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Traitor Joe's?

-->Their pita chips taste awfully familiar to the kind at Whole Foods. And that Goddess dressing—I swear that cosmic, flowy-haired woman was on another bottle. Is Joe trying to pass this stuff off as his own? He'd never... No. Would he? Sure enough, Chow reveals that 80% of Joe-San/Josef/Giotto's products are probably produced by a third party. So where does that leave the no-middleman promise? Yikes, his fingers might have been crossed when he said that....

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27 Comments | Posted by Erin Zimmer, March 5, 2008 at 10:30 AM
Tagged: supermarkets, Trader Joe's

Murray's Cheese Inks Deal with Kroger

Legendary New York City cheesemonger Murray's has just signed a deal with Kroger in which it will help expand the grocery chain's specialty cheese selections. From the press release announcing the pact: "We're thrilled to be pairing with Kroger," says Rob Kaufelt, President of Murray's Cheese. "As one of the nation's largest retail grocery chains, this opportunity gives Murray's an unprecedented chance to fulfill our mission, which is, simply, to bring great cheese to everyone." "Our partnership with Murray's allows us to build on their expertise as we expand our cheese offerings for our customers," said Jeff Burt, Vice President of Deli Bakery Merchandising for Kroger. The Kroger Co. operates in 31 states, either as Kroger's or as one of...

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Post a Comment | Posted by Adam Kuban, August 9, 2007 at 5:45 PM
Tagged: business, cheese, Kroger, Murray's Cheese, supermarkets

Hispanic Supermarkets Are On The Rise

Great great story by Kim Severson in the New York Times today on how grocery chains have begun customizing their stores to target the increasingly affluent Latino shopper: Although there is no one typical Hispanic shopper, some generalizations are driving the design of the new Latino-theme stores. Many have wider aisles because, research shows, grocery shopping is often a family outing. Hispanic families tend to be larger, and more people cook from scratch, so produce and meat departments tend to be bigger and better stocked. And loyalty to brands from the home country is strong. At Rancho Liborio, Tide is almost an afterthought. Mexican brands like Ariel dominate the shelves.But the generalizations end there. The term Hispanic applies to people...

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1 Comment | Posted by Lia Bulaong, March 21, 2007 at 2:55 PM
Tagged: diversity, Hispanic, Latino, South American, supermarkets

Check Out the Supermarket

I read a lot of this blog when I lived in London. While they've been rather silent over the last few months, it's (usually) kept up by a group of marketing consultants who, as a hobby, discuss British supermarket megachain Sainsbury's. I particularly like this post. Are there any American forums for intelligent badinage about the directions our supermarkets head and tail in? I like John Mackey's blog on the Whole Foods website, particularly his open conversations with Michael Pollan (you may have to toggle between the WF and MP websites to follow the discussion all the way through), but I don't know of any others. Wouldn't it be great to be an active participant in American supermarket construction?...

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Post a Comment | Posted by Nathalie Jordi, January 17, 2007 at 3:28 PM
Tagged: John Mackey, Michael Pollan, Sainsbury's, supermarkets, Whole Foods