of this American favorite in the deli.

National French Fry Day

Eat Your Jello Day. Hold a contest to find out who can craft the most creative dessert.

National Macaroni Day. Who’s up for cold macaroni salad?

National Mac & Cheese Day. Do an in-store blind tasting of samples made from scratch and from a mix, and see which one prevails.

National Freezer Pop Day National Chocolate With Almonds Day

National Tapioca Pudding Day. Reintroduce customers to this once wildly popular dessert.

National Anisette Day. Offer pairing suggestions for this anise-flavored liqueur popular in the Mediterranean region.

National Sugar Cookie Day. Poll your shoppers for the easiest recipe.

National Corn Fritters Day. Offer tips on how to make them so they don’t turn out soggy.

National Chocolate Wafer Day

National Barbecued Spareribs Day

National Fried Clam Day

National Pina Colada Day

Independence Day

National Rainier Cherry Day National Blueberry Muffin Day

National Peach Ice Cream Day. Provide the directions for shoppers to make their own.

National Sour Candy Day National Caviar Day

National Beans ‘N’ Franks Day

National Daiquiri Day. Encourage shoppers to prepare this cocktail frozen to beat the heat.

National Bagelfest Day. Run a special on all varieties in the in-store bakery.

National Lollipop Day. Offer a free one at the door for all of the kids (and kids at heart).

National Crème Brûlée Day. Provide step-bystep instructions for how to create this rich French dessert.

National Junk Food Day. It’s only once a year, so why not indulge?

National Penuche Fudge Day National Hot Dog Day

National Milk Chocolate Day. Fill bins near checkout for grab-and-go convenience.

National Lasagna Day

National Refreshment Day. Have plenty available throughout the store for hungry and thirsty shoppers.

National Cheesecake Day

National Chicken Wing Day

National Chili Dog Day

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National Cousins Day. Hold a contest to see which two relatives most resemble one another.

National Avocado Day. How many ways can this versatile fruit be used? Devote an entire issue of your instore magazine to the topic.

National Wine and Cheese Day

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MENU TRENDS

Research & Analysis

Cheese Will Always Please It’s creamy and dreamy; sometimes it’s crumbly, and sometimes it’s stretchy. One thing is for sure: Cheese remains a favorite among consumers, with 81% reporting that they love it. Dive into the world of cheese with inspiring varieties, both now and in the future, to gain interest with shoppers on the perimeter. Source: Datassential MenuTrends 2020 and FLAVOR

Raclette MAC stage: Inception — International markets, global independents and fine dining. Trends start here and exemplify originality in flavor, preparation and presentation. Raclette is the mesmerizing cheese darling of the social media world. It’s both a dish and a type of cheese that is warmed until melted, and then scraped over vegetables, pickles, cured meats and bread. On 0.6% of U.S. restaurant menus Up 41.9% on menus over the past four years 19% of consumers know it/9% have tried it Menu Example Pardon My French Burger a la Raclette Beef burger, raclette cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, tobacco onions, PMF sauce.

Cotija MAC stage: Adoption — International aisle at supermarkets, casual independents, fastcasual. Adoption-stage trends grow their base via lower price points and simpler prep methods. Still differentiated, these trends often feature premium and/or generally authentic ingredients. Cotija is the crumbly, slightly salty cow’s milk cheese hailing from the Mexican state of Michoacán. While gaining popularity as an ingredient in ever-popular tacos and elote, cotija adds a bit of salt and fermented funk — the good kind — to any dish when grated and crumbled over it.

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Goat cheese is a goat milk-based cheese offering consumers a variety of textures, from crumbly to creamy, as well as flavors. With its distinct tang, goat cheese has become a strong presence in salads, sandwiches and burgers. On 24% of U.S. restaurant menus

Pepper Jack MAC stage: Ubiquity — Ubiquity-stage trends have reached maturity, and can be found across all sectors of the food industry. Though often diluted by this point, their inception-stage roots are still recognizable. Pepper Jack is a variation of Monterey Jack, the semi-soft cheese that typically has a mild, buttery flavor. Pepper Jack offers excitement, however, with the inclusion of sweet or hot peppers, and occasionally spices like rosemary or garlic. The cheese performs well anywhere you may find “American” cheese, but want a bit of excitement.

Up 6% over the past four years On nearly 16% of U.S. menus

On nearly 6% of U.S. restaurant menus

82% of consumers know it/45% have tried it

Up 52% on menus over the past four years

Menu Example First Watch Brilliant Beet Toast Whole grain artisan toast topped with beet hummus, fresh avocado, pickled onions, diced red beets, lemondressed arugula and herbed goat cheese.

28% of consumers know it/17% have tried it Menu Example Starbucks Southwest Veggie Wrap Scrambled eggs, black beans, sous vide potatoes, pico de gallo, cotija cheese and jalapeño cream cheese in a salsa tortilla.

Goat Cheese MAC stage: Proliferation — Proliferation-stage trends are adjusted for mainstream appeal. Often combined with popular applications (on a burger, pasta, etc.)

Up 14% over the past four years 92% of consumers know it/78% have tried it Menu Example Carl’s Jr. Spicy Western Bacon Cheeseburger Charbroiled all-beef patty, jalapeños, bacon, Pepper Jack cheese, crispy onion rings and BBQ sauce on a seeded bun.

PICKED FRESH

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In an US vs THEM world ... stick with US!

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FRONT END

Shelf Stoppers

Frozen Vegetables TOTAL FROZEN VEGETABLE SALES REACHED $2.97 BILLION IN THE PAST YEAR

weeks ending April 2, 2016) Household(52 Care

Basket Facts

Total Department Performance Latest 52 Wks W/E 3/21/20

Household Care

Latest 52 Wks YA W/E 3/23/19

$59,316,284,269

Latest 52 Wks 2 YA W/E 3/24/18

$55,938,440,286

$54,575,244,080

Top 5 Household Care Categories by Dollar Sales Paper and Plastics

Laundry Care

Household Cleaners and Supplies

Home Air Fresheners

Food Storage

$30,000,000,000

25,000,000,000

20,000,000,000

How much is the Consumers chose average American frozen broccoli over alternatives for household a variety of reasons: spending per trip on various household care 12% it’s andbecause cleaning quick and easy products versus the year-ago 10% period? because it tastes great

15,000,000,000

10,000,000,000

Spotlight on Frozen Broccoli WHEN ARE CONSUMERS EATING FROZEN BROCCOLI?

5,000,000,000

Broccoli as an ingredient is most commonly consumed at dinner, followed by lunch.

0 Latest 52 Wks W/E 3/21/20

Latest 52 Wks YA W/E 3/23/19

Frozen broccoli is most often used in a side dish, followed by as a main entrée. 3% Latest 52 Wks 2 YA W/E 3/24/18

because it’s healthy and nutritious

8% $9.27

because it’s low in calories, fat and sugar

on laundry care, up 5.7%

Source: Nielsen, Total U.S. (All outlets combined) – includes grocery stores, drug stores, mass merchandisers, select dollar stores, select warehouse clubs and military commissaries (DeCA) for the 52 weeks ending March 21, 2020 OCCASION MEAL ITEM 29% TYPE CLASS 62% 35% 61% With rising concerns related to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), there are few categories as important as household cleaning and care products to consumers right now. At an annual level, overall sales for household care products are up 6%, and DINNER LUNCH OTHER SIDE March. DISH MAIN ENTRÉEand OTHER weekly sales spikes well above last year’s norm were witnessed throughout As health hygiene are reprioritized in every routine, consumers will be seeking greater assurance that the products they buy offer the utmost protection and safety, particularly with respect to cleaning products. In the short term, this will require companies to clearly communicate why their products and supply chains should be trusted. In the longer term, and dependent on the eventual scale and impact that COVID-19 has on consumer markets, it may redefine the attributes, claims and qualities that consumers look for in the household care products they purchase.”

$6.53 on household cleaners and supplies, up 1.6%

—Lauren Fernandes, director of global intelligence, Nielsen

Generational Snapshot Which cohort is spending, on average, the most per trip on household cleaners and supplies?

Millennials

Gen Xers

Boomers

The Greatest Generation

$9.70

$9.85

$8.79

$8.20

Source: Nielsen Homescan, Total U.S., 52 weeks ending Feb. 22, 2020

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$5.10 on dish care, up 6.0% Source: Nielsen Homescan, Total U.S., 52 weeks ending Feb. 22, 2020

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Packaging for a Better Planet

MINTEL CATEGORY INSIGHTS

Global New Products Database

Shampoo, Conditioner and Hairstyling Products Market Overview

The hair care market is experiencing strong growth — as nearly all consumers use one or more hair care products. With the majority of Americans staying inside due to COVID-19, Mintel predicts that the hair care market will take a short-term hit in 2020, but is expected to recover through 2024. The U.S. population is diversifying, with notably higher percentages of both Hispanic and African-American consumers within Generation Z and the youngest generation. Both Hispanic and African-American adults tend to be heavily engaged hair care consumers, which is good for future market growth. Growth in these groups will also lead to more diverse hair types. A growing multicultural population will create more demand for products that meet their unique needs.

Sales of both shampoo and conditioner grew in 2018-19, while the hairstyling segment continues to struggle.

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Key Issues

Consumers are washing their hair less frequently and increasingly relying on dry shampoo in between washes. More consumers are using styling products compared with 2019, but they’re being used less frequently.

Young women are more likely to occasionally use styling products, while men and older adults drive daily usage, as they’re more motivated by routines. Across most beauty and personal care categories, adults demonstrate less engagement as they age. Older adults are motivated by routine and are more likely to stick to the same hair care brand, creating hurdles for new brands to reach this age group. Water scarcity and overuse of plastic have led more consumers to question their habits and re-evaluate routines to be more sustainable.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT WWW.MINTEL.COM OR CALL 800-932-0400

What Does It Mean? As consumers opt for products that prolong washes, in combination with an increased focus on water conservation, consumers will increasingly opt for multitasking products that save time and streamline routines, over extensive, product-heavy routines. Moving forward, eco-innovations will continue to resonate with consumers. To avoid getting left behind, brands must make sustainability a part of their mission.

Our full line of GOYA® Refried Beans gives your shoppers a true Mexican taste experience right from their pantry. Your shoppers are looking for authentic ﬂavors, and these versatile products let them easily add homemade taste to any Mexican meal. Stock your Hispanic and Tex-Mex sections with Refried Beans from the premier source for authentic Latino cuisine - GOYA®!

Visit goyatrade.com or email us at salesinfo@goya.com

Give Your Shoppers The Authentic Taste They Crave

ALL’S WELLNESS By Karen Buch

CBD Primer for Retail

mood disorders, insomnia, inflammation, seizures, chemo-induced side effects, symptoms associated with IBD/IBS, certain autoimmune diseases, neurologic conditions, migraines, Tourette syndrome, and other ailments. Products marketed with a claim of therapeutic benefit to prevent, diagnose, treat or cure serious diseases must be approved by the FDA for their intended use before they may be sold.

A BE T TER UNDERSTANDING OF THIS RISING CATEGORY IS CRUCIAL FOR CONSUMERS AND GROCERS ALIKE. he hemp-derived CBD (cannabidiol) category is predicted to reach $22 billion by 2022 with a sharp rise in trajectory expected over the next decade, sparking an increase in the presence of CBD-containing products on grocery store shelves, according to consumer insights and market intelligence firm Brightfield Group. Today’s CBD purchasers are herbal health enthusiasts and valued shoppers who spend 12 times more, on average, compared with non-CBD shoppers. Before the public can truly embrace CBD products, however, consumers and retailers alike need to have a better understanding of the nature, benefits and precautions surrounding hemp and CBD.

How Is CBD Consumed?

CBD-infused products can be applied topically in the form of creams, lotions, salves, balms and oils, or ingested in the form of capsules, gummies and tinctures. Development of functional foods and beverages containing CBD is on the rise. The FDA is evaluating regulatory frameworks to apply to CBD-containing products to address safety, marketing and labeling concerns.

What Is Hemp?

The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (known as the Farm Bill) established a new category of cannabis classified as hemp. This is defined as cannabis and cannabis derivatives with extremely low concentrations of the psychoactive compound THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol). The bill removed hemp from the Controlled Substances Act under federal law and classified it, instead, as an agricultural commodity. In addition, the bill allowed states to develop their own programs for licensing and regulating hemp while requiring Retail dietitians and USDA to develop a federal program. The bill pharmacists can also preserved the FDA’s authority to regulate interpret the latest products containing cannabis or cannabis-derived compounds under the federal Food, Drug scientific research on and Cosmetic Act. CBD and help educate

What Is CBD?

interested consumers about the array of CBD-infused products coming to market.

CBD is one of many cannabinoid chemical compounds derived naturally from the Cannabis sativa or hemp plant. CBD is specifically derived from the flower of the C. sativa plant, as are other cannabinoids, terpenes and seeds. Cannabinoid chemical compounds act on corresponding receptors in the brain. It’s important not to confuse non-intoxicating CBD with THC — the main psychoactive component of C. sativa that’s responsible for the “high” associated with marijuana. The price and quality of CBD can vary greatly, depending on where it was grown, whether pesticides were used and the method of CBD extraction.

What Are the Benefits of CBD?

When consumed, THC-free CBD imparts a feeling of relaxation and calm. Some researchers suspect CBD alone may not work as well in isolation compared with CBD taken with a full spectrum of other naturally occurring cannabinoids. People turn to CBD seeking relief from pain, anxiety and

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What About Dosing?

People who use alcohol or take medications, including some blood thinners and other medications affected by grapefruit, should consult a medical professional to discuss potential interactions with CBD and monitor liver function. Health practitioners recommend starting with a small dose and increasing in 5-milligram increments to find an individual’s minimal effective dose for symptom relief. Onset and duration of relief vary, depending on the mode of CBD delivery. Retail category managers must understand regulatory requirements and source from reputable CBD wholesalers. Retail dietitians and pharmacists can interpret the latest scientific research on CBD and help educate consumers about the array of CBD-infused products coming to market. Together, retail health professionals can help meet shoppers’ desires for a holistic, integrative approach to safely add CBD to existing individualized nutritional therapy and pharmacotherapy plans.

Karen Buch, RDN, LDN, is a registered dietitian/nutritionist who specializes in retail dietetics and food and culinary nutrition communications. One of the first supermarket dietitians, she is now founder of and principal consultant at Nutrition Connections LLC, providing consulting services nationwide. You can connect with her on Twitter @karenbuch and at NutritionConnectionsLLC.com.

Relax responsibly . Corona

® Hard Seltzer Spiked Sparkling Water with Natural Flavors. Imported by Crown Imports, Chicago, IL

*Not a low-calorie food. †Under FDA regulations, carbohydrates of 0.5 g per serving or less are declared as zero. Per 12 fl. oz. serving of average analysis: Calories 90, Carbs 0 grams, Protein 0 grams, Fat 0 grams

EXCLUSIVE RESEARCH

Shopper Loyalty

An interactive experience exploring complete shopper insights across retail channels is available from the Path to Purchase Institute at www.p2pi.org/coke.

In Retail We Trust E XCLUSIVE RESE ARCH FROM COCA-COL A IDENTIFIES KE Y FACTORS FOR BUILDING SHOPPER LOYALT Y AT THE CHANNEL LE VEL. By Abby Kleckler and Peter Breen

Called iSHOP (“Individual Shopping Habits, Occasions and Perceptions”), the uniquely comprehensive study surveys consumers on a daily basis throughout the year to account for seasonal differences and other potential variables in their needs and habits. It goes beyond Coca-Cola’s own beverage categories to gain insights about the entire shopping experience, and polls beyond the primary household shopper to cover all consumers (with respondents ranging in age from 16 to 75). The results encompass roughly 40,000 interviews each year. The nature and scope of the study allow Coke to collect trip-level information related to more than 300 retailers in total, with deeper insights about general shopping habits and perceptions collected on 65 key accounts. The insights are used to inform Coke’s collaborative marketing and business planning with a number of retailers. The goal is “to be a better business partner and help them understand how to drive action against these metrics,” explains Sally Buckley, director of shopper insights and analytics at Atlanta-based Coca-Cola. Having been modified and expanded over time, the 2019 study sought to understand shopper attitudes about specific retailers across 30 distinct behavioral drivers, ranging from abstract assertions (“store I trust”) to more tangible concepts (“Has a clean shopping area”). Coca-Cola identifies the level of influence each of these drivers has on three critical shopper behaviors:

Trial: Drivers that put a retailer into the hat factors lead shoppers to try your store? How about shop there frequently? What about recommending the location to their friends? The Coca-Cola Co. has conducted an annual study of shoppers and shopping behavior that answers what drives customers to choose one store over another, and which grocers are performing best in each category.

progressivegrocer.com

shopper’s consideration set for what Coke describes as “light shopping” (no more than one trip per quarter).

Frequency: Drivers that make the retailer a regular destination (at least once per month) for the shopper.

Advocacy: Drivers that lead a shopper to recommend the retailer to other consumers. Among the leading drivers in this area is their belief that the retailer is a “store I trust.”

Coca-Cola's iSHOP ("Individual Shopping Habits, Occasions and Perceptions") study goes beyond the beverage category to look at the entire shopping experience.

Most Trusted Retailers Chains with the highest rankings for “store I trust”: 1. H-E-B 2. Publix 3. Wegmans 4. Trader Joe's 5. King Soopers (Kroger) 6. Hy-Vee 7. Harris Teeter (Kroger) 8. Fry's (Kroger) 9. ShopRite 10. Publix

11. Kroger 12. Hannaford (Ahold Delhaize) 13. Smith's 14. Fred Meyer (Kroger) 15. Whole Foods 16. Giant Eagle 17. Ingles Markets 18. Aldi 19. Target 20. Lidl

Best of the Rest Trial

The top five drivers for trial of a grocery store are clean shopping area, store I trust, good selection, well organized and familiar layout. Clean shopping area, good selection and well organized are all unique drivers to the grocery channel. Grocers earning the top rankings in these categories are: 1. Publix Super Markets 2. Wegmans Food Markets 3. King Soopers 4. Hy-Vee

Frequency

The top five drivers for frequent shopping trips with a brand are items I buy in easy locations, good sales, one-stop shopping, conveniently located and familiar layout. The last two drivers are unique to the grocery channel. Grocers earning the top rankings in these categories are: 1. (Tie) King Soopers 1. (Tie) H-E-B 3. ShopRite 4. Fry’s

Advocacy

The top five drivers for a willingness to recommend are store I trust, fun place to shop, good atmosphere, helpful employees and good overall value. These drivers can account for the majority of long-term sales. Grocers earning the top rankings in these categories are: 1. H-E-B 2. Trader Joe’s 3. Wegmans 4. Publix

The study also identifies clear-cut winners in channels beyond grocery: Mass merchants: Midwestern chain Meijer tops national retailers Walmart, Target and Kmart to earn the highest scores for all three behaviors. Convenience: Sheetz, Wawa, QuickTrip and Casey’s General Stores alternate among the top four slots in all three. Drug stores: CVS bests national rival Walgreens in each area. Warehouse clubs: Costco outranks rivals Sam’s Club and BJ’s Wholesale Club across the board. Value: Dollar Tree and Dollar General share the top two spots. For complete coverage, visit p2pi.org/coke.

Source: Coca-Cola's iSHOP 2019

When it comes to shopper advocacy, regional operators seem to do especially well, due to their ability to foster trust among their shoppers. Texas-centric H-E-B earns the highest scores for store I trust, followed by Southeastern operator Publix (see “Most Trusted Retailers” chart above, at top). Overall, six of the 10 chains with the highest trust ratings are regional, with three others — Harris Teeter, King Soopers and Fry’s — likely benefiting from parent company Kroger’s largely localized operating model. Alternative grocer Trader Joe’s is the only “national” player in the top 10. Trader Joe’s, however, takes the top honor as a fun place to shop, with Wegmans coming in second. Publix tops both the “good atmosphere” and “helpful employees” rankings, but fails to score in the top 10 for “good overall value,” a category in which H-E-B and Aldi reign supreme. PROGRESSIVE GROCER May 2020

North America’s Top Retailers of Food and Consumables

AN INDUSTRY IN TRANSITION

he 2020 edition of Progressive Grocer’s annual ranking of leading retailers of food and consumables has changed in several notable ways. The list now reflects a more comprehensive view of the universe of retailers active in food and consumables categories and the geographic areas in which these retailers operate. This enlightened approach resulted in the creation of The PG 100: North America’s Top Retailers of Food and Consumables. It also marks a shift from the long-running Super 50 ranking, which focused on U.S.-only retailers that fit a more traditional definition of a grocer or supermarket. Why the change? Why does anything in retail change? Because consumers have changed, and in some pretty dramatic ways. Where and how they shop for food, what they eat, how they live, their lifestyle priorities and drivers of purchase behaviors have evolved considerably from a decade or two ago. And more change will come as consumers adjust to life after COVID-19. As consumers have changed, so has the nature of competition. The world of food and consumables is filled with innovation and nontraditional competitors that now sell lots of food and consumables, but don’t spring to mind when one hears the word "grocer" or "supermarket." In addition, many retailers, whether based in the United States, Canada or Mexico, operate throughout North America. The PG 100 accounts for these new competitive dynamics as they exist today and increasingly will affect the industry going forward. Creating a list of this type is an inexact science, as there are large numbers of privately held companies that are quite secretive about details of their operations. Nevertheless, to create the PG 100, we relied on public and private sources, diligent research and proven forecasting methodologies employed by financial analysts to generate reliable sales estimates. In total, the companies on this year’s PG 100 grew sales by 5.7% to $1.869 trillion from $1.768 trillion the prior year. That’s an impressive rate of growth for an industry often regarded as mature, which speaks to the level of innovation and the rapidly evolving and expansive competitive landscape that warranted creation of a new industry benchmark: The PG 100.

progressivegrocer.com

North America’s Top Retailers of Food and Consumables

THE NEW COMPETITIVE BATTLEGROUND NONTR ADITIONAL FOOD RE TAILERS GROW IN IMPORTANCE, THANKS TO FAVOR ABLE ECONOMIC CONDITIONS. By Mike Troy

he overwhelming majority of companies on the PG 100 enjoyed strong growth in 2019, and it was easy to see why. Unemployment rates were at or near historic lows throughout North America. There was a modest degree of food inflation in five of the six food categories contained in the Consumer Price Index compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It was just enough inflation to benefit retailers’ year-over-year sales comparisons, but not so much as to deter spending. Fuel prices were relatively low and proved to be a tailwind for spending, especially among lower-income households, which spend a higher percentage of their income on fuel. While this rising tide of favorable economic conditions lifted nearly all retail boats, major structural changes continued to unfold in the food and consumables world. These changes involved the wide range of nontraditional food retailers that have earned spots on the PG 100 for their efforts to gain share from more familiar food retailing names such as Kroger, Albertsons, Publix, H-E-B and Aldi, to name a few. Most notably, chain drug store retailers Walgreens, CVS Health and Rite Aid operated a combined 19,177 stores and generated annual sales of $223 billion. However, only about 20% to 25% of those sales are from nonpharmacy categories, or what drug store retailers refer to as the front end. And only a portion of those front end sales are from food and consumables. Even so, if grocery categories accounted for just 5% of each retailer’s sales, it would equate to total sales of $11.2 billion and place the companies’ combined volume at No. 32 on the PG 100. Chain drug stores, with their convenient locations and traffic-generating pharmacies, represent a major force in the food and consumables world. And the potential exists to have an even greater impact. Consider the intriguing pilot program (see page 34) that Walgreens and Kroger have undertaken to leverage their respective strengths by operating branded departments in one another’s stores. Like chain drug stores, convenience stores pose a similar, but often overlooked, competitive threat. The collective impact of c-store operators — an industry sector that includes more than 150,000 locations — is considerable and growing. When the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS), the trade organization representing the c-store channel, surveyed members in January, three-fourths said that their in-store sales increased in 2019, and a strong contributor to growth was better-for-you items

progressivegrocer.com

such as fruit, vegetables, nuts, health bars and yogurt. In addition to packaged products, leaders in the c-store channel are moving aggressively to sell more fresh food and improve foodservice operations. An industry best known for a heritage of selling beer, tobacco and gas now has many operators (Wawa, RaceTrac, Casey’s) that are well known for the quality of their food and beverage operations. While drug and convenience stores have many dimensions of competitive overlap with traditional food retailers, the channel with the greatest overlap is broadly described as “extreme value,” a phrase that serves as a catch-all for a diverse group of operators with different business models. The most notable of these is Dollar General, a company that ended last year with 16,278 locations, has plans to open 1,000 new locations this year, is expanding frozen and refrigerated sections at a breakneck pace, and is rolling out self-distribution of fresh food. Dollar General is in the midst of a major pivot to become a new breed of grocer and unlock the sales potential of a massive footprint as its opportunities to add new stores diminish the closer it gets to 20,000 locations. Other extreme-value retailers, such as Dollar Tree, Family Dollar, Grocery Outlet, Big Lots, 99 Cents Only and Canada’s Dollarama, each come at the food and consumables world from different angles, with unique strategies. However, they collectively operate roughly 35,000 stores and conservatively account for upwards of $30 billion in sales of food and consumables. It may seem unusual for extreme-value retailers, c-store operators and drug store chains to be part of the PG 100, but such is the evolving nature of retail competition in the world of food and consumables. It’s a place where consumers have many, many alternatives to satisfy their needs, a point illustrated by the diversity of operators comprising the PG 100.

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North Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Top Retailers of Food and Consumables Rank

Company

Fiscal Year End Sales (In Millions Dollars U.S.)

Prior Year

Percent Change

Store Count

Walmart U.S.

$341,004

$331,666

2.82%

4,756

Amazon

$154,581

$124,142

24.52%

The Kroger Co.

$122,286

$121,852

0.36%

2,757

Rodney McMullen, President and CEO

Walgreens Boots Alliance

$104,532

$98,392

6.24%

9,277

Richard Ashworth, President

Costco (U.S.)

$103,694

$95,740

8.31%

543

CVS Health

$86,608

$83,989

3.12%

9,900

Larry Merlo, President and CEO

Target

$77,130

$74,433

3.62%

1,868

Brian Cornell, Chairman and CEO

Albertsons Cos.

$62,455

$60,534

3.17%

2,252

Vivek Sankaran, President and CEO

Samâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Club

$58,792

$57,839

1.65%

599

Kathryn McLay, President and CEO

Alimentation Couche-Tard

$46,189

$39,829

15.97%

9,866

Brian Hannasch, CEO

Ahold Delhaize USA

$44,756

$41,845

6.96%

1,973

Kevin Holt, CEO

Publix Super Markets

$38,116

$36,093

5.60%

1,239

Randall T. Jones Sr., CEO

Loblaw Companies Ltd.

$36,759

$35,731

2.88%

2,431

Galen Weston, Executive Chairman

C&S Wholesale Grocers

$28,500

$27,900

2.15%

7,000

Mike Duffy, CEO

Walmart de Mexico y CentroAmerica (Mexico only)

$27,891

$26,399

5.65%

2,571

Enrique Ostale, President and CEO

Dollar General

$27,753

$25,625

8.30%

16,278

H-E-B

$26,300

$23,400

12.39%

353

Rite Aid

$21,928

$21,639

1.34%

2,461

Meijer Inc.

$20,350

$19,857

2.48%

248

Rick Keyes, President and CEO

Costco (Canada)

$19,097

$18,166

5.12%

100

Pierre Riel, SVP/GM, Canada

Sobeys

$18,728

$18,037

3.83%

1,974

Michael Medline, President and CEO

Walmart Canada

$18,420

$18,613

-1.04%

408

Horatio Barbeito, President and CEO

7-Eleven Inc.

$16,990

$16,790

1.19%

8,495

Whole Foods Market

$16,955

$16,200

4.66%

501

John Mackey, Co-Founder and CEO

Wakefern Food Corp.

$16,600

$16,500

0.61%

354

Joe Colallilo, Chairman and CEO

(North American retail, excluding Whole Foods Market)

(U.S retail)

(U.S. and Canada)

Source: Company reports, Progressive Grocer research, industry and analyst estimates

Top Executives

progressivegrocer.com

John Furner, President and CEO Jeff Bezos, Founder and CEO

Craig Jelinek, President and CEO

Todd Vasos, Chairman and CEO Charles Butt, Chairman and CEO Heyward Donigan, President and CEO

Joe DePinto, CEO

North America’s Top Retailers of Food and Consumables Rank

Company

Fiscal Year End Sales (In Millions Dollars U.S.)

Prior Year

Percent Change

Store Count

Top Executives Jason Hart, CEO

Aldi U.S.

$15,208

$14,259

6.66%

1,988

BJ's Wholesale Club

$13,190

$13,007

1.41%

217

Lee Delaney, President and CEO

Trader Joe’s Co.

$13,000

$12,483

4.14%

503

Dan Bane, Chairman and CEO

Metro

$12,647

$10,848

16.58%

1,600

Eric R. La Fleche, President and CEO

Dollar Tree

$12,510

$11,712

6.81%

7,505

Gary Philbin, CEO

Wawa

$12,500

$11,100

12.61%

891

Family Dollar

$11,102

$11,111

-0.08%

7,783

Hy-Vee Food Stores Inc.

$10,800

$10,200

5.88%

265

Randy Edeker, Chairman and CEO

Southeastern Grocers LLC

$10,450

$10,582

-1.25%

550

Anthony Hucker, President and CEO

RaceTrac

$9,800

$8,720

12.39%

600

Max McBrayer, CEO

Wegmans Food Markets Inc.

$9,700

$9,200

5.43%

101

Colleen Wegman, President and CEO

Associated Wholesale Grocers

$9,666

$9,614

0.54%

3,000

Dave Smith, President and CEO

Casey’s

$9,352

$8,391

11.45%

2,146

Darren Rebelez, CEO

Giant Eagle Inc.

$9,350

$8,900

5.06%

474

Laura Karet, CEO

SpartanNash Co.

$8,540

$8,060

5.96%

155

Dennis Eidson, Interim President and CEO

Soriana

$8,234

$8,213

0.26%

810

Ricardo Martin Bringas, CEO

Marathon Petroleum (Speedway)

$7,800

$7,650

1.96%

3,900

Costco (Mexico)

$7,448

$7,085

5.12%

WinCo Foods Inc.

$6,858

$6,804

0.79%

127

Grant Haag, CEO

Sprouts Farmers Market

$5,634

$5,207

8.20%

340

Jack Sinclair, CEO

Big Lots

$5,323

$5,238

1.62%

1,404

Demoulas Super Markets Inc.

$5,300

$5,200

1.92%

EG America

$5,100

$3,500

45.71%

2,042

Save Mart Supermarkets Inc.

$4,800

$4,773

0.57%

207

Nicole Pesco, CEO

Stater Bros. Markets

$4,507

$4,395

2.55%

170

Pete Van Helden, CEO

Source: Company reports, Progressive Grocer research, industry and analyst estimates

progressivegrocer.com

Chris Gheysens, President and CEO Gary Philbin, CEO

Michael Hennigan, President and CEO

Jaime Gonzalez, SVP/GM Mexico

Bruce Thorn, President and CEO Arthur Demoulas, President and CEO George Fournier, President

Rank

Company

Fiscal Year End Sales (In Millions Dollars U.S.)

Prior Year

Percent Change

Store Count

Top Executives

Save-On-Foods

$4,368

$4,120

6.02%

168

Darrell Jones, CEO

Ingles Markets Inc.

$4,202

$4,092

2.69%

198

James Lanning, President and CEO

Grupo Comercial Chedraui

$4,076

$3,785

7.69%

316

José Antonio Chedraui Eguia, CEO

Save-A-Lot/Onex Corp.

$4,014

$5,446

-26.29%

1,115

Golub Corp. (Price Chopper/Market 32)

$3,860

$3,400

13.53%

133

Scott Grimmett, CEO

Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA)

$3,700

$3,900

-5.13%

177

Robert Bianchi, Special Assistant for Commissary Operations

Smart & Final Inc.

$3,601

$3,672

-1.93%

255

Dave Hirz, President and CEO

Weis Markets

$3,543

$3,509

0.97%

197

Jonathan Weis, Chairman, President and CEO

Raley's Supermarkets

$3,470

$3,420

1.46%

127

Keith Knopf, President and CEO

Brookshire Grocery Co.

$3,258

$3,050

6.82%

181

Brad Brookshire, Chairman and CEO

United Natural Foods Inc.

$3,179

$2,668

19.15%

N/A

Steven Spinner, CEO

Alex Lee Inc.

$3,050

$2,300

32.61%

135

Brian George, President and CEO

Tops Markets LLC

$2,937

$2,813

4.41%

166

Frank Curci, Chairman and CEO

Dollarama

$2,861

$2,680

6.75%

1,291

Bodega Latina Corp. (El Super/Fiesta Mart)

$2,712

$2,300

17.91%

125

Carlos Smith, President and CEO

Grocery Outlet Inc.

$2,559

$2,290

11.75%

347

Eric Lindberg, CEO

Schnuck Markets Inc.

$2,541

$2,700

-5.89%

112

Scott Schnuck, Chairman and CEO

Brookshire Brothers

$2,440

$2,300

6.09%

122

John Alston, President and CEO

99 Cents Only

$2,405

$2,419

-0.58%

386

Barry Feld, CEO

Associated Food Stores

$2,400

$2,350

2.13%

400

Neal Berube, President and CEO

The Fresh Market

$2,241

$2,254

-0.58%

159

Jason Potter, CEO

Big Y Foods Inc.

$2,190

$2,080

5.29%

Bashas’ Markets Inc.

$2,185

$2,100

4.05%

115

Edward Basha, CEO

K-VA-T Food Stores Inc.

$2,133

$2,150

-0.79%

132

Steven C. Smith, CEO

Giant Tiger

$2,099

$1,978

6.12%

260

Paul Wood, President and COO

(Independent sales only)

Kenneth McGrath, CEO

Neil Rossy, President and CEO

Charles D’Amour, President and CEO

Source: Company reports, Progressive Grocer research, industry and analyst estimates PROGRESSIVE GROCER May 2020

North America’s Top Retailers of Food and Consumables Rank

Company

Fiscal Year End Sales (In Millions Dollars U.S.)

Prior Year

Percent Change

Store Count

Bozzuto’s Inc.

$2,010

$1,970

2.03%

N/A

Michael Bozzuto, CEO

Houchens Industries Inc.

$1,950

$1,869

4.33%

355

Dion Houchins, Chairman and CEO

Village Super Market

$1,643

$1,612

1.92%

Fareway Stores Inc.

$1,600

$1,586

0.88%

122

Rouse’s Enterprises LLC

$1,408

$1,386

1.59%

Donny Rouse, CEO

H Mart

$1,402

$1,381

1.52%

Il Yeon Kwon, Founder and CEO

Coborn’s Inc.

$1,400

$1,375

1.82%

114

Piggly Wiggly Midwest

$1,384

$1,372

0.87%

Paul Butera, Chairman and CEO

Woodman’s Food Markets Inc.

$1,381

$1,305

5.82%

Phil Woodman, President

Marc Glassman Inc.

$1,230

$1,179

4.33%

Marc Glassman, Chairman

Lowe's Pay-N-Save Inc.

$1,223

$1,190

2.77%

145

99 Ranch Market

$1,209

$1,139

6.15%

Alice Chen, CEO

Vallarta Supermarkets

$1,115

$1,050

6.19%

Enrique Gonzalez Jr., President and CEO

Sedano’s

$1,050

$990

6.06%

Agustin Herran, CEO

La Michoacana Mexican Market

$1,040

$1,012

3.75%

140

Festival Foods

$976

$960

1.67%

Mark Skogen, CEO

Fresh Thyme Farmers Market

$940

$989

-4.95%

Gerald Melville, President

Natural Grocers

$903

$849

6.36%

849

Kemper Isley, Chairman, Director and Co-President

Superior Grocers

$787

$752

4.65%

Mimi Song, President and CEO

Lidl U.S.

$779

$492

58.33%

Johannes Fieber, President and CEO

Farmacias Benavides

$721

$732

-1.50%

1,164

Northgate Gonzalez Market

$656

$639

2.66%

Blue Apron

$454

$667

31.93%

N/A

Sendik’s

$433

$425

1.88%

M&M Food Market

$420

$375

12.00%

350

$1,869,381

$1,768,535

5.70%

100

Total

Source: Company reports, Progressive Grocer research, industry and analyst estimates

Top Executives

progressivegrocer.com

Robert Sumas, CEO Reynolds Cramer, CEO

Chris Coborn, President and CEO

Roger Lowe Jr., CEO

Liborio Alcauter, President

Macedonio Garza Hernandez, CEO Miguel Gonzalez Reynoso, CEO Linda Findley Kozlowski, CEO Ted Balistreri, Owner Andy O'Brien, CEO

THE TOP 10 MARKET MOVERS

billion. Big increases came in two areas: The category defined as grocery, which includes all types of foods, as well as nonfood consumables products, increased to $190.5 billion from $184.2 billion, and Walmart’s U.S. online sales, which don’t include grocery orders fulfilled by stores, even if initiated online, increased to $21.5 billion from $15.7 billion.

A LOOK AT WHAT MADE E ACH OF THESE RE TAILERS SUCCESSFUL OVER THE PAST YE AR.

By Mike Troy

highly favorable macroeconomic climate helped retailers in the 2020 edition of the PG 100 generate a combined $1.869 trillion in sales, up 5.7% from prior-year sales of $1.768 trillion. The wealth was spread evenly among PG 100 constituents, with 86 of the companies listed showing sales growth versus 14 that saw sales decline. Successful operators such as Ahold Delhaize USA, Publix Super Markets, H-E-B and Meijer all grew sales by healthy amounts. Leading Canadian food retailers such as Loblaw and Sobeys also turned in respectable performances. Meanwhile, retailers such as Aldi and Dollar General ascended the PG 100 through aggressive store expansion and a low-price value proposition that resonated with shoppers. German discounter Lidl debuted at No. 95 on the list and appears to be headed higher, with more new stores in its pipeline. Conversely, online meal kit provider and 98th-ranked Blue Apron, once considered a disruptive force, is poised to fall off the list as its business trends have deteriorated. Overall, 2019 was a year that saw the biggest retailers get a lot bigger, with the U.S. sales of the top 20 companies on the list accounting for combined sales of $1.487 trillion, or 79.3% of the PG 100’s combined sales of $1.869 trillion. The prior year, the top 20 companies accounted for 79.5% of total sales of $1.7 trillion. The sales concentration was especially pronounced among the top 10 companies, which accounted for roughly 15% of the PG 100 sales. Here’s a look at the top 10 retailers on the PG 100 and some of the noteworthy developments that drove their performance:

Walmart: Aggressive digital efforts around grocery pickup and delivery, along with overall e-commerce growth, helped Walmart improve productivity of its existing selling space. Walmart’s total U.S. selling space was flat with the prior year, but with 3,200 grocery pickup and 1,600 delivery locations operational at year end, the company added $9.338 billion in sales volume at U.S. stores to end the year atop the PG 100 with sales of $341.3

Amazon: The juggernaut rolls on is the best way to describe Amazon. The company’s North American retail business, excluding Whole Foods Market, grew by 24.5% to $154.6 billion, accounting for more growth than the other retailers in the top 20 combined. Ever-faster shipping times on the industry’s broadest assortment, offered at attractive prices, is a value proposition unrivaled in retail. As for Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods nearly three years ago, the destructive impact it was widely believed that the deal would have just hasn’t materialized. In fact, Whole Foods has been somewhat of a laggard when it comes to expanding omnichannel capabilities, and only recently, in response to COVID-19, was grocery pickup expanded from 80 to 150 of its more than 500 stores. More recently, the company introduced its first ever 7,500-square-foot Amazon Go Grocery cashierless concept, and the industry is anxiously awaiting the opening of Amazon’s first-ever full-size grocery store.

The Kroger Co.: Kroger’s store count shrank by seven units to 2,757 stores in 2019, which, combined with modest comparable-store growth, gave it the smallest sales increase of any company in the top 20. The company’s sales were aided by the aggressive expansion of grocery pickup and delivery, which at year end were available at 1,989 and 2,385 locations, respectively. Kroger also continues to emphasize its store-brand program, which now generates total sales of $23.1 billion and includes three brands with sales in excess of $2 billion. What makes Kroger one of the most intriguing companies in the top 10, however, is its huge bet on the future of digital grocery. Kroger’s deal with U.K. online grocery provider OcPROGRESSIVE GROCER May 2020

North America’s Top Retailers of Food and Consumables ado to develop 20 large-format automated customer fulfillment centers (CFCs) could give the company tremendous growth potential in the coming years. Unfortunately for Kroger, the first of the facilities isn’t due to become operational until late next year, even though the deal was struck two years ago. The robotic facilities measure upwards of 300,000 square feet and take a long time to develop, but once operational, they will remove order picking from physical stores that were not designed for that purpose.

Walgreens Boots Alliance: The Retail Pharmacy USA segment of Walgreens Boots Alliance generated sales last year of $104.5 billion, and of those sales, 26.2%, or $27.4 billion, were generated by nonpharmacy product categories; in other words, the same product categories — food, consumables, health and beauty, nonprescription medicines, and a smattering of general merchandise items — that are found in a traditional grocery store. Walgreens’ 9,277 stores, located in highly traffic-convenient locations, with a steady flow of pharmacy traffic, enable it to siphon customers from other types of retailers that offer similar nonpharmacy categories. Walgreens’ real estate and health and beauty acumen caught the attention of Kroger, and the companies have a major pilot program underway that offers Kroger-branded food departments inside Walgreens stores. If effective and expanded rapidly, Walgreens will quickly become a more significant player in food, with the aid of Kroger.

Costco Wholesale: It was another banner year for Costco as its U.S. operations landed the No. 5 spot on the PG 100, thanks to some of the highest-volume stores on the planet. Its 548 U.S. locations averaged about $190 million in sales, with most of that volume coming from core grocery categories and fresh food. Forty percent, or $59.7 billion, of Costco’s global sales come from a category that the company calls “food and sundries,” which includes dry and packaged foods, groceries, snack foods, candy, cleaning suppliers, and alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages. The fresh food category — meat, produce, deli and bakery — accounted for 13.4%, or nearly $20 billion, of total global sales. Costco continued to gain shares in the food and consumables world as it added 16 new U.S. locations in its most recent fiscal year and continued to generate mid-single-digit same-store sales, excluding fuel. 30

progressivegrocer.com

CVS Health: On the surface, CVS Health has a lot in common with Walgreens. It has a similar number of stores (9,900) that are about the same size, in many of the same locations. The similarities end there, however, as CVS Health’s front end categories account for only 23.3% of sales (down from 25% two years ago) in the company’s retail and long-term care (LTC) pharmacy segment. Front end sales in this segment grew at a meager 1.6% over the past two years, making CVS Health’s retail footprint less of a food and consumables threat than Walgreens, even though CVS Health remains a major seller of key categories that overlap with traditional food retailers. It also offers 7,000 store brands that accounted for 22% of its front end revenues. Even so, the company’s impact on the world of food and consumables could diminish in the coming years, due to the rollout of a concept known as HealthHub. CVS added 50 HealthHub locations in 2019 in markets such as Houston; Tampa, Fla.; Atlanta; and Philadelphia, and these stores offer expanded health services that reduce front end selling space by 20%. This year, the HealthHub total will increase to 600 to 650 locations, and by the end of 2021, there are expected to be 1,500 locations, making CVS Health, which already fills 26.6% of the nation’s prescriptions, an even more formidable competitor to conventional food retailers that operate pharmacies.

Target: Food and beverage sales at Target increased a respectable 3.1% to $15 billion and represented 19.5% of the retailer’s total sales of $77.1 billion. Add in the beauty and household essentials category’s sales of $20.6 billion, up 6.8% from the prior year, and core grocery categories at Target accounted for 46% of total sales. The figure could be headed even higher this year, as Target went all in last August on a major launch of a new store brand called Good & Gather. Target expects the brand to be its largest private label, with roughly 2,000 products in stores by the end of this year. The other growth driver at Target is small-format stores that can function as grocery stores in the communities where they’re located. The company has largely abandoned its long-standing approach

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North America’s Top Retailers of Food and Consumables to large-format stores in favor of stores that measure less than 50,000 square feet. Target’s small-store count increased to 91 units last year, up from 71 the prior year.

Albertsons Cos.: There’s a lot going right at Albertsons under the leadership of Vivek Sankaran, who joined the company as CEO in April 2019 after his tenure as CEO of PepsiCo Foods North America. Sales reached a new high of $62.5 billion during Albertsons’ fiscal year ended Feb. 29, aided by remodeling initiatives and effective marketing personalization efforts that yielded a 2.1% identical-store increase. Albertsons has a major opportunity ahead of it as it looks to narrow the digital grocery gap with rivals Kroger and Walmart, whose grocery pickup and delivery services are available at more locations than Albertsons’ programs in this area. The Drive Up & Go service that Albertsons offers is currently available at roughly 500 locations, will expand to another 500 stores by year end and be available at 1,600 of Albertsons’

progressivegrocer.com

2,262 stores by next year. The other major sales-generating initiative underway is further expansion of Albertsons’ own brands. Sankaran signaled the company’s intention to accelerate own-brand growth last fall, with the appointment of Own Brands President Geoff White to lead all merchandising. Own-brand penetration stood at 23% in 2017; increased to a new high of 25.4% last year, with the introduction of 900 new items; and is projected to reach at least 30% over time as the company further expands its assortment of 12,000 own-brand products.

Sam’s Club: Tepid same-store sales growth and a flat year-over-year store count hindered Sam’s Club’s overall sales growth. However, of the five merchandise categories for which Sam’s discloses sales, the catego-

ry described as “grocery and consumables” increased to $35.3 billion from $33.7 billion, and helped offset weakness in other merchandise segments. While Sam’s total sales of $58.8 billion make it a formidable competitor, with a 9th-place ranking on the PG 100, it represents just 11.2% of Walmart’s total revenues of $524 billion and lags well behind Costco in terms of productivity. Frequent senior leadership changes haven’t helped over the years, and Sam’s again changed bosses earlier this year, when it named Kathryn McLay CEO to replace John Furner, who was tapped to lead Walmart’s U.S. division.

Alimentation Couche-Tard: This Canada-based global convenience store operator has become a major force in North American and U.S. retailing. The highly acquisitive company did six deals in the past two years, which added

roughly 2,500 locations, giving it a total of nearly 10,000 stores in the United States and Canada, and making it the largest independent convenience store operator in the United States. A major global initiative to rebrand stores as Circle K is nearing completion, with more than 85% of stores now flying the banner. Acquisitions remain a priority, but so, too, does improving the productivity of existing selling space. The key way to do that, as it is with many of the market-leading c-store operators, is through an improved offering of food and prepared foods. Alimentation Couche-Tard has an initiative in place it calls “food at scale,” which it maintains has been strongly accepted by customers and has been described by CEO Brian Hannasch as a critical advancement in the company’s food journey. It seems many retailers, regardless of their heritage or perceptions of the channel in which they operate, are on a food journey. As became apparent during the height of COVID-19, the essential nature of food and consumables makes the space more attractive than ever to a broader array of companies.

PROGRESSIVE GROCER May 2020

North America’s Top Retailers of Food and Consumables

A MODEL OF MERCHANDISING INNOVATION AN IN-DEPTH ASSESSMENT OF THE KROGER-WALGREENS RE TAIL PARTNERSHIP. By Howard N. Jackson

he Kroger Co. and Walgreens Boots Alliance are highly regarded companies that operate vast retail networks throughout the United States. Kroger’s retail footprint, which includes 2,747 food retail stores, generated sales of $122 billion during its fiscal year ended Feb. 1. The Walgreens U.S. retail division’s 9,277 locations produced sales of $104.5 billion, with 26.2% of those sales coming from nonpharmacy categories, during its fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2019. Aside from the recent COVID-19-related sales surge, both companies’ sales growth has been modest for several years. However, an innovative partnership model that combines the respective strengths of both organizations in a hybrid concept could change that trajectory and create a new competitive dynamic in the food retailing world. What began as a pilot program involving 13 stores in August 2018 gained momentum and was expanded in 2019, when it took an even more formal turn with the creation of The use of Walgreens’ distinctive white shelves and signage in Kroger’s pharmacy area creates a differentiated presentation.

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a group purchasing organization branded as the Retail Procurement Alliance. The logic behind the moves makes sense. Owning or leasing assets nationally for stores, distribution and manufacturing has provided a sustainable historic growth path for both, but the simple test is, if either could rebuild their business from scratch, what would the portfolio look like, and would it retain the current store footprint, formats, selling space and distribution network? Redefining Kroger as a private label manufacturer and distributor for groceries sold through someone else’s store network, with minimal capital investment, and aggregating procurement volume to improve leverage in weaker categories such as health, personal care and beauty, seems a positive step. For Walgreens, filling underperforming front end space with traffic-driving groceries purchased at volume, while gaining additional Walgreens-brand distribution, also seems appealing.

The Journey Begins

Kroger and Walgreens announced their initial collaboration in October 2018, involving 13 Walgreens stores in northern Kentucky, about 10 miles from Kroger headquarters in Cincinnati. These stores featured perishables, refrigerated products and dry grocery items, of which 30% were Kroger store brands. The selling space featured Kroger signage, and the 13 locations offered pickup of Kroger.com orders. A year later, Kroger and Walgreens expanded the partnership to a new market and more locations. Knoxville, Tenn., was selected as the test market for a 35-store test that involved four separate Kroger

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TM ® Flip-Scan®® hooks are an open and shut Flip-Scan hooks are an open and shut case for ease of Buse. The articulated F o r t h e u l k y S t u ff case for ease of use. The articulated If you thinklifts theupWonderBar EWT is label holder andout out way label holder lifts up and of of thethe way great, wait till you meet its bigfalls brother! for easy product access, then back for easy product access, then falls back Oversized just some and of heavy, your This bottom topslike for displaying to vertical foris viewing product price to vertical for viewing product and price products, this weightlifter stays strong bulky, hard-to-fit items. Display info. Ouror unique labelholder holder flexes open info. Our unique label flexes open on plain both metallabels and open wire shelves them attractively and neatly using so plain paper can inserted so paper labels canbe be inserted and bar. One-piece installation means front fencing and dividers toshort customize effortlessly. Available with label effortlessly. Available withshort label you can drop this bad boy right into holders or length label strips and the display space and create unique holders or full full length label strips and place, adjust as needed, and watch constructed of long-life materials, these presentations of similar or related items. constructed of long-life materials, these durable, attractive scanapproach can outfit the revenue increase. The EWT takes This cross-selling makes durable, attractive scanhooks hooks can outfit all display including pegboard, over fromsurfaces, there, for automatically feeding shopping easier the customer and all display surfaces, including pegboard, slatwall, grid, crossbar, and corrugated. product to the front and more profitable for you. Select from slatwall, grid, crossbar, and billboarding corrugated. Fully compatible with the Clear Scan® ® for maximum visibility. amerchandise range of other Trion Fully compatible with the outfitting Clear Scanto Label Holder System for C-channel, maximize selling space from the base Label Holder System for C-channel, Call 800-444-4665 | TrionOnline.com

Base Deck Fencing

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deck storewide. to thewire top basket, shelf and beyond. shelf and refrigerated areas edge, areas storewide. Call 800-444-4665 | TrionOnline.com

needs. The sturdy is durable, Clip label holders andplastic strips| available. Call 800-444-4665 TrionOnline.com with an extended merchandising life.

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Containers Well Contained

Cooler O v e r Capable 4 5 0 P r o f iAMT les Neatly and effectively display cooler Clear Scan Label Holders and freezer items, including yogurt, ®

Storewide solutions for any labeling dips, puddings, ice cream, single-serve need. Available in a variety of profiles foods, and more. Our small Adjustable (shapes), these bright, clear label Merchandising Tray (AMT) fits aholders range are4-easily positioned in medium all standard of to 6-ounce cups; the AMT C-channel mid-range configurations, as and well the as organizes offerings; displays incorporating metal, glass, wood, large AMT gives ice cream lovers pause wire baskets, wire shelving, wire of fencing, to browse and choose a pint their and scanning hooks. ...why Plain paper favorite flavor (hmmm not getlabels both drop in Vanilla behind a clear flexible PVC front, Cherry and Rocky Road?). This allowing labels to be changed quickly and manual-feed tray ensures that products inexpensively without messy adhesive remain faced and accessible. Time to backing. Just Adhesive labelrefill. holders and re-stock? lift out and Add Clear strips® Label also available if that is your need. Scan Holder, and you’re finished! Save time, increase visibility, and boost Call 800-444-4665 | TrionOnline.com sales with this storewide labeling system. Cooler capable, color, and built-in promo Clip label holders and strips available.

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WonderBar Hooks

Flip-Scan Hooks Mini Dual Lane Trays

WonderBar® Displays are the versatile ® Flip-Scan are anproduct open and shut heroes ofhooks the family, This mini tray leadsTrion to maximum revenue, case for ease of use. The articulated coming to the complimentary rescue when you need because it allows items to label holder lifts uplooks and to of the way muscle and good merchandise be featured together. Dualout lanes adjust to for items easy product access, then falls back ofmerchandise all sizes. These Baras Hooks fit narrow sizes smallcan as to for viewing product and price 3 vertical heavy loads in their capable arms. 1 ⁄4".lift Each lane features a separate pusher info.Display Our label holder flexes or Scan, Saddle Mount or open Plug paddle tounique keep products forwarded and so plain paper labels can be inserted in, Feature there areitems Trion WonderBar Hooks faced. of different widths effortlessly. with short Cross label for every Available need. via asymmetric lane configurations. holders or full length label strips and merchandise a variety of products with constructed of long-life materials, these ease. Trays install without tools and lift out durable, hooks can outfit for quickattractive restockingscan or product rotation. all display surfaces, including pegboard, Full line includes standard and oversize slatwall, crossbar, and corrugated. trays, andgrid, display, scan and pusher hooks. Fully compatible with the Clear Scan® Label Holder System for C-channel, shelf edge, wire basket, and refrigerated areas storewide. HOOKS | lAbElING | SHElF & COOlER MERCHANDISING 800-444-4665 | info@triononline.com .triononline.com/Art HOOKS | lAbElING | SHElF & COOlER

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An Open and Shut Case

Cold Front Forecast

ZIP Track Merchandiser ®

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WonderBar EWT Large

Base Deck Fencing

shelf edge, wire basket, and refrigerated

deck storewide. to thewire top basket, shelf and beyond. shelf and refrigerated areas edge, areas storewide. Call 800-444-4665 | TrionOnline.com

needs. The sturdy is durable, Clip label holders andplastic strips| available. Call 800-444-4665 TrionOnline.com with an extended merchandising life.

800-444-4665 | info@triononline.com .triononline.com/Art

Containers Well Contained

Cooler O v e r Capable 4 5 0 P r o f iAMT les Neatly and effectively display cooler Clear Scan Label Holders and freezer items, including yogurt, ®

Call 800-444-4665 Inc. | TrionOnline.com

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WonderBar Hooks

Flip-Scan Hooks Mini Dual Lane Trays

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offerings different sizes, Product in different sizes, you use Trion’s Aircome Flow in Baffle in coolers. that displays should so it makes sense displays should Product temperature can be difficult to come different sizes, come in at different sizes, too. That’s That’s maintain the front of a too. cooler. This ® ® why Trion created the WonderBar whyFlow Trion created thethat WonderBar Air Baffle ensures cold air is Expandable Wire Tray System. We Expandable Wire Tray System. We forced forward to keep items at their included would want every feature want ifif ideal temperature. Useyou as would part of your you created it yourself: powder-coated yourself: powder-coated cooler outfitting strategy, along with galvanized wire that stands stands up upand to galvanized ® wire to WonderBar Bar that Merchandisers harsh environments; adjustable width; harsh environments; adjustable width; TM hooks, EWT Expandable Wire Tray easy custom configuration; configuration; rail mount mount rail System, and cooler capable Clear Scan® and freestanding units; wire wire or or clear clear label holders. acrylic product product stops. stops. EWT EWT mounts mounts on on Call 800-444-4665 | TrionOnline.com pegboard, slatwall, gondola gondola shelf, table table pegboard, slatwall, shelf, top and cooler. cooler. top and

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WonderBar EWT Large

Base Deck Fencing ZIP Track If you think the Merchandiser WonderBar EWT is ®

Bin there, organized that! deck ® great, wait till you meet its Trion’s bigfor brother! Use ZIP Track storewide neat fencing youbeauty bin small, bulk Oversized just like some of your and tidyhelps health, andlarge, wellness or packaged items while keeping them products, this weightlifter stays strong displays. This is the most versatile accessible customers. Customize on bothofmetal and wire shelves system itstokind onopen the market. Easy ® your display to create closed-front or components clip to install, ZIP Track and bar. One-piece installation means open-front compartments using on a can frontdrop rail allowing tostraight adjust you this bad lanes boy right into or offset front fence, then our quickly, even full or add towatch add place, adjust aswhen needed, and convenient labeling systems to finish additional facings. UseThe actual product the revenue increase. EWT takes theset job right. to lane widthautomatically from 2" up to 3 3/4 ". over from there, feeding Slide product to “ZIP” product to the front-to-back front| TrionOnline.com and billboarding Call 800-444-4665 each track together. Custom spring merchandise for maximum visibility. tensions and lane depths are available Call 800-444-4665 | TrionOnline.com to fit any and all shelf and product needs. Manufactured from durable, modern plastics, ZIP Track® provides an extended merchandising life.

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Cooler Capable AMT Extruded Sign Holders Holders Extruded ®

Neatly effectively display cooler Think ofand these extruded these extruded signs signs as as aa GPS GPS and freezer items, including yogurt, for your retail setting. Quickly Quickly guide guide dips, puddings, ice cream,they single-serve customers to the products products they want want and and foods, and more. versatile Our small Adjustable need with these versatile sign sign holders. holders. Merchandising Tray (AMT) fits a range Plan your customer’s customer’s routes, routes, then then slide slide of 4- to 6-ounce cups; the medium AMT in signs when you’re you’re ready. ready. Creative Creative organizes mid-range offerings; and the merchandisers might merchandisers mightalso alsouse use these these sign sign large AMT gives ice cream lovers pause holders for monthly monthly or weekly weekly specials, holders specials, to browse and choose a pint of their buy-one-get-one offers, specialized buy-one-get-one offers, specialized favorite flavor (hmmm ...why not get both category definition definition (think (think gluten gluten free, free, Cherry Vanilla and Rocky Road?). This organic, fair trade, trade, etc.), etc.), or promotion promotion manual-feed tray ensures that products of in-store loyalty loyalty cards. cards. A A variety variety of of remain faced andare accessible. Time to mounting options are available mounting options available including including re-stock? Just pin, lift out and refill. tape. Add Clear hooks, push pin, and foam tape. The hooks, push and foam The

SlatwallHooks Hooks WonderBar ®

Let’s review your wish list ® WonderBar Displays versatile Yeah, We’ve are Gotthe That of slatwall hook features: heroes of the Trion product family, flat back plate base? Trion’s coming to the rescue when you need got it. Even wish load list distribution? Let’s review of slatwall muscle and your good looks to merchandise Check.features: Customizable withplate Clear base? Scan hook flat back items of all sizes. These Bar Hooks can Labels?got Yep. Flip-front ordistribution? metal plate Trion’s it. Even load lift heavy loads in their capable arms. Label Holder, gotcha. with Like your Check. Customizable Clearvaried Scan Display or Scan, Saddle Mount or Plug products, Trion’s Slatwall Hooksplate are Labels? Yep. Flip-front or metal in, there are Trion WonderBar Hooks offered in a range of standard, medium, Label Holder, gotcha. Like your varied for every need. heavy, andTrion’s extra Slatwall heavy gauges. products, Hooks Our are hooks fit allrange industry standardmedium, slatwall offered in a of standard, slots, and extra manyheavy workgauges. with slot heavy, Ourinserts. hooks Call a sample to check the fit with fit all for industry standard slatwall slots, and

Slatwall Hooks

many work with slot inserts. Call for a your design. sample to check the fit with your design.

® Scan Label Holder, and you’re finished! opportunities foruse use are endless. opportunities for are endless.

Call Call 800-444-4665 || |TrionOnline.com TrionOnline.com Call 800-444-4665 800-444-4665 TrionOnline.com

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Call 800-444-4665 | |TrionOnline.com TrionOnline.com Call 800-444-4665

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WonderBar EWT Large

Base Deck Fencing ZIP Track If you think the Merchandiser WonderBar EWT is ®

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Slatwall Hooks

many work with slot inserts. Call for a your design. sample to check the fit with your design.

® Scan Label Holder, and you’re finished! opportunities foruse use are endless. opportunities for are endless.

Call Call 800-444-4665 || |TrionOnline.com TrionOnline.com Call 800-444-4665 800-444-4665 TrionOnline.com

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Endless Baskets

each track together. ZIP Track® offers

compartmentalization you need. Call TrionOnline.com a w i800-444-4665 d e r a n g e o f a| d justability for Call 800-444-4665 | TrionOnline.com ever-evolving package designs.

If you think the WonderBar EWT is customers spot andisbrowse The way can to profits clear neatly when great, wait till you meet its big brother! displayed, upscale merchandise. W h e n V i s i b i l i t y i s Y o u r oal customers can spot and browseGneatly Oversized just like some of your W h e n V i s i b i l i t y i s Y o u r Goal Adjustable, multi-functional dividers displayed, upscale merchandise. products, this weightlifter stays strong allow you to customize depth and change Adjustable, multi-functional dividers on width both and open shelves The waymetal profits isaswire clear the ofto displays just fast aswhen new allow you to customize depth and change The way to profits is clear when and bar. One-piece installation means customers can spot and browse neatly products are delivered. Sturdy, the width of displays just as fast asclear new customers can spot and browse neatly you can drop this bad boy right into displayed, upscale merchandise. presentation products looking products are keeps delivered. Sturdy, clear displayed, upscale place, adjustmulti-functional as needed, merchandise. anddividers watch Adjustable, their best, highlighting the colors, presentation keeps products looking Adjustable, multi-functional dividers the revenue increase. The billboarding EWT takes allow yousizes, to customize depth and change options, quality, and their best, highlighting the colors, allow you to customize depth and over from automatically feeding the width ofthere, displays just as fast aschange new brands. Trion’s Clear Acrylic Divider options, sizes, quality, and billboarding the width of displays just as fast as new product to the front the and billboarding products are delivered. Sturdy, clear Systems are among best looking brands. Trion’s Clear Acrylic Divider products are delivered. Sturdy, clear presentation keeps products looking merchandise for maximum visibility. and adaptable merchandising Systems are among the bestsystems. looking presentation keeps products looking their best, highlighting the colors, Call 800-444-4665 | TrionOnline.com Call 800-444-4665 | TrionOnline.com and adaptable merchandising systems. their best, highlighting the colors, options, sizes, quality, and billboarding Call 800-444-4665 | TrionOnline.com options, sizes, Clear quality, and billboarding brands. Trion’s Acrylic Divider brands.are Trion’s Clear Divider Systems among the Acrylic best looking Systems aremerchandising among the best looking and adaptable systems. and adaptable merchandising systems. Call 800-444-4665 | TrionOnline.com Call 800-444-4665 | TrionOnline.com

Fast and Easy

F a s t a n d E Hooks asy Attached-Back C o n t a i n e r s W e l l C o n two-piece tained Attached-Back Hooks You read that right. These straight-entry hooks arrive already YouCooler read thatCapable right. TheseAMT two-piece TM TM

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Attached-Back Hooks Attached-Back Hooks

merchandise accessible. Call 800-444-4665 | TrionOnline.com Trion Industries, Inc. | TrionOnline.com ©2020 ©2019 Trion Industries, Inc. Call ©2019 Trion800-444-4665 Industries, Inc. ©2019 Trion Industries, Inc.

Super Hooks! E x t e n d Y o u r® R e v e n u e

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range of adjustability for changing merchandise selections.

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Cooler Capable AMT Holders & Strips on Hooks Holders & Strips onClear Hooks You’ll be hooked on these Scan Holders & Strips on Hooks dips, puddings, ice cream, single-serve You’ll be hooked onyou these Scan Holders &when Strips onClear Hooks Label Holders see how easily ®

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to see(ICCs) when you add inventory control muscle and good looks to merchandise clips to your standard, medium, Keep those carded products tidy andeasily easy Label Holders when you see how to see when you add inventory control clips (ICCs) to your standard, medium, items of all sizes. These Bar Hooks can heavy or extra heavy wire hook displays. to see when you add inventory control they plain paper clips (ICCs) to your standard, medium, heavy or extra heavy wire displays. liftaccommodate heavy loads indrop-in their hook capable arms. These handy clips keep merchandise clips (ICCs) to your standard, medium, labels. Promote product and price or heavy or extra heavy wire hook displays. These handy clips keep merchandise Display or Scan, Saddle Mount ortoPlug faced and double a marker let heavy or extra heavyas wire hook displays. features and benefits so customers These handy clips keep merchandise faced and when double as a marker to can let in, there are Trion WonderBar Hooks you know it’s time to reorder or These handy clips keep merchandise choose easily. . . and soa can Make faced and double as marker to let you for know when it’s time toinyou! reorder or every need. re-stock products. Available Rabbit Ear faced and double as a marker to let your selection of Clear Scan Label you know when it’s time to reorder or re-stock products. Available in Rabbit Ear ICC and circular Sham configurations. Or you know when it’s time to reorder or Holders from a variety of profiles, colors re-stock products. Available in Rabbit Ear ICC and circular Sham configurations. Or order with half-moon ATICC Inventory re-stock products. Available in Rabbit Ear and lengths, then add them to hooks ICC and circular Sham configurations. Or order with half-moon ATICC Inventory control clips already pre-mounted on the ICC and circular Sham configurations. Or with flip-front or FISH-Tip mounts. order with half-moon ATICCTMInventory control clips already pre-mounted on the hook for you. order with half-moon ATICC Inventory Skip theclips mess of sticky adhesive on labels control already pre-mounted the hook forclips you.already pre-mounted on the control and up to easy-to-use plain paper hooktrade for you. hook for you. label holder systems.

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Scan WonderBar B eHooks s t S e l e cfor tHooks i o Grid n BTrion e s t Industries S e l e c t makes i o n slatgrid Slat or flat! WonderBar Displays are the versatile Scan Hooks for Grid or flatgrid hooks for for that. Flip or Scan scan Hooks Grid ®

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THE ART OF MERCHANDISING

Merchandising is more than fitout and fixtures. It’s the art of creating an attractive, well-organized retail presentation. As with any artistic composition, a wide variety of tools

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New Zip Track ® Merchandising SYSTEM Display & Scan Hooks Label Holder Systems Security & Anti-Theft Fixtures Divider & Pusher Systems Bar Merchandising Systems Cooler Merchandising Systems

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Total Selling: 11,500 Register (Shared): 1,150 Kroger Express: 4,250 Walgreens: 6,100

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The Walgreens location at 5006 North Broadway Street in Knoxville, Tenn., is an expanded refrigerationformat store with a Kroger Express section that covers 4,250 square feet of prime front end space, which accounts for about 37% of the store’s total square footage. Note that the chart shows only the portion of the store devoted to the Kroger Express concept, with all cold cases (shown in yellow) new except for two, the soft drink and beer cases. Fresh perishables (purple) are also new, and the expanded dry grocery section (blue) is a mixture of old and new grocery items. Space was created by consolidating the photo pickup/dropoff and FedEx at a new, larger central cash register, resulting in more efficient use of labor, and enhanced security.

Walgreens Nonfood Categories & Pharmacy

Source: HSA Consulting LLC

Express formats in 35 Walgreens stores. In addition, Walgreens placed its health and beauty departments in 17 Kroger locations. The Kroger Express formats in the Knoxville market fell into these distinct classifications: 22 expanded refrigeration concepts with full

perishable offerings, comprising 3,500-4,250 square feet Seven Fresh Express concepts with a reduced

perishable offering and no meat, at about 3,000 square feet Four smaller dry grocery-only stores Two flagship locations with a central en-

try and a more extensive remodel to allow for an additional 2,000 Kroger SKUs in a 4,000-6,000-square-foot space. Meanwhile, in the Kroger stores offering Walgreens merchandise, the drug store retailer’s white shelving and Walgreens-brand signage was used adjacent to Kroger-branded pharmacies. Walgreens’ health, beauty and personal care private label products almost completely replaced the Kroger brand at Kroger stores, with the retention of a small number of Kroger and Simple Truth items. By December of last year, as the relationship progressed, the companies created the Retail Procurement Alliance to reduce the cost of goods sold and stimulate private label innovation. It’s worth remembering, however, that such group purchasing organizations often end one of three ways: They continue with just two initial parties, each retaining their independence; they attract additional out-of-market retail members, which may conflict with Kroger’s ability to expand

Kroger Express distribution in non-overlap Walgreens strongholds; or the relationship breaks up or ends in a merger.

Why Knoxville?

Knoxville is only 250 miles from Kroger’s headquarters and the nearest step-up market to the initial 13 northern Kentucky Walgreens test stores. The population is 850,000 in six of the counties covered by the test, with a stable growing economy. Also, the area ranked No. 36 in Kroger’s top 50 markets. Kroger and Walgreens dominate the market, with 52 of 135 (39%) chain grocer/drug stores in six counties operated by two national (14 Walmart and 31 CVS locations) and three regional (27 Food City, seven Ingles and four Publix stores) competitors. Kroger’s Knoxville stores are large — on average, 83,000 total square feet — and include five Marketplace locations (120,000plus square feet), which double as pickup order delivery hubs for smaller Kroger stores and 23 Walgreens locations. Kroger has heavily invested in Knoxville for renovations and average storesize upgrades. There are few older stores, and even those perform well due to limited competition. All of the pilot stores are within a 30-mile radius of central Knoxville, but the distance between stores is minimal. For example, fewer than 60% of Kroger’s locations are less than 1 mile from their nearest Walgreens stores, and on average, a Walgreens location is 3.2 miles from a Koger store. Therefore, cannibalization in overlap categories is unlikely. Shortly after the expanded relationship in Knoxville was announced, Kroger.com pickup was available at 15 Kroger stores and 23 of the 35 Walgreens locations. Five large Kroger stores were identified as pickup hubs and sourced inventory to meet a four-hour collection deadline. Larger stores had physical space to stage in lockers ambient, refrigerated or frozen orders, which were picked and delivered by a third party. Meanwhile, Kroger.com featured more than 1,100 Walgreens SKUs, while Walgreens.com featured no Kroger private label brands for items sold in store. Fourteen percent of WalPROGRESSIVE GROCER May 2020

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Grocers turn to cash recyclers amidst COVID-19 business strain How automating cash-handling procedures can help you maximize efficiency during tough times

“What we’re hearing from many clients is that they wish they had a more automated solution in place for cash handling before all this happened,” Evansek says. “Cash throughput has increased dramatically, and many grocery chains still use traditional bookkeeping services. A cash recycler, like one of our Titan R models, is designed to speed up every part of the start-of and end-of shift procedure while reducing manual cash touchpoints, which is really ideal for a situation like we’re in now.”

“What we’re hearing from many clients is that they wish they had a more automated solution in place for cash handling before all this happened.” Being prepared for the unexpected

So how are these businesses faring? While a sharp rise in sales sounds great in theory, it also may mean staff and resources are overstretched, mistakes are made, and operators may be struggling to keep up, especially amidst strict CDC and federal regulations. We spoke with two cash management experts, Tim Adair, VP of the SafePoint® Recycler Program at Loomis, and Lenny Evansek, SVP of SafePoint® Business Development at Loomis, for their take on the current situation, and how solutions like their line of cash recyclers can help customers manage this sudden influx of business.

Automation brings efficiency, peace of mind “The cash-handling tasks staff handle daily in a grocery environment—bank deposit preparation, register till building, reconciliation, etcetera—are very hands-on and time consuming,” Adair says. “Deploying an automated solution like a cash recycler can free up hours of time that could be better utilized in today’s environment with activities such as restocking shelves, disinfecting surfaces, and providing customer service.”

“When sales go up 30% unexpectedly, all other activities and duties go up proportionally with it. Grocers are now looking at more time to build and close out registers, prepare deposits, and more trips to the bank,” Evansek says. “And not only are stores doing 30% more business, but they’re doing it in less time due to reduced hours of operation. Inevitably, mistakes will increase, and steps will be missed. Cash automation can help a great deal with these issues.”

Scalability and adaptability For grocery operators who have already made the switch to a cash recycler solution, they’re well prepared for a sudden shift in business volume. “The peak volume grocers are experiencing right now may not be what they anticipated when they installed the recycler” Adair says. “The great thing about our Titan R recyclers is that we can adapt to a customer’s changing needs and scale service around the product they already have in place. We can increase armored days of service, deliver additional change, etcetera. Being able to react quickly and provide what our clients need has been a critical benefit to them during this time.” Learn more about Loomis’ line of Titan R cash recyclers at loomis.us/titanr

When others manage, Loomis solves. Loomis is changing business-as-usual with solutions that do more than manage—they transform the industry. Today, the Titan R® is doing the same for retail. Powered by the latest technology and industry-leading support, the Titan R reduces cost, improves fund availability, and enables precise cash reconciliation.

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North America’s Top Retailers of Food and Consumables

greens’ Feb. 16-22 16-page store flier featured Kroger-branded groceries, while Kroger’s flier for Feb. 19-25 featured no Walgreens-branded products. Given the average size of the Kroger stores in Knoxville, the average length of the shopping trip is getting longer, not shorter, so the proliferation of pickup locations is a positive step toward recovering some of Kroger’s lost share of convenience shopping trips.

What’s Next?

The relationship can take many paths forward. One could see Kroger and Walgreens expand into additional categories with a third-party distributor-sourced product likely to be the most vulnerable to group purchasing-order substitution, probably within the Knoxville pilot. It’s also conceivable that Kroger Express could be expanded to other markets. Extending the pilot evaluation period to a one-year minimum to accurately predict overlap category sales cannibalization for stores within a 1-mile radius may be necessary before selecting expansion markets. If net sales gains for both retailers are attractive, then several scenarios are possible. We could see expansion involving 48 Kroger stores in the Davidson and Murfreesboro suburbs of Nashville, or the 126 Atlanta-area Kroger stores. There are also 15 to 21 Walgreens stronghold states with 200-plus Walgreens stores that could benefit from Kroger’s existing distribution. This would improve Kroger’s position in weaker markets, bolster Walgreens’ position relative to CVS Health and potentially address some food desert situations. In addition, Kroger’s investment in distribution center infrastructure to support existing Walgreens stores is almost certainly a better ROI proposition than the prohibitive cost and time involved in building its own store network. Then there’s the issue of expanding the Kroger-Ocado smart-platform customer fulfillment centers to supply Walgreens stores. In a state such as Florida, where Walgreens operates roughly 800 locations, such an arrangement offers huge potential. The Walgreens brand could also be rolled out to other Kroger banners currently selling Kroger private label.

The Path Forward

The in-store performance benefits for Walgreens are clear: Conversion of unproductive front end space, particularly in 4,250-square-foot extended refrigeration concept stores, is a big net gain. Cannibalization results for the Walgreens brand are uncertain, especially given current pricing instability. But store close proximity is bound to impact Walgreens sales of its own brand, notably if Kroger implements a discounting strategy. The proliferation of signage and unique white Walgreens shelving in the Kroger pharmacy section appears to suggest that a transition to Wal38

progressivegrocer.com

A front end at a Walgreens store in Fountain City, Tenn., features a reconfigured central checkout area.

The offering of fresh produce and extensive cooler sections under the auspices of Kroger Fresh Express creates an unique store experience at Walgreens.

greens is just a matter of time. Kroger’s external gains in improved cost of goods sold, increased volume of Kroger manufacturer products, and supply chain leverage, plus additional pickup locations, appear to outweigh any in-store benefits. The space adjacent to the pharmacy isn’t prime in-store real estate, which mitigates the potential gains by comparison to Walgreens’ replacement of front end photo-processing departments at many of its stores. Building Express grocery concepts to recapture the elusive convenience shopper isn’t new for Kroger. In 2017, it built two 12,000-square-foot Fresh Eats Market stores in Ohio. Using someone else’s real estate, however, overcomes the ROI viability hurdle by limiting capital investment and operating expense exposure, and avoiding lengthy site acquisition and development resources and time. All of the aspects of the Kroger-Walgreens partnership that made sense 18 months ago make even more sense going forward.

Howard N. Jackson is the founder and president of Knoxville, Tenn.-based HSA Consulting LLC.

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GROCERY

Candy & Snacks

Necessary Indulgences DURING AN UNPRECEDENTED PUBLIC HE ALTH CRISIS, HE ALTHIER TRE ATS TAKE ON A MORE IMPORTANT ROLE THAN E VER. By Bridget Goldschmidt ith millions of Americans hunkered down in their homes, waiting for the orders to restart some semblance of life as we knew it before the coronavirus pandemic roared into being, people have been dealing with the understandable stress of this time in myriad ways: binge-watching Netflix, cleaning their houses from top to bottom, and, yes, partaking of comfort foods that include candy and snacks. While even at the best of times, U.S. consumers enjoy treats as part of their overall diet, the public health crisis affecting the world has only made such accessible pleasures all the more meaningful. “In the current situation, snack discovery and impulse purchases have subsided, with consumers limiting excessive aisle browsing,” notes Bob DiNunzio, director

Key Takeaways The coronavirus pandemic has led to a significant increase in online snack sales, with many consumers opting for healthier offerings. Candy and snack makers have had to change the way they do business, shifting much of their sales efforts online, while ensuring availability of trusted products in stores. Meanwhile, retailers interested in growing the categories can focus on multiple store placements and value-priced private-brand items that can be promoted for their wellness attributes and great taste. While short-term consumer habits have definitely evolved in response to the outbreak, it’s still unclear what the long-term behavioral impacts will be.

With the recent pandemic, and more consumers staying home, we are quickly shifting our business to focus on how we can improve our online presence with both retailers and our direct website.” —Ashley Dawkins, Sheila G’s Brownie Brittle

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GROCERY

Candy & Snacks

Mars Wrigley has launched 100-calorie bars across its a variety of its well-known brands.

of category strategy at Stamford, Conn.-based Daymon. “Snack purchase behavior has changed significantly due to COVID-19 — with a 46% increase in total core snack online sales versus last year.” According to Resonate, a Reston, Va.-based provider of AI-powered consumer data and intelligence, shoppers who are particularly concerned about COVID-19, as evidenced by their media consumption, are demonstrating the following behaviors more than people who aren’t as concerned about COVID-19 (i.e., not consuming content about the virus): They’re more likely to buy filling snacks like meal replacements, nuts and seeds, and yogurt; they’re more likely to be buying snacks for their significant others than themselves; and healthy and nonprocessed foods are becoming more important to these individuals.

Shifting Gears

Speaking of better-for-you (BFY) candy and snacks, makers of such products have stepped up to ensure that consumers are still able to purchase them “With the recent pandemic, and more consumers staying home, we are quickly shifting our business to focus on how we can improve our online presence with both retailers and our direct website,” says Ashley Dawkins, VP of marketing for West Palm Beach, Fla.-based Sheila G’s Brownie Brittle, whose forthcoming products include Brownie Brittle Keto and Brownie Brittle Protein, both launching by the end of the month. “That means offering more of our items on Instacart, extending coupon offers on mass retailer websites, and putting more marketing funds behind efforts of brand awareness online. There is definitely a shift in how we’re seeing consumers buy our product.” “We know that tasting is believing when it comes to snacking, so we’ve historically prioritized in-store demonstrations and live sampling as a key shopper marketing vehicle,” observes Poorvi Patodia, founder and CEO of Biena Snacks, a Boston-based maker of nutrient-filled roasted chickpea snacks and chickpea puffs. “With COVID-19, this is no longer an option for so many reasons. We have had to shift to be more creative about how we introduce Biena to new consumers and stay top of mind for existing fans. This includes looking at digital marketing tools and social media as a way to drive both awareness and trial for the brand.” According to Patodia, “Our current priority is keeping our snacks stocked on shelves and online for consumers looking for betterfor-you options that also taste great while adhering to self-isolation recommendations.” One giant in the category has expanded the concept of “health” beyond product offerings during the outbreak, by choosing to focus particularly on corporate responsibility actions. Nevertheless, in the BFY space, the company has launched 100-calorie bars across a variety of its chocolate brands in the United States, and main-

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tains a strategic partnership with New York-based bar maker KIND that “has strengthened the broader global snacking category with additional options featuring whole nuts, fruits and whole grains,” according to James Mills, the Hackettstown, N.J.-based company’s global VP of category leadership. “For Mars Wrigley, our first priority is to protect the health and wellbeing of our 35,000 associates worldwide and the quality of the products they make every day,” explains Mills. ”For us, it’s about action. The global Mars Wrigley Foundation will provide $3 million of financial relief as a part of Mars Inc.’s $20 million cash and in-kind donation to support the people, pets and communities most affected by COVID-19. In addition, Mars Wrigley U.S. has pledged to give $1 million in product donations to front-line health care and essential workers.” He adds: “Across the globe, our brands have rallied to support front-line workers as well. ... In the U.S., M&M’s donated $50,000 to Operation Gratitude and will send 5,000 ‘thank you’ packs to front-line workers.” When it comes to in-store merchandising, meanwhile, Mills points out that Mars Wrigley is “advising our retail partners [to] focus on the availability of the best-selling, trusted brands that shoppers love and that help them smile in difficult times.”

Private Matters

Noting that “[r]etailers have an opportunity to provide unique solutions in their private-brand programs by creating new varieties of protein-rich meat jerky and bean-based snacking formats (puffs, curls, etc),” Daymon’s DiNunzio counsels grocers to promote and sell “innovative private-brand snack products online, to increase visibility while addressing consumers’ ‘get in, get out,’ brick-and-mortar shopping mentality.” Advising on the development of BFY items, he emphasizes: “Taste remains the No. 1 driver of snack

Sheila G's Brownie Brittle now offers Keto and Protein varieties.

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GROCERY

Candy & Snacks

purchases. When creating healthy alternatives, manufacturers need to ensure they taste great, but also provide flavor varieties to meet the demand of different consumers. We are seeing innovation with new flavor varieties of vegetable and multigrain snacks, which have largely contributed to the increase in sales versus last year.” On the subjects of placement and promotion, DiNunzio says: “Success for brands in these categories is less about merchandising and more about communicating product benefits. Brands must be able to clearly communicate product wellness benefits on pack and at the point of sale. However, healthy products that promote their great taste will provide the strongest influence to purchase.” In regard to the current crisis, he admits, “Budget constraints can inhibit shoppers from purchasing BFY snacks with higher-quality or organic ingredients during this unprecedented time,” adding, however, that “[r]etailers can leverage private-brand solutions to provide all shoppers with affordable and innovative snacking options.”

More Places in Stores

In physical locations — where 70% of Americans are still purchasing groceries, even in the midst of the pandemic, according to the Toluna and Harris Interactive COVID-19 Barometer for the period of April 9-14 — placement beyond the candy and snack sections can

Lehi Valley's BFY granola line can be merchandised beyond the snack aisle to capitalize on its different use options.

help draw shoppers to BFY offerings. “Our business has always seen a dramatic increase in sales when we can be displayed properly at retail,” affirms Dawkins, of Sheila G’s Brownie Brittle. “Our most recent offering for retailers is our dump bin, which allows retailers to easily and quickly display 144 of our single-serve 1-ounce product at the checklane for impulse purchase. We then added a discount QR code on the side of the dump bin so consumers can access a $1-off coupon for their next 5-ounce purchase — a win-win for both our

brand and retailer, [as it] encourages consumers to return to the store and purchase another, larger bag of our product with an easily accessible online coupon that can be scanned at checkout.” Lehi Valley, a Mesa, Ariz.-based maker of mostly private label snack solutions that has just launched a three-SKU line of grain-free, nonGMO, gluten-free, low-sugar and higher-protein granolas to round out its granola lineup, is quick to note that the product gives retailers various in-store placement options. “With granolas, many retailers are merchandising that product in bakeries, above yogurt sections in stores and in snack aisles in order to capitalize on different use options for that category, other than just bars or bites,” observes Christie Frazier-Coleman, the company’s VP sales and marketing.

Future Impact

In a world where multi-daypart snacking and online snack purchases were already on the rise before the coronavirus outbreak occurred, according to Mintel and The NPD Group, respectively, has this life-altering event solidified those tendencies, irrevocably changing how Americans discover and eat candy and snacks, BFY or not? In the short term, at least, the answer would seem to be yes. “With our current way of life in the wake of COVID-19, we could see a few different trends gain prevalence,” predicts Biena Snacks’ Patodia. “For example, there’s potential for growth in

Brands must be able to clearly communicate product wellness benefits on pack and at the point of sale. However, healthy products that promote their great taste will provide the strongest influence to purchase.” —Bob DiNunzio, Daymom single-serve snack offerings. In a time when people are concerned about social contact, snacks shared out of a bag or a bowl don’t make sense. There’s also opportunity for nostalgic flavors to bring a sense of comforting familiarity to everyday snacking, and, of course, variety, as people have to rely more on athome options to satisfy cravings.” A further look into the future is still shrouded in uncertainty, however, As Lehi Valley’s Frazier-Coleman admits, “The long-term impact to the ways that people eat is yet to be realized.”

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FRESH FOOD

Deli

Deli Growth on a Platter NOW IS THE TIME TO LE VER AGE RISING CONSUMER INTEREST IN CHARCUTERIE AND CHEESE. By Gina Acosta

hile many restaurant dining rooms across the country are shuttered during the coronavirus pandemic, consumers are desperate to bring the foodservice experience into their homes. In Philadelphia, where restaurants are closed for in-person dining, consumers are lining up (virtually) to make a reservation for dinner at Apricot Stone. Customers call Chef Ara Ishkhanian via video chat to go over the menu; candles, background music and the sound of water filling glasses is included. Later, dinner arrives to the customer via Grubhub. Meanwhile, DoorDash has rolled out initiatives to bring the dine-in experience home with a new program called The Lunchroom. The company has partnered with The Cheesecake Factory, Outback Steakhouse and other chains to bring a bit of their physical locations online through video chat backgrounds and curated Spotify playlists. Clearly, quarantined consumers want to re-create the atmosphere of going out to a restaurant as much as possible within the walls of their own homes. For manufacturers and suppliers of charcuterie, the opportunities to help consumers fulfill this need

Key Takeaways Especially during a pandemic, when public dining is largely banned, consumers are looking to re-create the restaurant experience at home. Food retailers can respond to this desire by creating charcuterie and cheese destinations. Specialty cheese and spreads are the hottest subcategories in deli.

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Deli

“Charcuterie,” a French term, can be interpreted in many ways. Most retailers and suppliers define it as a do-it-yourself approach to an assortment of cured meats, cheeses and other accompaniments such as crackers, dried fruits, jams and spreads, olives, nuts, and breads.

couldn’t be better. After all, charcuterie, and frequently cheese, aren’t just snacks or meals; they’re also an experience. “So far, COVID-19 hasn’t had an impact on our consumers’ habits, other than changing where it’s eaten, with everyone quarantined inside their homes,” says Emanuela Bigi, marketing manager at Veroni, an Italian charcuterie company in Logan Township, N.J. “For the 2020 consumer, it’s similar to enjoying an indulgent restaurant experience with your family, or small gatherings in the comfort of your own home, at a fraction of the cost.”

Get on Board

Before the pandemic, charcuterie was enjoying a renaissance as the kind of authentic, experiential meal that today’s savvy consumers are yearning for. “Charcuterie,” a French term, can be interpreted in many ways. Most retailers and suppliers define it as a do-it-yourself approach to an assortment of cured meats, cheeses and other accompaniments such as crackers, dried fruits, jams and spreads, olives, nuts, and breads. For Fiorucci Foods, charcuterie has been a staple behind the brand’s heritage for 170 years, bringing together a wide array of Italian meats, cheeses and snacks. “Charcuterie has grown steadily over the years, primarily

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in fine-dining restaurants, and now we are seeing that trend cross over to the retail grocery environment, especially during the holiday season,” says Shawn Munck, director of marketing for European brands at Colonial Heights, Va.-based Fiorucci. “We believe charcuterie will be adopted by more than just foodies in the coming years, becoming more mainstream as a way for people to express their creative freedom when preparing food for themselves and their families.”

We believe charcuterie will be adopted by more than just foodies in the coming years, becoming more mainstream as a way for people to express their creative freedom when preparing food for themselves and their families.” —Shawn Munck, Fiorucci Foods

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FRESH FOOD

Deli

San Francisco-based Columbus Craft Meats, a division of Hormel Foods, helps retailers create in-store charcuterie destinations. Customers should be educated and trained in how to create a diverse array of beautiful charcuterie boards.

Five years ago, a consumer heading to the grocery store for cold cuts or a party platter might stop by the deli for some sliced Swiss cheese and Virginia ham. Today, that consumer is increasingly looking for Italian salami to build the kind of charcuterie-and-cheese platter or board they would have previously

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found on a restaurant menu. “The charcuterie category’s amazing evolution has grown to heights where charcuterie is now transforming the way shoppers view their deli,” asserts Evan Inada, charcuterie/ partnerships director at San Francisco-based Columbus Craft Meats, a division of Hormel Foods. “Retailers are understanding that their charcuterie category is the best way to showcase all of their specialty meats, cheese, crackers, nuts, olives, chocolates, etc., while providing a heightened grocerant experience to their shoppers.” The charcuterie category continues to grow in the United States, with many new producers and charcuterie offerings now available, according to Veroni’s Bigi. It appears to be a long-term lifestyle change; older generations have traditionally driven the category, but now younger consumers are attracted to the attributes of a high-protein, gluten-free, flavor-packed, versatile and ready-to-eat solution as a snack or meal. The snacking and protein diet trends have also created a whole new category of small artisan salame sticks, bites and snack packs. Indeed, charcuterie has evolved from being treated as a “plating suggestion or recipe” to now becoming the strongest category in the deli, making up a majority of the growth behind the glass, Inada notes. Bolstering that viewpoint, Chicago-based Information Resources Inc. (IRI) points to 3% total dollar sales growth in refrigerated packaged sliced lunchmeats during the 52 weeks ended March 22. Deli department sales totaled $5.7 billion during the same period, an increase of 3% also. The growth engine for much of that deli department growth going forward might well come from premium products such as charcuterie. Why? The consumer is looking for premium food products that deliver on the three key factors that charcuterie is known for:

Experential: Charcuterie creates a memorable and positive experience that can be shared with loved ones or on social media.

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Convenience: Charcuterie is a portable or snackable food.

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Authenticity: Charcuterie, with its history and traditions, is seen as simple and “real” food with an authentic story.

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Today, a fourth factor influencing charcuterie’s growth is that the pandemic consumer is looking for experiential food that also has a longer shelf life.

“COVID-19 has changed the way people socialize with friends and family, but it doesn’t change the way that charcuterie can be enjoyed,” Inada observes. “Having salami and aged cheeses in my fridge has personally been a blessing, because their shelf life is so long compared to cooked or fresh items. I’ve been just taking a few slices of salami a day, and making charcuterie with the random assortment of canned olives, nuts and dried fruit I have on my shelves, to put me in my happy place while I stay in place.” In a March 31 webinar put on by IRI and the Food Industry Association — FMI, Joan Driggs, VP of thought leadership at IRI, said that levels of anxiety are rising during the pandemic. Socially isolated consumers may seek comfort in treats, snacks and alcohol, which Driggs called “affordable joys.” “Retailers should really be taking note of these purchases, because as more of that food dollar shifts back into the home, Americans are going to want to re-create some of those social consumption occasions that foodservice really used to offer,” she said. “It could be a cup of coffee and a baked good, or a cocktail and an appetizer.” It could also be a charcuterie board or a really good hunk of cheese.

Specialty Cheese, Please

According to the nation’s largest farmer-owned organic cooperative, Organic Valley, consumers are now clamoring for cheese across all times of the day and meal occasions, given the popularity of protein and the exploding diversity of products. “We are seeing a shift in the way people are buying cheese, migrating from mainstream, everyday brands shelved in dairy to more niche specialty brands shelved in the deli sections of stores,” says Aaron Aslin, brand manager at La Farge, Wis.-based Organic Valley. “This appears to be an outcome of consumers’ desires for more premium, higher-quality and flavor-adventurous types of cheeses.” When it comes to pandemic buying behavior, Aslin notes that cheese consumption has changed due to social distancing, and that shift is benefiting grocers. “The pandemic has caused an increased demand in retail grocery,” he says. “We are working closely with our processors to maintain service levels to the stores.” The sales data backs Aslin’s claim: Dollar sales of natural cheese were up 5.4% for the 52 weeks ending March 22, according to IRI, while sales of processed

Columbus Craft Meats recommends a retail charcuterie destination that leverages cross-merchandising across categories such as candy. The goal is for the consumer to see they can buy everything for their charcuterie board in one department in the store.

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PROGRESSIVE GROCER May 2020

FRESH FOOD

Deli

Quality, authenticity and big flavor are the keys to growth in charcuterie. As for what’s next in cheese, it’s clear that new product introductions geared toward snacking and increased consumer interest in diverse flavors are important trends affecting the category.

cheese were up 3.4%. Cheese spreads were top sellers, with 6.8% sales growth during the same period. In the subcategories, cubed cheese was up an incredible 17.6%. It’s clear that new product introductions geared toward snacking and increased consumer interest in diverse flavors are important trends affecting the category. “A lot of smaller and single-serve options have been introduced the last couple of years,” says Luke Buholzer, VP of sales at Monroe, Wis.-based Klondike Cheese Co. “Snacking and eating on the go have become more popular with a wide variety of cheeses, also cheese that has already been converted for final use. Pre-shredded, grated, crumbled, sliced packages are still gaining market share in the specialty cheese category.” Retailers looking to leverage the power of cheese, as the third-largest CPG category in the United States, to drive store traffic should consider new merchandising strategies that bring novelty along with familiarity to maximize shopper interest and

COVID-19 has changed the way people socialize with friends and family, but it doesn’t change the way that charcuterie can be enjoyed.” —Evan Inada, Columbus Craft Meats

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engagement, according to Organic Valley’s Aslin. At the end of the day, if a retailer delivers a strong cheese portfolio, consumers will come. “There has been some opportunity to touch the consumer by placing cheese in multiple parts of the store and pairing it with other products,” points out Teena Buholzer, marketing director at Klondike. “It may spark a creative idea in a shopper to use cheese in ways they may not have thought of originally. Convenient snacking options, which is a growth area for cheese, can be placed in a variety of locations around stores. Quick and easy entertaining options are in demand, and merchandising a cheese bunker by placing a variety of cheeses in the case that pair and present well together, so a consumer can easily grab and create their own charcuterie board.”

Adding to the Supporting Cast

Quality, authenticity and big flavor are the keys to growth in charcuterie and cheese. As for what’s next, the biggest recent trend in the charcuterie space is that retailers are creating a merchandised set focused on charcuterie and moving away from traditional grocery silos, Columbus’ Inada says. “Salami and specialty cheese remain the focus of the display, but the supporting cast of specialty goods merchandised has broadened,” he notes. “Candied bacon, chocolates and pickled products are perfect ways to elevate all the salami and cheese on a board, and markets love the increased basket size that comes with a charcuterie purchase.” As much as consumers are demanding more charcuterie and cheese products, however, few of them actually know how to make a charcuterie board on their own, let alone what to shop for. Going forward, more education from retailers will help drive even bigger growth. “By merchandising all the elements that make up charcuterie in a focused section of the deli/cheese floor space, retailers are giving the consumer a structured outline of how they will create their perfect charcuterie experience,” Inada says. “With a majority of charcuterie items being high-margin products, retailers are seeing their deli and specialty category profits grow exponentially with this focused attention to merchandising. Wherever you want to make a statement in your marketplace is the best area for charcuterie and specialty cheese.”

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TOTAL MEAL

Foodservice Q&A

Ask a Chef SAL ADWORKS’ CMO AND HE AD CHEF DISCUSS BRINGING THEIR STAND-ALONE FAST-CASUAL OPER ATIONS INTO GROCERY STORES’ PRODUCE SECTIONS. By Kathy Hayden

MM: Convenience is a big selling point on these items. Shoppers can buy them from our in-store restaurant registers or at the stores’ cash-out sections. They are EBT and food stamp qualified, so they fill a lot of shopper needs.

PG: What are some of your bestsellers from your recent grocery store partnerships, and do they differ from your other sales? ast-casual Saladworks began expanding into grocery store settings in the Philadelphia area in 2019. Boosted by early success, the brand will pursue more grocery store opportunities in Delaware, Maryland and New York, as well as in airports, military bases and office buildings. CMO Mark Mears and Head Chef Katie Cavuto have used some innovative operational and culinary strategies to set down roots in the produce section, and they’ve shared some insights with Progressive Grocer.

PG: First, I’d like to begin with the topic that is top of mind: How has your business been affected by the coronavirus pandemic? How about your food prep practices, sourcing, etc.? Mark Mears: Traditional restaurants have been hit hard, but we are using all the newer ways to get good food to guests. We are doing it all: online ordering, phone orders, curbside pickup, some of our own delivery, and tapping into all the third-party delivery providers. In our ShopRite settings, we don’t offer curbside pickup, but call ahead and delivery are popular options. In terms of our operations, the good news is that we have always complied with food safety standards, and there’s no change there. Our preparation and sourcing is the same; so far, there have been no interruptions in our food supplies.

PG: Did you change anything about your menu when you began working with grocery stores?

Salads have a built-in healthy halo, but we like our menu to show that salads are not all about raw vegetables.”

Katie Cavuto: We launched in ShopRite with some different items aimed at convenience and speed. We developed prepared —Katie Cavuto, grab-and-go chicken, pasta Saladworks and tuna salads, and a yogurt parfait. In each case, we took a “traditional with a twist” approach to the ingredients and flavors. For instance, the chicken salad has grapes and dill, and the tuna salad has fresh cranberries. We also launched with smoothies because we anticipated that people would want a little something to

snack on while shopping. Both the prepared fresh salads and the snacks are great hand-held items.

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MM: Our create-your-own, single-price-point salads have been a great hit. Shoppers and diners make them with a base of mixed greens, mixed grains or a mix of both; add up to five ingredients like roasted broccoli, blue cheese and chicken; and finish their creations off with one of our signature dressings. Our brand positioning is to “be original,” and this option allows for that. People are just mesmerized by all the fresh, beautiful ingredients and all the ways you can put them together.

PG : Do you notice any differences in the customer bases between your stand-alone settings and grocery stores? MM: The basic demographics are the same, but the psychographics are different; customers are less meal-driven and more driven by shopping. The mindset is, “I have my list, but hey, Saladworks’ take-home is intriguing.” Our outreach has also been really different. We have looked at ShopRite’s strategies and followed their lead with traditional grocery store strategies like direct mail, circulars, menus stuffed in bags, in-store signage, sampling, daily specials, etc. We’ve learned a lot.

People are just mesmerized by all the fresh, beautiful ingredients and all the ways you can put them together.” —Mark Mears, Saladworks

In addition to stand-alone eateries, SaladWorks also has locations within ShopRite stores.

KC: Our make-your-own format appeals to everyone and ensures everyone can find something they love on the menu.

PG: What dietary preferences are important to consumers right now, and what are some of the ingredients that help fill those demands? KC: We’re seeing an emphasis on plant-based eating, and Saladworks has been at the forefront of this since 1986, when we opened our first store. Plant-based can mean many things, and we like to take a plant-centric approach to the plate. We want our diners to push the amount of the plate that is filled by plants as much as they can, so that the majority of a meal is leafy greens, grains and all the other delicious options from the plant world, like sweet roasted root vegetables, grains and beans. Our menu flexibility and customization mean that most dieting preferences – from Mediterranean to vegan

and Paleo — are represented. We like to develop “safe adventures” in eating, so if a diner isn’t ready to commit to a full meal of quinoa, they can try the grain-rice mix; the same with kale or some of the heartier greens, which can be mixed with more familiar romaine.

PG: Comfort food is especially important in turbulent times. Tell me about some Saladworks options that feed that need. KC: Salads have a built-in healthy halo, but we like our menu to show that salads are not all about raw vegetables. Roasting vegetables brings out a rich sweetness of flavor. Add warm grains, bacon, some nice cheese and other “a little goes a long way” indulgences, and you have a deeply satisfying salad. Our soups are also a natural choice for comfort food. MM: I would add that putting that salad in a wrap creates a comforting meal because hand-helds are a tactile way to eat.

PG: Anything else in the pipeline you can discuss or tease us with? KC: In menu R&D, we are working with tofu, smoky roasted chickpeas, za’atar-spiced cauliflower and more options that embody our fresh, flavorful, plant-centric approach. MM: The COVID-19 crisis prompted some of our franchisees to take meals to people working on the front lines in hospitals. We were so impressed by this that we’ve developed the Five for Lives program, which funds a free meal to health care workers and hospitals for every $5 the guest chooses to donate on top of their order. We pride ourselves on being a brand with a heart, and we want to give nutritious meals to heroes who are going without sleep and with no time to eat. PROGRESSIVE GROCER May 2020

SOLUTIONS

Dairy

Cream and the Crop DAIRY BR ANDS R AMP UP VARIE T Y AND INNOVATION AS PL ANT-BASED ALTERNATIVES HELP CRE ATE A NE W LOOK IN THE DEPARTMENT. By Lynn Petrak

hatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s that saying about the only constant being change? The adage is true in every aspect of food retailing today, including dairy. The landscape of dairy departments is changing, and some of it is due to actual landscapes, with the proliferation of products from plants and plant proteins in addition to those from animal sources. Those products may represent only a slice of the overall market, but the upward trajectory is having a ripple effect. For one thing, grocers are looking at and often altering their product mix to meet demand from consumers who are open to new products. In another sense, dairy manufacturers are finding ways to compete with these items, honing their own R&D. And plant-based brands continue to launch alt-dairy products or expand their current portfolios. According to information from Rockland, Md.-based Packaged Facts, plant-based beverages are set to comprise 40% of the total dairy and nondairy beverage market by the end of 2021. Data from IRI, a Chicago-based market research firm, reveals that sales of almond milk alone grew 5.6% to just over $1.3 billion in the last 52 weeks ending Feb. 23. IRI also finds that sales of refrigerated milk substitutes, which encompass nondairy milks such as oat milks, rose a whopping 60.8% to $182,446,130 in that same time frame. That compares with sales of fluid milk, with whole milk rising 3.9% to top $4,970,721,837 and skim/low-fat milk dipping 2.1% but still ringing up $6,917,228,501.

Key Takeaways Demand for plant-based dairy products will continue to grow quickly as more consumers seek alternatives to dairy items, based on the perception that nondairy offerings are better for health, the environment and animals than traditional dairy products. As an increasing number of shoppers include both dairy and alt-dairy items in their diets, more hybrid products, combining milk with almonds or oats, for example, will appear on the market, allowing greater innovation for dairies. Meanwhile, the traditional dairy space continues to offer inventive new products centering on health and wellness, transparency and sustainability, premium ingredients, and convenience.

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SOLUTIONS

Dairy

The Rise of Plant-Based Products

Like plant-based meat, plant-based dairy products are desirable due to common perception they are better for health, the environment and animals than traditional dairy products.”

“Demand for plant-based dairy products is going to continue to grow quickly as more consumers seek alternatives to dairy products,” predicts Cara Rasch, a Packaged Facts analyst. “In recent years, we’ve seen greater popularity for plant-based dairy products in general and a number of new plant-based product introductions. Like plant-based meat, plant-based dairy products are desirable due to common perception they are better for health, the environment and animals than traditional dairy products.” Eric Richard, industry relations coordinator for the International Dairy Deli Bakery Association (IDDBA), in Madison, Wis., says that the advent of plant-based items is spurring a different kind of dairy case. “It’s definitely growing,” he says, adding that, for better or worse, many consumers perceive “plant-based” as a term that conveys health and wellness, even if plantbased beverages aren’t the same as true dairy milk from cows or other animals.

—Cara Rasch, Packaged Facts

Companies that produce plant-based alternatives confirm brisk growth in their product lines. “Our company has tripled in sales over the past five years, and that curve continues,” notes Greg Steltenpohl, founder and CEO of Los Angeles-based Califia Farms, which offers a line of plant milks, creamers and yogurts, in addition to new products like a soonto-be-launched plant butter made from cashews and tiger nuts. He also points out that plant-based milks with a longer shelf life than many fresh dairy products will also be in demand during the crisis related to the COIVD-19 outbreak. While dairy processors have fought hard to keep dairy products the only ones labeled as milk, and as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) revealed it would review and update dairy labeling, it’s not an all-or-nothing proposition for many consumers who buy and consume both dairy and alt-dairy products. “Consumers want to try new things, and plant-based milks and beverages are the hot thing to try right now,” Richard observes. Steltenpohl agrees that consumers generally have open minds that are reflected in their purchase choices. “It isn’t all about veganism — it’s about household units, families and even co-working spaces having a plurality of choices, with both dairy in the fridge as well as plant milks,” he notes.

Hybrid Items

Califia Farms, a maker of plant-based dairy alternative products, has seen its sales triple over the past five years.

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Reflecting how people are including both types of products in their diets, new products blending dairy and plant-based ingredients are hitting the market. “I think what we’ll see more of, and as a way for dairies to compete, are combination products — perhaps milk with an addition of almond or oats,” says Richard. Likewise, Paul Ziemnisky, EVP of global innovation for Dairy Management Inc. (DMI), in Rosemont, Ill., believes that such combination products may be a winwin. “Interest in hybrid products that blend animal and plant together is opening the door to new innovation for dairy. There are dairy offerings that ‘sneak in’ vegetables, and dairy products that combine milk with other plant ingredients like almonds and oats,” he points out,

SOLUTIONS

Dairy

citing items like Peakaboo Ice Cream, Chobani Nut Butter and Live Real Farms Milk Blends. Other brands, too, are getting in on this kind of plant-dairy fusion. The Oikos brand, from White Plains, N.Y.-based Danone North America, recently added a line combining whole-milk Greek yogurt and almond butter, available in five flavors. In addition to fortified and nutrient-rich traditional dairy products like milks and yogurts, other health-oriented dairy items are offering novel formats. The Cultured Snacking Co., also part of Danone North America, has rolled out such new snacks as probiotic yogurt bars and probiotic nut butters.

I think what we’ll see more of, and as a way for dairies to compete, are combination products — perhaps milk with an addition of almond or oats.” —Eric Richard, IDDBA

Oikos Pro Fuel energy drinks and coffee beverages offer on-the-go nutrition.

Innovations for Growth

While plant-based products may grab a lot of attention among consumers, they currently comprise only a portion of dairy department sales and shelf space. Meanwhile, innovations within the traditional dairy category continue apace. Many of those innovations are centered on health and wellness. For instance, Oikos has added a line of Oikos Pro Fuel ready-to-drink caffeine energy drinks and coffee beverages for on-the-go nutrition. Additionally, protein remains a hot topic for many health-minded buyers. “When it comes to dairy, we’re

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seeing the added protein trend in every category,” notes DMI’s Ziemnisky. “This includes high-protein ice cream, ready-to-drink coffee with milk, creamers, and cultured caffeinated dairy drinks.” In addition, dairy brands are setting themselves apart with products that exemplify consumer interest in transparency and sustainability. Danone’s Horizon Organic brand recently revealed plans to become the first national USDA-certified organic dairy brand to be carbon positive by 2025; Horizon also recently developed a line of Growing Years whole milk created for children between the ages of 1 and 5. Growing Years half-gallons will be the first of the brand’s certified Carbon Neutral products by the end of next year. Other product and packaging innovations in dairy are driven by consumer interest in premium products or items that deliver an experience. One example comes from the cheese category, where many retailers are promoting artisan-style cheeses combined with other high-end ingredients. “Charcuterie now is where specialty cheese was 10 or 20 years ago,” asserts IDDBA’s Richard. “It’s getting attention especially from retailers who want to draw in traffic by bringing in the idea of experience and entertaining.” (This was before COVID-19 restrictions, of course, but it likely will pick up again when such gatherings are again allowed.) Other dairy segments are commanding a premium, too. Danone’s SToK brand has launched a line of Fueled Creamers containing 5 grams of protein, 5 grams of MCT oil and real butter for a rich taste and keto-friendly appeal. Meanwhile, the longtime driver of convenience remains a factor in consumers’ diets and in the dairy products they choose. “Innovation and convenience in

When it comes to dairy, we’re seeing the added protein trend in every category. This includes high-protein ice cream, ready-to-drink coffee with milk, creamers, and cultured caffeinated dairy drinks.” —Paul Ziemnisky, Dairy Management Inc.

the snacking category continue to flourish, and we’re seeing dairy capitalize on the on-the-go trend, “ says Ziemnisky, citing products like cheeses packaged with fruit and nuts, high-protein and low-carb cheese “chips,” and grab-and-go yogurts with lower sugar and higher protein content.

Selling Dairy

Creamers containing added protein are a rising trend in the dairy category.

Another way to keep traditional dairy products on the minds of today’s consumers is for grocers and manufacturers to promote the inherent benefits of these foods and beverages. “Dairy manufacturers need to hone in on the fact that these are real dairy proteins and to connect and engage with consumers,” advises Richard. “Also, it may seem counter to how it reads, but the fact that milk has a shorter shelf life can be used to an advantage — this is a fresh product.” Packaged Facts’ Rasch agrees that this kind of messaging is important, especially as dairies contend with plant-based competitors. “There are many opportunities for dairy products with a number of designations such as premium, local, artisan and organic,” she observes. “The clean-label movement in particular eschews most of the dairy alternatives on the market, due to the addition of ingredients such as preservatives and artificial flavors.” In addition to offering a diverse mix of products in the dairy case, grocers can deploy other tactics to engage consumers with these items. Suggests Richard: “How it is merchandised in the store is important, too. The dairy department is way in the back, and it’s there on purpose so people shop their way there. But you have to make it easier for individuals who aren’t looking to buy a gallon of milk and put those other products more in front of the store — utilize reach-in cases and graband-go to capture that audience.” Finally, there may be even bigger changes down the pike for retail dairy, including more alt-dairy products and blended products, as well as items that are neither dairy- nor plant-based. Notes retail consultant Bill Bishop, principal at Barrington, Ill.-based Brick Meets Click: “Under the circumstances now, where everyone wants cold, fresh refrigerated product, I think we could see some very big changes.” PROGRESSIVE GROCER May 2020

Cannabis Connection CBD PRODUCTS MAY BE JUST WHAT THE VE T ORDERED. By Princess Jones Curtis

was skeptical at first, but now I’m a believer,” asserts Allison Williams, a 39-year-old nail technician from Roanoke, Va. After spending months looking for some relief for her elderly cat’s feline arthritis, Williams tried CBD oil on the recommendation of a friend, and couldn’t believe the results. “I’m practically an evangelist now,” she adds. “I’m always telling everyone about it. If you love your pet, give them CBD.” It’s no secret that humans love their pets. More than half of American homes include a pet, according to the Stamford, Conn.-based American Pet Products Association (APPA). “Our pets are a part of our families, so naturally people treat them as such,” says Vincent Gillen, VP of sales for Tampa, Fla.-based Global Widget LLC, the manufacturer and distributor of Perfect Paws Hemp for pets, Hemp Bombs and Nature’s Script. “Just as we ensure that everything we use on a daily basis is of the best material and uses premium ingredients, we want our pets to have premium-made toys, food, supplements, bedding products and additional pet supplies.”

Key Takeaways Now that the pet product market has embraced CBD in the same way that human wellness brands have, there are many options on retail store shelves. CBD products can help animals with such issues as pain management, internal inflammation and, in particular, anxiety. The target consumers for these products will often be pet owners in search of alternatives to prescription drugs or pricey medical intervention, with product quality a huge factor in sales.

CBD and Your Pets

Humans have been using CBD oil products for decades to relieve anxiety and depression, reduce inflammation, improve sleep patterns, and combat health conditions like epilepsy. In the past decade, as pro-cannabis attitudes and legislation have swept the United States, CBD products have become highly popular. As humans discovered the health benefits of these products, they also began to wonder whether their pets could benefit as well. Now that the pet product market has embraced CBD in the same way that human wellness brands have, there are many options on the shelves. “CBD can be used in edible form such as oils, or in a topical form such as paw butter,” notes Gillen. Global Widget’s Perfect Paws Hemp Paw Butter is a topical product that gently repairs dry and cracked paws while adding an extra layer of protection against

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From younger dogs and rescue animals with separation anxiety, to older pets with age-related joint pain and mobility issues, CBD can be helpful through all stages of an animal’s life.” —Sean McDonald, CBD Living harsh terrain. Each 2-ounce container contains 250 milligrams of CBD and is prepared with a blend of natural oils such as coconut and sweet almond oil. One of the biggest misconceptions about CBD is that it’s marijuana. While the plants are both members of the cannabis family,” explains Gillen, “they differ significantly in composition. Hemp plants have less than 0.3% THC [tetrahydrocannabinol, the principal psychoactive constituent of cannabis]. In contrast, marijuana has anywhere from 3% to 35% THC.” Actually, CBD — short for cannabidiol — is just one type of cannabinoid that comes from cannabis. Other notable cannabinoids include CBG, CBN and THC. “All have specific functions in our body,” observes Derek Thomas, VP of business development for Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Veritas Farms, a vertically integrated full-spectrum hemp oil product manufacturer and brand. “But it is the combination of them that has the most pronounced effect on us, called the Entourage Effect. Formulations that naturally include all of the cannabinoids found in cannabis [are] called full-spectrum hemp oil and ... considered superior to CBD-isolate products.” When used properly, CBD offers a host of benefits for pets. “It can help animals with pain management, internal inflammation and, most commonly, anxiety,” says Sean McDonald, COO of Corona, Calif.-based CBD Living, one of the fastest-growing global CBD manufacturers and distributors. “We see a lot of customers buying our products for anxious pets.” With more than 100 items in 5,000 stores, and shipping to consumers worldwide, CBD Living offers a wide variety of products, includMAY BE USED FOR: ing tablets, sprays and topical solutions. Preventative Care “A new study in Scientific Reports Pain & Inflammation found that more than 70% of dogs experiAging & Degeneration ence anxiety,” continues McDonald. “This Anxiety & Phobias can be year-round, but also situational. Digestive Issues & Nausea For example, we find that our sales spike Epilepsy & Seizures around the holiday season and around Joint Issues & Mobility holidays that typically involve fireworks. Skin Issues & Allergies From younger dogs and rescue animals Cysts & Tumors with separation anxiety, to older pets with age-related joint pain and mobility issues, CBD can be helpful through all stages of an animal’s life.”

Stocking Up

When choosing which products to stock on retail shelves, it’s important to choose those that appeal to your customer base. In terms of CBD products, your audience will often be pet owners who want alternatives to prescription drugs or pricey medical intervention. Product quality will be a huge factor in sales. Do your research before you stock the shelves. The most important things to keep in mind when researching brands and products in the pet CBD category are quality, safety and transparency. Pet CBD products require very specific packaging requirements. Gillen lists the elements of a good label: “Labels should include all the product’s ingredients, both active and additional ingredients; QR codes; batch

Cannabinoids & Healthy Pets

Brain Eyes Bones, Joints & Spine

Heart Stomach Intestines

PROGRESSIVE GROCER May 2020

For those just starting in offering CBD pet products, keep it simple with a limited SKU selection.” —Vincent Gillen, Global Widget LLC

numbers; expiration dates; and where the product was made. The QR codes and batch numbers are the information that consumers will need to look up full-panel third-party lab results, ensure the compliance and safety of the product for their pets, and read additional CBD education resources.” Lab testing is especially important because consumers should be able to independently confirm the ingredients of the products. The COA (Certificate of Analysis) should come from an ISO (International Organization for Standardization)-certified lab. Veritas Farms’ Thomas gives more details: “The COA needs to consist of a cannabinoid profile analysis, terpene analysis, pesticide/ fungicide/herbicide analysis, heavy-metal analysis and mycotoxin/microbial analysis. There is a key final piece here that many miss — that COA needs to be directly tied to the product via a lot or batch number that is specific to that product and COA.” This allows consumers to cross check the specific information, which is important to the well-informed buyer. Veritas Farms — which takes its name from the Latin word for “truth” — is known as a trusted brand in this category because of its dedication to transparency. Thomas warns against stocking brands that don’t value transparency as much. “There are many opportunistic brands out there,” he cautions. “If a brand cannot give you complete visibility on their supply chain and cannot provide you with a third-party ISO-certified lab’s analysis that tests for potency and all contaminants and matches to the lot/batch number of the product, then they probably should be avoided.”

how to properly read it, and how to access full-panel third-party lab results via the QR code, which should clearly be visible on the label, to be reassured of the product’s safety, ingredients and potency.” Further, price is always a huge factor for consumers. Remember that most of these CBD products will also be available on the manufacturers’ websites and other online sources. “Retailers should be confident that the product they are selling in their store will be less expensive in retail locations than on a manufacturer’s website,” notes Gillen. “Additionally, for those just starting in offering CBD pet products, keep it simple with a limited SKU selection.” He adds: “As for merchandising techniques, retailers should place product in high-traffic areas and should utilize marketing resources from their vendor, including stickers, floor decals, window clings and educational material.”

More Good Advice

That’s also the case if you’re working with a company that just expanded its product lineup with a CBD product instead of producing a fully developed CBD line from the ground up. CBD Living’s McDonald says that retailers have to be careful about choosing which product to stock. “Retailers should look for companies that have a history in the market — companies that aren’t just adding CBD products to their existing non-CBD lines just to be trendy,” he advises. “CBD Living is a CBD company. Always has been, always will be. Expanding into the pet product sphere was a natural step for us.” For pets, the company offers a 5-milligram CBD supplement in a hard chew, a soft chew and a gel cap, covering a wide range of consumer needs. There’s an education requirement for these products as well. The average customer may be interested in CBD products but not know what to look for. “Consumers need education on CBD, the industry and different products available,” explains Gillen. “Consumers should know what compliant packaging and labeling looks like,

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When merchandising pet CBD, retailers should use marketing resources from vendors, like this eyecatching display from Veritas Farms.

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TECHNOLOGY

Occupancy Monitoring

Going Beyond People Counting COVID-19 HAS SPARKED A HUGE NEED FOR OCCUPANCY-MONITORING TECHNOLOGIES THAT WILL HAVE LONG-TERM BENEFITS. By Abby Kleckler he ability for grocers and their service providers to be adaptive moved front and center as the coronavirus hit the United States in full force. President Donald Trump declared a national emergency on March 13, and almost instantaneously, shoppers flooded grocery stores to stock up on everything from toilet paper to pantry staples. As social distancing and stay-at-home orders turned into the new normal, food retailers were catapulted into a position of needing to keep their employees and customers safe, all the while providing an essential service. A domino effect of grocers instituting one-way aisles and 6-foot markers started the wave, and soon occupancy rules followed. At the beginning of April, the governor’s orders in Connecticut limited occupancy to 50%, while orders in Massachusetts mandated a maximum of 40% capacity.

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Key Takeaways As the coronavirus pandemic hit communities across the United States, the need for occupancycounting technology quickly became apparent. Irisys’ SafeCount solution uses time-of-flight sensors to accurately determine the number of people entering and leaving a store, while SenSource’s SafeSpace solution was created with both a manual counting option using a smartphone or tablet and an automated option using the company’s bread-andbutter sensors. The benefits of monitoring store occupancy can far outlive the requirements of the COVID-19 pandemic, enabling retailers to better understand customer behavior through the collection of anonymous data.

PROGRESSIVE GROCER May 2020

TECHNOLOGY

Occupancy Monitoring

A number of other states have followed suit, and even more retailers have assumed the responsibility themselves, either allowing a certain number of customers per square foot or a certain percentage of their fire code occupancy. Pen-and-paper solutions could quickly be implemented, but their shortcomings were no surprise. Grocers would have to pay a staff member, who could be used elsewhere for additional sanitation protocols, to stand at the door, making tally marks as people come and go. A shift change or need for a break could quickly lead to an inaccurate count, customers had no idea how long of a wait they would have, and only one entrance could be open at any given time. The need for occupancy-counting technology quickly became apparent. “With the outbreak of COVID-19, the retail landscape completely changed, probably forever,” asserts Mike Slevin, global sales and marketing director of U.K.-based Irisys. “A lot of the steps that retailers took originally around things like putting up barriers or markings on the floor help to a certain extent, but they’re now moving to the phase where they recognize the more long-term issue, and they want to put in place processes, procedures, technology.”

The Immediate Need

Irisys quickly leveraged its 20-plus years of experience in the retail analytics space, working with brands like Cincinnati-based Kroger, to create a product tailored specifically to the needs of food retailers in the age of the coronavirus. SafeCount was born, employing time-of-flight sensors, which use infrared light, to accurately determine the number of people entering and leaving a store.

The SafeCount solution by Irisys offers both customer-facing and manger-facing interfaces with real-time store occupancy data.

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An advantage of SafeCount is its easy installation, a fully stand-alone system using Irisys’s Vector 4D sensor, which runs with the software locally embedded on it and can be connected to a standard WiFi access point and any other browser-enabled devices. Installation is quick regardless of whether you’d already been working with the company — like Kroger. “Where Kroger was quite forward-thinking, what we’re now seeing is other food retailers starting to recognize the importance of that data,” Slevin says. “Kroger was able to respond very, very quickly to the COVID-19 pandemic. Kroger was able to actually start understanding occupancy information from their stores in less than six days from when they originally came up with the request across 2,300 stores. “That demonstrates the fact that these mega-brands can still be agile if they deploy the right technology,” he adds. Youngstown, Ohio-based SenSource also started noticing an uptick in interest from grocers as the COVID-19 situation developed. The company had dabbled in occupancy counting in the past, but not as much in real time, according to Andy Clutter, SenSource’s marketing director. SenSource saw the opportunity for its expertise and ability to move quickly, creating its new SafeSpace solution with both a manual counting option using a smartphone or tablet and an automated option using the company’s bread-and-butter sensors. The manual solution requires an employee to click when a customer enters or leaves the store, but it can combine data from multiple employees and multiple doorways. This manual option can be set up in mere hours. “A lot of grocers don’t want to maintain that model of manual counting long-term, so we’re basically planning on implementing sensors, but it may be in two or three weeks from now,” says Dan Aluise, SenSource’s sales manager. “A lot of these chains are willing to make that investment knowing that they don’t want a person standing out in front with a pen and a paper for the next 18 months to track people when it can be automated.” Both the manual and automated solutions have the option of displaying occupancy data on consumer-facing monitors at the doorways to signify how many people are inside, whether occupancy is low or whether they’ll have to wait to enter. If the number of people allowed in the store changes, either by government mandate or the store’s discretion, that’s also an easy change. “You can go into the admin panel and change what your max occupancy is at any time,” Aluise explains. “If a regulation comes out at 10:00 a.m., by 10:05, the regulation limit can be implemented into the system.” Both Irisys’ SafeCount and SenSource’s SafeSpace offer analytics platforms to dive deep into occupancy data on a store-level or company-wide basis and demonstrate adherence to any government mandates. These analytics platforms, however, can accomplish a lot more, too.

Improving Customer Service

Monitoring store occupancy is a pretty straightforward demand, but as retailers make investments in sensor technology, the benefits can far outlive the requirements of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Understanding customer behavior, whether that’s because of a pandemic, or whether that’s because of other factors driving it, has become ever more important,” Slevin says. “Occupancy, in many ways, is the entry level to that.” Once retailers start to understand footfall, conversion and peak occupancy hours, a number of other questions come to mind: How can you align staffing and labor? How can you lay out your store better to accommodate different behaviors? How can you ensure a sufficient number of carts or baskets are available for shoppers? “We do a lot of in-store analytics projects, where the same sensing technology can be used to do things like understand browse time, understand customer engagement with staff or with merchandise,” says Slevin. “We can look at things like providing real-time and location data of staff versus customers, wait times in lines, or dwell times at product displays.” Kroger has been working with Irisys for more than a decade now, employing its branded QueVision solution to dramatically reduce wait times in checkout lines. “They display our dashboard in their stores, so you’ll see it on big monitors that they have above the checkout area. They show what we call the ‘golden balls,’ which are three circles with numbers in them showing how many lanes they should have open, how many lanes they do have, and how many lanes they should have open in 15 minutes,” Slevin explains. “There is typically a correlation between at least perceived wait time, basket size and basket value.” SenSource’s service-intensity metric takes into account the number of shoppers per the number of employees that are on the clock. Looking at sales dollars and labor dollars, the system can predict what type of staffing needs the store will have during certain times and on certain days. “It starts learning trends of each hour of the day, looking at the occupancy and number of shoppers that enter and exit the store,” Aluise says. “After this is in place for two weeks — even better if it’s in place for two months — it’s a little bit more of a pure forecast. It’ll forecast the next 90 days, and it’ll tell the user, say a store manager, what our system recommends for staffing based on that forecast.”

Anonymous But Useful

Irisys uses a proprietary technology within lanyards that staff members wear around their necks to better understand their actions and how well they align with the store’s goals. “It’s highly, highly reliable, but then saying that, very passive,” Slevin notes. “There is no active involvement

SafeSpace has a manual counting option using a smartphone or tablet such as this one, or an automated option using sensors.

from any staff, and no sort of privacy concerns. It’s a very neutral lanyard; it won’t tell which member of staff is which. It will just tell you this is a member of staff.” This system can distinguish staff from customers to exclude them from occupancy counts and improve customer experience. For example, if the system says that it needs eight checkout lanes open in the next 15 minutes, the retailer can use staff detection to see whether the store actually conforms to that. According to Slevin, staff detection plays a huge role in efficiency as well. Irisys is currently working on a project with self-checkouts to determine how retailers can put the right number of staff in the area to assist customers as quickly as possible. The company is also looking at baggers by monitoring their presence at the ends of lanes to make sure that there’s somebody there to actually speed up the bagging process. Privacy concerns are also a nonissue with Irisys, because time-offlight sensors don’t use video to detect people. “We don’t identify customers, so there’s no concern over privacy,” Slevin affirms. “The same with staff — they’re not spying on staff. It’s all generic. It’s all anonymized.” The technology, however, does have an additional advantage for segmenting adult shoppers from children. “We are able to very, very accurately, to plus or minus 2 centimeters [0.79 inches], determine the height of individuals within the field of view,” Slevin says. “We can provide things like histograms showing what proportion of your customer base is segmented into those different sorts of height ranges, which you can then roughly equate with different age groups.” Some state regulations have excluded children from counting in occupancy limits, while others haven’t. Either way, the data can be beneficial for understanding customer engagement in the long term. As the industry scrambles to make changes needed in the current COVID-19 environment, eyes can’t focus simply on temporary fixes. Sensor technologies can promise everything from occupancy counting to customer engagement, and staff management to operational efficiencies. The solutions to today’s challenges can become the platforms for future success. PROGRESSIVE GROCER May 2020

EQUIPMENT & DESIGN

Retail Foodservice Infrastructure

All of the cases from Dover Food Retail exceed NSF and UL standards.

Prepared With Care RE TAIL FOODSERVICE INFR ASTRUCTURE IS ENSURING THE SAFE T Y OF THIS CRITICAL CATEGORY. By Bob Ingram As the nation reels amid the coronavirus pandemic, retail foodservice is assuming a more important role in the feeding of the country — and equipment suppliers are answering food safety needs. Marjorie Proctor, design and marketing specialist at Dover Food Retail, in Conyers, Ga., says that the company manufactures retail foodservice equipment for the “front of the house,” and its portfolio includes a wide range of refrigerated, hot and dry display cases, as well as counters. “We are currently running at full capacity to meet our customers’ needs,” Proctor says, noting: “The options for food products available today continue to be a higher quality of freshness and merchandising in better packaging. For grab-and-go items, we have small plug-and-play refrigerated self-service spot merchandisers, as well as larger islands like our i2i modular island that is a customizable island that can accommodate variations of

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Key Takeaways The coronavirus pandemic has led to retail foodservice taking a more prominent role in feeding consumers and meeting food safety needs. Many foodservice equipment companies have been designated essential businesses during the outbreak, allowing them to serve retailers during an unprecedented time. The core of a successful foodservice program, equipment can determine whether food items sell, and also boost margins by lowering food waste, operating costs and labor.

Our entire consulting team would like to take this opportunity to commend all retailer senior executives, your management teams and store personnel for how well you have served our country, and importantly your customers, during the historic coronavirus pandemic. You have gone “over the top” in protecting the health of shoppers through very thorough cleanliness initiatives and doing your best to meet excessive demand in many categories.

We Thank You ! As you move forward it is important to reinforce your commitment to your customers as today’s shoppers crave more than mere transactions. They are coming into your stores seeking solutions tailored to their life styles. The focus needs to move from categories to solutions. We are committed to working with you to make this happen.

Shopper-Centric Retailing This new business model, that focuses on the solutions your in-store and online shoppers are seeking, has proven to overcome the many limitations of the outdated 30 year old category management process. Those retailers who have implemented to-date are experiencing impressive results including:

Increased basket size Customer retention Improved sales and profits Once you implement ShopperCentric Retailing, you can expect it to be a key contributor to your growth by delivering customer satisfaction for years to come.

Endorsed by

Shopper-Centric Retailing Vision — Strategy — Commitment

Infrastructure

Shopper Solutions Planning Strategic Positioning

Organization Restructuring

Shopper Insights

Descriptive Job Functional Titles Core Merchandising Processes Actionable Shopper Insights Repository of Knowledge

People

Culture/ Behavior Business Practices

Solution Plan Implementation

Internal/External Assessment

Shopping Experience

Marketplace Assessment

Cross Functional Collaboration Required Skills Performance Appraisal

Solution Goals and Strategy

Focus

Shopper and Shopping Experience

Shopper-Centric Retailing, and its core Shopper Solutions Planning process, which incorporates both in-store and online purchase behavior, is the future. It will be worth your time to learn more and listen to what we have to say.

Winston Weber & Associates is credited with introducing retailer/supplier partnering in the late 1980’s and introducing Category Management to the U.S. market in 1990. You can contact WWA CEO Win Weber at winweber@winstonweber.com to schedule time to learn more about this new business model, and how to implement without disrupting other important priorities.

Winston Weber & Associates

EQUIPMENT & DESIGN

Retail Foodservice Infrastructure

displaying refrigerated, hot or dry goods.” She adds that Dover’s newest release is an all-metal food bar called the MBI, available for merchandising hot and cold food items, and “a great venue for enticing the time-crunched lunch-rushers who are depending on the time waiting in line to be very minimal.” When it comes to food safety, Proctor says: “All of our cases are designed and tested to meet and exceed NSF [National Science Foundation] and UL [Underwriters Laboratories] standards. We are dedicated to helping retailers with maintaining product freshness and maximizing product shelf life by educating on how to keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold and everything in between to monitor food temperatures, and keeping equipment at top performance.” These digital menu boards are from Tebo Store Fixtures.

Essential Business

Joe Michaels, VP of new product development at Denver-based Tebo Store Fixtures, says that the

Consumer Marketing + Digital

Now more than ever, it’s essential to reach your shoppers where they are:

Get Online. Get Social. Get Delivered.

CMY

• Websites • Mobile Apps • Online Shopping • Social Media • Email Marketing 70

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• Circular Production & Printing • Shopper Marketing & Events • In-store Promotions • TV, Radio, Outdoor Marketing • Branding & Consumer Research

From operational consulting services to custom-manufactured lift-up sneeze guards, we deliver value and innovation.” —Daniel Poor, N Wasserstrom company “has provided everything from supplies like hooks and bags to technology like indoor and outdoor digital menu boards, digital signage and customer analytics for over 50 years.” According to Michaels, the company has been deemed essential during the pandemic because it services the grocery industry, and, although the showroom is currently closed, product can either be shipped or picked up at the Denver warehouse while the sales, accounting and design staff are working from home. Significantly, he points out that the company’s latest addition is an affordable, customizable shield that protects both employees and customers from threats like COVID-19 by creating a clean, clear barrier of KinterCSN_PrintAdFINAL.pdf

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9:13 AM

EQUIPMENT & DESIGN

Retail Foodservice Infrastructure

safety between people. For his part, Daniel Poor, VP and business unit leader at N Wasserstrom, in Columbus, Ohio, notes that “Amtecko/Wasserstrom is considered an essential business, and our manufacturing and distribution locations remain operational to support our clients in the foodservice and hospitality industries.” The company is a foodservice dealer and custom manufacturer providing turnkey foodservice design, layout and planning, manufacturing, equipment distribution, consolidation, warehousing, logistics, and installation services. “We are a custom fabricator equipped with an array of in-house manufacturing capabilities, including metal, wood, wire, stone, glass, booth seating and refrigeration,” Poor observes. “Our manufacturing facilities are ETL [Edison Testing Laboratories] and NSF certified. We build items ranging in complexity from simple production tables and sinks, to retail displays, to hot and cold food merchandisers, to complete kiosks with builtin plumbing and electrical systems. Our products are used in a variety of markets, including retail, grocery,

c-store, hospitality, health care and restaurants.” Regarding food safety, he explains that at the custom manufacturer, products are designed and engineered to address safety, quality, sustainability and performance concerns. “Our state-of-the-art development lab allows us to test in exact temperature and humidity environments to ensure these products perform as expected,” Poor says. “From operational consulting services to custom-manufactured lift-up sneeze guards, we deliver value and innovation.” He notes: “As we strive to service and support our customers during this unprecedented time of change, we have been focused on products and solutions that address the unique operational challenges that have surfaced during the nation’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. These include plexiglass sanitation shields, mobile refrigerated spot merchandisers, mobile hot and cold merchandisers, salad-bar-tograb-and-go conversions, and portable wash sinks.”

Getting it Right

Alto-Shaam's CTP 7-20 combi oven has a variety of applications.

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Jonathan Schroeder, director of national accounts at Menomonee Falls, Wis.-based Alto-Shaam, says, “As retail operators look to hire more staff and expand their pre-prepared and delivery options, it’s important to have the right system in place to enable these critical shifts.” Equipment is the core of a successful foodservice program, Schroeder emphasizes, and can make or break whether food items sell, and also improve margins by reducing food waste, operating costs and labor. “Alto-Shaam has an entire system of foodservice equipment that is tailored to meet the changing needs of retail foodservice programs, including Self-Cleaning Rotisserie ovens, Vector Multi-Cook ovens, heated holding cabinets [and] heated shelf merchandisers, among other products,” he points out, adding that Alto-Shaam is an essential business dedicated to supporting its customers in critical foodservice industries that must stay open during this time. “We’ve recently launched our new Self-Cleaning Rotisserie ovens,” Schroeder says, “which feature an automatic grease-collection system, self-cleaning cycles and touchscreen programmable controls. Designed to be on display, the rotisserie oven is also great for boosting impulse sales by creating a theater effect during the cooking process.” For retailers with limited space or those looking to expand an existing program, he notes that the latest Vector H Series Multi-Cook ovens require no water hookups and feature a compact, ventless design. They feature four ovens in one with independent temperature, fan speed and cook time control so operators can cook food exactly to order. “Vector H Series ovens feature an enhanced control that streamlines processes and makes the cooking

This countertop heated shelf merchandiser is from Alto-Shaam.

process seamless,” Schroeder adds. “The more intuitive the equipment, the less time and money operators need to spend training new employees.” Alto-Shaam also offers Vector F Series ovens, which he says can replace two traditional ovens, thus optimizing square footage and workflow. These ovens can be stacked with the company’s Combitherm combi ovens for retailers that need to have a variety of cooking applications in a single, vertical footprint. “Accurate cooking results can give operators great peace of mind,” Schroeder observes while discussing food safety. “Our Combitherm combi ovens feature a removable probe that measures degree of doneness through temperature readings. The best part of cooking by probe is that all of the information is recorded, so operators have HACCP data to reference and download as needed.” He goes on to say that holding food at the optimal temperature after cooking is also critical for food safety, and that Alto-Shaam’s heated holding cabinets and merchandisers maintain safe food temperatures with gentle, radiant heat, and are key to ensuring that hot foods are kept at required temperatures, while also preventing dried-out or overcooked food in a grab-and-go program. “The cleanliness of equipment can also make or break an operator’s ability to prepare food safely,” Schroeder stresses. “Traditional ovens are difficult and time-consuming to clean, not to mention that the grease extraction and disposal can be a hazard. The automatic self-cleaning design incorporates a water-jet wash and sanitizing cycle that handles the toughest grease conditions.” He adds that Alto-Shaam has a full team of culinary experts dedicated to helping retailers before, during and after the sale, asserting, “We are here as a partner to help streamline and navigate foodservice needs during this rapidly shifting time.”

Brand New

According to Jim Socha, VP of retail sales at Glenview, Ill.-based ITW Food Equipment Group, the company’s brands and foodservice equipment are Hobart and Berkel, food prep; Hobart, Vulcan and Wolf, cooking equipment; Hobart, weighing and wrapping, and dishwashing; Traulsen, refrigeration; and Baxter, bakery. “Our equipment and service brands are grateful to be considered ‘essential,’ as we are fully operational in support of food retailers [and] health care foodservice operations, as well as other foodservice operations working hard to make sure people have the food they need during this challenging time,” Socha says. Among the company’s newest equipment additions are a portion-scale slicer that enables slicing and weighing to occur together, a removable slicer blade guard for easy and safe blade removal, a CleN ventless conveyor dishwasher that requires no additional hood/ventilation, HT Series scales with a user-friendly interface and customizable options, and an automatic wrapping system with advanced pneumatics and simplified timings, all from Hobart; Smart Control for precise temperature control and Stay Clear condensor coils that don’t need cleaning, from Traulsen; and the VersaOven with steam capability for baked goods, vegetables, proteins and rotisserie, from Baxter. “All our food preparation equipment is designed to be safe and easy to clean,” Socha says, adding that Hobart commercial dishwashers are certified to NSF Standard 3 for Commercial Warewashing Equipment; Traulsen Smart Control automatically alerts for problems visually, audibly or both; Traulsen Blast Chillers automatically document the kitchen staff’s due diligence; and Vulcan and Traulsen heated holding cabinets enable hot food to be stored for periods of time at safe temperatures. “ITW Food Equipment Group brands are backed by Hobart Service, a factory-trained organization that operates 24/7 to help keep our customers’ equipment running,” Socha notes. “Our parts distribution center stocks 100% direct OEM [original equipment manufacturer] parts, with over 40,000 SKUs in stock ready for next-day delivery.” Today’s retail foodservice infrastructure is not only allowing retailers to keep up with demand, but also making a reality the phrase that has become the byword for these times: Stay safe.

Our Combitherm combi ovens feature a removable probe that measures degree of doneness through temperature readings. The best part of cooking by probe is that all of the information is recorded, so operators have HACCP data to reference and download as needed.” —Jonathan Schroeder, Alto-Shaam PROGRESSIVE GROCER May 2020

OPERATIONS

Coronavirus

Caption Here

Solving the Sanitation Challenge BEST PR ACTICES AND NE W SOLUTIONS FOR FOOD RE TAILING DURING A PANDEMIC. By Gina Acosta cientists all over the world are scrambling to expedite vaccine trials, launch antiviral drugs and create new diagnostic tests to help end the COVID-19 pandemic. But there’s another assailant threatening to disrupt global society, and especially food retail. The name of that enemy isn’t coronavirus. It’s fear. If you are a food retailer, you might think that your No. 1 priority right now should be e-commerce or supply chain efficiency. While those certainly are important operational challenges to address, the most critical challenge in food retail today might just be finding a way to keep shoppers from being terrified of your store. According to a new report from C+R Research, a Chicago-based market insights firm, 60% of American consumers are now too scared — yes, scared — to shop at a grocery store due to the coronavirus. C+R Research recently surveyed more than 2,000 consumers to find out how the pandemic has changed their grocery shopping habits. More than 60% of consumers feel a sense of panic or anxiety about germs when they shop at a grocery store, and

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around 45% said that they disinfect their groceries when they bring them home. Even more concerning, a big chunk of respondents (73%) said that they’re shopping less in physical stores than ever before, and more than one-third of shoppers said that they think food retailers should be doing more to protect consumers and employees from COVID-19. Of course, some of this fear can be explained by the grim headlines flooding shoppers’ TVs, computers and cellphones, many of which are painting food retailers in a negative light when it comes to store safety and cleanliness.

Key Takeaways Especially at a time of heightened concern about public health, a nightly deep clean is not enough. Grocers need to aggressively clean high-touch surfaces all day long. UV lights, foggers, EPA-approved virus killers and robots are retailers’ new friends.

In Denver, for example, local news reported that a Walmart was forced to close after three COVID-19-infected employees died. In response, Walmart issued a statement saying that it would implement “a deep cleaning and disinfection of the entire store,” giving shoppers the impression that the store wasn’t actually clean before the deaths. At least six Trader Joe’s stores have shut down temporarily for “precautionary cleaning and sanitization” after workers there were found to be infected. Meanwhile, workers at Safeway and Kroger stores around the country have died from COVID-19 as well, prompting more announcements about “enhanced sanitation” procedures. The pandemic has shattered consumer confidence in the safety of grocery shopping, and for shoppers, the fear is all about sanitation and staying virus-free. While cleanliness has always been critical in food retail, the need to clean, sanitize and manage safety will never be as important as it is now, while this pandemic endures. Not only will retail sanitation measures need to be robust, but they’ll also need to be more effectively communicated for shoppers to maintain trust in the retailer. “Just like our security measures changed forever after Sept. 11th, it is likely that cleaning expectations will not return to how things were,” asserts Bryan Smith, senior marketing manager for the Americas at Minneapolis-based Tennant Co., which manufactures retail cleaning equipment. “Customers are going to have higher standards when it comes to cleanliness. As a result, retailers are going to have to find new ways to meet this customer demand in an efficient and effective way.” The pandemic has prioritized sanitation in food retail like never before. But what’s the new standard for a “clean store” now? What does “enhanced sanitation” really mean? And how can retailers rise to meet this challenge?

‘Disinfection Specialists’

These days, retailers may throw around words such as “sanitation” and “disinfection,” but there’s a big difference between them and another procedure called “sterilization”:

Sanitation is another word for cleaning. Both words have the same meaning: removing visible contamination and debris, and dramatically lowering the number of germs on the surface.

Disinfection is the destruction of viruses, bacteria and fungi on surfaces that have come in contact with skin. Proper disinfection leaves a surface highly unlikely to transmit infection or cause disease.

Sterilization is the complete destruction of all microscopic life on a surface. Hospitals use sterilization on surgical tools, for example.

Food retailers already had effective programs for sanitation, designed primarily to keep food safe and to protect consumers, in place prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Now the virus is putting pressure on companies to step up their protocols. So what does “enhanced sanitation” mean? That definition will be different from retailer to retailer, but at the broadest level, “enhanced sanitation is a deep evaluation of what surfaces within your store will require more aggressive or frequent attention in your maintenance standards,” Smith says. “An appropriate focus should be on highly touched surfaces, but equally, retailers should be thinking about how they streamline the other cleaning processes to free up their teams’ time to give these focus areas more attention. It’s not just one thing, but a re-evaluating of the whole cleaning process to enable the new normal.” Some grocers are meeting that new normal head-on by limiting store hours to thoroughly clean and disinfect their entire stores before opening the following morning (i.e., a deep clean). But that’s likely not going to be enough going forward. Grocers will need to more aggressively clean and sanitize high-touch surfaces throughout the day to reduce the risk of virus transmission. “The new normal is constant cleaning throughout the day,” acknowledges Chris Wright, cleaning expert and VP at Brain Corp., a San Diego-based maker of robotic floor scrubbers. “It used to be that the majority of cleaning happened on the third shift, and only spot cleaning happened during normal working hours. Now you are going to want to visibly show your customers that you are cleaning and actually draw attention to it. Having ‘disinfection specialists’ in brightly colored vests, and running cleaning or scanning robots during open hours, are all going to be the new normal. Doing these recognizable acts that are now in plain view to the public is important to the perception of a clean facility, and one that cares about their customers.” The coronavirus is currently thought to be spread mainly from person to person through respiratory droplets, and is not known as of this writing to be transmitted through food or food packaging. However, it may be possible for a person to get sick by touching common surfaces that are contaminated with the virus and then touching the mouth, nose or eyes. Examples of these high-touch surfaces include checkout areas, shopping cart handles, touch screens, sneeze guards or door handles. Due to the virus’ ability to survive on surfaces for days, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend that food retailers leverage EPA-registered cleaning and disinfecting products. According to Jill Hollingsworth, VP of retail food safety and industry relations for St. Paul, Minn.-based Ecolab, a global leader in water, hygiene and energy technologies and services, enhanced sanitation measures in food retail should fall into three general categories: more frequent and detailed cleaning and sanitizing, disinfecting touch points and higher-risk areas throughout the facility, and focusing on people safety. At Bentonville, Ark.-based Walmart, these enhanced sanitation measures are on full display, as all shopper traffic is directed to a single entrance and a greeter keeps count of how many shoppers are streaming into the store. Employees in every store are assigned to clean highPROGRESSIVE GROCER May 2020

OPERATIONS

Coronavirus

Just like our security measures changed forever after Sept. 11th, it is likely that cleaning expectations will not return to how things were. Customers are going to have higher standards when it comes to cleanliness. As a result, retailers are going to have to find new ways to meet this customer demand in an efficient and effective way.” —Bryan Smith, Tennant Co. touch areas, such as checkouts and shopping carts, daily. Minneapolis-based Target is taking additional sanitation steps instore, including cleaning checkout lanes after each guest transaction, rotating the use of checkout lanes to allow those lanes not in use to be deep cleaned, and adding payroll hours to support more rigorous cleaning routines. As part of H-E-B’s coronavirus action plan, the grocer has appointed dedicated teams of its associates and COVID-19 action managers in each store. These employees are trained to ensure “strict cleaning and sanitation protocols” are properly followed. Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons Cos. says that it’s cleaning and disinfecting all departments, restrooms and other high-touch points of the store frequently throughout the day, as well as a deep cleanse at the end of each business day. And Lakeland, Fla.-based Publix Super Markets has put in place “a heightened disinfection response program [and] also suspended food demonstrations in our stores until further notice.” “Right now, retailers are employing everything they can to help stop the spread of this virus,” notes Hollingsworth. “Some of these procedures may indeed become best practices, and even standard practices, in retail sanitation. It is sanitizing cart handles between each use, and frequent disinfecting of touch points with a product that can kill the COVID-19 virus. Consumers will likely expect and look for some of these practices to be sustained after the pandemic.”

Pandemic Protocols

The actual cleaning practices and chemicals used may vary from retailer to retailer, based on their specific situations, but one universal best practice is to establish clear standard operating procedures to ensure that all stores are cleaned consistently, Smith advises. “Tools like checklists, wall charts and training guides can all support this,” he says. “Any procedure should put highly touched surfaces like door and case handles, shopping carts, register areas, and conveyor belts under close scrutiny to ensure the proper level of disinfection for your store is achieved consistently.” Smith adds that new cleaning innovations such as UVC lights and sanitizing foggers will become commonly implemented solutions. In addition to the usual suspects such as carts and counters, Jimmy Timmins, director of sales at Auburn, Maine-based cleaning solution company KICTeam, says that retailers shouldn’t ignore transactional equipment. “Any cleaning protocols must include card readers, scanners, monitors, scales, vending machines, coin deposit machines, lottery terminals and self-checkout stations much more frequently than in the pre-COVID world,” Timmins counsels. He adds that best practices for this kind of equipment include

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cleaning and disinfecting the inside and outside of devices at the start and end of each shift, and cleaning both the inside and outside of the equipment (when turned off) with a pre-approved product, and then wiping down the outside of the equipment before wiping and drying with a microfiber cloth. “It is important to clean the inside of media-handling equipment such as card readers, note acceptors, thermal printers, etc.,” Timmins says. “Credit cards have been seen to carry germs and bacteria, which can be deposited within the device. It is therefore critical to clean the inside of card readers as well as the outside.” As far as how often retailers should clean and what types of products should be used, Smith says that there’s no single answer for any store, as the chemicals, process and frequency will depend on the surfaces being addressed and how people interact with them in each store. He defines cleaning as removing adherent soil and some invisible microbes, adding that disinfection is a regulated standard designed to use chemicals to destroy and kill certain microbes. Disinfecting chemicals must provide a 99.99% reduction in those specific microbes to meet the EPA-regulated standard. “When designing protocols, it is important to remember you can clean without disinfecting, but you cannot disinfect without cleaning,” he notes. “A quality cleaning program will be important for all surfaces. For floors, normally a quality cleaning process is sufficient. Since walking on a disinfected floor immediately contaminates it, often disinfection is not advised.” No matter the protocol, one thing is for certain: Food retailers will have to be more transparent about their cleaning practices, and that includes their ventilation systems. A study, published on the CDC’s website in April, suggested that an air conditioning unit at a restaurant in China may have contributed to as many as eight other people being infected with the coronavirus in January. “There is no specific evidence of transmission via heating or cooling systems, but general guidance has been provided,” Hollingsworth says. “The suggestions are: (1) follow routine maintenance of HVAC systems, (2) increase air exchange when possible, (3) consider changing filters more frequently and switching to a higher-rated filter or a high-efficiency particulate (HEPA) filter.”

NONFOODS

Baby Care

Beating the Baby Blues GROCERS SHOULD FOCUS ON OTHER ITEMS IN THE CATEGORY TO COMPENSATE FOR SAGGING SALES OF TR ADITIONAL PRODUCTS. By Barbara Sax Key Takeaways etailers are looking at other baby care segments to offset dismal diaper and wipe sales. Not only has the diaper segment been challenged by a dive in the percentage of households purchasing diapers, supermarket retailers are being squeezed by low-priced competition from online retailers and subscription services, as well as from club stores. “Diaper sales are down in all of my 30 stores,” admits John Trapp, buyer at Gerland’s Food Fair, a chain based in Houston. “The category is a nonissue.” Data from Chicago-based IRI shows that dollar sales of diapers fell 3.8% in the supermarket channel for the 52 weeks ending Jan. 29, while dollar sales of wipes were up 2% in the channel for the same time period.

Poor diaper and wipe sales have spurred grocers to look to such other baby care segments as novelties, oral care and bath products and toiletries. Some supermarkets are finding ways to layer higher-margin products into the baby care aisle, adding natural, free-from and clean-ingredient offerings. In keeping with these trends, major brands like Johnson & Johnson and Baby Magic are reformulating and repositioning their products, while the diaper segment is showing some innovation with high-performance but value-priced private label products and a new item featuring an electronic activity sensor.

GRESSIVE GROCER May 2020

NONFOODS

Baby Care

To offset the dive in diaper sales, Trapp expanded the chain’s baby novelty section and has seen continued success with infant oral care. “We redid our novelty set a year ago, and it’s all doing great,” he says. Imported rattles that sell for $1 have had strong sales, and branded rattles selling for $3.99 remain healthy. The array of price points has served to lift the entire category.

Seeking Higher Margins

Other chains are finding ways to layer higher-margin products into the baby care aisle. Von’s uses clip strips in its baby care section to display baby bath products with prices points at $3.99 and $6.99. The chain recently ran a promotion that offered $5 off when shoppers spent $40 on baby care products. Wegmans Food Markets merchandises products such as baby booties and pacifier clips from Mud Pie that retail for $5.95 and $6.95, respectively, on clip strips near diapers. In the baby toiletry section, natural products are showing an increase, while the rest of the category remains flat. Rising instances of allergies and skin sensitivity concerns among children are driving the demand of organic and natural baby care products and leading to increased usage of baby care toiletries, according to information from Chicago-based market research firm Mintel.

3.8

Drop in dollar sales of diapers in the supermarket channel for the 52 weeks ending Jan. 29. Source: IRI

Among "cleaningredient" brands, Dr. Bronner's Baby has experienced double-digit sales increases.

Less Is More

“Given that there are no set standards or regulations for ‘natural’ products, parents are starting to perceive free-from claims as a more effective indicator of a safe product,” says Olivia Guinaugh, home and personal care analyst at Mintel. “Baby personal care products made with fewer and simpler ingredients are particularly appealing to parents, as they perceive these products as a gentler and safer option for their baby’s skin.” According to Guinaugh, brands are tapping into the baby personal care market by promoting their “clean” ethos. Last year, Emeryville, Calif.-based Amyris unveiled a new baby personal care brand, Pipette, which claims to use the fewest possible ingredients from the purest sources. “Sugarcane-derived squalane is the hero ingredient used in Pipette’s baby personal care products, which is described as a safe and sustainable version of squalene,” observes Guinaugh. The brand is carried by Target and Buy Buy Baby. Across channels tracked by IRI, Dr. Bronner’s Baby and Beiersdorf AG’s Eucerin experienced double-digit dollar sales increases for their baby soap products. Galderma Laboratories’ Cetaphil Baby and Beiersdorf’s Aquaphor Baby brands also outperformed the category overall. “I see a soft switch to natural products,” notes Kent Sheperd, category buyer at Broulim’s Fresh Foods, a 10-unit chain based in Rigby, Idaho. “All-natural diapers are more popular, and consumers are moving away from talcum to cornstarch powder.” Sheperd hasn’t added any natural baby care brands yet, but points out that adult natural skin care brands are showing an uptick. “The Naked Bee does very well for us, and The Honest Company products are picking up,” he says. Guinaugh observes that consumer demand for fewer and simpler ingredients has led more brands, even mainstream and store brands, to enter the natural and clean baby care space, suggesting that “natural” may become less of a differentiator for brands.

Mega-Brands Reposition

After double-digit declines in sales of its iconic baby care products, New Brunswick, N.J.-based Johnson & Johnson overhauled its Johnson’s baby washes, lotions and hair care products two years ago to feature fewer ingredients, ergonomic new packaging and a greener manufacturing footprint. The company revealed that it would be transparent about all ingredients in its products and said that 96% of the ingredients used in Johnson’s baby products were now naturally derived. Johnson’s baby products with the company’s new Cotton Touch technology saw significant dollar sales increases over the 52week period ending Jan 29.

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Baby Magic has reformulated its products to include natural ingredients.

Given that there are no set standards or regulations for ‘natural’ products, parents are starting to perceive free-from claims as a more effective indicator of a safe product.” —Olivia Guinaugh, Mintel

Diaper Innovation

Last year, legacy brand Baby Magic introduced a reformulated line of products that now includes natural ingredients and is free of sulfates, mineral oil, dyes, parabens, phthalates, talc and lanolin. In addition to skin care products in the Original Baby scent, which now includes camellia oil and marshmallow root, the brand, from Flower Mound, Texas-based Naterra, added products in a new Sweet Buttercup scent, infused with calendula oil, coconut oil and shea butter, and a Lavender Lullaby line that features the aromatic scents of lavender and chamomile. As part of its repositioning, Baby Magic also moved into some new categories: The brand introduced a first-of-its-kind Hydrogel Multi-Purpose Patch to soothe dryness, sunburn and fever; a collection of wipes; diaper rash ointment; and a mineral 50 SPF sunscreen. Licensed products are always an important part of baby and toddler care HBC. “‘Frozen’ is still really popular, but there’s not much else going on,” says Sheperd. “Licensing is important to this category, and films have a big influence.” “We bring in licensed product for any big movie that’s coming out, but sometimes I have to reduce the price if it doesn’t sell,” notes Trapp. He agrees that the “Frozen” franchise has become an evergreen property, adding that “Spider-Man” is a perennial strong seller for boys in the category.

The Cloud Island private brand offers premium baby products like diapers at value prices.

Despite the slide in sales, there is some innovation occurring in the diaper segment. Private label products, which have seen dollar sales slide in the baby soap and lotion categories, have been disrupting the diaper market with new and improved offerings, according to Guinaugh. “In 2019, Target announced that its private label baby brand, Cloud Island, would be expanding its product line to include diapers, wipes, toiletries and feeding products,” she says. Benchmarked against premium brands based on the ingredients used in each item, Cloud Island’s products are designed to be as effective as branded competitors, but 30% to 40% less expensive. Giunaugh also notes that while baby monitoring isn’t new to the market, some brands are unveiling innovations that expand into new frontiers of healthand-wellness tracking. “Lumi by Pampers is described as the world’s first all-in-one connected care system and claims to help parents identify patterns and routines so they can make adjustments in the interest of the baby’s health and wellness,” she explains. The brand, from Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble, combines a high-resolution video monitor with an activity sensor to give parents real-time data that tracks the room’s temperature and humidity, diaper wetness, sleep, and feeding, through a companion app.

PROGRESSIVE GROCER May 2020

EDITORS’ PICKS

Food, Beverage & Nonfood Products

More Power to You

Already known for its cauliflower-crust pizza line, Caulipower has now introduced riced cauliflower in three never-been-done flavors: Baja Style, packed with corn, black beans and red spices; Curried, with a subtle kick of turmeric and green herbs; and Sesame Citrus, also featuring red pepper, edamame and onions. Depending on the variety, the vegan, keto-certified item contains 35 to 60 calories and only 3 to 5 grams of net carbohydrates per serving. Low in total and saturated fat, and an excellent source of vitamin C, the product line comes frozen in an innovative microwavable cup that’s convenient, reusable, recyclable and dishwasher-safe. The suggested retail price per 8.5-ounce cup is $4.99. “We said we wouldn’t do riced cauliflower unless it was truly differentiated,” says Caulipower founder and CEO Gail Becker. “We’ve hacked a meal hack by making a real meal out of riced cauliflower. The packaging is portable and microwaveable, perfect for a healthy heat-and-eat-athome snack, a healthy side for dinner or a grab-and-go lunch.” www.eatcaulipower.com

Top That

Primal Instinct

Primal Kitchen Bowl and Skillet Meals bring the ultimate in premium real-ingredient meals to the frozen aisle. Meeting strict nutritional standards, the line’s entrées are made with cage-free dark-meat chicken or grass-fed, pasture-raised beef (featuring no antibiotics or hormones) and a range of vegetables. Each of the six frozen items is paleo-friendly, Certified Gluten-Free and Whole30 Approved, and contains no grains, soy, dairy, refined sugar or artificial ingredients. The single-serve bowls are ready in minutes and come in three varieties: keto-friendly Chicken Pesto riced cauliflower, hearty Beef and Mushroom, and, the favorite of brand founder Mark Sisson (pictured), a bestselling author, media personality and former endurance athlete, zesty Chicken Panang Curry. The multiserve skillet meals are easily prepared on a stovetop with avocado oil for extra protein, and are also available in three SKUs: spicy Steak Fajitas, No-Soy Chicken Teriyaki and Chicken Fried Riced Cauliflower. Additionally, Primal Kitchen teamed with Sonoco on the first-of-its-kind sustainable frozen-bowl packaging, made from upcycled U.S.-grown sugarcane fiber for a clean, sturdy, microwave-safe container. The suggested retail prices are $12.99 for the 20-ounce skillet meals and $7.99 for the 10-ounce bowls. www.primalkitchen.com

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Inspired by a key feature of Buffalo-style pizza now encountered on pizzeria menus across the country, Hormel Pepperoni Cup N’ Crisp can be baked hot in the oven, using a pizza stone or cooked on the grill. All consumers need to do is top their favorite pizza crust with sauce and pizza cheese, place one package of the item over the cheese, and bake the crust according to directions. The pepperoni will cup and crisp as it bakes. Available in original and bold varieties, the first-of-its-kind product retails for a suggested retail price range of $3.49-$3.99 per 5-ounce package. www.hormel.com/Brands/Pepperoni

Spreading the Word

Treeline Treenut Cheese makes artisan-style plant-based cheese that can be used as a substitute for dairy-based cheeses in any recipe. The company draws on traditional dairy cheese-making methods by fermenting creamy cashew nuts with a probiotic known as L. acidophilus. The kosher, soy- and gluten-free, Paleo-friendly product provides dietary fiber, which is not an attribute of dairy cheese. Treeline’s Cashew Cream Cheese flavors, Plain, Chive & Onion, and Strawberry, each retailing for a suggested $5.99 per 8-ounce tub, join its lineup of aged cheeses and soft French-style cheeses: Classic Aged Nut Cheese, Cracked Pepper Aged Nut Cheese, Herb-Garlic Soft French Style, Cracked Salt & Pepper Soft French Style, Chipotle-Serrano Soft French Style, and Scallion Soft French Style. www.treelinecheese.com

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EDITORS’ PICKS

Food, Beverage & Nonfood Products

Salmon-Skin Snack

Created by Justin Guilbert and Douglas Riboud, founders of the Harmless Harvest brand of coconut waters and dairy alternatives, Goodfish is a 100% traceable crispy wild Alaska sockeye salmon-skin snack that aims to propel sustainable seafood into mass-market culture. The item reclaims previously discarded salmon skins to create an innovative better-for-you snack that also has a conscience. “Goodfish demonstrates that innovation, transparency and progressive practices in the seafood industry can and must go beyond a niche appeal and tip into the mainstream,” notes Riboud. The highly nutritious, functional product contains 800 milligrams of omega-3 fatty acid to support heart health and healthy blood pressure; 7 grams of clean fish protein; 2,600 milligrams of marine collagen to support skin, hair, nail, bone and joint health; zero carbs; and only 90 calories. Goodfish retails for a suggested $2.99 per 0.5-ounce bag. www.goodfish.com

Easy Seafood

Drink to Better Immunity

Pulp Culture has created a category of better-for-you booze that, in the company’s words, is “set to disrupt the definition of alcohol consumption as we know it.” Its line of immune-boosting drinks consists of four function-first formulas, each showcasing all ingredients on the front of the can: Think, designed to boost brain power and deliver sustained energy; Hustle, an uplifting buzz to support an active lifestyle; Restore, a cleansing elixir that delivers good, clean fun; and Relax, offering downtempo vibes for a chill buzz. Created by full-spectrum fermentation, the zero-sugar, 99-calorie, 4.9% ABV beverage features stress-killing botanical adaptogens and 6 billion CFUs of probiotics per can. What’s more, according to Pulp Culture, the product won’t leave imbibers with a morning-after hangover. The suggested retail price is $13.99 per 4-pack in variety or single-blend options. www.pulpculture.la

Pop Goes the Oat Milk

Nondairy frozen novelty maker Chloe’s has launched a line of Oatmilk Pops inspired by classic favorites. The first oat milk pops on the market, the items are available in three varieties: Mint Chip, Salted Caramel and Raspberry Chip. When deciding to expand beyond fruit-based pops, Chloe’s chose oat milk because of its environmental benefits — it requires less water than traditional dairy milk or other nondairy options — as well as its rich, smooth, creamy texture. The line should also appeal to clean-label treat seekers: All three varieties are dairy-free, plant-based, Non-GMO Project Verified, gluten-free, and made without the artificial ingredients found in many frozen novelties. In addition to the Oatmilk Pops, the brand has introduced additional varieties for its dark chocolate dipped and core fruit lines: Chloe’s Coconut Dipped Pops and Chloe’s Lime Pops. The Oatmilk Pops and Coconut Dipped Pops retail for a suggested price range of $4.99-$5.99 per 10-ounce box of four 2.5-ounce pops, while the Lime Pops go for a suggested price range of $3.99-$4.99. www.chloesfruit.com

Phillips Foods’ Pasteurized Proteins line consists of three refrigerated options: Yellowfin Tuna, high-quality meaty chunks with a whopping 19 grams of protein per serving; Gourmet Baby Clams, 100% wild harvested in Southeast Asia and freshly hand-shucked; and Seafood Mix, a flavorful combination of shrimp, squid, octopus, clams and crab claw fingers. Fully cooked and ready to eat, the items can be consumed right out of the container or added to recipes without any messy prep work. Each variety is packed with protein, low in carbs, Whole30/keto compliant and Paleo friendly, as well as being sustainably sourced and containing just a handful of ingredients — seafood, water, salt and clam juice — with no artificial preservatives, colorings, flavorings or sweeteners added. Boasting a 15-month shelf life, the product line retails for a suggested $7.99 per 8-ounce tub. www.phillipsfoods.com

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