By Supermarket News
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The podcast currently has 98 episodes available.
Supermarket News Executive Editor Chloe Riley sat down with Alex Kinnier, the co-founder and CEO of Upside, to talk about a new report Upside has about consumer spending behavior — and how grocers can be thinking differently about courting shoppers who are less inclined towards loyalty than ever before.
Regenerative farming has been gaining momentum for a while now, and a prime example as to how far it has come is to look at Burroughs Family Farms in California’s Central Valley. Benina Montes, who is a managing partner, grew up on the farm and saw the transition to regenerative practices. She talks about what they do at Burroughs Family Farms and what the future holds for the practice.
Newtopia Now has certainly made a name for itself.
Formerly Natural Products Expo East, the show held in Denver last month had an all-natural buzz to it and served as a springboard to successful events moving forward.
The show had over 550 exhibitors, with 180 exhibiting for the first time at any trade show, and over 7,000 attendees, according to show officials.
Heavy hitters in the natural and organic food industry like Whole Foods, Target, and Sprouts Farmers Market were also in attendance.
The core goal of Newtopia Now is to create a meeting place for CPGs and retailers in the natural and organic market, according to New Hope.
The show was divided up into four sections or “neighborhoods”: “Thrive,” “Glow,” “Regenerate,” and “Represent.”
Newtopia Now also had a kitchen area where natural and organic dishes were being created, a café, and a Tasting Bar located right off the show floor where attendees could sample various products of the show.
There is a lot of work that goes into show planning, and with the new name the effort took on more importance.
Supermarket News sat down with Jessica Rubino, vice president of content for New Hope Network, at the show to talk about what went into the name change, the energy during the first day of the event, and some of the features.
Electronic Shelf Labels (ESL) are taking off. Walmart recently announced that it plans to switch over to 100% electronic shelf labels by 2026, citing a need for increased productivity and reduced walking time as well as simplified stock replenishment and faster order picking and fulfillment. ESL is transitioning past the early adopter phase — the tech is now becoming more and more a necessity that gives retailers a leg up.
The cost on electronic shelf labels has also been dropping in recent years and, simultaneously, labor costs have been rising. All of which has industry analysts speculating that ESL tech is going to begin to quickly scale.
On this special tech edition of our podcast, “SN Techwire,” Supermarket News editor Chloe Riley sat down with Tighe Renner, senior manager, new business development with Aperion (a retail technology arm of the Hussmann Corporation) whose primary product is ESL offerings from digital store solutions company Hanshow.
Whether they have the local benefits of an independent or the scale of a chain, supermarket operators need as much information as they can take in about their guests’ buying patterns, preferences, and demographics. But which sources help them the most?
Supermarket News Intelligence recently investigated where more than 100 retailers turn to collect data on customers and their spending habits in our 2023 Tech Market Leader Report.
“It’s still an AI story,” Perrier told SN recently at the FMI Midwinter Conference in Marco Island, Fla. “ I think the big difference is…years ago we were talking about personalization and targeting…now we’re actually seeing real use cases, real demos. Large scale language models are being used to help retailers generate revenue and it’s quite powerful.”
In this special edition of our SN Off the Shelf podcast — SN TechWire — SN spoke with Sylvain Perrier, president and COO of grocery ecommerce software company Mercatus, about how grocers can smartly use personalization to drive loyalty and customer retention.
On today’s TechWire podcast, you’ll learn:
Take a listen.
When given the chance, those opposing the Kroger, Albertsons merger have let themselves be heard. It happened again in Colorado, where a number of people stood up during a meeting attended by Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan and urged the agency not to approve the deal.
Grocery price increases and job security are the two top concerns expressed by consumers, workers, and unions.
But what if grocery prices remained competitive after the merger and a minimal number of jobs were lost? It most likely will happen, according to Eric Fruits, senior scholar at the International Center for Law and Economics. Fruits is the co-author of the white paper titled, “Food-Retail Competition, Antitrust Law, and the Kroger/Albertsons Merger.”
In the latest episode of SN Off the Shelf, Supermarket News Senior Editor Bill Wilson talks with Fruits about the Kroger, Albertsons merger which, according to Fruits, enough has been done to satisfy the parameters of a fair deal.
Take a listen.
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A little over a year ago Ahold Delhaize USA made a major move in the retail media game.
Peapod Digital Labs, the e-commerce and digital innovation arm of Ahold Delhaize USA, announced plans to grow its AD Retail Media network into an end-to-end, in-house retail media business. That will enable consumer packaged goods partners to better leverage the long reach of Ahold Delhaize grocery retail brands, which encompass more than 2,000 stores, process over 23 million transactions weekly, engage nearly 24 million active loyalty card users and generate more than $51 billion in annual sales.
In this episode of SN Off the Shelf, Supermarket News Senior Editor Bill Wilson had the chance to check in with SVP of Retail Media at Ahold Delhaize USA Bobby Watts at Groceryshop 2023 in Las Vegas.
Watts believes retail media has not reached its peak yet and cautioned that retailers need to keep the consumer in mind when executing a plan.
Take a listen.
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Have a pitch for the podcast? Reach out at [email protected]. And thanks for listening.
The landscape for center store beverage categories has been shifting dramatically, as consumers gravitate toward newer players that provide functional benefits, like prebiotic and probiotic sodas, as well as old standbys like energy drinks.
Supermarket News Executive Editor Chloe Riley sat down with Numerator’s Mike Scavuzzo at the recent EXPO East Natural Products show in Philadelphia, Penn. to talk about the significant growth in functional beverages.
Highlights from Scavuzzo’s 2022 recap on the prebiotic and probiotic soda category:
“The brilliance of these brands is that they took a high penetration, mainstream category and made it ‘better for you.’ Mainstream means consumer approachability and little education needed to understand what the product is.. Better for you is self explanatory. That deadly combo is making a dent in CSD (carbonated soft drink) sales and you better believe Coke and Pepsi are on high alert.”
Take a listen.
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Have a pitch for the podcast? Reach out at [email protected]. And thanks for listening.
Retail media has been exploding over the last year, and Dollar General is right there riding the wave.
However, the discount retailer is taking a different approach. Rather than doing retail media in-house, Dollar General is partnering with third parties to deliver the message to consumers.
In this episode of SN Off the Shelf, Supermarket News Senior Editor Bill Wilson talks with Chad Fox, who is vice president and chief marketing officer at DG. Hear how Dollar General has taken on the world of retail media with its own flair.
Take a listen.
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Have a pitch for the podcast? Reach out at [email protected]. And thanks for listening.
The plant-based category has had its share of ups and downs. A year ago, The Guardian asked whether the plant-based sales phenomena of the last decade was finally starting to be on the outs. But recent data from Kroger data arm 84.51° suggests that consumers are still choosing plant-based, especially in the plant-based dairy category.
Some key findings from the 84.51° data:
Shift in spend: Shoppers who engage with plant-based foods generally reduce their engagement with animal-based foods. Shoppers who increased their plant-based engagement overall increased their dollar spend in total plant-based foods by 92%, while only increasing animal-based spending by 9% in the same period
Consumers are choosing plant-based: 38% of surveyed shoppers indicate they are choosing plant-based milk instead of animal-based milk; 25% are choosing plant-based meats instead of animal-based meat; and 22% are choosing plant-based yogurt instead of animal-based yogurt
Ecommerce as growth engine: Plant-based foods hold a higher market share in ecommerce likely due to easier searchability and increased variety of products
Over 1.4 million Kroger households engaged with plant-based categories on their ecommerce platforms during the 12-week study period. While Millennials were the most engaged, all generations were represented, illustrating a broad opportunity to optimize omnichannel strategies based on consumer buying preferences.
At the recent EXPO East natural products show in Philadelphia, Penn., Supermarket News Executive Editor Chloe Riley sat down with 84.51° Lead Consultant, Insights Account Manager Shannon Weis, to talk about how consumers are actually shopping plant-based today.
Take a listen.
The podcast currently has 98 episodes available.