Woman-Owned JAMBAR®, Maker of Organic Whole Food Energy Bars, Expands Retail Presence with Erewhon

Founded by Jennifer Maxwell, creator of the original PowerBar®, JAMBAR certified organic energy bars are now available in all 10 locations of leading natural products retailer Erewhon. Rapidly growing its retail and distribution base, JAMBAR also recently appointed natural products industry sales veteran Darren Wagoner as national sales manager.

SAN RAFAEL, Calif. (Feb. 6, 2024) – Independent, woman-owned JAMBAR, the artisan-made, organic energy bar company founded in 2021 by Jennifer Maxwell, is pleased to announce significant expansion of its line of certified organic, whole food energy bars. Maxwell, a food scientist, athlete and musician, together with her late husband, Brian Maxwell, essentially created the entire energy bar category when they launched the original PowerBar® in the mid-1980s.

Consumers can now find JAMBAR organic energy bars in all 10 Erewhon locations. Based in Los Angeles, Erewhon is renowned as one of the most innovative natural products retailers in the U.S. Erewhon will offer three JAMBAR flavors – Malt Nut Melody, Chocolate Cha Cha and Jammin’ Jazzleberry. By supporting local producers, ethical brands and sustainable farming practices, offering exceptional customer service and education, and fostering community, Erewhon has built a reputation that attracts healthy lifestyle consumers, athletes, entertainers and celebrities alike.

“With its commitment to quality, selection and service, Erewhon has become a ‘gold standard’ among grocers who sell natural products. As a mission-based brand committed to providing customers with premium quality organic products at an affordable price, we’re excited to partner with Erewhon,” said Maxwell, JAMBAR’s CEO and founder.

“We are pleased to offer JAMBARs to our customers,” said Vito Antoci, executive vice president of Erewhon. “First, they are simply delicious and nutritious whole food, certified organic energy bars that meet our high standards. Second, we support mission-based brands such as JAMBAR, which donates 50% of after-tax profits to organizations that promote music and active living.”

JAMBAR Featured in Leading Groceries, Specialty Retailers
In addition to Erewhon, JAMBAR is expanding its retail presence across the U.S. – the company’s artisan-made, organic energy bars are now available in leading grocers and specialty and athletic stores, including Safeway (NorCal Division), Raley’s Supermarkets, Mother’s Market & Kitchen, Lazy Acres, Gelson’s Markets, Earth Fare, The Fresh Market, Good Earth Natural Foods, Mollie Stone’s Markets, Nugget Market, Cambridge Naturals, United Market, Scotty’s Market, Lucky’s Market, Bon Appetit, Fleet Feet and more.

Using only certified organic, whole food ingredients, JAMBARs are crafted in small batches in the company’s own state-of-the-art facility. Made of organic ancient grains, berries, nuts, premium chocolate, proteins from sunflowers and organic dairy, and real syrup, juices and honey as sweeteners, JAMBAR delivers a convenient, incredibly tasty bar you can take anywhere. All four flavors of JAMBAR  — Malt Nut Melody, Musical Mango, Chocolate Cha Cha and Jammin’ Jazzleberry — are also available online at JAMBAR.com and via Amazon Prime. 

For wholesale accounts, JAMBAR is distributed by leading natural and specialty foods distributors including UNFI, KeHE and Chex Distributing. For wholesale inquiries, contact jammin@jambar.com, tel 877-JAMBARZ.

JAMBAR Appoints National Sales Manager
In related news, JAMBAR recently appointed natural products industry sales veteran Darren Wagoner as national sales manager. Wagoner’s experience includes serving as national account manager and key account manager for such leading brands as Activate Drinks, Purity Organic, High Brew and CB Gourmet Foods. The appointment reflects the company’s focus on building sales in key natural products markets as it expands manufacturing and distribution. 

Visit JAMBAR at Natural Products Expo West, Booth N2140
Visit JAMBAR at Natural Products Expo West, the world’s largest natural and organic products trade exhibition, March 13-15, 2024, Booth N2140 in the North Hall’s Hot Products Pavilion at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. In addition, JAMBAR will be sampling its products at all Erewhon Southern California locations the week before Expo West.

About JAMBAR
In 2021, Jennifer Maxwell founded JAMBAR with the goal of helping people feel good about the ingredients they put in their bodies, and about the positive impact they can have on their local communities. A mission-based brand, JAMBAR donates 50% of after-tax profits to organizations that support music and active living. Runner’s World named JAMBAR the Best Protein Bar for runners in 2022 and also recognized JAMBAR with its 2023 Fitness Nutrition Award. Learn more at www.jambar.com and follow JAMBAR on Facebook and Instagram.

Media Contacts
Steven Hoffman, Compass Natural, steve@compassnatural.com, tel: 303.807.1042
Debbie Pfeifer, JAMBAR, debbie@jambar.com, tel: 206.669.3580

AI Leads Tech Transformation in Natural Foods

This article first appeared in Presence Marketing’s August 2023 newsletter.

By Steven Hoffman

While 2023 may not be the year the singularity took place, with the launch of the first user-friendly artificial intelligence (AI) chat bot, ChatGPT, it could well go down in history as the Year of AI.*

From regenerative organic agriculture and nutrition research to product development, marketing, distribution and retail operations, business leaders in the natural channel are already finding multiple uses for this nascent yet transformative technology. A growing number of natural and organic products companies are taking the lead in employing AI automation, and such uses across the supply chain are growing as exponentially as the technology upon which it is based.

For the grocery industry, AI is projected to generate $113 billion in operational efficiency and new revenue by 2025. In a June 2023 study by data analytics firm Grocery Doppio, conducted in partnership with FMI – The Food Industry Association, and based on interviews with 152 grocery executives, implementation of artificial intelligence in supermarkets is expected to grow by 400% by the end of 2024. In addition AI “could eliminate 18% of store associate positions, 73% of store tasks and 53% of shopper queries,” reported Winsight Grocery Business.

AI adoption will deliver $113 billion in operational efficiency and new revenue opportunities for the grocery industry by 2025. Source: The Times They Are A-Changing: Impact of AI in Grocery. Source: Grocery Doppio

According to Grocery Doppio’s findings, inventory management savings could account for more than half of the estimated $113 billion in value. AI also will help grocers save billions in merchandising costs through advancements in product assortment and pricing optimization. Other savings include marketing, store operation costs, and IT technology.

While AI is not necessarily a new area for the grocery industry, grocers are focusing more on the “responsible, ethical use” of artificial intelligence,” said Mark Baum of FMI in a July 13th, 2023, Grocery Dive report. One quarter of retailers and more than a third of suppliers are using artificial intelligence (AI) to track product preferences and spending to anticipate consumer wants and needs, according to FMI’s 74th annual survey, The Food Retailing Industry Speaks 2023. “Every CEO needs to at least think like a CIO, if not act like a CIO, going forward. We’d like to say these days if you’re not technology enabled, you’re competitively disadvantaged,” Baum said.

Yet, a major concern among grocery and other workers is that AI could automate or partially automate up to 300 million jobs over the next decade, according to a study by Goldman Sachs. The industries most impacted by AI-driven automation will be “office and administrative support” and “legal.” However, according to Goldman Sach’s findings, “Once AI is implemented, workers will be more productive leading to an overall increase in output. This could lead to a 7% increase in annual GDP, equivalent to an astounding $7 trillion.”

Read on to learn how some early adopters in the natural and organic products industry are making innovative use of AI technology.

Research and Product Development
Dietary supplement companies have been utilizing AI to speed up the research of nutritional compounds. Companies like Brightseed employ machine learning to develop bio-active phytonutrient compounds to support gut health. Supplement maker Nuritas, recipient of Nutrition Business Journal’s 2023 Science and Innovation Award, employs artificial intelligence to identify “novel health-benefitting ingredients” and “the best plant-sourced, cell-signaling peptides,” said Nuritas founder Nora Khaldi.

In a July 2023 podcast, The Natural List, Aadit Patel, VP of Product Engineering at NotCo, a plant-based food technology company, shared how it uses AI and “the right balance of technology and humanity” to bring novel plant-based meat and dairy alternatives to market.

In related news, researchers at Northeastern University have developed an AI algorithm, FoodProX, that can predict the level of processing in food products and if a food has been “ultra-processed.” Such information is important for researchers in examining the health impacts of processed foods, Neuroscience News reported in June 2023.

Marketing
In an in-depth interview in Strategy Magazine, Arjan Stephens, President of leading organic food manufacturer Nature’s Path, shared that AI helps the company deal with inflation and competition by creating more targeted messaging in a quicker timeframe.

“The aim is to educate consumers on our commitment to fueling healthy communities as well as the inherent value of supporting and investing in a triple bottom line business like ours. A.I. has been a huge part of driving efficiencies in getting more strategic content to market more quickly. It not only enables us to swiftly create and distribute content, but to also respond more efficiently to consumer feedback and shopping behavior changes. This will continue to be critical to competing in a market that is oversaturated in greenwashing and misinformation,” Stephens said.

Distribution
Distributors, in particular, are looking to AI – and even AI-powered robots – to optimize supply chain and transportation logistics. Leading natural foods distributor UNFI in June 2023 announced a partnership with Finnish firm RELEX Solutions. Driven by AI and machine learning, RELEX will work with UNFI to consolidate and replace multiple UNFI buying systems into “one enhanced process, combining a more robust analysis of demand with a more granular approach to procurement,” UNFI said in a statement. 

UNFI’s new AI platform is expected to become operational over the next 12 to 18 months. “As part of UNFI’s multi-faceted transformation agenda, we’re continuing to implement cutting-edge technology to improve the customer and supplier experience, while increasing operating efficiency,” said Erin Horvath, Chief Operating Officer at UNFI. In March 2023, UNFI announced that it would utilize robots powered by artificial intelligence and software automation and new scanning technology at its distribution center in Centralia, Washington.

Grocery wholesale cooperative Associated Food Stores (AFS) also plans to deploy robotics and AI-powered automation technology at is distribution center in Farr West, Utah, according to a May 9th, 2023, report in Winsight Grocery Business. Working with technology company Symbotic, AFS’s end-to-end automation system will include robotic case-pick capabilities “to enhance a range of retail-facing experiences,” including supply, expanded assortment and product delivery to stores.

Seeking to disrupt the traditional natural products distribution sector, Pod Foods claims it offers the first truly “infinite” warehouse for food procurement in the industry while providing retailers with data-driven, relevant access. The engine is powered by the company’s “Pod Bytes” data platform, which synthesizes data from its B2B marketplace, economic indicators, and other grocery-adjacent and third-party sources, the company said. The built-for-grocery models provide retailers with personalized, AI-enabled insights across all areas of discovery, including product placement, procurement, inventory optimization and market opportunity. The result is access to an endless yet personalized assortment of products, targeted to each retailer based on consumer purchasing behavior, desired retail margins, local trends, and more, the company says. Pod Foods in April 2023 appointed former VP executive and CPG veteran Michael Schall as President.

Retail
At The Fresh Market, which operates 160 stores in 22 states, longtime marketing partner Firework is implementing a patent-pending artificial intelligence platform to enhance The Fresh Market’s video content for consumers. The technology will allow shoppers to ask questions and receive sophisticated, real-time answers in The Fresh Market’s in-video chat feature. Viewers will be able to ask such questions as, “What is the recipe for the salad being made in this video?” and the AI chatbot will list the ingredients.

“The new AI engine makes use of a large language model (LLM), can understand and respond in a wide range of languages, and can be customized to reflect each brand’s unique voice,” The Fresh Market said in a statement. The new technology will be available on The Fresh Market’s website and its shoppable video live commerce retail media network. “Our customers are looking to engage with our brand in real time, both online and in store. With Firework’s generative AI technology, we can be certain that customers will receive prompt, friendly and personalized support whenever they choose to engage with our video commerce content,” said Kevin Miller, CMO at The Fresh Market.

Shoppers at Sprouts Farmers Market can now use an AI-based shopping assistant called Quin. The phone-based app from New York-based developer Verneek can answer spoken or typed questions about items sold in the stores and provide information about recipes, keto-friendly options, nutritional value and more. “As technology continues to evolve, Sprouts is always exploring new and innovative ways to improve our customer experience while providing joy in healthy living,” Sprouts said in a statement. Nasrin Mostafazadeh, Cofounder of Quin, said in ArcaMarx Magazine in April 2023 that the timing was right to launch Quin in grocery stores. However, he noted, Quin is not intended to replace grocery workers but to supplement them, giving them more time to focus on their job responsibilities, such as stocking shelves, doing inventory or checking out customers.

On THRIVE Market’s blog, the online retailer helps customers evaluate the best AI recipe generators. “There are now lots of websites that use AI machine learning to populate recipes based on ingredients, dietary restrictions, and even cooking skill level,” wrote THRIVE blogger Amy Roberts. “Some create a recipe based on ingredients you have on hand, while others churn out a recipe based on a query, like ‘Make a gluten-free chicken parmesan.’” Roberts reviewed ChatGPT for a vegan cheesecake recipe, Let’s Foodie for a red cabbage slaw, and PlantJammer for lasagna. “Did it work?” Roberts asked. “Surprisingly yes! The cheesecakes were a hit!” Though, Roberts admits she continues to refer to Pinterest for her own recipe ideas.

Using an organic food store as an example, AI platform Business Name Generator cites the following case study: “Consider the case of a budding entrepreneur, John, who planned to start an organic food store. He wanted a name that conveyed freshness, health, and sustainability. After struggling with brainstorming sessions, he turned to an online business name generator. He entered keywords such as ‘organic,’ ‘fresh,’ ‘healthy’ and ‘green.’ In seconds, the tool provided him with a list of potential names like ‘Freshly Organic,’ ‘Green Harvest,’ “Healthful Bounty’ and ‘SustainaBite.’ John was able to choose a unique and meaningful name for his store.”

Agriculture
For regenerative and organic farmers, AI technologies including machine learning and data analytics are being used to develop sophisticated monitoring systems that can provide farmers with real-time information about factors that affect soil health, including nutrient deficiencies and moisture levels. Combined with the use of sensors, drones and satellite imagery, AI algorithms are being used to analyze massive amounts of data to determine the optimal amount of water needed for each crop, reducing water waste, and ensuring that plants receive necessary nutrients for healthy growth. This not only conserves water resources but also helps to prevent soil degradation caused by overwatering, reported Marcin Frackiewicz in TS2 in May 2023.

At the University of California Davis, the AI Institute for Next Generation Food Systems (AIFS), funded in part by USDA, was launched in 2020 with a mission of meeting growing demand in the food supply by increasing efficiencies using AI and “bioinformatics” spanning the entire system from seed to shelf. Bringing more than 40 researchers together, AIFS says it aims to “bring artificial intelligence technology to the entire food system from crop breeding and farming to food production and nutrition. The institute will combine the development of the latest breakthroughs in artificial intelligence with preparing the food and agriculture industries to rapidly adopt them and ready the workforce.”

In addition, leading technology companies including IBM, Microsoft, Intel and others are focusing on developing artificial intelligence for use in agriculture and food production. Microsoft’s Project FarmVibes seeks to foster sustainable agriculture by collecting and analyzing data in from drones, sensors and other equipment to help farmers make real-time decisions about their crops. Intel and the National Science Foundation in 2022 invested $220 million in a number of AI ventures, including research in AI-Driven Innovation in Agriculture and Food Systems. Focusing on regenerative agriculture, IBM in 2022 launched IBM Regenerative Agriculture, which uses AI, data analytics, cloud technology and predictive insights to interpret agricultural and weather data and help farmers make decisions about crops.

“The food chain is a complex ecosystem that touches our everyday lives, and this is where AI has an advantage – by navigating the complex web of information, from farming to food distribution,” said Bryton Shang, CEO of Aquabyte in Forbes in July 2023. “It can help ensure higher-quality decision-making every step of the way.”

* Written and researched by a real human, with 40+ years’ experience in natural and organic foods and sustainable agriculture.

Steven Hoffman is Managing Director of Compass Natural, providing public relations, brand marketing, social media, and strategic business development services to natural, organic, sustainable and hemp/CBD products businesses. Compass Natural serves in PR and programming for NoCo Hemp Expo and Southern Hemp Expo, and Hoffman serves as Editor of the weekly Let’s Talk Hemp Newsletter, published by We are for Better Alternatives. Contact steve@compassnaturalmarketing.com.

COVID Crisis Update: Natural Products Retailers Respond to New Normal by Opening New Stores

This article originally appeared in Presence Marketing’s July 2020 newsletter edition and on New Hope Network’s IdeaXchange.

By Steven Hoffman

As the United States slowly re-opens for business with the coronavirus pandemic entering its fifth month, many Americans are still playing it safe as cases continue to surge in states and regions throughout the country. Restaurants and bars are re-opening, however, with crowd capacities limited by public health regulations, food service businesses are still nowhere near where they once were. And, as the pandemic has shuttered day camps, benched Little League games, cancelled concerts and limited other warm-weather activities, families and kids are staying much closer to home this summer.

As such, grocery stores – including the nation’s natural foods stores – continue to play an essential role in feeding Americans during the pandemic crisis. Several natural food retailers we talked to anticipate there will not be much of a traditional “summer slump” in sales this season.

In fact, a number of retailers are taking advantage of the moment to open new stores. Boulder-based Alfalfa’s Market announced in mid-June it was taking over a former Lucky’s Market location in nearby Longmont to open a third store to serve Colorado’s Front Range population. Los Angeles-based Erewhon is adding two new stores to its five-store chain in the next 12 months. PCC just opened its 14th natural foods store in the Seattle area; and while it postponed Grand Opening celebrations, Natural Grocers opened a new store in Cedar City, UT, on June 10. Publicly held natural products retailer Sprouts, which CEO Jack Sinclair describes as “more of a farmers market than a grocer,” is moving ahead with plans to open 20 stores in key markets across the country, and like many retailers, has expanded at-home delivery and curbside pickup, as well as significantly increased its e-commerce sales. In addition, pandemic notwithstanding, conventional grocer Schnuck’s unveiled its brand new “EatWell” natural food concept store in Colombia, MO, on June 24. 

To help reassure customers and workers, many of these retailers have enacted strict COVID guidelines. For example, Maryland-based MOMs Organic Market published COVID-19 Action Steps on its website, and Natural Grocers also informs its customers about COVID safety on its website.

“Grocery Is the Business to Be In”
“Our comps are off the charts,” said Tony Antoci, CEO and owner of Erewhon, the legendary natural foods chain in Los Angeles. Antoci, a food service distribution veteran, purchased the original single Erewhon location in 2011, and self-financed the growth of the chain to five stores, with two additional locations planned to open between now and March 2021. “We’ve seen a 300-400% increase in grocery and produce sales since the coronavirus crisis began, he said. “Protein sales grew four-fold until the end of May; now we are starting to see a leveling off, but our deli and prepared food sales are increasing as our customer base starts to get back to a new normal. We also ramped up our web ordering and delivery capabilities – something we were trying to engage but never got around to – and we had a healthy online business in a week. Now, we are averaging 200-250 online orders across five stores per day. If this was a restaurant, I would not open a new location, but grocery is the business to be in,” Antoci said.

At Jimbo’s Naturally, a five-store independently owned chain in San Diego, customer counts have decreased since the coronavirus crisis began, but they’re more than made up for in the increased average purchase, noted founder and CEO Jimbo Somek. “People don’t want to make as many trips if they can avoid it, but the average ticket is twice as high as it was before the pandemic,” he said. Somek also admitted, “It’s one thing to plan for increased demand, however, it’s another thing when the stores are doing two to three times the sales they were doing the day before. There were a lot of long days,” he said. When asked about potentially opening a new store, Somek replied, “I don’t know if it’s a good time or not to open new stores. The challenge is to know where all this is going,” he reflected.

UNFI Stock Surges
In serving all this retail growth, leading natural foods distributor UNFI (NYSE: UNFI) saw its stock price surge 45.8% in the past three months. “Several food companies are benefiting from rising demand owing to increased at-home consumption and stockpiling trends amid coronavirus,” wrote analysts at Zacks Equity Research in late June. “The packaged food space is especially gaining on such trends as the lockdown has prompted shoppers to buy and hoard packaged food and beverages. This has boosted sales of several food players, including United Natural Foods Inc. (UNFI). United Natural’s ability to cater to the rising demand amid the pandemic reflects its robust market position and the important role it plays in North America’s food supply chain,” the analysts concluded.

In related news, Sprouts Farmers Market (Nasdaq: SFM) was ranked on June 18 by Zacks Equity Research as a top growth stock, acknowledging that it is a long-term beneficiary of the pandemic. Kroger (NYSE: KR), too, has been outperforming the stock market as a beneficiary of the “eat at home” trend driven by the pandemic, along with the company’s moves to cut $1 billion in costs and invest in digital growth. Bank of America Merrill Lynch analyst Robert Ohmes reiterated a Buy rating on June 19, noting that he believes Kroger will continue to see strong sales even as COVID-related restrictions are lifted in many areas. Natural Grocers (NYSE: NGVC), too, saw its stock price more than double to well over $12 per share at the end of June from a low of $5.80 on March 12 when the pandemic first struck the U.S.

Consumers Are Leaning in to a Healthy Lifestyle
Driving sales is a growing number of consumers seeking out healthier, more nutritious products during the COVID-19 crisis to boost immunity and health. “Far from abandoning their natural lifestyle during COVID-19, natural products shoppers are widening their preferences, seeking and avoiding various ingredients, label claims and certifications,” states COVID-19 and Navigating the Path Ahead: Supporting The Natural Products Consumer, a report published on May 29, 2020, by leading market research firms SPINS and IRI. Leading the charge, said SPINS/IRI, are paleo products, plant-based meat alternatives, baking products and staple items, household cleaning items, soap and bath preparations, natural remedies to help support immunity and reduce stress and anxiety, and value-based products as many people struggle through unprecedented economic times brought on by the COVID-19 crisis.

In addition, according to Laura Batcha, CEO of the Organic Trade Association, consumers are purchasing more organic products than ever before. Organic products sales topped $55 billion in 2019, up 4.6% from the previous year, and as health comes into focus, many organic categories have seen demand increase even further. Organic produce sales jumped 50% in the early days of the pandemic, and by spring 2020, sales were still up by more than 20%, Batcha noted.

“It’s hard to know what’s ahead of us, but consumers will continue to trust in and depend on the organic label,” said Batcha. “Organic producers and processors – indeed the entire organic supply chain – have been working around the clock through this difficult time to keep our stores filled with healthy, toxic-free and sustainably produced organic food and products. Organic is going to be there for the consumer.”

Speaking at the United Fresh LIVE virtual conference on June 17, Tonya Antle, cofounder of the Organic Produce Network (OPN), corroborated that organic produce has outperformed the conventional produce category at retail during the pandemic. According to Antle, OPN’s latest retail scan data show that both volume and dollar sales of organic produce were up more than 16% during the month of May. In addition, according to OTA data, organic staple categories including dairy, eggs, bread, pasta, rice, grains and baking supplies are expected to see increased growth in 2020, along with organic vitamins and immunity-related products.

Controversy over Face Masks
The surge in grocery and natural products sales has certainly not come without its challenges. The wearing of face masks, required in many municipalities and public and commercial places, for instance, has become divisive and some conflicts in stores have happened. According to TribLive, more than 30 lawsuits have been filed against Giant Eagle over the grocery chain’s face mask policy, claiming it is discriminatory under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Mirror UK reported on June 22 about a Walmart incident in which a defiant customer refusing to wear a mask got into a scuffle with a security guard.

“It’s a very difficult position for us to put our staff in, whether it’s an 18-, 19-year-old college student working, or a single mom, a dad,” Bryan Neiman, operator of Neiman’s Family Market, a small Michigan grocery chain, told Time Magazine in reference to face masks. Neiman’s has signs posted asking customers to wear facial coverings, and shoppers can get a mask at customer service, he said. But, according to Time, he’s telling his employees not to confront mask-less customers, for fear of triggering a confrontation. The magazine reported that similar incidents have happened all over the country.

Texas-based grocer H-E-B, which initially required customers to wear face masks in mid-April, announced in early June that it was relaxing its policy; now, shoppers are no longer required to wear face masks in its stores, reported Grocery Dive. The chain still encourages customers to wear face coverings. In addition, wearing masks will remain mandatory for employees and vendors, Grocery Dive reported.

Seasonal Promotions Affected in 2020
As retailers scrambled to respond to the tectonic shifts in consumer buying behavior brought on by the coronavirus crisis, any focus on seasonal sales and promotions was stalled, said Donnie Baldwin, Senior Director of Conventional Grocery for the Central and Western U.S. for leading natural products broker Presence Marketing / Dynamic Presence. “For 2020, we are staying busy serving our retail partners’ immediate needs,” he said, but the crisis impacted promotional sales and planning for such holidays as Easter, Mother’s Day, Memorial Day, Father’s Day and more. “However, while retailers may miss the seasonal sales this year, they’ve got their hands full keeping the store shelves stocked as full as they can,” he said. 

“The good news is the average dollar ring per basket is up, but while the head count of customers shopping in stores is down – or they are shopping quickly through the store – it has impacted sales of seasonal items and impulse items,” Baldwin said. “As we talk with account executives around the country, buyers are still focused on staple items. They want to make sure they’ve got control of the supply chain on staples. That’s been a priority, and the good news is we are starting to see them get a handle on that.”

Baldwin’s counterpart, Jim Crotty, Senior Director of Conventional Grocery for the Eastern U.S. for Presence Marketing, added that retailers are looking at Fall and the holidays, but many are still not quite ready to focus on new items, or execution has been slowed. “Operations and taking care of their people are coming first right now,” said Crotty. “Come September, they might start bringing new products in; it is just happening at a slower pace. We are presenting holiday items such as eggnog and pumpkin flavors now and will continue to do so. Hopefully, we will be able to see things open up in November/December,” he added.

Meanwhile, Baldwin noted that some of his team members have been getting creative in leveraging technology and developing YouTube video presentations for retail partners, a sample of which can be viewed here.

“I really feel that by late in the Third Quarter and early in the Fourth Quarter, things are going to start opening up and retailers will start getting back to the basics,” Baldwin predicted. “This industry is very adaptive and resilient and we always look to find a way to carry on.”

Resources

The Pandemic Shows Us the Genius of Supermarkets: A Short History of the Stores that – Even Now – Keep Us Supplied with an Abundance of Choices
Atlantic Magazine, July/August 2020
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/07/supermarkets-are-a-miracle/612244/

Market Research Report: COVID-19 and Navigating the Path Ahead – Supporting the Natural Products Consumer
SPINS/IRI, May 29, 2020
https://www.iriworldwide.com/IRI/media/Library/SPINS-Joint-Thought-Leadership-5-28-20.pdf

Tracking Coronavirus Closures at Food and Beverage Factories
By Food Dive, Updated June 19, 2020
https://www.fooddive.com/news/tracking-coronavirus-closures-at-food-and-beverage-factories/576559/?mc_cid=5c0261a1e5&mc_eid=49fe8c77e3

Natural Products Industry Prepares for a Post-COVID Future

By Steven Hoffman

This article originally appeared in New Hope Network’s IdeaXchange and Presence Marketing’s May 2020 newsletter edition. 

As the nation continued to battle the COVID-19 pandemic in April, with confirmed cases in the U.S. reaching 1 million and deaths from the disease surpassing 55,000 (more than the total number of U.S. casualties in the Vietnam War), the natural products industry, along with the mainstream food industry, found itself firmly on the frontline of the coronavirus crisis. In helping to keep food on America’s table during an unprecedented time of turmoil, sadly, this came not without some illness and casualties of its own among workers in natural foods stores and in mainstream groceries.

The month also saw farmers dumping tons of eggs, milk and fresh produce bound for restaurants, hotels, schools and other food service operations that were shuttered – product that couldn’t be re-routed – while frustratingly, grocers across the country were still struggling to keep product on the shelf as supply chains were further strained. Food banks, too, experienced long lines and shortages of staple products due in part to the demands of a record 26.5 million Americans who have filed for unemployment since mid-March. 

Yet, among a bunch of bad news, retailers, distributors, manufacturers and others in the natural foods industry continued to pivot and do everything they could to serve and protect customers, minimize risk to workers, ensure inventory and respond to ever-evolving local, state and federal guidelines and shelter-in-place rules. 

First, in response to a worrying number of employee illnesses, many grocers are now requiring that all workers wear face masks, though they, too, are having to compete with the federal government, hospitals and others to procure scarce Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). In addition, the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) along with Kroger, Stop & Shop and others, issued a joint statement on April 27 calling on federal and state governments to designate grocery store employees as “extended first responders” or “emergency personnel.” 

“We are urgently requesting our nation’s state and federal leaders temporarily designate these workers as first responders or emergency personnel,” the joint statement said. “This critical status would help ensure our essential grocery workers have priority access to testing, emergency childcare, and other protections to keep themselves and their families safe and healthy. For the sake of workers, their families, and our nation’s food supply, this action will provide grocery workers with the vital protections they deserve.”

Responding swiftly to the lack of PPE for natural foods employees, Presence Marketing worked with one of its brand partners to manufacture face masks and other protective gear to provide to industry partners in manufacturing, distribution and in stores, “plus we’re working on a retail pack for consumers,” said Christine Tzumas, COO of Presence Marketing. “Our field team has been on the front lines from the beginning of this crisis working fast and furious to serve our customers in any possible way, from helping unload trucks when they show up at the dock to lending a hand stocking store shelves,” she said. 

“The biggest thing for us right now is communication – we’re communicating everything going on as quickly as possible,” Tzumas continued. “Our brand partners have been receiving weekly, fact-driven COVID-19 updates, and the response has been so positive that we want to continue it in some fashion. While we’ve been dealing with this crisis, we still can’t lose sight of what’s on the other side and what the world will look like six months out from now. Hopefully, we will be moving beyond this. Our team has blown me away every day making sure to get food on the shelves – we’re blessed to be with the people and companies we work with. You don’t hear those same stories in other industries,” Tzumas added. 

Phases of a Crisis
According to natural products market research firm SPINS, we’ve seen three distinct phases in terms of consumer shopping behavior since the coronavirus crisis hit the U.S. in late February. Also, with restaurants and other out-of-home dining options accountable for roughly half of all food expenditures, with their abrupt closure, demand doubled overnight for the nation’s grocers.

By late February, consumers who had an early read on the coming pandemic were responsible for big upticks in sales of preventive care products in natural foods channels, including vitamins, dietary supplements, probiotics, and herbal and homeopathic products. This was what SPINS refers to as Phase One: Proactive Self Care and Wellbeing, according to Kathryn Peters, EVP of Business Development for SPINS, in an April 21 webinar presented by New Hope Network.

“During the weeks of February 16 and 23, when there was still just a small number of confirmed COVID cases in the U.S. and the problems in China still seemed a bit far away, there was an early band of proactive shoppers beginning to stock up in key immunity-related categories beyond the regular cold and flu season type of products. That was when self-care items also started to pop, such as hand wipes and sanitizer. By late February, people were beginning to have a hard time finding hand sanitizer in stores,” she observed.

To provide some perspective, when Phase One began, “from just the previous week, we saw some extraordinary increases in a number of areas for the week ending February 23,” Peters said, noting a 1,285% increase sales of vitamins and supplements and a 211% increase in herbal and homeopathic products sales.

“We all know what Phase Two looked like – during the weeks of March 15 and March 22 – this was the mass stock up,” Peters continued. “During this ‘Pantry Prep & Loading’ phase, virtually everything sold.” Peters noted that during this period, 15 million additional buyers bought natural products. “That is a substantial number of products being bought by shoppers that are now in pantries. Time will tell if they will become continued shoppers; hopefully, there’s been a lot of trial,” she said.

April began Phase Three: Quarantine, according to SPINS data, with upticks in sales of baking mixes, pastas and spa-related items as Americans hunkered down at home and did their best to cook for their families, and pamper themselves while not being allowed to visit salons, massage therapists or other service providers. “Households seem to be bonding over baking, whether it’s bread or desserts – Instagram is full of proud creations,” Peters said. 

The New Normal
“And then there’s Phase Four – what life is going to look like on the other side,” Peters said, noting that there will be some lasting shifts in consumer behavior in the “new normal” once the health crisis subsides. With consumers homebound, re-connecting with cooking and seeking more prepared food options, grocers are being presented with an opportunity to capitalize on providing mealtime solutions – something they were having difficulty with before.

Organic produce, too, experienced a resurgence, recording a 22% sales jump in March and an 8% increase overall for the first quarter, outperforming conventional produce sales, according to the 2020 Q1 Organic Produce Performance Report published by the Organic Produce Network and Category Partners. Growth may have been even higher, but was tempered by widespread out of stock conditions during the panic buying period in mid-March. “Organic fresh produce sales in the first quarter were strong, and the impact of COVID-19 in March pushed numbers even more,” Matt Seeley, CEO of the Organic Produce Network, said. “We continue to see organic fresh produce sales outpace the dollar and volume growth rate of conventional fresh produce.”

Another lasting trend will be a continued focus on proactive self-care and personal safety – immunity supplements cleaners, wipes, masks and other related household items will continue at a high level. Also, “while comfort foods are important, we are seeing growing recognition of healthy and nutrient dense food, too. This comes with consumers’ increasing recognition that our body’s immune system is the best line of defense. Even with economic pressures, we see this continuing. We believe that this unfortunate health crisis will be a bright spot in continuing to bring health and wellness even more mainstream,” Peters of SPINS said.

“We are very concerned about those negatively economically impacted by the coronavirus crisis. If there’s one major tectonic shift, it is the march toward more and better value product offerings to lower barriers of entry from a pricing standpoint,” said Ben Nauman, Director of Purchasing for National Co+op Grocers (NCG). Nauman noted that sales in March for its retail members were up nearly 30% compared to March 2019 sales. 

NCG has been helping its members coordinate distribution and supply chain issues, take advantage of government stimulus programs, and currently, it is reinvigorating a recession playbook created in 2008 to help members manage cash flow and liquidity during economic downturns. “We’re also beginning to explore what it looks like to retail in a more contactless way going forward,” Nauman added.

For Sprouts Farmers Markets, a publicly traded natural foods retailer with nearly 350 stores and 30,000 employees, “due to our brands and distributor partners, we are in good stock level considering how high our sales are, and our customers are recognizing how good we are about being in stock,” noted John Soukup, Senior Category Manager for Sprouts. The company recently expanded curbside pickup and Instacart service to all its stores. “In addition, we have been very proactive in implementing measures to help our employees feel as safe as possible,” he added, noting that all employees are required to wear masks and gloves chainwide, the stores have installed sneeze shields in all checkout lanes, and store hours have been reduced to allow for deep cleaning. In addition, “we’ve offered bonuses to our employees instead of hourly increases. However, our leadership is doing a good job in compensating – we’ve already given out two to three rounds of bonuses to the front line employees in the warehouse and in the stores,” he said. 

Soukup also expressed concern about the manufacturing sector as the health crisis wears on. “We are starting to see SKU rationalization – vendors are having to prioritize what items they’re going to make. That’s going to ramp up over the next four to six weeks that could cause other out of stock issues,” he said. To help counter that, “we communicate daily with our distributors and just about weekly with our vendors. In this unprecedented time, our primary distributors, KeHE and UNFI, have done a phenomenal job. The broker community, too, including Presence Marketing, has done a great job for us in terms of serving as a liaison between the brands and what’s going on in the stores.” In times of crisis, “you understand who your partners are pretty quickly,” Soukup added.

Distributors See Fundamental Shift in Demand
At UNFI, one of the nation’s leading distributors of natural products, EVP of Supplier Services John Raiche has noted some big changes as a result of the pandemic. “The big difference between April and March is we’ve seen a fundamental shift in demand as students come home from college, people are staying home, and the food service expenditure is gone. The infrastructure was not designed to handle a sudden shift of that magnitude,” he said. While retailers are no longer placing such massive orders, there was a period of time at the end of March where on some evenings orders coming in were 400% of capacity, Raiche noted. UNFI, which also has placed a large focus on worker safety and incentives, hired more than 1,500 people since the beginning of March.

For Raiche, flexibility and communication are key right now. “We are trying to be as flexible and creative as possible with our suppliers on purchase orders, and we are trying to communicate with the industry and reach out to suppliers to share with them what we see, to offer to work with them, and to provide updates in terms of demand and opportunity,” he said. 

“For the team here internally, from receivers and collectors to drivers and the supply management team, there’s a real sense of purpose. People are open to working longer hours and doing whatever is needed. We’re spending a tremendous amount of time thinking about what the future holds, Raiche shared. “When it started, many people were thinking it would be like a light switch. Everything I read is that any transition back to normalcy will take place over a good amount of time. For our manufacturers, this demand is not going to go back to the old normal anytime soon.”

At KeHE Distributors, “our first priority is the safety of warehouse associates, professional drivers and in-store sales reps – the ones that are so important, the critical essential workers in this situation, said Scott Weber, EVP of Merchandising. “Our second priority is servicing retailers and suppliers to try to keep up with unprecedented demand. We’ve developed partnerships with food service distributors to align all our capacity to meet the massive demand in our industry. The third priority is giving back. Through our KeHE Cares philanthropic program, we are supporting those most affected by the COVID crisis.”

Weber added that while it may be a difficult time to introduce new products, “our overall category management and merchandising team remains heavily focused on innovation because we know that when those retailers get back to new items and category reviews, we’ve got to have a robust line to offer.” As such, KeHE revamped a “Trend Finder” event, originally scheduled for Natural Products Expo West, into a virtual event in order to meet with new suppliers. “The most important thing right now is working with our suppliers to ensure we have the flow of inbound product to KeHE that enables us to serve our customers,” he said.

Blair Kellison, CEO of Traditional Medicinals, a pioneering manufacturer of natural and organic teas, remarked that sales of tea in grocery was up 41% in the last month – “unheard of!” he exclaimed. Kellison often comes to work at 6:00 am to stand in the parking lot “just so I can say thank you to our workers,” he said. “If the workers are coming here every day, I should be here every day. These 120 workers are keeping our entire company going.”

Natural Products Industry on Front Lines of Coronavirus Crisis

Photo: Empty produce shelves at Whole Foods Market, Longmont, CO, March 13, 2020; Compass Natural

By Steven Hoffman

Editor’s Note: Since this article was prepared for publication, it was reported this week that employees at Amazon, Instacart and Whole Foods Market were planning to stage walkouts or “sick-outs” due to worker safety concerns. A handful of workers at Whole Foods Market locations in Huntingdon Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Chicago and New York have tested positive for coronavirus, raising employee concerns. Many grocers are installing plexiglass sneeze guards to protect cashiers from coronavirus. This article originally appeared in New Hope Network’s IdeaXchange and will appear in Presence Marketing’s April 2020 newsletter edition.

From the moment in early March when New Hope Network first announced the postponement of Natural Products Expo West – what Forbes Magazine referred to as the “Super Bowl of natural CPG” – to later in the month when UNFI CEO Steve Spinner joined a group of food, retail and distribution leaders at the White House to help ensure that America’s grocery shelves stay stocked – no small feat during the panic buying rush of the past few weeks – the COVID-19 pandemic has put the natural products industry on the front lines of the coronavirus crisis.

There have been many challenges – and a few opportunities – associated with this position. Stores find themselves short staffed and have had to cut hours to deep clean and restock empty shelves. Staffs are stretched thin. Restaurants and food service operations have had to shut down, putting many out of work. Long lines and controlled entry have been reported in some stores. Many retailers are dedicating Senior Hours before the stores open to the general public to give elderly people a chance to have access to product before the rush.

On the other hand, retailers are hiring, often providing jobs for laid-off restaurant and food service workers. Natural products grocers including Whole Foods Market and Natural
Grocers are offering interim incentives on top of current hourly rates to keep and recruit labor. Whole Foods is partnering with Amazon to expand resources and capacity for door drop and home delivery. Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen told CNBC in late March that the Cincinnati-based grocer, which operates 2,800 stores in 35 states, hired 2,000 people in March to keep up with increased demand from the coronavirus outbreak, and still has 10,000 openings to fill. Walmart announced it wants to hire 150,000 temporary workers through May, and Amazon is hiring an additional 100,000 workers to deal with coronavirus demand.

Sales, too, are through the roof for natural products retailers and CPG stores across the country as people stock up on a month's worth of groceries and staple goods instead of a typical week’s worth. Food Dive reported that sales of staples soared in March, indicating that consumers were preparing for the long haul. Add to that the fact that, with the closing of restaurants and cafes in many states, and with the call for social distancing, people are now eating at home, putting further strain on conventional and natural foods retail markets.

“You Need to Get Out on the Floor and Stock Shelves!”
For Gabe Nabors, CEO of the Mustard Seed Market & Cafe, with two full-service natural foods supermarkets and a bakery in Ohio and also renowned for its restaurants and catering, the stores have pivoted to offer in-store take-out meal solutions for its customers as the state of Ohio in March called for the closing of bars and restaurants. Mustard Seed has been promoting this expanded service on social media, and recently posted the steps it is taking to sanitize its stores, ensure product availability, and protect workers and customers.

“We are packaging our most popular soups from our restaurant in ‘fresh or freeze’ containers and are ramping up in-store prepared foods,” Nabors said. “We’re pivoting from banquets and catering to contacting assisted living homes, local nonprofits, hospices and elsewhere to let them know we have healthy prepared foods available for takeout. We’re also in talks with Instacart to expedite the launch of a delivery service. A large percentage of food sales in America is through restaurants and food service; with that closed, it puts added pressure on the grocery stores. As such, our entire team has been stocking shelves - if you have an office job and it’s not mission critical - you need to get out on the floor and stock shelves!” Nabors added about managing the current crisis situation. 

“We and our distributors have trucks running nonstop throughout our 20 state system, but it’s still a limited number of pallets per load,” said Alan Lewis, Director of Public Policy for Natural Grocers. “To better serve demand, we've curtailed the delivery of water, which is generally available locally, to focus instead on providing staple goods, produce and perishables. Our stores have been the calmest, most organized places to shop and our customers have been exemplary in not hoarding, and helping create a sense of calm and the feeling that we are all in this together,” Lewis observed. "People have been so cordial and kind to each other and thanking everyone in the stores for making the food available,” he said.

“Currently, there is plenty of food ready to be delivered in the supply chain. The outages are not shortages,” said Lewis. To ensure steady supply, he feels that food workers, from agriculture to manufacturing and retail, should be termed ‘essential workers.’ “We’ve been in conversation with the Colorado Department of Agriculture and others asking them not to stop essential agricultural workers,” he said. “As a result, CDA has notified law enforcement officials, requesting that agriculture workers be able to travel to and from work,” he added.

“People working overtime in delivery, back of house, stocking shelves, cashiers, e-commerce fulfillment – they are now critical infrastructure to keeping this country running. We should be cognizant of the stress on store staff and provide more resources to help them, for example, living wages, free child care, paid sick leave, collective bargaining rights, proper protective equipment, etc.,” said Errol Schweizer, retail and brand veteran and former head of grocery purchasing for Whole Foods Market. “The cooks, clerks, packers, loaders – the folks that often are poorly paid, overworked and invisible – how often have we heard pundits refer to them as unskilled? Now that everyone sees how crucial – and skilled – they are, we need to assure they are treated with dignity and respect.”

Industry Responds to Heightened Demand
For distributors, which have received generally positive reviews in responding to the crisis, sales are up dramatically, too. Leading natural products distributor UNFI's stock more than doubled in late March as consumers stocked up. "It is important for all Americans to know that they can continue to count on companies like ours to keep stores well-stocked with a variety of food and wellness products during this critical period,” Spinner said in a statement. "In addition to having business continuity and safety plans in place to help keep America fed, UNFI is supplementing its coordination with federal, state, and local government agencies by now collaborating directly with the White House and industry peers. We firmly believe that increased levels of public-private collaboration can further enhance UNFI's around-the-clock efforts to meet our customers current and future needs.” 

Natural and organic products manufacturers, too, are scrambling to satisfy increased demand. In a LinkedIn post, Wayne Wu, General Partner of VMG Partners, observed, "We're hearing many shelf stable food, beverage and supplement brands are generally doing well in brick and mortar stores as consumers stock up, but also seeing a 50%+ sales lift in the past couple of weeks in their e-commerce or grocery delivery channels, such as Amazon, Walmart.com, DTC or Instacart, as consumers are potentially pantry loading, but may lead to more permanent behavior change in how they purchase their more consumable-type products that they’ve traditionally purchased at a brick and mortar location to a more permanent lift online for these type of consumable items.”

Working from home is not stopping Steve Wangler, VP of Sales for The Good Crisp Company, maker of all natural canister chips. Working with Presence Marketing as its broker, Wangler said, “We’ve been in contact with every single field and accounting rep of Presence Marketing. Even sidelined, together we are engaging with retailers virtually, keeping them apprised of stock situations, asking what they need, etc. The entire Presence team has been very proactive, highly responsive, highly engaged, and looking for ways to support retailers and brands. Also, we are attracting consumers that are new to our brand through our online efforts, and we’re hoping we’ll keep those consumers once they experience our product." 

Noticing a trend accompanying consumers’ response to the coronavirus crisis, Eric Schnell, cofounder of the marketing collective BeyondBrands and mood33, a cannabis and CBD based beverage line, was informed by his Florida distributor that mood33’s top-selling CBD SKU, Energy, was replaced by its Calm formula in March. “It’s an indicator of how stressed people are feeling right now,” Schnell observed.

"As a service provider we are doing our best to support our natural products clients, and on the brand side, we are seeing an immediate uptick in sales,” he said. "Every manufacturer I’ve spoken with is still operating at full capacity, including supplements, beverages and food, to meet demand from both brick and mortar and e-commerce.”

“Unity in the Community is Key”
The BeyondBrands team, like other natural products brokers, distributors and service providers throughout the country, is rising to the challenge and doing its best to help partner brands deal with retail demand. “Rather than going into stores to sell items, we are recommending going into stores and offering to help stock shelves,” Schnell said. “Connection and collaboration are key right now. More than ever, it feels like people need unity in the natural foods community. Whether you are on the service, brand or retail side, we are all in this together and we have to see ourselves through this, together.” 

At Dr. Bronner’s, demand for soap and hand sanitizer has spiked, and the company is doing its best to fulfill the increase in orders, said David and Michael Bronner in a
statement published on March 16. “In spite of our best efforts, constraints prevent us from fully meeting orders: our hand sanitizer, for example, can only be produced at FDA-licensed drug manufacturing facilities, and is being produced at 600% our usual rate.”

In addition, the Bronner brothers wrote, “We are allocating a reserve of 2% of all hand sanitizer production to donate to at-risk communities and the organizations that serve them, so they have access to our hand sanitizer, as well. Please also buy only what you think you need, so that everyone who needs our products can obtain them. This is an important time to remember that we are all connected and need to look out for each other, now more than ever,” they wrote.

As for New Hope Network, after announcing that Expo West was not just postponed but cancelled for 2020, the company that leads communications efforts in the natural industry announced in a video update on March 20 that it would provide assistance to small businesses hurt by the cancellation. 

“Due to the decision to cancel voluntarily and without being asked to do so by local, state or federal edict or other force majeure circumstances, our insurance provisions were not triggered and significant costs and liabilities were incurred by New Hope,” said Carlotta Mast, New Hope’s Senior VP of Content. However, she continued, “To help support those most impacted by the Expo West cancellation, our parent company Informa has established a $5 million fund that will be disbursed under the guidance of an independent advisory council made up of 20 industry leaders. The advisory council is working on this task now and is aiming to have its guidance delivered to the New Hope Network leadership team by the week of April 6,” she reported.

The company announced it is focusing its energies on the upcoming Natural Products Expo East, slated for Sept. 23-26, 2020, in Philadelphia, and is issuing a full credit for any Expo West exhibitor or sponsorship fees, in which the credit can be applied to Expo East, Expo West 2021, or to its media and market research publications. Expo West badge registration and education fees also will be fully refunded in the coming weeks. New Hope also announced a free product directory listing for 2020 Expo West exhibitors along with upcoming webinars and education, and referred further questions to its Expo West FAQ page.

In closing, John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, summarized how our industry has risen to the occasion in serving community, workers and customers during the coronavirus crisis. In an email to constituents, he wrote, “If you’ve shopped our stores in recent weeks, you’ve experienced our team members’ dedication and diligence to serving your community during a time of uncertainty. None of this is lost on us… As a company, Whole Foods Market is adjusting to the current circumstances that all of us are facing during this unprecedented time. We believe that the service we provide as a grocer is an essential one, and we are committed to continuing to serve our customers in a safe and responsible manner, both in our stores and through delivery. Thank you for your kindness and patience as our team continues to work hard to serve our customers and communities. Please take care.”