Last year we endured countless, continuous snow storms throughout the winter causing retailers to lose their minds. This year hasn’t been quite as extreme, but retailers are still in a quandary because they can’t match against last year’s numbers. What to do? Go to spring training in Florida…at press time Spring training has begun and the snowbirds are heading down to size up the teams and make predictions for the upcoming season.
Giant/Carlisle recently announced, in partnership with its sister company Peapod, that online delivery to homes and businesses is now available in more than 60 communities in greater Harrisburg and York, PA. A new fulfillment facility in Camp Hill services Peapod by Giant’s home and workplace grocery delivery to these communities. Approximately 50 new jobs have been created, which include personal shoppers and delivery drivers, to provide customers with this new shopping opportunity.
“It’s all about making it easy for our customers to shop for their groceries,” said Tom Lenkevich, president of Giant/Carlisle. “With the launch of Peapod by Giant, our customers now have a full range of shopping options. Whether it is shopping in our stores, ordering online and picking up, or having their groceries delivered to their home or office, Giant customers truly can shop when, where, and how they want.”
Rastelli Fresh Market in Marlton has been open for about seven months now, so I thought it was time for a follow up visit, which I made earlier this month. Ralph Nagle, non-perishables merchandising manager, gave me a guided tour, pointing out that sales are up since the opening in the vicinity of 25 percent and, are still climbing. They have added new sampling tables to encourage customers to try products in different categories. Also added is an in-house bakery for bread and pastries, which has been very successful. Known for their meat and seafood, these departments looked as appetizing as they did on opening day. The dry grocery was in the process of being totally reset with high expectations of increased sales. Produce is not a huge category for them, but well merchandised and the product mix is good and the prepared foods and sandwich bar was very appetizing. Rastelli’s goal is to be a community market, catering to each community it serves. They are looking to add 3-5 more locations in the Philadelphia/South Jersey market.
The International Dairy Deli Bakery Association has announced the speakers for its annual Seminar and Expo to be held in Atlanta June 7-9. Addressing the crowd of industry notables during the three day expo will be: comedian Jay Leno; Martha Stewart, founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia; Walter Robb, co-CEO of Whole Foods; “Supermarket Guru” Phil Lempert; Arianna Huffington, co-founder of the Huffington Post; Shaquille O’Neal, retired NBA All-Star and sports analyst for TNT and NBATV. To register, go to: www.iddba.org . See y’all in Atlanta!
Judy Spires, CEO of Kings Food Markets, was re-elected as the chairperson of the New Jersey Food Council (NJFC) at the organization’s annual membership meeting on January 29. “I am both honored and thrilled to continue as the chairperson of the New Jersey Food Council,” said Spires. Joining Spires as association officers are: vice chairman Richard Saker, Saker ShopRites; associate vice chairman Joe McCarthy, Bimbo Bakeries USA; treasurer Michael Rothwell, Pennington Quality Markets; secretary Michael Murphy, Quick Chek Food Corporation; and president Linda Doherty, NJFC. The NJFC membership also elected its board of directors for 2015. Representing the retail membership are: Dan Croce, Acme Markets; Rafael Cuellar, Cuellar, LLC/ShopRite of Passaic; David Maniaci, Nicholas Markets Foodtown; Frank Mastrangelo, Supervalu eastern division; James McCaffrey III, McCaffrey’s Markets; Colleen Meares, Stop & Shop; Christina Minardi, Whole Foods Markets; Joseph F. Pagano, Inserra Supermarkets; Jason Ravitz, Ravitz Family Markets; Peter Rojek, Fairway Markets; Phil Scaduto, Food Circus Super Markets; Leonard J. Sitar, ShopRite of Carteret; Joe Sofia, Wegmans Food Markets; William Sumas, Village Supermarkets; John Wachter, Murphy’s Markets of South Jersey; and Rich Wood, Wawa. Representing the associate members (non retailers) are: Lisa Angeles, Kraft Foods North America; Jody Avallone, Nestle USA; Michael Biase, Mission Foods; Kelly Johnston, Campbell Soup Company; Mitch Klein, Krasdale Foods; Debbie Pregiato, Advantage Sales & Marketing; Kim Sines, Unilever; Michael Sullivan, Coca-Cola Refreshments USA; and Luis Tejada, Goya Foods. Congratulations to all!
One of the newer programs at the NJFC is its Leadership Development Program, created to provide both orientation and skill development to future leaders of various segments of the food distribution industry. The program combines elements of mentoring, organizational education, leadership training, policy trends, and guided experiences to prepare the industry’s up and coming professionals for future leadership roles. Recently, the group participated in the “Getting Politically Active” session at the Statehouse. Participants met with Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno and Assembly Majority Leader Lou Greenwald to discuss political leadership, legislative process and the role of government and its impact on business. Participants were also briefed by New Jersey Business and Industry Association chief lobbyist Melanie Willoughby and State Chamber of Commerce chief lobbyist Michael Egenton. The day concluded with a tour of the Statehouse. The class of eight was chosen by a selective criteria and includes: Todd Ferrera, Wegmans; Spencer Jones, Coca-Cola Refreshments; Andrew Kent, Glass Gardens ShopRite; Howard Kent, Krasdale Foods; Sue Kurta, Stop & Shop; Elissa Lawson, Coca-Cola Refreshments; Brad Reeves, A&P; and Rick Saker, Saker ShopRites. NJFC’s Doherty stated, “This program will allow these young business leaders of tomorrow to gain the experience and skills needed to grow in their organizations and promote the food industry for years to come.” She added, “The eclectic nature of this program is meant to reflect the dynamic nature of the food industry and the diverse skill set needed to be a successful business leader in the interconnected world of government and the food business. We are confident this program will leave our future leaders better prepared to tackle the challenges they will face as they move into decision making roles in their organizations.”
Haddon House, one of the food industry’s leading specialty/natural/organic distributors, has announced that it has joined the IX-ONE product data and image exchange as a charter member. IX-ONE is the result of a collaborative effort among industry-leading organizations to provide clean, accurate and standardized product data and images to the trade. Haddon House will work closely with IX-ONE to help grow the exchange and strongly encourage participation of its suppliers and brokers. The IX-ONE solution takes a 360 degree product image and captures all product attributes, to create a centralized data and image exchange for suppliers to access and share their product information. It captures more than 20 images and 500 data points per item, including label-based claims and third party certifications as well as supply chain and logistic information such as weight and dimensions. Additionally, product data and images are royalty free. Members can use, post, and share their information from one centralized database the industry can trust to be complete and accurate.
“Clean, accurate and complete product data are essential to all of us. Through our partnership with IX-ONE, we will finally be able to provide our industry with a platform to share correct data and product images,” said Len Hunter, Haddon House’s vice president of sales. “We are very excited to be a charter member of IX-ONE and will strongly encourage our supplier and broker partners to become members as well.”
David Anderson Jr., vice president of Haddon House remarked, “By working together with IX-ONE and our vendor partners, we all will increase sales while making the supply chain much more efficient. We are pleased to see our industry come together and fix the problem of bad data. It costs all of us significantly.”
Produce and floral industry members from across the globe gathered in Southern California recently for the first PMA 2015 board of directors meeting. The group held discussions on key issues including: global trade, future talent needs, omni-channel fulfillment, analysis of the environment members’ face, efficient use of natural resources, and PMA’s role in driving demand. Other discussions during the three days of meetings included “eat brighter!,” a collaboration between PMA, the Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA) and Sesame Workshop, which grants members of the fresh produce industry royalty-free use of the Sesame Street character images. This unprecedented initiative intends to change the game of marketing in the fresh produce industry and inspire children and their families to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables. In less than one year, much progress has been made thanks to a group of industry marketers and champions. Forty eight industry leaders (and growing) have been licensed to use the “eat brighter!” assets in their go-to-market strategies. They join a large list of retail companies who are eagerly accepting product. The breadth of the “eat brighter!” brand power includes more than 100 licensed commodities and 29,000 retail stores. Remember, the future is all about the kids and starting them off eating nutritious foods!
A tip of the hat to Jim Perkins, Acme president who was recently elected to the board of governors of the Saint Joseph’s University Academy of Food Marketing. Congrats, Jim!
The circle of life continues as we send condolences to the family of Biagio H. “Big Bob” DeMento, who passed away on February 4, a week shy of his 88th birthday. As his son, Bob Jr. said during his euology, Bob was called “Big Bob” not just because of his stature, but also because of the size of his heart. He was a generous, jovial and devout family man, not to mention a legendary businessman. He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Cosima “Cous”, children, Robert DeMento (Kitty) and Lynn D. Saggiomo (Angelo), nine grandchildren, four great-grandchildren, and a sister, Antoinette Catelli. The family has requested contributions go to the National Shrine of Saint Rita of Cascia, 1166 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA19146. Rest in peace, Big Bob.
Birthday shout outs for the amorous month of February go out to: Gary Canuso, Turkey Hill; Guy Giordano, Vincent Giordano Company; Sandra Sage, Clemens Food Group; Neil Brassell, California Natural Products; BJ Zellers, TKE Marketing; Bill Schlosky, Utz Snacks; Kevin Gallagher, Food Trade News; and special birthday hugs to my daughter, Rosalie Marfuggi. I also want to send belated but heartfelt birthday wishes to Dietz and Watson’s Ruth “Momma Dietz” Eni. The deli manufacturer’s matriarch celebrated 90 years on January 25 with family and friends. Buon compleanno a tutti!
Quote of the month: “Life gets mighty precious when there’s less of it to waste.” Bonnie Raitt
