Larkin: Health And Taste Drive Fresh Foods Momentum
The verdict is in about fresh foods: Shoppers are prioritizing health and taste as the top reasons for consuming fresh items. Moreover, produce ranks as the most important fresh department to shoppers. And in an era of multi-channel retail competition, supermarkets still command a huge share of shoppers’ fresh foods dollars. Learn more via The Shelby Report.
Harps Food Stores CEO/Prez Receives NGA Honor
The National Grocers Association (NGA) presented Kim Eskew, president and CEO of Springdale, Ark.-based Harps Food Stores, with the Clarence G. Adamy Great American Award at the NGA Fall Leadership Meetings, in Chicago. The award recognizes individuals who have shown outstanding efforts in support of policy initiatives that promote independent grocers. Learn more via Progressive Grocer.
Town & Country Markets First to Offer Humane Harvest Pacific Cod
Town & Country Markets has partnered with Blue North Fisheries to introduce Humane Harvest line-caught Pacific cod, available Nov. 1. The independent grocer is the first food retailer to offer the line of fish, which meets a new standard for ethical harvest. Learn more via Grocery Headquarters.
Raley’s Gets Transparent with Pork
Raley’s has partnered with American Homestead Natural Meats, a Hawarden, Iowa-based group of family farms producing top-quality meat, to offer several varieties of fresh pork that are both non-GMO and antibiotic-free. Learn more via Progressive Grocer.
Harmons Partners With Unata For New E-Commerce Program
Harmons, a family-owned and locally operated grocery chain based in Utah, has teamed up with Unata, a provider of 1-to-1 digital solutions for grocers, to develop a new e-commerce and online list-building experience for patrons. Learn more via The Shelby Report.
Associated Food Stores Ups Energy Efficiency Game
Associated Food Stores has implemented energy efficient technologies in stores across Utah and the Intermountain West in an effort to become more sustainable. The wholesaler added LED lighting, updated lighting controls and refrigeration upgrades to stores in Salt Lake City, South Ogden, Park City, West Valley City, American Fork, Ogden and Taylorsville. Learn more via Grocery Headquarters.
Champine wins ‘Best Bagger Competition’
Manchester’s own Brooke Champine emerged victorious at the Vermont Retail and Grocers Association’s “Best Bagger Competition,” hosted in South Burlington on Saturday. Champine, 18, will now travel to Las Vegas, Nevada to represent Vermont in the national Best Bagger Competition, taking place in February. Learn from via Manchester Journal.
In-Store Signage Gets Sophisticated
As food shoppers have become more sophisticated and adventurous in their product choices, so have the signs that guide them both outside and on their in-store travels. According to Didier Blanc, president of Blanc Display Group, in Dover, N.J., “The trend in signage is in providing consumer education as well as ethnic-related merchandise.” Learn more via Progressive Grocer.
Mastering the Endless Aisle Starts with Logistics
Amazon and Whole Foods. Walmart and Jet.com. These companies are all making a play for, well, everything. Whether they’re aware of it or not, these top retailers are all striving for the same thing – an endless aisle. Learn more via Food DIVE.
NGA’s Supermarket Industry News Roundup is a weekly summary of news articles that highlights conversation around the independent supermarket industry and consumer trends. The links included in the summary have content that is not controlled by NGA.
