Allegiance Developing ‘Path Forward’ For Future Growth In Radically Changing Market
Allegiance Retail Services, the retailer-owned co-op that supports such banners as Foodtown, Freshtown and D’Agostino’s, held its annual meeting earlier this month at The Renaissance Hotel in Iselin, NJ, near the company’s corporate headquarters in that same Garden State berg.
More than 400 vendors attended the meeting, which was led by Allegiance president and COO John Derderian.
“We need to find a path forward that encompasses smart solutions – brand positioning and improved vendor relations – change, built on trust, all driven to produce a store of the future that consumers will embrace. Together, we can achieve that path forward,” he said.
In a concise, yet detailed 65-minute overview, Derderian proclaimed that the current “retail revolution” was at an “inflection point” where winners and losers will be decided in the next few years.
And why has this “inflection point” been reached? According to the former Pathmark executive, a combination of changing consumer DNA, rapidly accelerating digital growth and ongoing economic factors have all been major contributing factors to the revolution.
Specifically, Derderian noted that changing family structures and an increase in family shopping decisions made by men (approximately 30 percent) have made consumer targeting more complex and difficult for traditional grocers to grasp.
“Next year, millennials will have more buying power than baby boomers,” he affirmed.
In explaining the digital explosion, Derderian said that the industry must learn to deal with two eco-systems: offline (print) and online (digital), adding that those retailers that achieve success will be able to deal with both components.
And while many believe that the recessionary times of 2008-2009 have greatly subsided, Derderian believes that ongoing economic factors still adversely impact much of the population. He cited under-employment, wage stagnation, healthcare cost burdens and the reduction of SNAP benefits as ongoing issues affecting consumers.
Like many traditional operators, the industry veteran believes that supermarkets must separate themselves from other channels in order to remain successful.
“When it comes to digital, we need to offer a personalized experience. In terms of variety, if we feature more organic items we have an edge. We need to emphasize our value proposition and make our ‘own brands’ relevant. And, of course, we need to make our stores a more enticing place to shop for our customers,” Derderian said.
An example he cited was the need of Allegiance’s members to be more focused in providing meal solutions. “Yes, we need to offer meal solutions, but in order to build that business we need to be as good as or better than the QSRs, the local restaurant or pizza shop fighting for the same dollar.”
In directly addressing vendor issues for the first time during the meeting, Derderian noted that CPG suppliers have witnessed “an attack on their brands” in recent years and also must confront the same changing dynamics that retailers face concerning brand loyalty, pack size and ingredient transparency. He added that vendors have to make difficult choices when it comes to the digital marketing of their brands suggesting that some have made or are considering an “unholy alliance” with Amazon.
“American consumers no longer buy based largely on category or brand. They decide what to put in their shopping carts based primarily on immediate or anticipated needs, and secondarily on brands that meet those needs at the price points they are comfortable with. We are not selling categories, we are selling solutions,” Derderian proclaimed as he began to provide more detail on Allegiance’s “path forward.”
Specifically, he called upon the reps and brokers to reposition their brands (“a smart solution”) and “fix the mix” in helping to create a new store prototype by 2020, which aligns with tomorrow’s consumer.
Derderian then unveiled a video highlighting Foodtown’s new marketing theme: “Shop Foodtown. That’s Smart!” The new spot focused on Foodtown’s private brands (including Rancher’s Legend beef and Green Way organic products), fresh and healthy food, advice with tips on living a healthier lifestyle, Foodtown’s new mobile app, a click & collect service (available in select stores) and a “rewards” program tied to its loyalty card.
According to the Derderian, Allegiance’s new branding position will continue to stress its primary message: “Save me money. Save me time. Teach me something new. Make it easy for me.”
Next up to speak was Mike Conese, Allegiance’s VP-center store, who updated the audience on the company’s in-store execution (ISE) program which was first addressed at last year’s vendor meeting in October 2016 and begun this past January.
In prioritizing the need for suppliers to work with Allegiance member stores to “fix the (item) mix” at its more than 80 stores, Conese said the first objective of the plan was to ensure that the 1,200 top SKUs were on the shelf. A detailed plan-o-gram process was developed where top items by category (including new items) were put on store shelves.
That included extensive store resets which were customized to accurately accommodate unique sizes (5,000-40,000 square feet) of Allegiance members’ stores. Also part of its ISE initiative is a reliance on section mapping which will build a database to capture section sizes to better understand most predominant sets throughout the organization so an optimal plan-o-gram catalogue can be built.
Conese, who joined Allegiance in 2015 from Fairway Market, quoted the immortal Dr. Seuss when telling the vendors in the audience: “Unless someone like you cares an awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”
Dean Holmquist, Allegiance’s VP-perishables, provided the gathering with a detailed and informative group illustrating the declining channel share of traditional grocers, while also pointing out opportunities where conventional supermarkets can leverage their unique strengths to stop the bleeding and regain market share.
Here are some facts he disseminated; traditional grocers dollar share by channel has been cut in half over the past 29 years (from 90 percent to 44 percent); the number of traditional supermarkets in 2016 eroded by 5.8 percent over the previous year and the supermarket channel by dollar sales decreased 5.9 percent. By 2021, store counts are predicted to decline a whopping 24.6 percent and dollar share will dip another 3.5 percent.
Holmquist stated that by format ranking, ecommerce was poised for the greatest annual growth (25 percent) followed by limited assortment stores and fresh format units.
Traditional grocers are expected to experience a negative 0.3 percent annual growth rate. In fact, the perishables executive affirmed that two of the most shifting trends include dollars spent eating at home vs. eating away from home. In 2013, 60 percent of all food dollars were spent eating at home; in 2016 that number dropped to 56 percent and continues to trend downward. Moreover, total food and beverage e-commerce sales, which Holmquist said reached $33 billion last year (about 4 percent of a $795 billion pie), is expected to reach $70 billion by 2021 and carve out 8 percent of a $930 billion base.
Holmquist noted that current physical stores do have some distinct advantages including the ability for consumers to physically see and touch the merchandise; instant gratification; and the ability to interact with employees. He viewed departments such as deli/fresh (prepared foods and grab & go) and produce as likely sales builders that deserve more space allocation and that ideas such as smaller format stores, green building techniques and differentiating department space from other existing stores are worth considering or implementing.
In closing, the 30-year Allegiance/Foodtown executive revealed that a task force has been assembled to assess “next generation” store layouts; analyze technology requirements; and review merchandising concepts.
As Derderian took the podium again, he reinforced the urgency for Allegiance’s retailers and its suppliers/brokers to unite in its path forward together.
“CPG manufacturers have to trust Allegiance in brand positioning to speak to the new consumer and in trade partnerships and our new ISE process. We need our vendor partners to enhance our business intelligence in collaboration with our syndicated data partners and to continue to develop an overall strategy to align with the new consumer,” Derderian stated. “Allegiance also has to trust the CPG/broker community to continue product innovation and drive more business. We need to develop a business strategy that includes more regional players and find partners to sell ‘solutions.’ We are facing a new retail paradigm – the supermarket industry and our CPG/broker partners are inextricably linked to success in the future.”
In talking with nearly a dozen suppliers and brokers who attended all agreed that the meeting was informative and valuable and many noted that they appreciated the professionalism and the succinctness of the message delivered by Derderian and his team.
AmazonFresh Exiting Certain Suburban Areas; Expect Whole Foods, Prime To Now Fill The Void
Home delivery remains the most complex and costliest option for food retailers. To wit: Peapod and Fresh Direct, which have been in the business since the last millennium, have yet to become profitable.
So, it wasn’t too surprising to learn that AmazonFresh is scaling back its coverage in several key markets, some of which it entered less than a year ago. But parent firm amazon.com emphasized that it is not giving up on its fresh delivery portal, it is merely reducing the number of zip codes it will serve in several states (in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, those include Connecticut, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and Virginia) while continuing to deliver perishables in parts of all those states.
Of note also is that amazon.com continues to build fulfillment centers to support fresh deliveries nationwide.
To this reporter, it seems that AmazonFresh isn’t going away – it’s likely to be repurposed into other Amazon formats.
One of those up-and-coming portals is the company’s Amazon Prime Now, which promises grocery and restaurant deliveries within a two-hour window and also offers perishables in its catalogue. Currently available in about a dozen markets including Baltimore, Washington, DC and New York City, Prime Now is also being tested in other markets, as well, including Richmond.
It’s clear amazon.com believes that its $99 per-year Prime subscription service is one of the foundations of its go-to-market approach. And Prime Now is available to all Prime members, who now total more than 80 million nationally. Moreover, when compared to AmazonFresh, which charges an additional $14.99 per month on top of the Prime annual fee, Prime Now seems like it will be the perishables-driven silo that will be prioritized.
And then there’s the future role of Whole Foods Markets, where amazon.com has barely scratched the surface. I had an opportunity to visit the busy and impressive WFM flagship store in Austin, TX last month and, other than point-of-sale signage marketing lower prices (fewer than 100 items), there wasn’t much evidence that a new sheriff was in town.
That will change soon.
Other than the utilization of selling a proprietary brand (365) through its vast distribution network, a bigger opportunity lies in utilizing Whole Foods’ more than 450 stores as both mobile delivery hubs and click & collect centers. While Instacart has WFM’s delivery business currently, its contract expires in 2021. Look for that business to be integrated into a re-engineered AmazonFresh/Prime Now.
The entire integration of Whole Foods into amazon.com won’t be without its bumps given the ferocity of competition in a traditionally low-margin business.
However, amazon.com has the benefit of time, talent, seemingly unlimited funds with which to experiment, and a 44 percent share of all e-commerce business in the U.S. (according to eMarketer) as well as the adoration of Wall Street which thinks the Seattle juggernaut can’t do much wrong. In fact, that reputation has been earned, because amazon.com’s “hits” over the past decade have significantly outweighed its “misses.”
And if this current scaling back of its AmazonFresh grocery business can be counted as a “miss,” I’m betting that a new “hit” will surface very soon.
Ahold USA Completes Integration Assignments; New Decentralized Model To Be Launched January 1
With the completion of its “Wave C” round of interviews and future job assignments affecting associates in IT, legal, people systems and services, finance, supply chain and communications, Ahold USA is now ready to debut its new decentralized operating model on January 1, 2018.
The new structure places priorities on its brands (banners) and on its Retail Business Services (RBS) unit, which was created earlier this year to oversee administrative functions. Those who made the cut in “Wave C” will be part of RBS. At the brand level, “Wave C” focused on human resources, finance, fresh formats and quality assurance.
With all Ahold USA personnel now assigned, I’m wondering how long after January 1 it will take for all of the company’s newly rearranged pieces to flow effectively. Remember, this is radical change designed to make the organization more efficient and productive. Not only are there a lot of moving parts to consider, AUSA is making those changes in a culture where morale is mediocre at best. The best measuring stick to me has always been same store sales so we’ll continue to monitor that. And as I’ve written before, once the one-time overall Ahold Delhaize corporate synergy savings of $550 million are utilized (by early 2019) and the new structure is road tested, it will be of interest to watch if AUSA can actually sell more stuff.
And speaking of selling more stuff, Ahold Delhaize reported strong earnings and improved ID sales in its recently competed third quarter. Overall, the Amsterdam-based merchant posted a sales increase of 7.4 percent and earnings jumped 54 percent to $419.3 million. In the U.S., at Ahold USA, net sales declined 6.1 percent (the company operated 12 fewer stores), but comps (excluding fuel) grew slightly to 0.7 percent compared to negative 0.1 in the corresponding period last year. Earnings remained strong with operating income increasing 35.4 percent to $199 million and underlying operating margin rising to 4.1 percent from 3.9 percent.
At Delhaize America, net sales jumped 22.4 percent and operating profit also increased 28.2 percent to $132 million. Buoyed by its “Easy, Fresh & Affordable” remodeling effort, comp store sales were 2.3 percent compared to last year’s third quarter figure of 1.3 percent.
There’s no question that Ahold Delhaize is a profit beast and should produce stellar earnings for the next six quarters as it takes full advantage of the synergies created by the AD merger which was completed last year. But at AUSA, comps should be better and once again, I find myself wondering if the company will ever devote more resources to improving its stores and ultimately its customer engagement experience? With such great locations, strong programs like “Project Thunder” and a well-developed strategy to maximize earnings it should be doing better with its top line revenue and could be doing a lot more to improve the morale of many of its associates.
We also learned that Hanneke Faber, chief commerce and innovation officer for Ahold Delhaize will leave the company next month to pursue career opportunity, reportedly with another Dutch firm – Unilever (she formerly worked for P&G). Faber joined Ahold in 2013. A search has begun for Faber’s successor who will likely oversee the chain’s rapidly evolving digital model.
‘Round The Trade
I’ve received several reports from Mid-Atlantic real estate executives who said that Lidl has put the brakes on many new projects, particularly in the state of Pennsylvania (excluding the Philadelphia area). Those sources tell us that many pending deals with real estate brokers have been terminated and that the opening dates for stores that Lidl owns have been delayed. Not surprising, since my most recent Lidl store trips have yielded more disappointing news, with often declining sales and eroding execution at store level, particularly in perishables. Moreover, the German discounter’s approach to general merchandise is baffling to me. Lambskin slippers for $19.99? On November 16, Lidl did open its first New Jersey store in Vineland, the same day it cut the ribbon on three other discount units, including one in Virginia Beach, which is now Lidl’s most heavily concentrated market with nine stores. Earlier this month, the privately-held German firm, whose U.S. headquarters are based in Arlington, VA, began its holiday season promotional program. That effort includes adding about 200 premium food and wine items and more than 300 gift items and holiday decorations…now that Walgreens has finally gotten the best Rite Aid deal that the FTC will allow, it announced late last month that it would be closing about 600 overlapping stores in the next 12-18 months. The majority of those stores will be Rite Aid units. The reasons are rather simple: with the soon-to-be-closed stores all within a mile of existing Walgreens, the FTC would not allow that level of overlap. Moreover, with Walgreens reporting negative comps of 2.1 percent in its recently completed fourth quarter, it certainly wouldn’t want that much cannibalization as it moves forward with a new corporate strategy…Supervalu has promoted Anne Dament from senior VP to executive VP for retail marketing and private brands. Dament, who joined Supervalu earlier this year, is a seasoned merchant having worked for Safeway, PetSmart and Target previously. You gotta wonder when Supervalu finally exits corporate retail if Dament, a Twin Cities native who began her industry career with Supervalu more than 25 years ago, will officially become the wholesaler’s chief merchant…reckoning day could come next year for beleaguered grocery merchant Southeastern Grocers (SEG), parent company of Winn-Dixie and Bi-Lo. According to a report issued by Moody’s earlier this month, the Jacksonville, FL-based chain faces two significant debt repayments, the first of which is due in September 2018 ($475 million in unsecured notes). Another repayment for $425 million in senior secured notes is due in February 2019, creating mounting pressure on the already struggling chain which is owned by Dallas, TX based private equity firm Lone Star Funds. Its $900 million credit facility, of which about nearly $300 million has been tapped, matures in November 2018 if any of the senior secured notes are outstanding at that time. Financially speaking, the company will have to restructure its debt or consider filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Realistically speaking, both the Winn-Dixie and Bi-Lo brands (more than 700 supermarkets) have been under siege for more than a decade and Lone Star, which has been attached to the deal since 2005, has been trying to unload this albatross for years. However, while the company’s top line revenue has struggled since even before this millennium, the fat cats in Dallas haven’t personally suffered too much. According to its 2013 SEC filing, when the retailer unsuccessfully attempted to launch an IPO, SEG’s prospectus showed that of the $475 million debt issued in that same year, $458 million of that loan was used as a distribution to Lone Star. According to that filing, the retailer also distributed $76 million in 2011 and $305 million in 2012 to Loan Star…“Papa” John Schnatter, founder and CEO of Papa John’s pizza, wins this month’s “be careful what you wish for” award. The already overexposed pizza promoter criticized the National Football League and its players for protesting the national anthem which he claimed has dragged down pizza sales because of declining ratings. The fun began when Greg Creed, chief executive of Yum! Brands, which owns rival Pizza Hut, said his chain has not felt any impact on its pizza business and then DiGiorno, owned by Nestle, responded on Twitter by exclaiming “Better Pizza. Better Sales. It’s DiGiorno.” That was a clear spoof of Papa John’s tag line – “Better Ingredients. Better Pizza. Papa John’s.” Papa John’s took the bait and countered with “Frozen pizza = equivalent of a participation trophy,” which was later changed to “Better Ingredients. Better Pizza. Better Tweets.” Just before presstime, Schnatter back off even further, when noting that while he believes that Americans’ should honor the national anthem, he supports the players’ movement to create a new platform for change. As for his Twitter battle with DiGiorno’s, I would disagree with two of those statements from Papa John’s, giving the nod to DiGiorno’s for having the better tweets and the better pizza.
Local Notes
On November 7, Weis Markets reported its 14th consecutive quarter of comparable-store sales gains, but said net income for the third quarter was down by 58.1 percent, compared to a year ago. The Sunbury, PA-based retailer reported comp-store sales gains of 1.5 percent for the 13-week period that ended September 30. Total sales were up 15 percent, to $854.3 million, compared with the year-ago results, reflecting the acquisition last year of 38 Food Lion stores in Maryland, Delaware and Virginia, plus the acquisition of one Nell’s Family Market store in East Berlin, PA. Net income for the third quarter was $4.4 million, compared with $10.6 million in the year-ago period. Weis attributed the decline to aggressive promotional and pricing programs; price deflation in produce, deli/foodservice, bakery and seafood; and inventory management challenges at some of the acquired stores. For the 39-week, year-to-date period, Weis said its net income fell 24.5 percent, to $34.8 million, on a 16.8 percent increase in sales, to $2.6 billion, compared with year-ago results. Comparable-store sales through the first three quarters were up 1.6 percent. The closely-held publicly-traded regional chain operates 204 supermarkets in seven Mid-Atlantic states. Weis also recently issued its 2016 Sustainability Report, stating that it has reduced its carbon footprint by 25.4 percent since it began measuring sustainability level in 2016. Among other milestones attained last year were: increasing recycling by more than 8.3 percent over the previous year. The company also recycled more than 25,600 tons of cardboard, 607 tons of mixed paper, 786 tons of plastic bags and 170 tons of recycled pharmacy bottles; being recognized by the EPA’s Green Chill program, which encourages reduced refrigerant usage to help lower the overall environmental impact on the ozone layer and climate change. Awards in 2016 include the 2016 Superior Goal Achievement, the 2016 Exceptional Goal Achievement, and 2013-2017 Store Re-Certification Excellence; expanding its fleet of energy-efficient vehicles, hitting its goal of leasing 30 vehicles with “clean diesel” exhaust technology and
receiving LEED Silver Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council for the company’s Fogelsville, PA store. The design features now serve as the gold standard for all future store remodels and new buildings; expanding its 1.2 million square-foot distribution center that streamlines the company’s supply chain while minimizing its environmental impact through use of an ammonia refrigeration system, and also expanding the Weis Recycling Center; committing to reduce food waste in Weis operations 50 percent by 2030 as one of five grocers for the inaugural class of the U.S. Food Loss and Waste 2030 Champions, convened by the EPA and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)…in the double-parking capital of the country – New York City – a new six-month test is under way that will limit curbside deliveries in certain areas of Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. During the morning and evening rush hours in certain areas of those boroughs, curbside deliveries from illegally parked (and double-parked) vehicles won’t be allowed. Me thinks, other than racking up larger fines and perhaps an occasional towing, most companies doing business in the City will remain generally unfazed…I recently had a chance to visit the new Save-A-Lot operating model (a corporate store on Merritt Boulevard in Dundalk, MD). My immediate first impression was that it looked just like a Lidl, which shouldn’t be surprising since the current leadership team of CEO Kenneth McGrath and chief investment officer Kevin Proctor spent most of their business careers with the German discounter. To be blunt, Save-A-Lot has a lot of work to do before they can catch up to Aldi. And while it is far bigger than fledgling Lidl in the U.S., it doesn’t have the long-term capital resources available to it that Lidl has (it’s owned by Canadian PE company Onex). Furthermore, we’ve been hearing some criticism from S-A-L licensees (which control about 70 percent of the company’s business) that the new management team is too process-oriented and inflexible to be effective. “We’re not in Europe and we don’t work for Lidl,” said one frustrated licensee. “Following the debacle that (former owner) Supervalu created, I appreciate the need for better control and improved systems, but we don’t need a bunch of programs shoved down our throats that I don’t believe are going to help us (the licensees) in an increasingly competitive channel.”…our friends at Goya announced that they have begun a 324,000 square foot expansion at the company’s North American Processing Center in Brookshire, TX. That new addition will nearly double the space of the existing Goya campus which was built in 2014. The added square footage will be used to bolster production, distribution and office functions.…Sprouts Farmers Market, the Phoenix, AZ natural and organics merchant, posted extremely strong third quarter financials earlier this month. Highlights include: earnings of $31 million, a 32 percent gain; and comparable store sales growth of 4.6 percent, and two-year comparable store sales growth of 5.9 percent; overall sales of $1.2 billion, a 16 percent increase from the corresponding period last year. The perishables-oriented merchant expects to open 30 new stores next year. In addition to its previously announced Ellicott City, MD debut, the company finally confirmed that it will expand into Pennsylvania in 2018. And while it would not specify store locations, we feel confident in our previous reporting that Sprouts will open in a new major commercial development in Philadelphia – (Broad Street & Washington Avenue) – and in the Moorestown, NJ Mall where it will occupy some of the space of previous tenant Macy’s…it’s been quite a month for Hanover, PA-based Utz Quality Foods. First, the fast-growing snack foods manufacturer agreed to acquire Inventure Foods, Phoenix, AZ, for approximately $165 million in cash, which includes the assumption of approximately $75 million in Inventure debt. Inventure makes company-branded and licensed snacks under such brands as Boulder Canyon, Nathan’s Famous and TGI Friday’s. Then, within days, the company revealed it was also buying out the minority stake (believed to be just over 20 percent) made by private equity investor Metropoulos & Co. just over a year after the investment firm took a minority interest in the family-owned snack maker to help complete its purchase of Alabama-based snack food manufacturer Golden Flake Foods. It was thought at the time that Utz could utilize Metropoulos’ expertise in the food and beverage industry (Hostess, Pabst, Bumble Bee) and its financial acumen to help the snack food firm with its strategic direction and future acquisitions. According to chief executive Dylan Lissette, that wasn’t necessarily so. While not wanting to disclose much, the 45-year old CEO said that Metropoulos’ interest in the Utz was never to be interpreted as a must have long-term marriage, but confirmed that Metropoulos’ investment was an important one at the time of the Golden Flake deal as Utz was looking for both capital and expertise and Metropoulos was able to provide exactly that. In a short time, Utz was able to dramatically improve earnings and set in place the proper future structure for continued growth. Lissette detailed how the company has restructured its senior leadership team over the past year and has also re-evaluated its future financing needs and growth plans. He added that while Utz is adding more debt to its balance sheet to accomplish these core objectives, it can still maintain its healthy expansion objectives while using the sales growth of its newly acquired companies and the synergy savings from those purchases to continue to seek more growth and success – both organic and via M&A. In addition, the Rice-Lissette family will own 100 percent of the company. When Lissette began with Utz 22 years ago, the firm was doing about $105 million in sales; it will exceed $850 million in sales next year with this acquisition and will be very close to becoming the third largest branded snacking company in the U.S. Also, according to Lissette, Utz has improved its core metrics each year for the last five years, showing the strength of the Utz platform. It’s been a very strong run for Lissette since he was named CEO in early 2013. Besides the Golden Flake and Inventure deals, the company has acquired Dirty & Zapp’s, Bachman, Good Health, Keystone Pretzel Bakery, Condor Snacks and some distribution centers from Shearer’s Snacks in Ohio. While Lissette is relatively quiet, and flies under the radar, I’d be careful not to bet against him…Justin Dye, former chief administrative officer at Albertsons, has joined financial advisory firm and investment bank Peter J. Solomon Co. as a senior advisor in its food retail and restaurant group. Great to see Justin, one of the brightest and most talented young executives in the business, back in the saddle…a tip of the hat to our buddy Fred Morganthall, who is retiring as executive VP retail operations for Kroger at the end of this month. As many of you know, Fred served as president of Harris Teeter from 1997 to 2013, when Kroger acquired the Matthews, NC-based regional chain. He then joined the parent firm, first as a senior VP then to his current role in 2015. All told, Fred spent 44 years in the grocery biz. He leaves with a stellar reputation and served as a great mentor to many people and a wonderful ambassador for the industry. A true first ballot Hall of Famer, I wish him all the best in his future endeavors…from the obit desk this month, I’m sad to report the passing of Dave McElroy, former executive for Golden Grain Inc. (now part of Quaker). You may never have heard of Dave, but on a personal level, he not only served as a mentor to Dick Bestany and me when we worked for The Griffin Report in Boston, he served as a key advisor to us when we moved to Maryland and acquired Food World in 1978. I’ll miss Dave’s generous heart and wonderful sense of humor…also passing on recently was Kay O’Hare, 92, mother of food brok
er Chip O’Hare and grandmother of Matt O’Hare, JOH. Another memory from my New England past, Kay and her husband Harry, founder of JOH, were two of the nicest people I’ve met, dating back to when I began my food industry career in 1973…I was also shocked to hear about the death of pitcher of Roy Halladay, the perennial All-Star pitcher, who was piloting his own plane in Florida when it crashed earlier this month. Halladay, 40, had a great 16-year career (with the Blue Jays and Phillies), winning the Cy Young award twice, being named to eight All-Star teams and pitching only the second no-hitter in post-season play (against the Reds in the 2010 NL division series; Don Larsen’s perfect game in the 1956 World Series was the other) and also throwing a perfect game of his own in 2010 (only the 20th “perfecto” in MLB history at the time). Halladay is certainly a borderline Hall of Famer (203 career wins) who was greatly respected by his teammates…finally, another great music legend has passed. Antoine “Fats” Domino, an early rock & roll pioneer and one of the greatest piano players in popular music, died late last month at the age of 89 not far from his New Orleans birthplace. His boogie-woogie style of piano playing was off the charts and was the foundation of almost every big hit Domino ever recorded, including “Blueberry Hill,” “Ain’t That A Shame,” “I’m Walkin’” and “Blue Monday.” In a seven-year period in the late 50s and early 60s, Domino sold 65 million singles and had 23 gold records. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as part of the inaugural class in 1986…gott- have holiday item for 2017? The answer is clear – Stove Top Thanksgiving Dinner Pants. Obviously created for the “I’m going to need to go on a diet after Thanksgiving and Christmas” crowd, this creative new item is described as “comfortable, stretch-waisted pants with a little bit of Stove Top style.” These ridiculous – I mean, unique – looking pants also feature an over-the-belly (“Stuffin’-Stretch”) waistband that allows you to ‘eat in’ embellished with iconic Stove Top stuffing imagery and complimented by XXL stuffing print pockets.” And who said that Kraft has lost its creative edge?