PMA Predicts Future Growth of Organic Market
Photo by Wikimedia Commons
Source: Presence Marketing News, November 2017
Author: Steven Hoffman, Compass Natural Marketing
“Once merely a specialty item favored by the ‘uber health-conscious,’ organic food has widened its distribution channel, especially in retail formats, and has now become a staple in supermarkets around the world. The more accessible it becomes, the more its popularity rises.” So says the Produce Marketing Institute in an October 5, 2017, commentary. Organic achieved mainstream status due to consumer demand for transparency, especially about topics including food safety, chemical preservatives, genetically modified ingredients and pesticides, along with health concerns around diabetes, heart disease, cancer and more, which have affected food buying choices, said PMA.
“Consumers now expect to know the story behind their food before they’ll buy it. Is it locally sourced or imported from an international market? Is it produced in an ethical manner or does it come from a factory farm? If a food item doesn’t have a positive backstory, even if it’s cheaper, many consumers consider looking elsewhere. And some important components of a positive backstory include ‘natural,’ ‘organic,’ and ‘locally sourced,’ which can be major selling points despite the added costs. That shift helped transform organic produce from a niche underdog into a produce industry powerhouse, and it’s not slowing down,” said PMA.
Foods with organic and natural claims remain popular among households with children in the U.S., and organic strongly resonates with Hispanics, particularly Millennials and especially those with children. In fact, said PMA, parents in general are far more likely to embrace the positive reputation of organic.
However, PMA cautioned that households with children are on the decline. Meanwhile, the number of consumers that lack trust in the organic label remains steady, it said. Older consumers are the most likely to be unconvinced of the value of organic and are hesitant to spend more for organic products. Younger shoppers, PMA points out, while open to the benefits of organics, often can’t afford them.
PMA reported that the global organic food market was $110.25 billion in 2016, according to management consulting firm TechSci Research. Global organic food sales are expected to reach $262.85 billion by 2022. While Europe and North America make up the strongest demand for organic food, PMA suggested that intense competition in those regions means companies must also look elsewhere to gain a foothold.
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Steven Hoffman is Managing Director of Compass Natural, providing brand marketing, PR, social media, and strategic business development services to natural, organic and sustainable products businesses. Contact steve@compassnatural.com.
Betsy’s Best Goes Prime Time for the Holidays
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Betsy’s Best Goes Prime Time for the Holidays
In time for the holidays, Betsy's Best® Gourmet Nut & Seed Butters are now available on Amazon Prime, plus shoppers will receive a bonus PDF Holiday Recipe Book featuring more than two dozen recipes crafted by Registered Dietitian, fitness trainer and former Miss Indiana Betsy Opyt, founder and CEO of Betsy’s Best.
Naples, FL (November 16, 2017) — Betsy's Best® Gourmet Nut & Seed Butters is pleased to announce its better-for-you pantry essentials are now available on Amazon Prime. All of Betsy's Best’s nutritious and delicious, Non-GMO spreads – including Almond Butter, Cashew Butter, Peanut Butter and Sunflower Seed Butter – are now available as singles, two-packs and six-packs, eligible for free two-day shipping for Amazon Prime members.
By selling on Amazon Prime, Betsy's Best products become more visible and readily available online. Amazon Prime members enjoy a number of benefits including free two-day shipping on Amazon Prime approved products. Membership is growing rapidly, and Business Insider reports there are more than 80 million subscribers to Amazon Prime.
In addition to being approved for sale on Amazon Prime, Betsy’s Best Gourmet Cashew Butter with Cardamom & Chia Seeds has been singled out as “Amazon’s Choice.” Amazon's Choice “recommends highly rated, well priced products available to ship immediately,” the company says. Affective today at 4:00pm EDT through end of day November 30th, customers can save 30% off the Cashew Butter buy using code CASHEW30.
Made with superfoods and whole food ingredients such as chia seeds, organic honey and Himalayan pink salt to create award-winning spreads noted for their unique taste and texture that appeal to adults and kids alike, Betsy’s Best Gourmet Nut & Seed Butters are Non-GMO Project Verified, gluten free, and palm oil free. Products available on Amazon Prime include Betsy’s Best Gourmet Almond Butter with Cinnamon & Chia Seeds, Cashew Butter with Cardamom & Chia Seeds, Seed Butter with Sunflower & Chia Seeds, and Peanut Butter with Cinnamon & Chia Seeds.
"We continuously look for opportunities to enhance the reach of our brand to more customers who may not be able to find our products in a store near them," says Betsy Opyt, founder and CEO. "The launch of Betsy’s Best products on Amazon Prime will significantly expand its availability in the U.S.”
Holiday Recipe eBook
Amazon Prime customers also will receive a complementary downloadable PDF Holiday Recipe eBook featuring more than two dozen easy-to-prepare holiday recipes hand crafted by Betsy Opyt. In addition to founding Betsy’s Best, Betsy is a Registered and Licensed Dietitian, fitness trainer, avid cook and former Miss Indiana. “Our Holiday Recipe Book contains more than two dozen recipes that are high on taste and health when you are low on time,” Betsy says. “These are my own family-approved recipes that I use at home.”
About Betsy’s Best
Betsy's Best® was founded in 2012 by Betsy Opyt, former Miss Indiana and a Registered and Licensed Dietitian and Certified Diabetes Educator. Based in Naples, FL, the company blends its nut and seed butters with unique ingredients, flavors and superfoods to create products that are nutritious, delicious and different. Betsy's Best brands are the initial offerings of Healthy Concepts Food Company, LLC.
Betsy's Best Gourmet Almond Butter with Cinnamon & Chia Seeds was recognized in October 2016 as the first recipient of the ChefsBest Quality in Craft Award by an expert panel of Certified Master Tasters. Also, Betsy’s Best Gourmet Cashew Butter with Cardamom & Chia Seeds was recognized as a NEXTY Award Finalist at Natural Products Expo East in September 2017. For more than 60 hand crafted recipes and to learn more about Betsy’s Best, visit www.BetsysBest.com and connect on social media.
Where to Find Us
Betsy’s Best Gourmet Nut & Seed Butters are available online at www.BetsysBest.com, on Amazon Prime, and in over 2,100 stores in 39 states, including Kroger, Wegmans, Whole Foods Market (Florida), Bristol Farms, Ingles Markets, Vons, Ralph’s, Lowe’s, City Market, King Soopers, Fred Meyer, Harris Teeter and others; and through distributors including UNFI, KeHE, Jake’s Finer Foods, Haddon House, Gourmet Merchants and others. For wholesale inquiries contact info@BetsysBest.com, tel 888.685.8292.
Contact
Steven Hoffman, Compass Natural, steve@compassnatural.com, tel 303.807.1042
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Natural industry mourns passing of Miami retail pioneer Terry Dalton
Author: Steven Hoffman, Compass Natural Marketing
Source: New Hope Network
With the Unicorn Village Natural Marketplace and Restaurant, and later Sublime Vegan Restaurant, Miami retailer and restaurateur Terry Dalton brought sophisticated hipness, financial savvy and customers in droves to his pioneering full-service natural foods supermarket and restaurant.
Natural products retail pioneer Terry Dalton, founder of the Unicorn Village in Miami, one of the industry’s seminal natural foods stores and restaurants in the 1980s and 1990s, passed away on Nov. 9, 2017, from head injuries suffered in a bicycling accident in northern Florida.
Terry was a true rock star in the natural products industry and remained very active and enjoyed the outdoors. He passed away doing what he loved and is survived by his son, Sage Dalton, a senior dive master at Oceans First in Boulder, Colorado, and former wife and lifelong friend Kathy (Dalton) Boruff, who also resides in Boulder.
Terry sold the Unicorn Village—one of the top grossing stores in the country at the time—in 1995 to Whole Foods Market. If you ever had the chance to eat at his stand-alone Unicorn Village restaurant on the waterfront in Aventura in North Miami, you would have seen top celebrities of the time enjoying Terry’s (and chef Steven Petusevsky’s) nouvelle natural, organic and vegetarian cuisine.
Terry and his team brought that Miami 1980s hip and chic sophistication to natural, organic and vegetarian products, making it appealing to so many more people. After the sale to Whole Foods Market, Dalton subsequently co-founded Sublime—one of the top vegan restaurants in the country—with Nancy Alexander, founder of the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida. He remained involved in various consulting projects and causes since then but mostly enjoyed retirement over the past several years.
However, the impact Terry Dalton and his fellow retail pioneers—members of the original “Natural Network”—had on the evolution of our industry is a powerful and lasting legacy.
Terry Dalton stood out among a group of retail pioneers across the country who in the late 1970s and 1980s were dedicated to moving beyond stuffy, old-school health food store and crunchy, college-town natural food store formats. This intrepid group, including Terry and his Unicorn Village Natural Marketplace and Restaurant in Miami, were out to create the first full-service natural and organic food supermarkets that were the forerunners of today’s natural products retail marketplace. It was truly a unique entrepreneurial moment in the history of natural products.
Other members of the original “Natural Network” included Stan Amy of Nature’s Fresh Northwest (and New Seasons Market) in Portland; Mark Retzloff and Hass Hassan of Alfalfa’s Market in Boulder; John Mackey of Whole Foods Market in Austin; Peter Roy of the Whole Foods Co. in New Orleans (who later served as president of Whole Foods Market); Sandy Gooch of Mrs. Gooch’s Natural Food Market in Los Angeles; Anthony and Susan Harnett of Bread & Circus in Boston; and Terry Dalton of the Unicorn Village in North Miami. A number of these stores sold to Whole Foods Market and elsewhere, but their impact nonetheless lasts to this day.
Terry’s natural foods store and restaurant stood out as models for the industry. Throughout the 1980s and until 1995 when he sold his store to Whole Foods Market, Terry presided over one of the most sophisticated, hip and profitable natural foods scenes in the country. It was the THE place to go for natural foods, prepared foods and gourmet cuisine in the Miami area, and celebrities from Madonna to the stars of Miami Vice were regularly spotted perusing products in the market, or chatting over vegetarian fare in Dalton’s waterfront restaurant adjacent to his store.
Through my work as editorial director of the Natural Foods Merchandiser with New Hope Network in the ‘80s and ‘90s, New Hope co-founder Doug Greene sent me to many stores for our monthly retail profiles and I got to meet, report on and befriend so many of these founding retail pioneers—and work with them on seminars and educational programming at Natural Products Expo. Terry’s friendship was special and we remained close and worked on other projects together over the years. He took me under his wing like he did with many individuals in our industry, and helped nurture my career in the change-making and ever-changing natural and organic products market.
As such, his son, Sage, and his ex-wife, Kathy, asked if I would write this tribute to let the natural products community know of his passing and to honor Terry Dalton and his contribution to natural and organic food and agriculture, health and wellness, and environmental sustainability. I am honored to offer this tribute to Terry Dalton, my mentor and friend.
If you would like to learn more about the incredible founders who started an industry, including more about Terry Dalton’s work and legacy, read Natural Prophets by Joe Dobrow, an excellent book and an important history to preserve.
For those seeking to reach out to Terry’s family, please contact Sage Dalton at scubasage@me.com. The family is also still considering how best to honor his memory, and we’ll keep everyone posted. Life is precious, friends. Love and health to you all!
—Steven Hoffman, Compass Natural Marketing
Tributes from family and industry leaders:
“I met Terry in Florida when I was 17. We started hanging out, visiting our families in the west, and we moved to Oregon for a time in the mid-1970s where our son Sage was born. Terry would tell me of his vision of opening a juice bar and natural foods store, and over the next few years, it all materialized. First, we delivered honey for a beekeeper to natural foods stores up and down the West Coast, and when we sold all the honey, we’d fill the van back up with fresh produce and then sell that all the way back home. After Sage was born, we moved back to Florida to be closer to my family. Terry soon partnered on his first restaurant, Chestnut, in 1979 in Fort Lauderdale, which ultimately led to the Unicorn Village store and restaurant, and the rest is history. Terry was my soul mate, and while his biggest passion was for natural products, his biggest love was for his son, Sage. And yet, while to us he was husband and dad and liked to ride bikes and all that, we knew he was a rock star to so many people. He was so influential in launching the natural products industry.”
—Kathy (Dalton) Boruff, Terry Dalton’s ex-wife
“My fondest, clearest memories of Terry Dalton, was when, in the mid-1970s, he lived in Oregon and was just starting out. He used to drive up Interstate 5 loaded to the gills with avocados, honey, dates and other fresh products from his runs in a van up and down the West Coast. He would just appear; there was no set schedule, but it was the highlight of the month when he came to visit. The store’s staff would empty out just to see what fresh products Terry brought to us. Of course, this was all before he moved to Florida and launched the Unicorn Village and his restaurants.”
—Stan Amy, founder, Nature’s Fresh Northwest and New Seasons Market
“Terry Dalton was clearly the leading voice for prepared foods, and he had the highest-volume vegetarian restaurant in the country for 10 years. None of us had cracked the foodservice code yet; Terry was way out ahead in terms of prepared foods, and his business was always very profitable. When we bought his store while I served as president of Whole Foods Market, Terry’s Unicorn Village team helped us dramatically improve our prepared foods offerings. Regarding the Natural Network, Terry was there from the very beginning. He saw the wisdom of us all working together, sharing information and trying to build this entire industry.”
—Peter Roy, founder, Whole Food Co., New Orleans; former president, Whole Foods Market; founder of the Natural Network; and board member of a number of successful natural products companies
“Terry Dalton was a progenitor in our natural foods industry, changing the lives and career paths of many, including my own. In 1989 at the Unicorn Village Restaurant and Market in Miami, he introduced me to a new way of thinking about our food supply, ingredient quality and ultimately how these issues affect on not only us, but the bigger picture of our planet’s well-being. This was the training ground in which we would feed thousands each day, with creative, globally inspired, clean food prepared from scratch. He empowered me to create and explore new, more socially responsible culinary directions at least 20 years before others. Terry’s guidance and memory will continue to push me forward for years to come. His profound influence on the industry and me personally will continue to benefit our world for generations to come.”
—Steven Petusevsky, chef and culinary specialist; former executive chef, Unicorn Village; and author, Whole Foods Market Cookbook
“Terry Dalton was such a good-hearted guy. Yeah, we were all pioneers in organic foods and natural grocery, but Terry really was the guy who pioneered the juice bar, fresh food and vegetarian food ideas that you see on every street corner in America today.”
—Hass Hassan, co-founder, Alfalfa’s Market, Boulder, Colorado, and Fresh and Wild Market, London, England
“We remember in the 1980s when a group of independent natural products retailers throughout the U.S. decided to meet regularly so that information and techniques could be shared. We called ourselves ‘The Natural Network.’ Founding retailers included Stan Amy of Nature’s Fresh Northwest and New Seasons Market in Portland; Mark Retzloff and Hass Hassan of Alfalfa’s Market in Boulder; John Mackey of Whole Foods Market in Austin; Peter Roy of the Whole Foods Co. in New Orleans (who later served as president of Whole Foods Market); Sandy Gooch of Mrs. Gooch’s in Los Angeles, and Terry Dalton of the Unicorn Village in north Miami. We visited each other’s markets and collected a myriad of ideas and opportunities over the years. Visiting Terry Dalton’s Unicorn Village was a joy. The deli section and restaurant were truly advanced and creative. Terry became our go-to person as the rest of us were trying to incorporate prepared foods sections into our natural products markets. We shall always remember this delightful, knowledgeable man who contributed so much to the expansion and ethics of the natural products industry.”
—Sandy Gooch, founder, Mrs. Gooch’s Natural Food Market, and Harry Lederman, industry veteran, marketing specialist and investor, and husband and wife, Los Angeles
“Terry Dalton was one of the original ‘Fabulous Five:’ Nature’s Fresh Northwest, Bread & Circus, Mrs. Gooch’s, Whole Foods Market … and the Unicorn Village.”
—Cheryl Hughes, founder, the Whole Wheatery, Lancaster, Califronia
“Small, innovative food companies need advocates, buyers who’ll tolerate new stuff every week. All the way from tiny Redwood Valley, California, Brightsong Tofu filled a standing order of ‘whatever you got that’s new and good’ for Terry. It was the ‘80s. We shipped by air every Friday a big box of mixed tofu products; they were sold out the next afternoon. Terry inspired us to transcend the ordinary.”
—Richard Rose, founder, Brightsong Tofu, Tofurella and HempNut, Santa Rosa, California
“Terry was both idealistic and pragmatic. He also was from Oregon (a little logging town called Roseburg) and described himself as the black sheep of his family because he got into natural foods and liberal causes. And yet he was so successful and still so gracious. And he built the first, and probably only, dockside natural foods supermarket, where people in their yachts and cabin cruisers could buy provisions!”
—Gil Johnson, former editor, Natural Foods Merchandiser, Portland, Oregon
“Terry Dalton was developing and promoting women and minorities long before anyone was keeping statistics. To this day the Unicorn Village management team remains one of the most diverse teams with whom I have ever worked. Terry was always mentoring—when the Unicorn went to Natural Products Expo, Terry brought as many of the team as he could manage and still keep the show going at home. He wanted everyone to get a chance to see what it was like to play on a bigger stage. Terry was always trying new ideas, but he always wanted to back up what we were doing by analyzing the numbers. He was creative but results driven. I always felt a bit smarter after talking to Terry. Rock star, Renaissance man, solid and true friend.”
—Catherine Ali, former CFO, Unicorn Village
“I worked for Terry Dalton at the Unicorn Village for over 10 years, up until it was acquired by Whole Foods Market in 1995. It was one of the most successful independents in its day. Terry was a pioneer and a visionary, and he was a mentor and an inspiration to my career in the natural foods industry. I will forever be indebted to him and his memory will always be with me. My prayers and thoughts go to his family, Sage And Kathy.”
—Richard Lewis, former purchasing director, Unicorn Village, and General Manager, 4th Generation Organic Market, Boca Raton, Florida
“My father made a conscious choice to enjoy life. He loved bicycling, kayaking, jazz music, family and living a peaceful life. We are truly honored by the overwhelming expression of love we’ve received from this community of natural products people he was also dedicated to, in addition to his own family.”
—Sage Dalton, Terry Dalton’s son and dive master, Oceans First, Boulder, Colorado
Panel Features Top Chef Host Padma Lakshmi, Other Notables, on Future of Food
Photo by Wikimedia Commons
Source: Presence Marketing News, November 2017
Author: Steven Hoffman, Compass Natural Marketing
Due to the power of social media, even young audiences in remote parts of the world know about “Top Chef,” said the hit food show’s co-host Padma Lakshmi, noting that children are more aware of food at a younger age, and engaging them in cooking and passing recipes down is important to food’s future. Home Economics “should be brought back” into the school curriculum, she suggested.
Padma spoke at The Next Big Bite: How We Will Eat & Drink, held October 16 at the Institute of Culinary Education in New York. The event was hosted by Les Dames d’Escoffier New York, a professional women’s culinary organization with members who are leaders in the fields of food, fine beverage, and hospitality. Lakshmi joined other panelists including Melissa Clark, New York Times food columnist and cookbook author; Kerry Heffernan, executive chef, Grand Banks Restaurant, New York; Pascaline Lepeltier, instructor, Court of Master Sommeliers at the International Culinary Center, master sommelier, and author; Missy Robbins, chef and owner, Lilia Restaurant, Brooklyn, NY; and Susan Ungaro, president, The James Beard Foundation. Dana Cowin, DBC Creative, host of the podcast Speaking Broadly on Heritage Radio Network, and former editor-in-chief of Food & Wine, moderated the panel.
Here are food trends to watch, according to the panel and as reported in Specialty Food News:
Vegetables and plant-based foods. Stem to stalk is the new nose to tail. “Wasting food is going to become like not buckling up,” predicted Ungaro.
Untapped resources of the ocean such as algae or dogfish. “Dogfish is very plentiful and now we’re sending it to the U.K. because they know if makes good fish and chips. People here don’t understand that it’s a great resource,” said Heffernan.
Increased interest in the origins, content, and production methods of wine and spirits. “We can know what we eat, but we don’t always know what we drink,” noted Lepeltier.
Demand for healthier fare will have chefs rethinking traditional favorites. “We’re going to see a trend toward healthier, but with balance,” said Robbins, who created her restaurant with a health-oriented menu in mind. “People will give themselves the authority to indulge when they want to.”
Foods to watch: seaweed; beans, pulses, and legumes; oysters; and hemp.
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Steven Hoffman is Managing Director of Compass Natural, providing brand marketing, PR, social media, and strategic business development services to natural, organic and sustainable products businesses. Contact steve@compassnatural.com.
Organic Industry Leaders Speak Out in Support of OTA’s Lawsuit Against USDA
Photo by Wikimedia Commons
Source: Presence Marketing News, November 2017
Author: Steven Hoffman, Compass Natural Marketing
On January 19, 2017, one day before President Donald Trump’s inauguration, organic industry and animal welfare advocates hailed the release by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) new Organic Livestock and Poultry Practices (OLPP) rules – the result of a 14-year-long process that would require organic farms to follow improved animal welfare practices. The rule addressed four areas of organic livestock and poultry production, including requiring humane living conditions, animal healthcare, transport and slaughter.
The next day, however, on January 20, the new administration ordered a freeze on all new or pending federal regulations, and delayed implementation of the OLPP rules under the National Organic Program (NOP). In May, USDA asked for additional public input on whether it should enact the rule, suspend it, delay it, or withdraw it. During this new 30-day comment period, USDA received more than 47,000 comments, 99% of which were in support of implementing the new rules by November 14, 2017.
After hearing nothing from USDA since then, on September 13, the Organic Trade Association (OTA) filed a lawsuit against USDA saying it has a duty to protect and advance the U.S. organic sector, and that USDA is in violation of The Organic Food Products Act and the Administrative Procedure Act for its delay of the Organic Livestock Rule. OTA is asking the District Court for the District of Columbia to reverse USDA’s decision to delay and eliminate options proposed to further delay, rewrite or permanently shelve the rule—thereby making the final livestock rule effective immediately, as written.
“In a 60-day period in Spring 2017, the USDA received more than 45,000 positive public comments from farmers, consumers and food producers, agreeing with proposed rules to improve animal welfare, particularly increased pasture access for poultry. Its customers—the public—have spoken, but unfortunately, it seems, they have not been heard,” wrote Matthew Dillon, Clif Bar’s Director of Agricultural Policy and Programs, on September 26 in New Hope Network’s IdeaXchange. “Instead, USDA is listening to a few massive egg producers that want to increase sales into organic markets but not incur the costs of higher animal welfare standards,” he added.
Longtime organic industry leader Gary Hirshberg, Cofounder and Chair of Stonyfield Farm, also spoke out in support of OTA’s lawsuit. “Maintaining the integrity of organic standards, and the consumer trust that we in the organic community work hard every day to earn, demands constant vigilance,” he wrote on October 16 in New Hope’s IdeaXchange. “That’s why the recent legal action by the Organic Trade Association against the federal government over yet another delay in enacting the organic livestock regulations is so critical, and why it deserves the support of all organic stakeholders.”
“The organic industry takes very seriously its contract with the consumer and will not stand aside while the government holds back the meaningful and transparent choice of organic foods that deliver what the consumer wants,” said OTA Executive Director Laura Batcha in a release. “The government’s failure to move ahead with this fully vetted regulation calls into question the entire process by which organic regulations are set—a process that Congress created, the industry has worked within, and consumers trust.”
Cross-Country Road2Wellness Tour Reaches the Finish Line at Making Strides Walkathon, Oct. 15, in Jones Beach, New York
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Cross-Country Road2Wellness Tour Reaches the Finish Line at Making Strides Walkathon, Oct. 15, in Jones Beach, NY
Raising awareness for cancer prevention and a cure, leading nutritional supplement maker Nature’s Answer CEO Frank D’Amelio, Jr., has led a team of riders on a 4,000-mile, cross- country motorcycle tour in partner with the American Cancer Society. The riders reach the finish line on October 15 at the start of the Making Strides Walkathon in Jones Beach, NY.
Hauppage, NY (October 11, 2017) – What does a coast-to-coast motorcycle tour and the American Cancer Society have in common? Both are hoping to raise awareness across America about cancer prevention, treatment and finding a cure during Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October.
Led by Frank D’Amelio, Jr., CEO of New York-based Nature’s Answer, one of the nation’s oldest and largest family owned manufacturers of nutritional supplements, along with a group of colleagues, the riders on the Road2Wellness Tour are covering 4,000-miles from San Diego to New York to kick-start the nonprofit Nature’s Answer Foundation with a mission to help educate communities and raise funds for prevention, treatment and research to finding a cure for cancer – a disease that has affected nearly every family in America.
During the 16-day road trip, which began September 30, the Road2Wellness Tour, held in partnership with the American Cancer Society, has included stops along the way to highlight the foundation’s support of health and wellness and cancer research organizations throughout the U.S., including the following organizations. The tour culminates October 15 at the starting line of the annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walkathon in Jones Beach, NY.
American Cancer Society’s Hope Lodge – With 31 Hope Lodges across the U.S., the American Cancer Society’s Hope Lodge offers cancer patients and their families a free place to stay when their best hope for treatment may be in another city. The Nature’s Answer Foundation is proud to support Hope Lodge, and the Road2Wellness Tour included stops at Hope Lodge in Phoenix, AZ; Nashville, TN; and Hershey, PA.
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory – Founded in 1890 in Cold Spring Harbor, and home to eight Nobel Laureates, the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory is one of the world’s preeminent institutes specializing in cancer, molecular biology and genetics research.
Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walkathon – The Road2Wellness Tour riders reach the finish line at 7:00 am on the morning of Sunday, October 15, in Jones Beach, NY, where they will join 250 Nature’s Answer employees, family and friends at the starting line of the annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walkathon.
Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine – Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine in Phoenix, AZ, is a premier university for naturopathic practitioners. SCNM is one of seven accredited naturopathic medical schools in North America.
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital – Families never receive a bill from St. Jude’s for treatment, travel, or lodging for life-threatening childhood illnesses. Most of the funding for this world-renowned children’s research hospital, based in Memphis, TN, comes from donors, with only 14% coming from insurance – a vastly different model from other hospitals, and one supported by the Nature’s Answer Foundation.
Social media coverage of the tour using #road2wellnesstour has featured frequent updates and live streaming on Facebook (Nature’s Answer); Twitter (@natures_answer); Instagram (naturesanswer and road2wellnesstour); and on the tour’s website, www.road2wellnesstour.com.
Nature’s Answer will donate 10% of total product sales across all channels of distribution during the entire month of October to the Nature’s Answer Foundation, to be distributed to various charities to support cancer research. In addition, select Road2Wellness Tour gear is available online at www.road2wellnesstour.com, with the net proceeds from the sale of these items to be donated to qualifying charities, as well.
For more information and a complete tour schedule, to see a list of our partners, and to make a tax-deductible donation, please visit www.road2wellnesstour.com. To schedule an interview with Nature’s Answer CEO Frank D’Amelio, Jr., contact Steven Hoffman, steve@compassnaturalmarketing.com, tel 303.807.1042.
About Nature’s Answer
Founded in 1972 by Frank D’Amelio, Sr., along with his wife Josephine, Nature’s Answer® is one of the largest family owned and operated manufacturers of nutritional supplements in North America. Today, Nature's Answer continues to combine the best of traditional herbal remedies, vitamins and minerals with innovative scientific techniques and phytopharmaceutical manufacturing to deliver supplements of the finest quality and value for the entire family. Visit www.naturesanswer.com.
About the Nature’s Answer Foundation
Established in 2017 as a tax-deductible, nonprofit 501c3 organization, the mission of the Nature’s Answer Foundation is to support scientific research to help find a cure for cancer and other leading diseases, promote preventive health education, and raise funds for these important causes. Please visit our website, Nature’s Answer Foundation.
Contact
Steven Hoffman, tel 303.807.1042, steve@compassnaturalmarketing.com
Christine Berry, tel 631.840.3153, cberry@bio-botanica.com
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The Road2Wellness Tour is Coming To Colorado
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Road2Wellness Tour is Coming To Colorado
Supporting local organizations and raising awareness for cancer prevention and a cure, leading nutritional supplement maker Nature’s Answer CEO Frank D’Amelio, Jr., is leading a team of riders on a cross-country motorcycle tour in partnership with the American Cancer Society and to raise funds for cancer research, with stops in Colorado and Kansas.
Boulder, CO (October 4, 2017) – What does a coast-to-coast motorcycle tour and the American Cancer Society have in common? Both are hoping to raise awareness across America about cancer prevention, treatment and finding a cure during Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October.
Led by Frank D’Amelio, Jr., CEO of Nature’s Answer, one of the nation’s oldest and largest family owned manufacturers of nutritional supplements, along with a group of colleagues, the riders on the Road2Wellness Tour are covering 4,000-miles from San Diego to New York to kick-start the nonprofit Nature’s Answer Foundation with a mission to help educate communities and raise funds for prevention, treatment and research to finding a cure for cancer – a disease that has affected nearly every family in America.
During the 16-day road trip from September 30 to October 15, the Road2Wellness Tour, held in partnership with the American Cancer Society, includes stops along the way to highlight support of health and wellness and cancer research organizations throughout the U.S., including the following tour stops in Colorado and Kansas:
Alfalfa’s Market, Friday, October 6, 10:00 am (local time)
1651 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80302
Independently owned natural foods grocer Alfalfa’s Market, with stores in Boulder and Louisville, CO, has long been a natural products industry pacesetter and pioneer, as well as a leader in the Colorado community. With a stop at the Boulder store, visitors can meet the Tour riders, learn about cancer prevention, and sample wellness products from Nature’s Answer.
Green Acres Market – Bradley Fair, Saturday, October 7, 11:30 am (local time)
8141 E 21st St N, Wichita, KS 67206
Green Acres Market is hosting lunch for the Road2Wellness Tour riders at its Bradley Fair store in Wichita, KS. Voted 2014 Retailer of the Year by Whole Foods Magazine, family owned Green Acres Market, with eight stores in Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma, is dedicated to creating more sustainable communities and helping customers on their journey to wellness.
Additionally, the Road2Wellness Tour will highlight:
American Cancer Society’s Hope Lodge – With 31 Hope Lodges across the U.S., the American Cancer Society’s Hope Lodge offers cancer patients and their families a free place to stay when their best hope for treatment may be in another city. The Nature’s Answer Foundation is proud to support Hope Lodge, and the Road2Wellness Tour includes stops at Hope Lodge in Phoenix, AZ; Nashville, TN; and Hershey, PA.
Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine – Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine is one of the nation’s premier universities for naturopathic practitioners. SCNM is one of seven accredited naturopathic medical schools in North America.
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory – Founded in 1890 and home to eight Nobel Prize winners, the nonprofit Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory is one of the world’s preeminent institutes specializing in cancer, molecular biology and genetics research.
Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walkathon – The riders reach the finish line in Jones Beach, NY, on October 15 at the Making Strides Walkathon where they will join 250 Nature’s Answer employees, friends and family participating in the walk.
Social media coverage of the tour using #road2wellnesstour will feature frequent updates and live streaming on Facebook (Nature’s Answer); Twitter (@natures_answer); and Instagram (naturesanswer and road2wellnesstour).
Nature’s Answer will donate 10% of total product sales across all channels of distribution during the entire month of October to the Nature’s Answer Foundation, to be distributed to various charities to support cancer research. In addition, select Road2Wellness Tour gear is available online at www.road2wellnesstour.com, with the net proceeds from the sale of these items to be donated to qualifying charities, as well.
For more information and a complete tour schedule, to see a list of our partners, and to make a tax-deductible donation, please visit www.road2wellnesstour.com. To schedule an interview with Nature’s Answer CEO Frank D’Amelio, Jr., contact Steven Hoffman,
steve@compassnaturalmarketing.com, tel 303.807.1042.
About Nature’s Answer
Founded in 1972 by Frank D’Amelio, Sr., along with his wife Josephine, Nature’s Answer® is one of the largest family owned and operated manufacturers of nutritional supplements in North America. Today, Nature's Answer continues to combine the best of traditional herbal remedies, vitamins and minerals with innovative scientific techniques and phytopharmaceutical manufacturing to deliver supplements of the finest quality and value for the entire family. Visit www.naturesanswer.com.
About the Nature’s Answer Foundation
Established in 2017 as a tax-deductible, nonprofit 501c3 organization, the mission of the Nature’s Answer Foundation is to support scientific research to help find a cure for cancer and other leading diseases, promote preventive health education, and raise funds for these important causes. Please visit our website, Nature’s Answer Foundation.
Contact
Steven Hoffman, tel 303.807.1042, steve@compassnaturalmarketing.com
Christine Berry, tel 631.840.3153, cberry@bio-botanica.com
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The Bikes Are Shipped, the Crew is Ready, and the Road2Wellness Tour is About to Begin
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The Bikes Are Shipped, the Crew is Ready, and the Road2Wellness Tour is About to Begin
Hauppage, NY (September 26, 2017) –
The motorcycles have been blessed and shipped from New York to Los Angeles. The riders are ready to embark on a 4,000-mile, coast-to-coast journey. On September 30, the Road2Wellness Tour, with a mission to raise awareness of and funds for cancer prevention, treatment and research, is set to begin.
After receiving an official “blessing of the bikes” from Reverend Father Antony Asir of St. Thomas More Parish, the tour will be led by Frank D’Amelio, Jr., CEO of Nature’s Answer, one of America’s largest and oldest family owned manufacturers of nutritional supplements, along with a group of New York-based colleagues who will spread the word about cancer awareness during their 16-day road trip from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean by motorcycle.
The Road2Wellness Tour, held in partnership with the American Cancer Society and timed to coincide with Breast Cancer Awareness Month, will begin in Los Angeles and include stops along the way to highlight our support of the following organizations, including:
Hope Lodge – With locations throughout the U.S., the American Cancer Society’s Hope Lodge offers cancer patients and their families a free place to stay when their best hope for treatment may be in another city.
Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine – One of the nation’s premier universities for naturopathic practitioners, the tour will stop at SCNM in Phoenix.
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory – Founded in 1890 and home to eight Nobel Prize winners, the nonprofit Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory is one of the world’s preeminent institutes specializing in cancer, molecular biology and genetics research.
Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walkathon – The riders reach the finish line in Jones Beach, NY, on October 15 at the Making Strides Walkathon where they will join 250 Nature’s Answer employees, friends and family participating in the walk.
The Road2Wellness Tour also includes stops at key retailers in Southern California, Phoenix, Denver and Boulder, Wichita, KS, Memphis and Nashville, TN, and New York to raise awareness on a local level. Social media coverage of the tour using #road2wellnesstour will feature frequent updates and live streaming on Facebook (Nature’s Answer); Twitter (@natures_answer); and Instagram (naturesanswer and road2wellnesstour).
“We wanted to do some good and help people share their stories,” said D’Amelio, who has lost several family members to breast cancer. “I’m excited for the ride itself, and I’m honored to support Hope Lodge, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and more. We’ve got a lot of work to do, and this first annual Road2Wellness Tour is just the beginning.”
Nature’s Answer will donate 10% of total product sales across all channels of distribution during the entire month of October to the Nature’s Answer Foundation, to be distributed to various charities to support cancer research. In addition, select Road2Wellness Tour gear is available online at www.road2wellnesstour.com, with the net proceeds from the sale of these items to be donated to qualifying charities, as well.
For more information and a complete tour schedule, to see a list of our partners, and to make a tax-deductible donation, please visit www.road2wellnesstour.com.
To schedule an interview with Nature’s Answer CEO Frank D’Amelio, Jr., contact Steven Hoffman, steve@compassnaturalmarketing.com, tel 303.807.1042.
About Nature’s Answer
Founded in 1972 by Frank D’Amelio, Sr., along with his wife Josephine, Nature’s Answer® is one of the largest family owned and operated manufacturers of nutritional supplements in North America. Today, Nature's Answer continues to combine the best of traditional herbal remedies, vitamins and minerals with innovative scientific techniques and phytopharmaceutical manufacturing to deliver supplements of the finest quality and value for the entire family. Visit www.naturesanswer.com.
About the Nature’s Answer Foundation
Established in 2017 as a tax-deductible, nonprofit 501c3 organization, the mission of the Nature’s Answer Foundation is to support scientific research to help find a cure for cancer and other leading diseases, promote preventive health education, and raise funds for these important causes. Please visit our website, Nature’s Answer Foundation.
Contact
Steven Hoffman, tel 303.807.1042, steve@compassnaturalmarketing.com
Christine Berry, tel 631.840.3153, cberry@bio-botanica.com
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From Point A to Point B: UNFI Chair Steve Spinner on the Future of Distribution
Author: Steven Hoffman
Source: This article originally appeared in the September 2017 issue of Presence News
UNFI Chairman, President and CEO Steven Spinner was in Colorado recently to address the Naturally Boulder business community about the future of distribution in the natural, organic and “better for you” consumer products market.
The takeaway: “It’s a good time to be in this space,” Spinner said. “We are one of the few industries other than tech that actually grows,” he said, noting that the natural and organic market is growing at 10% vs. 1% growth in conventional foods.
From left: Mark Retzloff, Cofounder, Alfalfa’s Market; UNFI Chair Steve Spinner; and Carlotta Mast, SVP of Content, New Hope Network, and President, Naturally Boulder.
Photo by Compass Natural
Yet, be prepared for change, Spinner encouraged. “Change is pretty good. The reality is those who have been in the natural products industry for a while have learned that in order to deal with all that growth, you’ve got to be comfortable with handling a great deal of change. Because UNFI is conservative, our balance sheet is conservative – we carry very little debt – and we can weather the changes,” he said.
Shifting Market Drivers
Among the drivers affecting the healthy lifestyles market, Spinner noted, “We are seeing consolidation among manufacturers and the maturation of retail. Also, consumer buying habits are shifting. People are living longer and buying homes and having children later. And with the growth of alternate channels, things are going to get more competitive, so be careful of the price you charge. The Internet has made everything more transparent,” he advised.
“For us, our margins have come down materially year over year – 80% of our volume is a cost-plus program of 10% or less. A common misconception is that we make all this margin on the backs of our suppliers, but that is not true. The way we achieve income growth is by becoming more efficient – we seek to reduce our costs further than our contracting margins,” Spinner shared.
While sales of natural and organic products are growing in mainstream stores such as WalMart, Costco, Kroger and others, “That’s not necessarily all bad because these stores are serving crossover shoppers, and then we get a committed natural and organic shopper,” he said.
At the helm of UNFI – the largest distributor of natural and organic products in North America, with more than $9 billion in annual sales – since 2008, Spinner has become widely recognized as one of the top distribution and logistics experts in the food industry. A publicly traded company (Nasdaq: UNFI), UNFI serves 43,000 customers in the U.S. and Canada from 33 distribution centers.
The company recently reorganized itself into three regions: Pacific, Central and Atlantic. Additionally, Spinner noted, “In the past manufacturers had to deal with a number of different regions and policies were different. We have now shifted to a single Supplier Relationship Manager (SRM) system in which the manager works with the supplier on promotional schedules, product introductions, etc. We encourage brands to build a relationship with their SRM. Ask them for advice, for help in resolving issues with deductions, pricing, anything. Even though our managers have to respond to many brands, you might want to make the trip to visit your SRM. It can improve your relationship with UNFI dramatically,” he added.
Shift to the Perimeter
“About five years ago, we determined that the whole retail industry was going to shift from the center of store to the perimeter, that is, less space allocated to grocery and more allocation to dairy, deli and other perishables,” Spinner observed. “So we invested $500 million in refrigerated centers across the country. What we got wrong was the timing of the contraction in the center store – it happened a lot faster than we thought. Deli, produce, meat, frozen – these categories are all growing north of 9%. The perimeter is growing faster than the center of store.”
“The perimeter is growing faster than the center of the store,” noted UNFI Chair Steve Spinner. Source: UNFI.
UNFI serves all aspects of a retail store, what it refers to as “Building out the Store,” through its complete catalog plus private label brands including Blue Marble, Haddon House, Woodstock Farms, Select Nutrition and others. For the perimeter, UNFI serves retailers through its subsidiaries Albert’s Organics, Tony’s Fine Foods and Gourmet Guru.
A recent acquisition, Honest Green, also provides UNFI with the ability to drop ship over 35,000 products on behalf of small and national retailers that want to offer a broader range of items beyond their shelves, plus other non-traditional accounts that want UNFI products.
Speaking of e-commerce, Spinner said, “I know sometimes our [private label] products end up on websites, and perhaps those e-tailers try to get a price advantage. We try to prevent that. But the truth of the matter is, e-commerce is here to stay and we plan to get into it in a bigger way. We have to embrace it, understand it, and figure out a way to make it work while also serving our brick and mortar customers and helping them with their online sales platforms,” Spinner said. “E-commerce is still less than 4% of what’s sold in the U.S. However, U.S. food sales at retail are close to a trillion dollars, so a percentage point can mean a lot.”
UNFI Next: An Option for Emerging Brands
“Some would say that we’re a really big company and hard to do business with…but we are a really efficient company that gets product from point A to point B,” Skinner admitted. “However, we do believe we should treat others as we would like to be treated ourselves.”
For established national brands, UNFI’s fee-based ClearVue program converts a brand’s total distributor promotional spend into one flat rate – “No more deduction surprises, and a tremendous amount of portal information available,” said Spinner, who reported that close to 100 suppliers currently participate in the ClearVue program.
For smaller companies, UNFI launched this past year its “UNFI Next” program to help bring smaller, innovative brands into its distribution system, working with a new team that curates and incubates emerging brands not currently in distribution. According to UNFI’s blog announcing the program, the product and brand criteria to define an emerging brand for UNFI Next include:
• Brands/Products that disrupt their category
• Products that are on-trend with key industry/category trends
• New or break-through product entries to the market
“We realized we had gotten too big for some small suppliers, so we are excited about UNFI Next to find and on-board new and emerging brands,” said Spinner. “We are opening UNFI Next centers one DC (Distribution Center) at a time – Denver was recently added as a new UNFI Next center. This enables us to build and extend our pipeline to offer fast growing and exciting brands to our customers. When it works, we hand off the brand from UNFI Next to UNFI.”
To learn if your brand qualifies for UNFI Next, Spinner recommended contacting the appropriate regional Supplier Relationship Manager (SRM). To find contact info, visit here: http://yourbrandsmatter.com/srm-contacts/. You can also learn more about the UNFI Next program at UNFI’s Blog, October 2016 edition, here: http://unfisupplierupdate.blogspot.com/2016/.
Finally, in working with a distributor, Spinner cautioned that the reason suppliers may fail is when they think just getting into the distribution system is the “be all, end all.” Once the SRM places an order, that’s only the beginning, he said. “It’s your responsibility to sell it, get it placed, and get it off the shelf. We will work with you to help promote your brands, but again, I encourage you to build your relationship with your SRM. We also are committed to working with evolving retail stores that are responding to the needs of the future retail marketplace.”
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Steven Hoffman is Managing Director of Compass Natural, a full service agency dedicated to Public Relations, brand marketing, digital communications, social media, and strategic business development in the healthy lifestyles market for natural, organic, regenerative and eco-friendly products and services. Contact steve@compassnatural.com.
Natural Products Industry Matures; Independents See Sales Growth
As the natural and organic products industry reached $141 billion in sales on 7.4% growth in 2016, Natural Foods Merchandiser’s 2017 Market Overview reports independents are starting to thrive again as the market shifts.
By Steven Hoffman
Source: Natural Foods Merchandiser, July/August 2017, published by New Hope Network
As a new Managing Editor back in 1986 with the Natural Foods Merchandiser, I was charged with conducting, analyzing and reporting on the natural products industry’s annual retail market overview survey. I recall spending late evenings poring over data with New Hope Network founder Doug Greene to determine overall sales, growth categories and emerging trends. That was when the industry was just breaking $5 billion in sales – a fraction of what it is today.
Thirty years later, the natural and organic products industry is maturing, reaching $141 billion in sales on growth of 7.4% in 2016, according to the 2017 Market Overview, published in the July/August 2017 edition of Natural Foods Merchandiser (NFM) in partnership with Nutrition Business Journal, with additional data provided by SPINS and the Organic Trade Association’s annual organic industry survey.
Over this time, the natural, organic and better-for-you products sector has become widely recognized as a hotbed of innovation and growth in the overall food industry. Point in fact, the Amazon – Whole Foods Market deal announced in June promises to be a game changer not just for the natural products landscape, but also for the entire retail food market worldwide.
Independents Find Stronger Footing
Yet, as the market shifts, independents that have been able to weather the past few years may now find themselves in a stronger position, according to NFM’s 2017 Market Overview.
While sales growth was modest among independent natural products retailers – sales grew 4.3% to $54.4 billion, or 39% of overall natural products sales in 2016 – NFM also reported that 69% of natural products stores surveyed recorded a sales increase, and 72% noted they did not have a competitor open up in their neighborhood in the last year.
“It may go against conventional wisdom, but well-managed and strongly positioned independent grocers can coexist with big retail. While large, often publicly held chains may have scale and strong financial backing, independent grocers are often more agile, enabling them to move quickly to address emerging trends and shifting consumer preferences,” the editors of Food Dive observed in a July 19, 2017, report.
“The difference between the corporate model, which you would now have to say includes Whole Foods, and the authentic, community-owned independent, is becoming clearer every day,” retail specialist Jay Jacobowitz of Retail Insights told NFM. “Those who embrace that authenticity and are passionate about serving their unique community will do well.”
Jacobowitz also noted that while the natural products industry may be maturing, there are areas of the country, including the East South Central region (Missouri, Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky), that are far from saturated. “It’s a big country, and the big boys can’t be everywhere at once,” Jacobowitz said. “There are still opportunities out there.”
Independents also are more nimble in that they can feature local products, and are often the first to take advantage of such emerging product trends as cannabidiol, or CBD, a new category driving growth in dietary supplements and personal care.
Conventional Retailers Own 44% of Natural Products Market Share
During this time, razor-thin margins, increased competition and price wars impacted large mainstream grocery chains, as well as of some of the “supernaturals.” Kroger reported its first decrease in same store sales in 13 years in March 2017, NFM reported, and Whole Foods Market struggled with declining same store sales throughout 2016, prompting shareholder activism in April 2017 from Jana Partners, which held an 8.8% stake in Whole Foods, and ultimately, the announced sale to Amazon in June 2017.
Other publicly traded supernatural chains, including Natural Grocers and Sprouts, saw their stocks decline in 2016 as a result of increased competition from all sides. Natural Grocers’ stock price continues to be depressed in 2017, though Sprouts’ stock price has rebounded.
Yet, through all that jockeying for market share, the bottom line is that conventional retailers, including food, drug, mass, convenience and club stores, now command the majority of natural and organic products sales.
According to NFM’s survey, in 2016 conventional retailers captured 44% – or $61.5 billion – of all natural and organic products sales, while traditional independent natural products retailers and chains claimed 39% ($54.4 billion) of overall natural and organic products sales in 2016. Additionally, while sales among independents grew a modest 4.3%, sales of natural and organic products among conventional retailers grew at double digits, or 10.2%, in 2016.
Here Comes the Internet
As consumers become ever more comfortable shopping on the Internet from the comfort of their homes, offices and mobile devices, ecommerce sales of natural and organic products grew 11% to $5.7 billion in 2016, capturing 4% of overall natural products sales, reported NFM’s Market Overview survey.
Online sales are sure to continue a strong growth curve, as ecommerce retailers such as Thrive Market, meal kit providers including GreenChef.com and independent brick and mortar retailers increase their online presence. Plus, a growing number of manufacturers are finding markets by creating their own online shopping pages and also by offering their products on Amazon, which continues its juggernaut as the dominant force in online retail. (With its acquisition of Whole Foods Market, it will be exciting to see how Amazon integrates and advances its brick and mortar and online retail strategies.)
The online channel is likely to capture significantly more market share in the next decade from brick and mortar stores, predicted a January 2017 report by Food Marketing Institute and Nielsen. Online sales could grow five-fold over the next 10 years, with U.S. consumers spending $100 billion on “food-at-home” items by 2025, FMI and Nielsen predicted. The report also found millennial shoppers surveyed were more willing to buy groceries online in the future than other consumer groups.
Health supplements, in particular, are benefitting from ecommerce, with $2.6 billion in online sales reported in 2016 by market research firm 1010Data. Brands that focus on “natural” products experienced the most online sales growth last year, 1010Data reported.
Herbal Blends, CBD Drive Supplement Sales Growth
Sales of herbal and homeopathic products increased 13.4% over the 52 weeks ending March 19, 2017, to reach a market value of nearly $2 billion, according to SPINS data shared in NFM’s Market Overview. Vitamin and supplement sales also grew 3.5% to approximately $12 billion in sales. Overall, SPINS reported 5% growth, valuing the total supplements market at approximately $14 billion.
SPINS also reported that sales of herbal blends grew 22% over the previous year, accounting for much of the herbal category’s success. According to research firm Mintel, consumers are responding to supplement formulas that call out benefits, rather than ingredients—and blends often meet that criteria, NFM reported.
Other top-performing supplements in 2016 include turmeric/curcumin and cannabidiol, or CBD, which is emerging as a leading supplement for anxiety and pain management. Despite the regulatory grey area surrounding CBD, sales of CBD supplements grew more than 1700% last year, primarily in the natural channel, reported Hemp Business Journal. Leading market research firm SPINS named CBD oil one of the “ingredients to watch” in its 2016 Trend Watch report.
Other supplement categories of note include organic supplements, which grew 7.4% in 2016. Retailers in NFM’s Market Overview survey also cited probiotics, bone broth and kombucha as top growth categories.
Other categories showing strong growth in 2016 include organic meat, fish and poultry (9.1% growth); organic beverages (6%); organic condiments (6.3%); and organic personal care and other products (8.1% growth in 2016).
The Indie Universe: Over 26,000 Independent Stores
Among NFM’s findings is that, among independent natural products retailers, on average, 60% of a store’s offerings are organic and 40% are described as “natural.” Also, roughly half of all sales in independent natural retail stores are from products that are “Non-GMO certified.”
Additionally, NFM estimates there are 26,042 independent stores in the U.S., including health food stores, natural foods stores and supermarkets, specialty food stores, personal care and herb shops and related boutiques and kiosks, and natural chains including Whole Foods Market, GNC, Vitamin Shoppe, Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, Sprouts Farmers Market, PCC, Earth Fare, Fresh Thyme Farmers Market, MOMs Organic Market, and others.
Click here to download the complete 2017 Market Overview report, including all data charts, published in the July/August 2017 edition of Natural Foods Merchandiser.
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Steven Hoffman is Managing Director of Compass Natural, a full service agency dedicated to Public Relations, brand marketing, digital communications, social media, and strategic business development in the healthy lifestyles market for natural, organic, regenerative and eco-friendly products and services. Contact steve@compassnatural.com.