One of the oldest stories in my repetitive repertoire of bad jokes and tales from the trade involves my annual sojourn to the Fancy Food Show in Manhattan. Every year I’d walk the endless aisles featuring hundreds of exhibitors who would provide free samples of “Aunt Margaret’s Terrific Toffee,” “Jakarta Maui Gonzo Coffee,” “Grandma’s Fabulous Freakin’ Fudge’ and countless other hand-crafted items that tasted great on the showroom floor.
And then the punch line would kick in: “Do any of these people have a clue about the process of getting their tasty treats displayed on a supermarket shelf? Have they considered the complexity and cost of co-packing, proper ingredient labeling, slotting and advertising?”
In most cases the answer would be a resounding no; and even if they were aware of the detailed process, very few had the resources to make their homemade products affordable and adaptable enough to ensure shelf placement.
I’m happy to report that things are changing for the better for those small, local vendors who are just seeking an opportunity to market their brands without having to endure the hardships created by their limited size and scale.
After all, in a retail landscape that’s not only getting more competitive but is also becoming more diverse, conventional supermarket chains in particular are seeking more opportunities to create differentiation. And the potential of promoting and featuring local products provides a clear point of separation.
Earlier this month, Giant Food hosted its first “Local Vendor Summit,” a three-hour virtual meeting intended to provide instruction, process and guidance on how local manufacturers and distributors can gain entry into its 164 stores and/or online through the chain’s e-commerce portal. Approximately 100 current local vendors, 50 potential new vendors and 185 Giant Food and related entities were invited to the meeting.
Among the presenters were: Giant Food’s Ira Kress, president; Tonya Herring, SVP-merchandising; Dyani Hanrahan, VP-marketing; Cindy Volk, merchandising director; Kate Clarke, e-commerce merchandising manager; Nikki Olaleye, e-commerce merchandising manager; Ryen Mills, e-commerce marketing manager; Kevin Brooks, e-commerce merchandising analyst; Lisa Coleman, director of healthy living; Emily
Massi, healthy living merchandising manager; along with parent Ahold Delhaize USA’s Steven Jennings, health and sustainability lead; and sister division Peapod Digital Labs’ Kate Weaver, supplier diversity manager; and Shannon Fuller, data governance director.
Affiliated third-party partners participating included: Elena Rosenblum, Union Kitchen; Eileen Conway, director of retail projects, RangeMe; and Sarah Chmielowicz, VP retail – grocery, ECRM.
Current local vendors Greg David of George’s Beverage Company and Eddie Burchell of Roseda Farm provided tutorials on how they were able to partner successfully with the Landover, MD-based merchant.
Kress kicked off the meeting by emphasizing that Giant’s ability to serve as a differentiator includes highlighting local products and taking advantage of the global cuisine opportunities in a market as diverse as Baltimore-Washington. Kress added that it was vital that Giant, where he has spent all of his 38 years in the grocery business, be a leader in health and wellness as well as in diversity. “We strive for an environment that values all aspects of diversity and inclusion which creates a culture of belonging and thriving,” he explained.
Herring, who oversees the entire merchandising arena for the ADUSA brand, said that her team is focused on its five pillars – developing a high performance team, establishing world class partnerships, curating distinctive assortment, delivering value to its shoppers, and providing an appealing and efficient e-commerce platform – which would help the company realize its ambition of being the “most trusted and loved local food retailer in our communities.”
Herring also provided those vendors who were part of the virtual meeting Giant’s definition of local: “At Giant, local is being defined as small to medium-sized business who produce locally available products and are owned, operated and distributed in Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and DC.”
Next up was Dyani Hanrahan, Giant’s talented VP-marketing, who stated, “It’s thousands of tiny moments of interaction and points of engagement each and every day” that define the company. She detailed Giant’s target marketing strategy in identifying its key customer groups and she stressed the importance of its “Partnerships, Assortment and Community (PAC).” She explained that “Partnerships” included “supporting our neighbors by telling the stories behind the brand to help our conscious consumers put their money back in to our market.” “Assortment” meant “driving awareness to make it easy for customers to discover local products and businesses. She viewed “Community” as “growing our impact by investing back to the communities we serve, actively contributing our time resources and funds.”
Kate Clarke, Nikki Olaleye, Ryen Mills and Kevin Brooks briefed the audience on e-commerce merchandising and marketing achievements and plans including the addition of a second local “Giant Delivers” warehouse that is expected to open later this year in Manassas, VA. That depot and other digital enhancements will allow the chain to provide more same-day delivery services. Also noted was Giant’s assertion that it now ranks second to Amazon in online market share in its core marketing area for food, beverage, HBC, pet and baby food, ahead of Walmart and Target.
Lisa Coleman and Emily Massi addressed Giant’s concentration on health and wellness, revealing that 79 percent of shoppers actively look for at least one attribute on the front of packages. Also noteworthy were the depth of healthy living services that Giant offers. Those include online classes, store tours, community events, workplace wellness programs as well as a dedicated podcast (“Healthy Living”), blog and Facebook page.
While he has worked for Ahold for more than 25 years, Steve Jennings has been at his current post for only the last three. As health and sustainability lead for Ahold Delhaize USA, Jennings wears many hats, and his presentation was one of the session’s most interesting. He spoke of the importance of sustainability – reducing food waste, providing clean label items and offering local products for both the company and for its customers. He described “local impact” as being about healthier eating choices, greater transparency and eliminating hunger and waste. That also includes: working with suppliers that offer 100 percent sustainably-sourced seafood, coffee and tea; advancing animal welfare and human rights; and reducing problematic single-use plastics. Jennings also addressed the company’s goal of becoming a net-zero carbon emission organization by 2040. And he emphasized the importance of maintaining and increasing Ahold Delhaize’s “stakeholders,” including its partnerships with those non-profit and NGO groups dedicated to providing a healthier environment. Other topics that Jennings covered included food insecurity, regenerative agriculture and “food as medicine,” all thought-provoking and socially relevant topics.
Kate Weaver from Peapod Digital Labs provided her many years of expertise about supplier diversity which she defined as the practice of including diverse-owned suppliers in opportunities throughout a company’s supply chain.” She urged vendors to become certified with one of the many diversity-driven groups, adding that Giant relies on third-party certification for validation of diverse-owned suppliers enrolled in its supplier diversity program. Weaver addressed issues of growing importance, not only at Giant, but in all workforces.
The final Ahold Delhaize USA speaker of the day was Shannon Fuller, who provided an instructional guide for data management and item setup at Peapod Digital Labs. He told participants that the digital arm of the retailer will soon launch a new vendor master data management system that will allow suppliers to utilize a single source for managing their data and maintenance.
And then it was time for some of Giant’s outside partners to speak. Elena Rosenblum from Washington’s Union Kitchen also delivered an excellent presentation. As a food business accelerator, Union Kitchen works with local manufacturers who need some assistance in launching new businesses. It has partnered with Giant for several years in developing local manufacturers so they can ultimately present products that are ready to be sold online and/or in its stores. Thus far, 14 brands have evolved from incubator status to shelf-ready including, Snacklins, Eat Pizza and Compass Coffee. Union Kitchen and Giant are now utilizing six stores to test these local items.
Providing further insight about how local vendors can better merchandise their products were Eileen Conway from RangeMe and Sarah Chmielowicz from parent firm ECRM, two companies that provide retail solutions for manufacturers by integrating process, vision, and technology and offering new product discovery, strategic in-person and virtual “connect” sourcing and category development sessions.
Two local vendors who have enjoyed success in recent years at Giant also addressed the group. Greg David, owner of George’s Beverage Company, praised the Baltimore-Washington market share leader for allowing his start-up cocktail mixers firm to blossom under the retailer’s tutelage.
And Eddie Burchell told a detailed and heartwarming story about how his family’s company – Roseda Farm (Roseda Beef/Old Line Custom Meat) – has worked diligently with Giant for almost a decade to create and grow what has become the largest line of local premium dry aged beef in the market. Burchell praised Giant for providing the platform that gave his local product an opportunity to succeed.
A tip of the hat to Cyndi Volk, Giant’s merchandising director, who quarterbacked the three-hour summit.
All told, this was a really informative and interesting meeting (that’s a rare combo by itself), especially for smaller, often start-up local vendors who just want an opportunity to play in the big leagues.
‘Round The Trade
A few thoughts on the recent hiring of Leon Bergmann as Save A Lot’s new CEO. First off, Leon’s an excellent choice. Nobody has been more critical than I have of how the Save A Lot clown show has played out over the past five years, from the ill-fated Onex deal to the hiring of Kevin McGrath to the continued personnel turnover at corporate headquarters in St. Ann, MO (and related morale issues with the associates and some of its licensees). While Bergmann has a very steep mountain to climb now that the transformation of the discounter to a wholesale and marketing organization has been completed, he immediately brings several skills that McGrath seemed incapable of, primarily in the people skills department. You can count on Bergmann to be much more sensitive and attentive to the concerns of SAL’s independent licensees, who now own 95 percent of the company’s stores. Moreover, with his career-long experience in wholesale, Bergmann should be able to better execute Save A Lot’s new business model. Obviously, a lot of damage has already been done to a once-great brand, and a full fix – in light of those past mistakes and also the fact that SAL operates in a different retail landscape today – may not be possible, but I’m confident that Leon Bergmann will help put many of the broken pieces back together again.
Guess what? Amazon had another incredible quarter, posting a whopping $14.3 billion profit during the 13-week period ended December 31, 2021, largely from its investment in electric auto
maker Rivian which went public in November. However, a closer peek behind the curtain revealed that online store sales during the quarter were flat. But don’t worry, net sales for all of 2021 increased 22 percent to $469.8 billion (edging close to Walmart’s revenue) and “Godzilla’s” annual net income was a robust $33.4 billion. After the quarter ended, Amazon announced that it would raise its annual Prime membership fee from $119 to $139. That will serve as an extra cushion for the Seattle-based juggernaut which can already count on approximately $24 billion in annual membership fees before a dime is spent on a single transaction.
Ciara Anfield has been promoted from VP-marketing at Sam’s Club to senior VP-chief membership and marketing officer. She replaces Tony Rogers, another Walmart executive who is departing. Just for the sake of comparison, Sam’s Club’s annual membership revenue is estimated at $1.7 billion.
Wakefern recently unveiled its “Quick Collect GO! Pod” at its new Rochelle, NY corporately-owned ShopRite unit. The new temperature-controlled pickup pod allows shoppers to collect online-generated refrigerated and frozen orders in a temperature-controlled setting. And the competition against Amazon’s “Just Walk Out” frictionless and cashier-less technology is coming from several tech companies including Trigo, an Israeli-based firm that has struck a deal with Wakefern to test its artificial intelligence system. While Trigo systems are currently being utilized by Tesco (United Kingdom), Aldi Nord (Germany) and Shufersal (Israel), the Keasbey, NJ-based co-operative will be the first U.S. firm to deploy the system. “With Trigo’s frictionless technology, Wakefern food Corp. is opening up access to cutting-edge innovation for our members. We are excited to pilot Trigo’s solution and offer our consumers the ultimate checkout experience,” said Charlie McWeeney, Wakefern’s VP of technology, innovation and strategy.
Local Notes
Ian Prisuta has joined Ahold Delhaize USA’s Peapod Digital team as senior VP-private brands. In his new post, the Pittsburgh native will supervise the digital firm’s own brands team and oversee new product development and innovation, product integrity, packaging and design as well as sustainability. Prisuta, who spent most of his nearly 25-year industry career at Giant Eagle, will be a big asset to Peapod and to ADUSA, too. He’s intellectual, street smart and has some sass to his game. We wish him well in his new gig.
If you know anything about Karns Quality Foods, the Mechanicsburg, PA-based independent with 10 stores in Central PA, you instantly know that the family-owned merchant prides itself on its meat image. To back that up, Karns is introducing its own beef program where it will produce, raise and manage a private beef herd. The merchant will work with family farms in the Keystone State and will feature Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture’s “PA Preferred” beef. “Creating our own private beef program allows us to take control of the beef supply chain to source, select, and responsibly raise prime Angus beef cattle on nearby family farms, several of which are transitioning from dairy farms to more sustainable beef farms,” said Scott Karns, president. “From their arrival at our induction hub in Chester County to managing their life cycle on local farms in Central Pennsylvania, our Karns Beef will be carefully chosen, fed and cared for through their entire lifespan. This separates and protects us from the vulnerability of the national beef supply chain and localizes every aspect of our own PA Preferred beef supply. We will provide our customers with the highest quality PA Preferred 100% Angus Choice and Prime beef beginning in May 2022.” The program will start with 15 farmers in Chester, Cumberland, Juniata, Lancaster, Lebanon and Perry counties. This is retailer differentiation at its best.
Another Central PA retailer, Redner’s Markets, reintroduced pandemic bonus pay for its hourly associates who received a $1 an hour increase effective with the week ended January 15. “We are adding the temporary pay to recognize the extraordinary efforts of our front-line associates as they continue to work through extremely difficult circumstances,” “Labor shortages and COVID-related absence and illness continue to plague our business, and those that are still out there on the front lines have earned the added pay. The Redner family felt this was only appropriate way to thank our associates for their dedicated service and commitment to making Redner’s a great place to work and shop,” said Robert McDonough, the Reading, PA-based regional chain’s VP-human resources. The ESOP-controlled retailer operates 44 grocery stores and 21 Quick Shoppe c-stores.
We’ve got some new store info to report: Whole Foods has signed a lease to open its first unit in Prince William County, VA in Woodbridge. The new store is part of a large mixed-use development (Quartz District) where the developers are still finalizing their permit processes. Aldi, which is on track to open 150 new stores this year, has agreed to build a new 22,000 square foot discount unit in Fort Washington, MD (Prince George’s county). In December, the country’s largest extreme value food merchant opened a new store in Haymarket, VA and has plans to debut other local stores in North Bethesda, MD, Rockville, MD and Capitol Heights, MD. And Aldi’s chief European and American rival, Lidl, finally broke ground on its first Washington, DC store in the Skyland Town Center located in the underserved Anacostia area. The new unit is expected to open in the fall of 2022.
For many years, Maryland food retailers have tried to convince legislators in Annapolis to allow beer and wine sales in their stores. Last year, they came closer, but the proposed bill never left committee. This year, a different approach is being considered. Two new bills (one in the state House and one in the state Senate) have been introduced that would make the consideration of beer and wine a constitutional amendment that would be on the ballot in this November’s general election of 2022. It’s a brilliant idea, which would strip away partisanship and let the voters decide.
Utz Brands, the Hanover, PA-based salty snack manufacturer has acquired two of its New York Metro area distributors – Clem Snacks and J&D Snacks. The two DSD distributors combined cover 125 routes primarily in New York City and Long Island which will now be integrated into Utz’s direct network. “We are excited to build on the solid foundation and stellar reputation that the Clem and J&D teams have built. These two key distribution partners have been representing and distributing Utz’s brands in the five boroughs of New York City and Long Island, NY over the last 25 years, and we look forward to working closely with our independent operator network to expand and grow our expansive portfolio of brands in this vibrant and diverse market,” said Steve Liantonio, senior VP-national sales operations of Utz. “The opportunity for growth and expansion remains robust and we are poised to drive it to new heights.”
After last month’s record number of obituaries, we have some more deaths to report. Comedian Louie Anderson has left us at the age of 68. The moon-faced, hefty comic got his big break during his initial appearance on “The Tonight Show” in 1984. His whimsical, self-deprecating comedic style appealed to legendary host Johnny Carson who called him over to sit with the other guests – a rare gesture that was reserved only for comics that caught Carson’s eye. Over the next 37 years, Anderson appeared in more than 40 TV and film roles including the animated series “Life With Louie” (1994-1998) and his own sitcom “The Louie Show” (1996). He also hosted “Family Feud” from 1999-2002.
Another TV star, Howard Hesseman, has also passed away. Hesseman, 81, who began his career as a DJ in San Francisco in the 1960s, expanded that role in the very funny sitcom “WKRP in Cincinnati” (1978-1982). As Dr. Johnny Fever, a displaced Los Angeles disc jockey who ends up at a second-rate radio station in Cincinnati, Hesseman’s spot-on portrayal of a burned out 60s hippie DJ was one of the highlights of the show. And even though “WKRP” burnished his “cool” image, Hesseman in fact, was an excellent comic actor who appeared in 154 film and television roles in a career that spanned almost 50 years.
”Pig” Robbins is dead at 84. That would be Hargus Robbins, arguably one of the finest piano players in the history of country music. “Pig” lost his sight as a young boy and learned his craft at the Tennessee School for the Blind. Beginning in the late 1950s, Robbins soon became a staple among Nashville’s crack studio musicians. For more than 40 years, he was Music City’s “first call” piano player, and in a career that spanned for more than 50 years, he played on more than 2,000 albums with artists as diverse as George Jones and Bob Dylan.
From the grocery industry, our condolences to the Goldberg family on the passing of Avram Goldberg, 92, former CEO of Stop & Shop. I got to know Avram in the early to mid-1970s when I lived and worked in Boston. He began with Stoppie in 1958 in the retailer’s retail division and rose to become chief executive in the early 70s as he and wife Carol, the daughter of Stop & Shop’s co-founder Sidney Rabb, became more active when the iconic “Mr. Sidney” slowed down his work schedule. Goldberg’s tenure was often a rocky one and my impression was that he wasn’t a great fit in the rough-and-tumble environment of the supermarket business in those days. But what Avram Goldberg did possess was a near genius intellect and a compassionate heart. Both Carol and Avram left the company in 1989 and they founded the consulting firm Avcar Group. Over the years, Avram and his family have donated millions of dollars to civic and charitable causes. His son, Joshua, noted, “My father was one of the few great persons I knew who was also a good person.” His daughter, Deborah, who is also the state treasurer of Massachusetts, added, “Oftentimes, successful, brilliant, powerful men don’t have the soft side of being loving, caring and compassionate. All of those words are Avram Goldberg.” Apt and touching descriptions for a humble man.
And finally, I’m very saddened to report the passing of another Boston-area resident, Pat McCarthy, 85, former group VP of Ocean Spray and one of the most observant and funniest people I’ve ever met. I could do a full stand-up routine about the wit and wisdom of Sir Patrick, but I’m certain most of those after-hours tales would have to be censored. Pat loved the business, but especially the human engagement part of it. He had the uncanny ability to almost instantly gauge one’s persona, and his rapier-quick and cutting commentary could be somewhat hurtful if you didn’t know that Pat was only joking (kind of). He reminded me of an “R” rated Bob Newhart. What Pat wouldn’t let you know so readily was that he was a consummate salesman and a great leader. In Pat’s world, manufacturers were “packers” and sales reps (no matter what their titles were) would always be “peddlers.” Even after his retirement, I’d get a call from Patrick every year on my birthday in which he would regale me with the most off-key version of “Happy Birthday.” If you were a friend, Pat McCarthy cared deeply about you. He’s one of the people in my life I’ll never forget.