Publication

Transcription

Publication

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Inside THIS ISSUE
21
Ahold’s
Underkoffler Talks
About Seafood
Issues
C
M
Y
CM
MY
CY
CMY
K
SPECIAL SECTION:
Kreider Farms 80th Anniversary
Pull-Out Section Inside
30
Mimi’s Cafe Is Site
Of Mid-Atlantic NEW
Networking Event
World
Food
WWW.BEST-MET.COM
Vol. 71 No. 3
Seafood ISSUEMarch 2015
New Management Team Of Perkins, Burnham, Lofland,Willhite Seeks To ‘Sell More Stuf f ’
Under New Albertsons Control, Safeway’s
Eastern Div. Unveils Decentralized Plan
Goodbye centralization. Sayonara to excessive process. Adios
to poor communication. March
4 proved to be a day of reckoning
for Safeway’s eastern division as
members of the company’s leadership team told a packed house
of approximately 450 at Martin’s
Crosswinds in Greenbelt, MD
that Safeway’s previous bureau-
cratic go-to-market-model is a
thing of the past.
Led by New Albertsons, Inc.
(NAI) COO Jim Perkins and new
Safeway eastern division president
Steve Burnham, the new management team emphasized the imSee safeway
on page 20
Kelley Exits As Stop & Shop NE President
AUSA Makes Modest Sales Gain;
Restructuring May Cut 120 HQ Jobs
It’s been a busy time for corporate Ahold and its U.S. subsidiary,
AUSA. The Dutch retailer released
fourth quarter and fiscal 2014
year-end earnings, announced the
resignation of Stop & Shop New
England president Joe Kelley, who
oversaw Ahold’s USA’s largest division and announced an internal
restructuring that could result in
the elimination of approximately 120 jobs at its Carlisle, PA and
Quincy, MA headquarter offices.
See Ahold USA
on page 16
Safeway’s eastern division held a vendor meeting earlier
this month at Martin’s Crosswinds in Greenbelt, MD.
Jim Perkins (l), COO of New Albertsons Inc., which now oversees
Safeway, and these Safeway execs addressed vendors on the newly
organized eastern division (2nd from l-r): Dean Willhite, VP-operations;
Tom Lofland, VP-marketing and merchandising; and Steve Burnham,
president. More photos are on pages 14-15.
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Taking
Stock
By Jeff Metzger
Safeway Eastern
Ready To Let It
All Hang Out
I’ve been covering Safeway’s
eastern division since 1978. In
that time, nearly a dozen division
presidents served their three
or four year tenures and then
were usually scuttled to another
Safeway corporate or division post
far away from the Baltimore-Washington market.
These were well-meaning
leaders with a solid knowledge of
the grocery business and a keen
understanding of the marketplace
to which they were assigned. There
were even some exceptional talents – the late Don Smith and Karl
Schroeder come to mind – who
could have performed even better
if they had been allowed to deploy
their skills in a less restrictive
manner.
But that wasn’t ever going to
happen, because process and the
most centralized system in the
supermarket business would never
allow it.
For corporate Safeway, its
paint-by-the-numbers cost control
strategy usually guaranteed solid
earnings and a steady stock price.
But, while the industry evolved
over the past decade, Safeway
didn’t. As new and more diverse
competition entered the fray,
Safeway maintained its bland,
non-aggressive style. As “fresh”
See taking stock
on page 6
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trade calendar
March 3-4
C&S will hold its East Coast customer buying show - “World of Values” - at Foxwoods Resort Casino
in Ledyard, CT.
March 4-5
Imperial Distributors will hold its
17th annual “Tis the Seasons” fall/
winter seasonal trade show at DCU
Center in Worcester, MA. To RSVP,
email
receptionist@imperialdist.
com or call 508.731.6211.
March 10-11
Bozzuto’s will hold its annual
spring food show at Foxwoods Resort & Casino in Ledyard, CT. For
more information, contact Joy Sgro
at 203.250.5626 or jsgro@bozzutos.com.
March 13-15
MAFTO will hold its rescheduled
dinner-dance weekend honoring
Jonathan Weis at the Baltimore
Marriott. For more information, go
to www.mafto.org.
March 15-17
Seafood Expo North America will
be held at the Boston Convention &
Exposition Center.
March 23
Saint Joseph’s University’s Center for Professional Development
will hold its first summit, “What
Women Want - Innovative Approach
to Present and Future Work Trends
for Women,” at the Haub School of
business on the university’s campus from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
March 24-25
C&S will hold a trade show at the
York Fairgrounds. The perishable
and equipment show will be held
Tuesday at Memorial Hall and the
center store and bakery show will
be held Wednesday at Utz Arena.
Show hours both days are 8:30
a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
March 26
The New York Metro chapter of
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I Food World March 2015
14571_FTN_8x8_MAR.indd 1
March 28-31
The Snack Food Association’s
SNAXPO will be held at the Gaylord
Palms Resort & Convention Center
in Kissimmee, FL, For more information, go to www.snaxpo.com.
April 13-15
The National Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Association will hold its
executive conference at the Tempe
Mission Palms Hotel & Conference
Center in Tempe, AZ. For more information, or to register, go to www.
NFRAExecutiveConference.org
or
call 717.657.8601.
April 14
the Network of Executive Women
will hold a learning event from 5:008:00 p.m. at Liberty House Restaurant in Liberty City, NJ. For more
information, go to www.newonline.
org.
April 20-22
DPI Specialty Foods’ annual selling show will be held at the Hilton
Baltimore. For more information,
contact Lisa Ritter at lritter@dpispecialtyfoods.com
April 20-22
The 2015 IRI Summit will be held
at the JW Marriott in Houston. For
more information, go to www.iriworldwide.com.
See trade calendar
on page 18
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CALL BOB ZEKIS 508.713.6203
2
March 28
The Academy of Food Marketing
at Saint Joseph’s University will
host its 47th annual Citation Dinner,
honoring Wawa, at the Philadelphia
Marriott Downtown. For more information go to www.sju.edu/afm/
wawacitationdinner.
April 14
The first event in the Food Marketing Educational Scholarship Luncheon Series will be held at the Simeone Automobile Museum, located
near the Philadelphia airport, from
11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. For more
information, contact Eileen Acello at
eacello@sju.edu.
26%
Scan QR code to visit
www.ImperialDistributors.com
will host a reception from 5:00-8:00
p.m. at a location to be determined.
For more information, go to www.newonline.org.
2/20/15 3:30 PM
March 2015 Food world
I 3
In & Around
Food World
By Richard J. Bestany
Chairman Emeritus
We ran across an article recently in the Wall Street Journal
by Will Lyons and thought the
readers of Food World might find
it of some interest. “A new industry report has revealed how much
wine is being produced each year
– and who is drinking it.” Figures
from the International Wine &
Spirit Research, a London- based
drinks research group, estimates
that 3.2 billion cases of wine were
produced in 2013 or 38.4 billion
bottles—54 percent red wine, 37
percent white and 9 percent for
rose. And most of it is drunk in
the United States and Europe, not
France.
According to the International
Wine & Spirit Research (IWSR),
the United States is still the biggest market by volume, drinking a
total of 339 million cases of wine
in 2013, followed by France’s 296
million. Italy followed with 288
million, Germany with 274 and
China with 144 million. The United Kingdom was sixth, drinking a
total of 133 million cases.
Per capita wine consumption
shows a different picture. Italy is
the leader with France, Switzerland, Portugal and Austria not far
behind.
The countries that spend the
most on wine are the United
States, France and the United
Kingdom. The International Wine
& Spirit Research predicts that by
2018, the top still-wine markets
by value, the U.S. with $33.2 billion and the United Kingdom
with $17.1 billion.
Sparkling-wine consumption
was led by the Germans, who
drank 46 million cases in 2014,
followed France at 30 million,
and Russia, which consumed 26
million cases. The U.S. was fourth
with 18 million cases, and the
United Kingdom consumed 11
million cases.
With the Northeast in the midst
of an extremely cold winter, here’s
an interesting article by Janet
Forgrieve of The Sip we picked
up on the internet on the subject
of drinking habits during colder
weather. “Cocktail fans (of which
I’m one) turn to hot toddies; Tipplers sip warm brown whiskeys,
and wine drinkers put away the
rose in favor of something deep
and red to keep the winter chill
at bay. It may be Meyer lemon
season and time for light aperitifs
on the West Coast, but in colder
climates cocktail fans seek out
beverages to warm up inside and
out.”
“They’re going for a lot of the
same things that they’ve been going for, for a while, a lot of bourbon
and whiskey, but they’re getting a
lot more creative this winter,” said
Adrian Watson, owner of mobile
bar tending service VIP Mixologists, based in New York City.
The long lines outside New
York City’s supermarkets during
the recent snow events didn’t tell
the whole story. In fact, Manhattanites were stocking the bar as
well as the fridge. As dire warnings about the blizzard of the
century filled the Manhattan airwaves recently, residents turned
to local liquor stores to stock up
on their favorite warming wines
and spirits. While plenty of customers were opting for their standard vodka (my personal favorite), many others were opting for
whiskies and other brown spirits
that are traditional for warming
the winter season, as well as red
wines, according to Watson. And
there was definitely a generation
gap – millennials were choosing
vodkas, while baby boomers were
more likely to stock up on whiskey and wine.
Men and women are different,
certainly, when it comes to what
they put in their grocery shopping
carts. While women’s carts tend to
be packed with produce, snacks
and sweets, men’s baskets tend
to contain more meat and booze
according to the new Food Shopping in America study by Krystal Steinmetz (Hartman-group.
com), conducted by The Hartman
Group and food and nutrition
marketing agency MSLGROUP.
The study revealed that men are
doing more grocery shopping
than before. In fact, men now
make up 43 percent of primary
shoppers.
On average, Americans do
some type of grocery shopping
three times a week, whether online or at convenience stores,
mass merchandise or grocery
stores, or other venues. The study
revealed that men and women are
doing the same amount of grocery shopping, which is a marked
change from past years.
Men and women grocery shop
in different ways. While many
PUBLISHED
THE FIRST MONDAY
OF EACH MONTH
Food
4
World
By Best-Met Publishing Co., Inc.
Publishers of
Food World
and Food Trade News
women browse, “men prefer to
simply ‘search and retrieve’ the
few items they need,” the study
said.
Many food brands are now taking note of the male shopper, who
has been mostly ignored in the
past.
According to The Washington
Post, some brands are introducing
new flavors that they hope will appeal to the male taste buds.
The National Grocers Association (NGA) announced a new
alliance with The Coca-Cola Co.
and RetailNet Group (RNG) to
provide a customized retail marketplace intelligence platform
exclusively for National Grocers
Association (NGA) independent
retail and wholesale member
companies.
Coca-Cola’s support will enable NGA retail and wholesale
members to gain complementary
access to RNG’s valuable retail
insights starting March 1 of this
year.
Here’s an interesting story
from the Richmond Times-Dispatch about Kroger getting into
the growler business. Kroger’s
Short Pump store is the first of the
chain’s Richmond-area stores to
add a station for draft beer sales.
(Growlers are reusable glass or
metal containers of beer—usually 32 or 64 ounces.) The refillable jugs have become a favorite
among the craft beer crowd.
The only other Kroger stores in
Virginia to get growler stations so
far are the larger Marketplace-format stores in Suffolk and Portsmouth. The response has been
enthusiastic, so much so that the
grocery chain is looking at other
stores to add the stations. It’s a
way to feature local beers made
in limited quantities. Short Pump
Kroger’s growler station has eight
Jeffrey W. Metzger
President/Publisher
Terri Maloney
VP/Editorial Director
Maria Maggio
VP/GM-Food Trade News
Kevin Gallagher
Vice President
Karen Fernandez
Director of Sales &
Marketing
Beth Pripstein
Circulation Manager
Richard J. Bestany
Chairman Emeritus
taps offering a mix of local, regional and national brews.
Here’s an interesting story out
of Maine. Exports of U.S. lobster
to China have skyrocketed in the
past few years, largely to satisfy
the appetites of the communist
country’s growing middle class,
to whom a steamed whole lobster
– flown in live from the United
States – is not just a festive delicacy and a good-luck symbol but
also a mark of prosperity. New
England lobster fishermen have
been recording epic catches in
recent years and are grateful for
the business from the world’s
second-largest economy. Maine,
which accounts for more than 80
percent of all U.S. lobster, hauled
in more than 250 million pounds
in 2012-13, the highest two-year
total in the record books which
go back to the 1800s.
Congratulations to Acosta’s
Nick Matook, who will be honored as The Massachusetts Food
Association Person of the Year at
its Family Convention this month.
Our sympathies go out to the
family of William “Bill” Thompson III, a partner in the former
Baltimore food brokerage firm
W.H. Bryan Company. Bill passed
away last month at the age of 83.
When Jeff and I first came to
the Baltimore market after buying Food World in 1978, Bill and
W.H. Bryan Co. were big supporters of ours. Bill is survived by his
children William E. Thompson
IV, Diane T. Knipp, Robert C.
Thompson, Hilary T. Harrington
and the late J. Scott Thompson,
as well as 15 grandchildren and
two great grandchildren. The
family has said that memorial
contributions in Bill’s memory
See in & around
on page 6
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2015
MARK YOUR CALENDARS
SAVE DATE
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TUESDAY, APRIL 21st, 2015
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22nd, 2015
DINNER CRUISE
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I 5
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taking stock
From page 1
Acosta Sales & Marketing rallied consumer brands, retailers and shoppers to join
together in its Believe in Heroes campaign to support Wounded Warrior Project, raising $5,765,292 to help injured servicemen, women and their families. The 2014 donation
brings the cause marketing campaign’s total contributions to more than $21 million since Acosta founded the program five years ago. At the check presentation were: (seated l-r) Kathy Williams, Wounded
Warrior Project; Lindsay Garrity, Acosta Sales & Marketing; Becca Melesky, Wounded Warrior Project;
Cheryl Pinkham and Paola Benedetto, Acosta Sales & Marketing; (standing l-r) Alan Smodic and Brea
Kratzert, Wounded Warrior Project; Brianne Cartlidge, Ted Keifer, Trevor Barley; and Andrew Ostrander,
Acosta Sales & Marketing.
In & Around
Food World
From page 4
may be made to Ascension Lutheran Church, 7601 York Road,
Towson, MD 21204; or The Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation at
230 East Ohio Street, Suite 304,
Chicago, IL 60611-3201 or www.
pulmonaryfibrosis.org.
Michele Ferrero, the founder
and patriarch of the Italian Nutella and Ferrero Rocher empire,
died last month on Valentine’s
Day. He was 89, the company said
in a statement. Multiple European
news outlets said that for months
he had been battling illness.
Italian President Sergio Mattarella called Ferrero “entrepreneur bred” and praised his “innovative products” and “hard
work.”He was “the richest candyman on the planet,” according to
Forbes, which put his wealth at
$23.4 billion.
Ferrero’s father, Pietro, turned
the family pastry shop into a production facility back in the 1940s.
Because of World War II, chocolate was rationed, so he mixed in
hazelnuts to produce more product. The spread now known as
Nutella was once six times less expensive than chocolate, according
to the company.
The company soon became
known for its distinctive products
like the namesake confections
wrapped in gold foil. It now produces tons upon tons of Nutella—every year, an amount that
weighs as much as the Empire
State Building.
Ferrero products came to the
United States in 1969. The first
arrival was the Tic Tac mint. The
company also produces Kinder
chocolates. The company is family-owned and run by Ferrero’s son
Giovanni.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all
our readers. Kathy and I will be
celebrating at our local watering
hole, Clyde’s of Columbia, on
March 17! Join us if you’re in the
area.
Food News you can use
Www.bestmet.com
6
marketing became more important, Safeway seemed to be stuck in some
sort of time warp, offering little creativity or excitement in its produce, meat,
seafood and deli departments.
Even the great Steve Burd, a first team hall of Famer in my book for
changing the supermarket industry’s model on how to maximize administrative
efficiencies, didn’t care much about merchandising.
Locally, it was even worse. Because of the distance between Pleasanton,
CA and Lanham, MD there was a cultural and geographic schism within the
organization. There’s always been talent at the eastern division, but when
you’re told repeatedly that “you can’t do that” or “you “must do this,” motivation
and morale eventually become deflated. I remember one senior level Safeway
associate telling me after a particularly difficult day in dealing with Pleasanton,
“I feel like I need a hall pass to take a 10 minute bathroom break.”
I have a feeling a year from now those frustrations of the past will be purged
like Russian history.
After attending the kickoff vendor meeting led by the new Albertsons influenced Safeway team, I believe a fresh chapter is about to written for a company that has been in the local market for more than 100 years, but hasn’t had a
chance to fly by itself for decades.
And while I’ve been critical of Safeway’s smothering corporate style for
years, it certainly wasn’t all bad for the division. Of its 127 stores, most are
in great locations and, judging by the attitude of the Safeway representatives
at the meeting (a blend of veteran Safeway associates and new Albertsons
hires), I got the distinct feeling that they are very excited about the company’s
future prospects, especially being given the opportunity to more fully demonstrate their talents. And as Jim Perkins, COO of New Albertsons Inc. (NAI), the
Cerberus unit that oversees Safeway eastern, Acme, Shaw’s/Star Markets and
Jewel-Osco, Safeway is in significantly better shape than Acme was when he
was name president of that retailer two years ago.
TAKING stock continues on page 10
I 7
Legislative Line
As I write this legislative column from Naples, FL, it is 75
degrees and sunny. For my readers, you had my sympathy as I
watched the snow fall along the
eastern seaboard on The Weather Channel. Spending a relaxing
month in “Paradise” is sure nice
and, with modern technology, it is
easy to keep abreast of activities in
Congress. I even set aside time to
tune in to C-SPAN to watch a few
hearings. It may have been boring
but at least my wife Olga thought
I was working and it got me out of
doing the breakfast dishes!
Efforts to establish a single food
safety government agency are
back on the table after a hiatus
of over seven years. This is not a
new concept, as the legislation
has been proposed and sponsored
on prior occasions in one form or
another. However, in Congress it
often takes years to get bills out of
Single Food-Safety Agency Proposed Again
subcommittees and to move forward through full committees on
both sides of the aisle and then on
to the president for his signature.
But with the renewed interest in
food safety from a wide variety
of consumer groups, as well as
the General Accounting Office
(GAO), perhaps the timing is
about right for positive Congressional action. At the forefront of
this legislative drive to create a
single food safety agency is Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT)
who again, have sponsored Safe
Food Acts on five prior occasions.
Responsibility for food safety
oversight is currently split among,
believe it or not, 15 different agencies in the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, and Health
and Human Services (HHS). The
Durbin and DeLauro bills would
bring together all the authorities
Barry F. Scher
Policy Solutions
Motley Scher Truitt LLC
for food safety inspections, enforcement and labeling into the
proposed Food Safety Administration, which would be inde-
pendent of any federal department. The end result would be to
improve upon food safety from
farm to fork while saving a lot of
money by doing away with overlapping agencies’ responsibilities.
Senator Durbin said the savings
alone should interest the Republican majority. Will the legislation
pass this time around? Our crystal
ball says “no” because of potential
issues that could be a problem for
the powerful food industry. For
example, the legislation prohibits
federal preemption of state food
safety laws.
2016 Budget Introduced
President Obama has introduced a $3.99 trillion budget for
the fiscal year 2016 which allocates $1.6 billion to food safety.
With all of the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) rules set
to be finalized by the end of fiscal
year 2016, much of the budget
focus is on Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA)requests. According to Food Safety News, the
FDA is requesting $2.7 billion in
budget authority, with $1.3 billion
of it to go to food safety activities.
FSMA would get a $109.5 million
increase over the previous year.
NOTE: FDA is also asking to increase user fees by $191.8 million.
Needless to say, the food industry
does not like user fees!
In contrast, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is requesting
slightly less in its budget request
for its food safety mission than its
enacted 2015 levels - $1.012 billion compared to $1.016 billion.
The majority of funding in this
area will go to the Food Safety and
Inspection Service (FSIS), which
is asking for $895 million for fiscal
See legislative line
on page 29
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I 9
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taking stock
From page 6
From a market overview, Safeway is poised to show solid sales gains and
increased market share over the next 18 months. And if the Acme revampment
can be used as a guidepost, all retailers will feel the pinch of a more aggressive number two player in the market, but none more than market leader Giant
Food. More than 90 percent of Safeway’s 127 units compete directly with the
Landover unit of Ahold USA, which has its own challenges to deal with. While
Giant has recently unveiled a pricing and customer engagement program of its
own (“Project Thunder”), it has gained little traction thus far.
In the past five years, Giant has continued to lose share to newer market
entries Harris Teeter, Wegmans and Whole Foods, but could always count on
Safeway as a virtual non-threat. That will be changing soon.
Most of all, I’m happy for the old guard Safeway associates who have been
running on the same treadmill for years.
I’ve witnessed the performance of Jim Perkins in executing the new game
plan, and I’m impressed with the desire and work ethic of division president
Steve Burnham, VP-marketing and merchandising Tom Lofland and VP-ops
Dean Willhite.
As Perkins said to approximately 450 vendors earlier this month: “Lay the
wood to it. Make it happen. It’s all about sales. Making our margin requirements isn’t our first concern. Let’s sell more product and build market share.
We’re going to play offense.”
At Ahold USA, More Questions Than Answers
This isn’t the first editorial I’ve written about Ahold USA, and it certainly
won’t be the last. And like previous opinion pieces, much of what I’ve got to
write is about company culture.
But first, after analyzing AUSA’s fourth quarter and FY 2014 financial results,
there’s no question from a measurable metrics perspective that the company’s
768 supermarkets are trending upwards. Or perhaps better said, the fourth
quarter reversed the flat or slightly negative trends of the past year.
However, Ahold USA still needs to perform better. I listened to the post-earnings conference call and heard both Ahold CEO Dick Boer and AUSA COO
James McCann offer optimistic views about the chain’s future prospects in the
U.S.
Much of their hopes center around the success of the retailer’s customer
engagement and price reduction program, “Project Thunder,” and - to be fair much of the plan still hasn’t been unveiled (Phase 3 has been recently rolled
out), so it’s difficult to measure the level of sales and improvement and market
share gains (but the trends are positive) Ahold USA will ultimately achieve, and
at what cost.
So, let’s look at some tangible facts: a 0.3 percent identical store sales gain
(excluding fuel) is an improvement, but still well below AUSA’s peer group (e.g.,
Kroger, at the top of the chart, posted a 6 percent ID sales jump – excluding
fuel - in its recently released fourth quarter). Additionally, operating income
at its U.S. stores dropped from $233 million to $222 million during the busy
fourth quarter. That may not be a huge dip (about 4 percent) and the decline
most likely can be attributed to investment spending against “Thunder,” but for
an earnings-driven retailer that tightly scrutinizes profits, any profit decrease is
of concern.
I’m also troubled by Ahold’s self-love of its “own brands.” Now with 37.6
percent of total U.S. store sales in private label (with a goal of 40 percent),
I’m not viewing that as good thing. Why? Because other than the “Nature’s
Promise” line, I wouldn’t rate the consistency of product quality and overall
consumer perception as much above average.
Vendors tells us that the shuffling of dropping and adding private label
10
I 11
Baker Unveils Environmentally-Friendly Trucks, New ‘Green” Depot
H&S & Schmidt Are Creating Their Own Sustainable Footprint
“
This is more than
just our company
seeking to improve
the environment. It’s
important to us and
also important to
all our customers,
whether they are
food retailers,
government agencies
or foodservice
organizations. They
are also requesting
that their vendors
develop strategies
that will help the way
we all live.”
H&S Bakery, makers of the
Schmidt’s line of bread and rolls
and one of the largest privately-held businesses in the Mid-Atlantic, is becoming a cleaner,
more sustainable company.
The Baltimore-based family-owned bakery recently opened
its newest distribution center, a
36,000 square foot depot in the
Hollander 95 Business Park. With
the new facility also comes an addition to its truck fleet – 30 new
propane-fueled route trucks that
will decrease carbon monoxide
emissions by 60 percent, nitrogen
dioxide by 20 percent while also
reducing greenhouse gases by up
to 25 percent. As part of the total
initiative, H&S/Schmidt has also
installed an 18,000-gallon under-
ground propane tank.
“With this new facility we had
the opportunity to better ourselves by offering something
sustainable and environmentally-friendly. Additionally, the
technology has now reached the
point where it’s become cost efficient,” said Chuck Paterakis,
H&S/Schmidt VP of transportation and logistics, whose grandfather Isidore Steve Paterakis
founded the company in 1943
and whose father, John, remains
CEO.
The new distribution center,
which replaced an old facility in
the Fells Point section of Baltimore, is also eco-friendly, having
achieved two “gold stars” from
Baltimore City’s Green Building
Standards.
The East Baltimore depot is
one of seven that H&S/Schmidt
operates in the Mid-Atlantic and
the only one currently utilizing
propane trucks.
Sixteen more trucks have been
ordered and if the company can
gain the efficiencies it seeks, H&S
will likely expand its propane fleet
to other depots that supply retailers and foodservice operators
with H&S and Schmidt products.
There are currently about 400
routes (and about 600 trucks) in
the company’s system that covers
a marketing area from Virginia to
metro New York.
In choosing propane over other possible alternative fuels (compressed natural gas, electric, etc.),
Chuck Paterakis
researched all potential opportuni-
ties and chose propane over the
others for several reasons.
“First it was extremely environmentally friendly. And it was also
significantly cost efficient over
diesel and gasoline (propane sells
for about $1.36 a gallon, including Maryland tax). As an emerging technology we recognized
that both state and federal grants
were available which was certainly another incentive,” he noted.
“This is more than just our
company seeking to improve the
environment,” explained J.R. Paterakis, the company’s VP-sales
& marketing. “It’s important to
us and also important to all our
customers, whether they are food
retailers, government agencies or
foodservice organizations. They
are also requesting that their vendors develop strategies that will
help the way we all live.”
JR Paterakis
VP-Sales & Marketing
H&S/Schmidt Bakery
Brothers JR (l) and Chuck Paterakis are excited about the possibilities that H&S/Schmidt Bakery’s recent environmentally-friendly initiatives – new
propane trucks and a “green” bread depot - will bring to the company’s future.
12
• Full-line Conventional Produce
• Full-line Specialty/Ethnic Produce
• Full-line Organic Produce
• Fresh Cut Program
I 13
With Acquisition By New Albertsons Inc. Complete, Safeway Eastern Division
Safeway’s eastern division held its first vendor meeting
since being acquired by New Albertsons Inc. (NAI). Jim
Perkins (c), COO of NAI, is joined here by Michael Hughes (l)
and Bill Sando of Hughes Sales Inc.
Tom Morrison (l) of ESM Integrity says hello to Vic Drechsler
of Sales Force One.
This group shot features (l-r): Peter Knudsen, Hickory Farms;
Pete Legambi, Theresa Lowden, JOH; Lisa Fecera, Blount
Foods; Allan Perkins, JOH; and Terry McGowan, Rupari Foodservice.
Lancaster Foods’ Jerry Chadwick (2nd from r) poses for
a photo with Schmidt Baking’s (l-r): Tom O’Donnell, Jeff
Sobotta and John Stewart.
This Canada Dry trio on hand for the vendor meeting includes (l-r): Tony Smith, Mike Dooley and Mark Entrot.
NAFCO is well represented by Randy Bode (l) and Jim
Gregory.
These industry vets are (l-r): Dan Vassalotti, 4C Foods;
Jerry Larsson, Gary Larkin and Pete Legambi, JOH; and Bob
Mariano, Seneca.
Smiling for the Food World photographer are Paul Bell (l) of
Bell Sales & Marketing and Kris Eade of Bimbo USA.
On hand to learn what’s new at Safeway’s eastern division
are (l-r): Juan Lopez and Javier Rosario of Goya and Fred
Hess and Andy Figart of Hess Bros.
This foursome features (l-r): Will Staples, Lancaster Foods;
Ricardo DiMarzio, Safeway; Jerry Chadwick, Lancaster
Foods; and Greg Sciubba, ESM Integrity.
These EMD Sales folks are (l-r): Andre Medina, Elda Devarie
and Ralph Hill.
NAI’s Jim Perkins (l) is joined in this photo by JR Paterakis
of Schmidt Baking.
14
Holds Meeting To Update Vendors On New Localized Go-To-Market Strategy
Here we have (l-r): Cheri Morrison, ConAgra; Randy Holland,
Star/Pro-Star; Laurie Kopko, Lesaffre; and John Rogers,
Cabot Cheese.
Safeway’s Dean Willhite (2nd from l) is joined here by (l-r):
Joe Rallo, Sales Force One; John Baxter, Phillips Seafood;
and Vic Drechsler, Sales Force One.
Steve Watson (c) of Safeway is flanked in this photo by Tom
Worley (l) and Ed Burda, both with Utz.
Food World’s Karen Fernandez (l) chats at the meeting with
Bob Hardie of Alliance Sales & Marketing.
Bill Reeser (l) of Pepsico says hello to Jeff Metzger of Food
World.
John Loveys (l) of Haddon House is joined here by Marty
Margherio of the Maryland and Virginia Milk Producers
Cooperative Association.
These folks are (l-r): Bill deBrauwere and Terri Perry,
Crossmark; Cris Olson, Blue Diamond; and Steve Merello,
Safeway.
John May (l) of JMS Foods chats with Paul Sauder (c) and
Mark Sauder of Sauder Eggs.
Making their way to Greenbelt for the Safeway meeting are
(l-r): Charlie Poletti, Acosta; Lisa Travis, Lamb Weston; Paul
Dolan, Boulder Brands; and Dave Schlossberg, Acosta.
On hand for the vendor meet were (l-r): Chris Downs, Taylor
Farms; Bob Fisher, ASM Waypoint; Kim Wehland, Lakeview
Farms; and Skip Eby, Gonnella.
Safeway’s Tom Lofland (c) is joined in this photo by
Lynette Braxton (l) and David Connolly, both with Mondelez
International.
Food World’s Jeff Metzger (r) talks turkey with Michael
Piccinnini (l) and Bill Weiss of Acosta.
I 15
Ahold CEO Dick Boer, AUSA COO James McCann Optimistic About Future U.S. Growth
From page 1
From a financial perspective,
the company’s performance at its
768 U.S. stores fared marginally better than in recent quarters,
with identical store revenue improving to 0.3 percent (excluding
gas) compared to negative 2 percent in fiscal 2013’s fourth period.
AUSA’s underlying margin (compared to the third quarter) remained steady at 3.8 percent, but
was down from last year’s margin
of 4 percent, and U.S. operating
income decreased 4.7 percent to
$222 million in the quarter.
During the fourth quarter,
ended December 29, another 22
stores were rolled out as part of
AUSA’s “Project Thunder” plan,
giving the company 523 U.S.
stores now operating under its
“customer proposition” program.
Ahold noted that it will continue to focus on its own-brand
initiative and during the period,
penetration increased by 50 basis
points to 37.6 percent on a fullyear basis.
Overall market share in dollars
was down slightly due to price
investments made (according to
Ahold) as the company’s Giant/
Landover and Stop & Shop New
England divisions continue to
be challenging regions for the
Northeast’s largest retailer.
Chief executive Dick Boer noted, “We’ve seen positive signs
now also in the U.S. of making the
turning point…in positive identical sales, in volume growth and
we will continue in 2015 with investments in store offerings.”
At Ahold’s post-earnings conference call with financial analysts, James McCann, AUSA
COO, provided an update on
“Project Thunder,” noting that the
third phase of the discount and
customer engagement program
– focusing on produce - was now
under way. With 50 stores already
rolled out, McCann told the analysts that the target is a 3-5 percent sales lift. By the end of this
year most of AUSA’s stores will
have been converted.
“It’s a changing of the lighting,
of the fixturing, of the signage,
of the price communication, the
way we display the product, the
way we train the staff, the way
that we schedule the staff, the mix
of full-time and part-time hours,
and probably the most import16
Joe Kelley
Don Sussman
Tonya Herring
Jeff Dichele
ant element is a real step change
in our quality by implementing a
program of ‘Would I buy it,’” he
explained.
“If we wouldn’t buy it ourselves,
then we’re training our staff to say,
don’t try and sell it to our customers. Take it off sale. Because the
most important single thing for
customers on produce is the quality of the produce itself.”
Phase 3 differs from Phases 1
(associate training, communication and price investments) and
2 (aggressive price reductions
of KVIs - Known Value Items).
Phase 1 is nearing implementation at all AUSA stores and Phase
2 has been unveiled at about 150
Ahold units.
Ahold USA is self-funding
“Thunder” through internal savings of $200 million in 2013 and
$360 last year.
McCann noted that the new
produce rollout costs the company $160,000-$200,000 per store.
When one analyst asked McCann how AUSA will be able
to manipulate its cost structure
since much of its supply chain was
outsourced (primarily to C&S
Wholesale Grocers) and twothirds of its stores were unionized, he responded:
“In terms of our customer
proposition and the financing
of it and the long range plan, we
have that financed. The statement
about the investments and savings
being balanced is what we believe
will happen. The supply chain, we
have one partner, C&S, and we do
all of the buying of the products,
so it doesn’t affect our ability to
negotiate with our vendors in any
way.
“We are in the process of tak-
ing back the fresh elements of
the supply chain so we have full
control over the sourcing and the
quality from field to store.
“Basically, we work in complete
partnership with C&S. We have
a transparent, open relationship.
They’re dependent on us and
we’re dependent on them. We
have saved as a percentage probably more in our supply chain
operations this year than in any
of the last 10 years. So, we moved
our relationship with them into
one where we look at the total
system value for both parties and
then we have a formula for splitting that value. So, the interest
of both C&S and ourselves are
completely aligned. So, I have absolutely no concerns about being
able to extract value from the supply chain. The end-to-end value
chain, whether the supply chain is
in-sourced or outsourced. We do
it basically the same.
“In terms of labor in the stores,
our associates, what we’re finding
is that there are very significant
opportunities for working in a
more productive way. We have
explained to our staff, but also to
the labor unions that this business
wheel will bring more hours into
each of our stores. “The net effect
of being more productive and reinvesting that back into the customer proposition is that you have
more hours in the building. And,
that is the most important thing
for both our teams in the stores
but also for the labor unions.
“We have also had pretty
transparent discussions with the
unions, because they need us as
one of the higher performing
unionized retailers, to be successful. As we said to them we all sit in
the same canoe and if that canoe
has a leak, we all go into the water.
So they understood that.
“I think we have very positive
and constructive relationships
with our unions. We clearly argue
about the things that you argue
about at the contract negotiations.
But I would say that we have,
the majority of the locals and
the international, positive and
constructive relationship and it
doesn’t get in the way of us being
able to do the things we need to
do that are right for our business,
for our shareholders and for our
staff and for the unions as well.”
Less than a week after McCann
returned from the Netherlands,
he learned that the president of
his largest division had resigned.
Kelley, who joined AUSA in
May 2012 to become president of
the 220 store Stop & Shop New
England division, announced he
was leaving to “pursue other career opportunities.”
His departure, according to
many trade observers, was not
surprising given the competitive
pressure the New England unit
faced which resulted in declining sales and diminished market
share.
Kelley will replaced on an interim basis by Don Sussman, the
20 year Ahold USA veteran who
currently serves as president of
the company sister Stop & Shop
New York Metro division.
However, according to a company internal memo, the ultimate
plan is for Mark McGowan to hold
the dual role of president of Stop
& Shop-New England and executive VP-operations for AUSA
once a replacement can found for
his current job of EVP-merchan-
dising.
McCann’s search to find the
“best merchandiser in the country” has now lasted approximately
eight months.
This marks the third change of
division presidents since McCann
took the helm of Ahold’s U.S.
business in February 2013. Previously, Gordon Reid was named
president of the company’s Giant/
Landover division in November 2013 and Tom Lenkevich
replaced Rick Herring in March
2014 as president of the retailer’s
Giant/Carlisle unit.
In additional news, AUSA announced that it has hired Tonya
Herring as senior VP-non-perishable merchandising. She will
join AUSA veteran Jeff Dichele in
that role as the Carlisle, PA-based
retailer seeks to become a “world
class merchandising department,”
according to McGowan, to whom
both Dichele and Herring will report.
“As previously announced, we
increased the number of portfolios to get closer to market and customer needs, McGowan stated in
an internal memo. “As part of that
plan, we are further re-organizing
the non-perishable category into
two leadership streams to ensure
our continued success.”
Herring, who will be based in
Carlisle, comes to Ahold USA
from Safeway where she spent
her entire 23 career. She began
her career at Safeway as a deli department manager and steadily
progressed into multi-unit roles
such as district field merchandiser, project manager, and manager division operations. Herring
See ahold
on page 28
C
M
Y
CM
MY
CY
CMY
K
A Special Section of Food World and Food Trade News • March 2015
Family-Owned for 80 Years
1935-2015
Kreider Farms Marks 80 Years Of Success
“O
n behalf of
my family and
our team of
400 dedicated
employees, we want to take this
opportunity to introduce our
family heritage and Lancaster
County farming culture.
Ron Kreider
President & CEO
Although we are celebrating
our 80th year in business as
Kreider Farms, our family farming
heritage actually dates back to
the early 1700s. We live by a
simple mission which has served
us well and which will continue
to guide our company into the
future.
Inwardly we follow our mission
and family set of principles.
Outwardly we are dedicated
to service and extend our
deepest gratitude for all of our
customers. Thank you for your
past and continued support of
Kreider Farms.
Our Mission
“To achieve excellence in
delivering low cost, safe, high
quality products and services
to our customers while being
good neighbors and stewards
of the land, operating clean,
efficient and state-of-the-art
facilities and creating a work
environment of openness,
honesty, trust, and personal
satisfaction.”
The Kreider Family, 1942 (l-r): Noah Jr., Noah
Sr., Richard, Rosie and Mary
2 I Kreider Farms Special Section
March 2015 Food World | Food Trade News
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Food World | Food Trade News March 2015
07-01-15 11:36
Kreider Farms Special Section I 3
1935-2015
We Are a Real Dairy Farm
“T
he one thing that
really separates
Kreider Farms from
all our competitors
is simply that we are a real
honest to goodness family
dairyfarm. In fact, we are the
only remaining combination egg
and dairy farm of any size left in
all of the United States.
Dave Andrews
Vice President,
Sales & Marketing
We have real farms and tractors
and harvesters and crops and
cows and chickens which is why
eggs are technically classified a
dairy product in the first place.
We are truly the only large egg
and dairy farm left in the United
States and we are very proud
to preserve that part of our
American dairy farming heritage.
This authentic American family
farming tradition is what our
customers really love about
doing business with Kreider
Farms. That and the fact that
the Kreider Family has always
been frugal, reinvested their
money and they think and invest
for the long term.
Kreider Farms has earned a
national reputation for being
leaders in everything they
do. They also give back to the
community as well as actively
participate with international
outreach organizations such as
World Vision.
Kreider Farms is so much more
than just a milk and egg supplier.
Kreider Farms embodies the
best of an advanced modern day
version of real American family
dairy farming culture.”
1935-2015
New Welcome Center Debuts
“W
e are very
excited about
our brand
new Kreider
Farms Welcome Center. Now
our farm tour guests can enjoy
an introductory video before
boarding our classic trolley bus
which will chauffeur them
around our dairy farm
nestled in Kreider Valley.
Deborah Lobb
Farm Tour Director
The guided trolley bus
tour will drive right down
the center of our loafing
barn known as the “Cow
Palace,” then over to the
observation deck in our
milking carousel. Our new
demonstrator milking cow
is also a favorite for young and
old alike.
After a
complimentary sample of some
nice and cold farm fresh Kreider
milk, it’s back to the welcome
center where we are now
offering Kreider tee shirts and
other fun stuff to commemorate
your visit to Kreider Farms in
Lancaster County.
We look forward to seeing you
this season!”
COME EXPLORE A REAL DAIRY FARM!
Do you know?
How much milk do our cows produce every day?
How many times a day does a cow crunch her
teeth to chew her food?
What is that big yellow brush?
FARM
TOUR
™
Take a tour on our
new farm tour trolley
and find out!
1467 Lancaster Road (Route 72)
Manheim, PA 17545
farmtour@kreiderfarms.com
CALL FOR PRICING & RESERVATIONS - 717-665-5039
Advance credit card deposit for payment only. Cash and checks are not accepted.
Congratulations on your 80th anniversary!
Wishing you many more years leading the industry in quality and innovation.
517 Route 1 South, Suite 5600
Iselin, NJ 08830
732-326-9300 • 732-326-9310 Fax
mwaldon@empirefoodmarketing.com
4655 Linglestown Road, Suite C
Harrisburg, PA 17112
717-657-5702 •717-657-7939 Fax
psosik@empirefoodmarketing.com
Congratulations
on your
80 Year Anniversary
Your Partners
since 1977
Quality Feed for Quality Food©
1-800-692-6008 | www.wengerfeeds.com
Kreider Farms - More Than 2,800 Acres In Lancaste
“Ron’s father Noah Jr. hired me 35 years ago, and it
has been very exciting to be part of such amazing
growth over the past 35 years.
We have a great family of dedicated people who
run our operations and we do our best to maintain
that family feel to our company. It does not matter
how much we grow, we are still a family owned and
operated farm, and that’s the way we like it.”
Tom Beachler, Vice President of Operations
Our farm fresh milk is quick chilled to 33 degrees
in 8 minutes to lock in freshness.
Our transportatio
who drive 3 millio
through New Eng
1935-2015
er County, PA Producing Eggs, Milk and Ice Cream
Our Egg Processing Facilities
With state-of-the-art features such as larger cages,
tunnel air ventilation and daily manure removal belt systems
Manheim, PA
Our Farm Shop
on department has 40 tractors, 63 trailers and 38 drivers
on miles per year covering the Northeast from Virginia
gland.
Mt. Joy, PA
Middletown, PA
Lebanon, PA
Food World | Food Trade News March 2015 I 9
1935-2015
State-Of-The-Art Cage-Free
Aviaries To Debut In November
In November, Kreider Farms will unveil its brand new, state-ofthe-art cage free aviaries as well as its new line of cage-free eggs,
Noah’s Pride.
The cage-free aviaries will
feature:
• Completely open design for
easy movement throughout
the entire system
• Innovative step for easy
movement between system
levels
• Each system row is
independent and can stand
alone
• Patented tiltable nest design
These new cages will allow:
• Easy to maintain an even
temperature level
• Optimal climate conditions
for a uniform distribution of
the chicks
• Ease of use, easy to maintain
and virtually trouble-free bird
control
• Multi-tier system which
promotes bird movement
vertically within the system
• Galfan® wire coating allows
for a clean system
• Extra-wide egg belt
• Easy to manage design
Introducing Noah’s Pride Cage Free Eggs
Proud to represent
Kreider Farms’ quality products, providing sales,
customer service and logistics support.
We salute Kreider Farms as you celebrate your 80th Anniversary!
1935-2015
Environmental Stewardship
Manheim Solar Power | We recently installed solar panels on the roofs of our 4
new state of the art chicken houses at our Manheim egg processing facility. These
solar panels cover over 67,000 square feet of roof space. The 3,226 solar panels
will generate approximately 1.1 million kilowatts of clean renewable energy each
year which is enough electricity to power 100 average sized homes.
Bion Waste Treatment | Forgoing the traditional approach of treatment at
municipal wastewater and storm water facilities, Bion’s new advanced microaerobic digestion technology provides on-site nutrient treatment at a livestock
farm before they ever have an opportunity to flow into local streams and
watersheds. The result is a dramatic reduction in nitrogen and phosphorus from
animal waste that otherwise would enter the Chesapeake Bay.
Protecting The Bay | At the Bion waste treatment grand opening Ron
and Hollee Kreider made a donation to the Queen of the Chesapeake
Bay for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. Fifty percent of the fresh water
that flows into the Chesapeake Bay flows from the Susquehanna River.
Kreider Farms is working very hard to be a good upstream neighbor to our
beautiful Chesapeake Bay.
Riparian Buffer | In order to further protect the water supply, our dairy
farm features a system of riparian buffers. A reparian buffer is a vegetated
area - a buffer strip - near a stream, usually forested, which helps shade
and partially protect the stream from the impact of adjacent land uses. It
plays a key role in increasing water quality in associated streams, rivers,
and lakes, thus providing environmental benefits.
Livestock waste treatment technology provider and
proud partner with Kreider Farms
Providing a mutual commitment to environmental innovation and
excellence in the community and beyond
www.biontech.com
M&T Bank and the Lancaster Commercial Banking Team
would like to congratulate Kreider Farms
on their 80th anniversary!
It has been our pleasure serving as your Bank and we look forward
to continuing our partnership over the next 80 years!
1935-2015
Environmental Stewardship
No Till Farming | In our efforts to protect the environment, we employ no-till
farming (also called zero tillage or direct drilling), which is a way of growing crops
or pasture from year to year without disturbing the soil through tillage. No-till is
an agricultural technique which increases the amount of water that infiltrates into
the soil and increases organic matter retention and cycling of nutrients in the soil.
In many agricultural regions it can reduce or eliminate soil erosion. It increases the
amount and variety of life in and on the soil, including disease-causing organisms
and disease suppression organisms.
Home Gardening | Making
sure that we eliminate
waste wherever possible,
we have developed a retail
manure blend and potting
mix displayed available to
consumers. As the only large
egg and dairy combination
farm in the nation, we are
able to mix 25 percent of our
fresh, dried chicken manure
with 75 percent composted
cow manure for a firstclass, dehydrated home and
garden fertilizer. Also, we can
fortify our potting mix with
our special chicken and cow
manure blend to help potted
plants and vegetables grow
faster.
Sustainability Park | Environmental stewardship is behind the new Sustainability
Park in Penn Township. Open to the public, the four-acre park was developed with
the cooperation of township officials, Northwestern Lancaster County Authority
(NWLCA), and Kreider Farms. The land, which was purchased by NWLCA and
formerly part of Kreider Farms, provides access to a high-volume water well, which
has been transformed into a NWLCA Water Treatment Plant Facility to provide
safe, high-quality drinking water for the community. As part of the joint agreement,
the three parties planned for a scenic park to surround the state-of-the-art
treatment facility. Open from dawn to dusk, the park includes a 1/4-mile walking
trail loop that traverses through meadows, by several rain gardens, and alongside a
maturing wooded riparian buffer, providing views of the surrounding valley.
Creating Steel & Concrete Buildings
And Solid Foundations Since 1989
Our Services:
• Food Processing Facilities
• Design / Build
• Metal Building Packages
• Concrete Work and Excavating
• Steel Erection & Welding
• Steel Fabrication
• Cold Storage Panels & Components
• Equipment & Material Hauling
From Start to Finish!
717.768.7522 • www.scenicridge.com
1935-2015
Noah Kreider Jr. - Keeping The Farms In First Rate Condition
A
Noah Kreider, Jr.
t 82, Ron’s father Noah
Jr. still has a lot on his
plate. With more than
26 farms spread out over 2,800
acres, Kreider Farms has a total
of 150 buildings to keep up and
maintain. Noah and his crew of
craftsmen are always replacing
roofs, repairing, painting or
doing something to keep all
of the farmhouses, barns and
buildings in first rate condition.
Under Noah’s personal
supervision, Kreider Farms are
among the most beautiful and
best maintained farm houses,
barns and buildings in all of
Lancaster County.
Thank you, Noah!
The original homestead farm established in 1736.
Hy-Line North America Salutes
Kreider Farms As You
Celebrate 80 Years Of Excellence!
Hy-Line North America, LLC
79 Industrial Road, Elizabethtown, PA 17022
717.361.4404 • www.hyline.com
Hy-Line North America • Genetic Excellence®
1935-2015
279 Years of Lancaster County Family Farming Heritage
The KREIDER HOMESTEAD, Est. 1736
1717 - Christian Hershey (1675-1722) comes to what is
now Lancaster County with a group of German-Swiss
Mennonites.
1736 - His grandson, Christian Hershey (1719-1782) purchases
400 acres of land including this farm and builds a small
house.
1770 - Michael and Mary, the last two Conestoga Indians in
Lancaster County, are buried in the back meadow after
living under the protection of the Hershey’s for many years.
This road was later renamed Indian Village Road.
1792 - Christian Hershey (1762-1840) and his wife Elizabeth
build the existing limestone farmhouse and barn. Christian’s
brother Isaac (1773-1831) moves to what is now the town
of Hershey.
1826 - Isaac Hershey (1773-1831) constructs a similar stone
farmhouse in Hershey for his son Jacob. In 1857 Jacob’s
son, Milton Hershey, founder of the Hershey Chocolate
company, is born in that house. The house is located on the
campus of Milton Hershey School.
1875 - John B. Hershey (1875-1954) and his wife Adeline (18781976) reside on the homestead. Their daughter Mary is born
in 1903.
1927 - Mary Hershey (1903-1993) marries Noah Kreider (19051982) from Paradise, Pennsylvania.
1934 - Noah and Mary (Hershey) Kreider purchase the homestead
at public auction from John B. Hershey, keeping the lands
of Christian Hershey in the hands of his descendants. The
Kreider’s move into the Homestead with their two young
sons Richard and Noah Jr. in the spring of 1935.
Saluting Kreider Farms As You Celebrate 80 Years of Success!
Serving south-central Pennsylvania’s trucking companies, private fleets and warehousing needs
for more than 60 years. Lesher’s employees are here to serve you by selling the
best products and providing the highest quality service with integrity.
Lesher Mack Sales & Service Inc
2700 Cumberland Street
Lebanon PA 17042
Phone: 717-273-4535 • Fax: 717-273-2530
www.leshermacksales.com
Trade Treks To Las Vegas’s The Mirage For 2015 National Grocers Association Show
The Mirage in Las Vegas was home to this year’s National
Grocer’s Association (NGA) Show. NGA president and CEO
Peter Larkin (r) welcomes IGA’s Mark Batenic to the show.
These folks are (l-r): Greg Englert and Bill Barrett of Oasis
Brands and Bob and Donna Higgins of The Academy of Food
Marketing at Saint Joseph’s University.
At the show, B. Green took home one of the NGA’s Creative
Choice Awards. These members of the B. Green team are (lr): Matt and Dana Isaacson, Jim Streett (Harvest Fare), Rick
Rodgers and Matt Battaglia.
These Save-A-Lot execs and franchisees are (l-r): Mike
Stout, Melvin Shapiro, David Green, Tom Altadonna, Brandon
Thompson, Joe Janes and Dave Hall.
These smiles belong to (l-r): Christopher Brown, C&S
Wholesale Grocers; Bev Lynch, FIA; Kathy and Bob Davis,
Greenbelt Co-op.
Among the attendees the Food World camera spotted were (lr): Mark Batenic, IGA; Janel Haugarth, Supervalu; Harry Boyer,
Boyer’s Markets; and Steve Heggelke, Bozzuto’s.
Brian Haley (l) of Burris Logistics says hello to Ron Murphy
(c) and John Wachter, both with Murphy’s Marketplace.
Taking care of business at the show for Burris Logistics are
Mike Bargmann (l) and John Haggerty.
Smiling for our photographer are (l-r): Will Matty of
CardioReady and Tony Germano of Bob Zekis of Imperial
Distributors.
On hand from Redner’s Markets are (l-r): Dan Hager, Dick
Redner and Doug Emore.
Steve Heggelke (l) of Bozzuto’s chats at the NGA show with
Bernie Kenny of Kenny ShopRites
Ross Foca (l) of East Coast Fresh poses for a photo with
Melvin Shapiro of Save-A-Lot.
Matt Saunders (c) of C&S Wholesale Grocers is flanked in
this photo by FMI’s Mark Baum (l) and Margaret Core.
These retailers making their way to Vegas are (l-r): Brett
Ravitz and Shawn Ravitz of Ravitz ShopRites and David
Zallie of Somerset Stores/ShopRite.
Christopher Brown (c) of C&S Wholesale Grocers is joined
here by Dave and Mari Jones of Kellogg Co.
I 17
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trade calendar
From page 2
April 21
Saint Joseph’s University will hold
its second annual Food Marketing Hall of Honor at the Campbell
Collection housed in the Francis A.
Drexel Library on campus. For more
information, go to www.sju.edu.
April 29
The Mid-Atlantic chapter of the
Network of Executive Women will
host a learning event. Place and
Martin’s Crosswinds in Greenbelt,
MD from 4:00-8:00 p.m. For more
information, go to www.newonline.
org.
May 4
The Mid-Atlantic Food Trades Organization will hold its annual golf
outing at Commonwealth Country
Club in Horsham, PA. For more information, go to www.mafto.org.
May 5-7
Haddon House will hold its spring
selling show at the Waldorf Astoria
Bonnet Creek resort in Orlando, FL.
For more information, call Len Hunt-
18
er at 609.654.7901.
June 7-9
The IDDBA’s International DairyDeli-Bake show will be held in Atlanta. For more information, go to www.
iddba.org.
June 9-11
The FMI Connect show will be
held at McCormick Place in Chicago. For more information, go to
www.fmi.org.
June 23
The Kenny Family Foundation will
hold its 19th annual golf outing.
More details to come at a later
date.
June 28-30
The Summer Fancy Food Show
will be held at the Jacob Javits
Convention Center in New York
City.
July 20
The Ahold USA Our Family Foundation golf outing will be held on
October 23-25
The Produce Marketing Association will host the Fresh Summit
2015 in Atlanta. For more information, go to www.pma.com.
14 golf courses throughout Central
Pennsylvania. Registration begins
at 7:30 a.m. followed by a 9:00
a.m. shotgun start. Dinner at Hershey Lodge and Convention Center
will begin at 3:30 p.m.
September 2-3
The Ahold USA Our Family Foundation Northeast golf events will be
held at Foxwoods Resort in Ledyard,
CT. Agenda and other details to follow at a later date.
August 10
Bozzuto’s will hold its annual
supplier appreciation golf outing at
Foxwoods Resort & Casino in Ledyard, CT. For more information, contact Joy Sgro at 203.250.5626 or
jsgro@bozzutos.com.
September 17-19
The Natural Products Expo East
will be held at the Baltimore Convention Center. For more information, go to www.expoeast.com.
November 18
will host a mixer from 5:00-8:00
p.m. at a location to be determined.
For information, go to www.newonline.org.
October 10-13
The National Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Association will hold
its annual convention at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas. Registration
opens in March. For more information, go to www.NFRAweb.org or call
717.657.8601.
December 1-3
The New York Produce Show and
Conference will be held at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New
York City. For more information, go
to www.nyproduceshow.com.
August 11-12
Bozzuto’s will hold its annual fall
trade show at Foxwoods Resort &
Casino in Ledyard, CT. For more
information, contact Joy Sgro at
203.250.5626 or jsgro@bozzutos.
com.
August 25-27
The World of the Latino Cuisine
Food Products and Beverage Trade
Show will be held at the Meadowlands Expo Center. For more information, or early registration, go
to www.latinofoodshow.com, call
973.273.23 or email to latinofoodshow1@gmail.com.
October 13
The Department of Food Marketing at Saint Joseph’s University
will hold its annual Food Industry
Summit, “Fresh,” on the university’s
campus. Registration information
and further details to follow at a
later date.
If you would like to publish an
event in our Trade Calendar, please
send entries to Terri Maloney at tmaloney@best-met com. Include a contact name and phone number or web
information for additional information.
Cheers to 70 years!
At Bozzuto’s, we’ve been proudly partnering with family
owned and operated retailers since 1945.
From locally grown produce to state-of-the-art distribution centers,
we’ve delivered time after time – on time – decade after decade.
That’s why, for 70 years and counting, more and more independent retailers
have selected Bozzuto’s as their wholesaler of choice.
Bozzuto’s is your one-stop shop for
• Deli & Bakery
• Grocery, Frozen & Dairy
• Meat & Seafood
• Store Brands
• Produce & Floral
• Seasonal
• Specialty & Organic
• And more!
www.bozzutos.com
boz_30419_01_RIFDA_15_10x10.5_M.indd 1
1-800-243-9761
Call today to speak with Dan Brock,
Vice President of Sales,
at 203.250.5372.
I PM
19
2/20/15 5:35
Safeway Tells Vendors: ‘Help Us Sell More’
From page 1
portance of quickly converting to
a decentralized operating system
for Safeway’s 127 stores in Maryland, Virginia, Washington, DC
and Delaware.
Perkins, who was recently promoted to oversee NAI (Safeway
eastern, Acme, Jewel and Shaw’s/
Star) told the audience he sees a
quicker turnaround for Safeway’s
business than the one needed at
Acme when he was named president in March 2013, following the
purchase of 877 stores by Cerberus/AB Acquisition from Supervalu.
“Frankly, Safeway’s properties
are in superior shape than Acme’s were and current sales are
also better. We can turn this thing
around more quickly but we need
your (vendors) help,” Perkins noted.
Much like he did at Acme in
the spring of 2013, the self-proclaimed “Hillbilly from Philly”
implored the vendors to bring
Safeway new ideas designed to
sell more product. He added that,
as a privately-held company, seeking margin was less important
than driving sales and he asked
the supplier community to “Make
it happen, lay the wood on it – we
want to make you heroes.”
Steve Burnham, who became
eastern division president in
September after serving Safeway
in a number of roles for the past
26 years (including corporate
VP-produce, floral and bakery
and VP-retail market execution
for Vons), simplified the new organization’s focus: “Sales, sales
and sales.”
“We want to be the best local supermarket. We’re evolving
quickly from a centralized company to a decentralized one; from
national to local. We will become
nimble and not as complex.
We are focused on being a real
competitor in this market,” he
said. Safeway’s eastern division is
the first of 14 Safeway divisions
to undertake the conversion to a
decentralized model.
Cerberus/AB
Acquisition’s
$9.2 billion purchase of Safeway
became final on January 30, but
some preparation was done late
last year in anticipation of the
FTC’s approval of the deal.
Included in that pre-planning
was a store “clean up” of the division’s top 21 units.
“This wasn’t a big investment,”
Burnham explained. “We literally
scrubbed our best stores to give
them a fresh look. Each store took
3-5 days to clean. From that initial clean up we have already seen
a solid sales increase in the stores
we’ve completed.”
He added that several other
changes contributed to the early
success.
“Our store directors are more
empowered than they’ve ever
been. They are truly the CEOs of
their stores and they’re really enjoying the freedom and flexibility.”
Tom Lofland, Safeway eastern
division’s new VP of marketing
and merchandising, who joined
the company’s Jewel-Osco division last year after a stint at
K-VA-T (Food City) in Abingdon, VA (he was also an Albertson alumnus), told the vendors
“We can’t win without you. Please
challenge us.”
Like Burnham he said the company’s goals are “Sales, sales and
sales. We have the best consulting group in the industry – our
10,700 associates. They are passionate and engaged and they will
prove to be difference makers as
we continue to grow.”
Concerning some timing issues,
Lofland stated that as of March 1,
everything will run through Lanham, MD (“we own it”) but the
division will continue to implement already agreed upon Safeway programs through June and
all schematics (plan-o-grams) will
remain in place through August.
In detailing the division’s merchandising expectations, Lofland
disclosed, “We will work from the
stores back. We will follow a team
concept. We will act with integriSee safeway
on page 23
new safeway/albertsons PErsonnel Changes
As part of the newly combined Albertsons and Safeway organization several key personnel changes were
announced late last month. Jim Perkins, president of Acme Markets, has been named chief operating officer of the company’s east region, part of the company’s New Albertsons Inc. (NAI) unit. Perkins succeeds
Justin Dye, who has been given additional responsibility for the entire company as chief administrative
officer (CAO). Replacing Perkins as Acme president is Dan Croce, formerly VP of marketing and merchandising for the 107 store Acme unit.
Perkins joined New Albertsons Inc. in 2013 after several years with Giant/Landover where he served as regional VP. He began his career with Albertsons as a clerk in 1982. While working his way through the retail
ranks, Perkins served in roles of increasing responsibility before ultimately being named VP of operations
for Albertsons Inc. In 2006, Perkins joined Albertsons LLC’s southern division as director of operations. He
became president of the Acme Markets division in March 2013 when parent firm AB Acquisition/Cerberus
acquired the chain as part of a mega-deal with Supervalu.
In his new role, Dye will have overall responsibility for information technology, real estate and corporate
development, as well as supply chain. He will also continue to oversee all aspects related to the integration of Safeway and Albertsons.
A former executive with Cerberus Capital Management, Dye played an integral role in the acquisition and
formation of Albertsons LLC. He became the company’s chief strategy officer (CSO) in 2006 leading several functions including corporate development, strategic planning, real estate management as well as
mergers and acquisitions. In 2013, he was named chief operating officer of New Albertson’s Inc.
Croce has been in the grocery business for 30 years, the last nine with Acme. He began his career with Super Fresh/A&P Food Markets. He joined Acme in 2005 as a district manager and subsequently assumed
roles of increasing responsibility, including director of operations and VP- operations. In 2014, Croce was
promoted to VP of marketing and merchandising.
20
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taking stock
From page 10
suppliers is continuing, which makes me wonder how the consumer can get
an accurate gauge of qualitative consistency. And, while 40 percent of total
sales is certainly achievable, at what cost do you sacrifice funds from branded
suppliers (whose items are being replaced by private label products) while
also having to internally cover the specific underperforming private label items
that consumers aren’t craving?
In a nutshell, AUSA’s own brands penetration may be increasing, but at this
point, product quality and consumer perception are nowhere close to being at
the same level as the industry’s private label benchmark retailers – Wegmans,
Costco and Whole Foods.
However, my biggest concern – the state of culture and morale – is somewhat intangible. But not intangible enough that I can’t decipher the vibe and
comments of many associates.
Simply said, there’s a feeling of frustration (or worse) among many of
AUSA’s employees.
I see it at the store level in most divisions, where staffing and training are
still not up to par. And at least at two divisions (Giant/Landover and Stop &
Shop-New England), the consumer’s perception of their shopping experiences
(as well as competition) has cost sales and market share despite having the
best locations in their respective markets.
That said, it shouldn’t come as a shock that Joe Kelley is no longer presiding
over Stoppie in New England. While Kelley did indeed resign, it seemed like he
was only forcing the inevitable. That Kelley and McCann were not perceived to
be in recent simpatico would be an understatement.
But here’s a cultural scenario that does involve leadership and ultimately
performance.
Mark McGowan is a terrific guy and a real industry talent. He’s made many
sacrifices for the good of the company and accepted new challenges without
complaint. For example, after Jeff Martin left AUSA, former COO Carl Schlicker
asked Mark to step in as EVP-merchandising, despite having limited experience at that desk. Mark worked hard to enhance his relationships with the vendors and executed the company’s merchandising and procurement initiatives
like the pro that he is.
When Bhavdeep Singh moved from EVP-store operations to head up new
formats, McCann asked Mark to switch from merchandising to ops, his natural
position of expertise. That move would be officially made once a replacement
for Mark could be found. Eight months later, Mark is still manning the merchandising department.
While the AUSA official news release announcing Kelley’s departure indicated that Don Sussman, the company’s New York Metro president, would be
leading its New England division on an interim basis, an intra-company email
from McCann indicated that Mark would ultimately be presiding over the 220
store New England unit, but also maintain his job as EVP-operations for AUSA
once a replacement can be found for his current job heading up merchandising.
I’ve been writing about the grocery business since 1973 and I have never
seen an organizational chart where the store ops overseer of a nearly 800 unit
network also presides over the company’s largest division. (An Ahold senior
official said, “We believe that this structure has worked well in the past and will
work again. However, if this dual structure does not work, then we will simply
develop a plan to transition a new division president into this role and go
back to having four division presidents while Mark would focus on the EVP of
operations role.)
I’ve been very open about my relationship with James McCann. He’s got a
30 pound brain, has a tireless work ethic and a burning passion to succeed.
He’s been very candid about the dire urgency to change how Ahold USA goes
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Food World seafood panel
As the trade gears up for the 2015 Seafood Expo
(formerly the Boston International Seafood Show), Food
World asked some local seafood experts to discuss a
few of the issues facing the industry today. Our panelists:
Daniel Underkoffler Jr., Category Manager-Seafood,
Ahold USA; Tom Quinn, VP-Retail Sales, Handy
International Inc.; and Bob Cerullo, Manager of Appy/
Seafood, Wakefern Food Corp.
Our questions:
1. Do you certify the supply sources for your seafood
items and if so, how? If not, do you expect to begin
doing so in the future?
2. What type of training do you offer your seafood
associates to ensure they are knowledgeable about
the seafood products you sell and how to handle them
safely?
3. Current dietary guidelines suggest including two to
three servings of seafood each week. What do you do to
educate your customers to help them reach this goal?
Daniel Underkoffler Jr.
Category Manager-Seafood
Ahold USA
1. We utilize third party resources as a means to certify our seafood.
These third parties include the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC),
Aquaculture Stewardship Council
(ASC) and Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP). We also have a long-stand-
ing partnership with the New England Aquarium. While they do not
certify species, they provide insights
into seafood sustainability best practices to help us make informed buying decisions.
2. We are currently working on updating training materials for stores
around product handling and product knowledge/identification. We
are working with supplier partners
to develop informational materials
that speak to where our products
come from, the benefits of selling an
item along with recipes and pairing
suggestions. Our goal is to develop
a library of information that will be
available at any time for associates.
Today we provide weekly “Did You
Know” materials to stores to provide relevant information on seafood
items in season or in ads.
See seafood on page 24
Seafood Expo Nor th America, March 15-17
Visit Phillips Foods in Boston
NEW
LOCATION
#2856
Drive sales and at tract more upscale customers to frozen grocer y with America’s #1 brand of restaurant seafood.
© 2015 Phillips Foods, Inc. All rights reserved.
I 21
At Seafood America, Focus On Fresh, Innovation Has Fueled Sales Growth
“
We’re in a
commodity driven
business where
there are many
factors we can’t
always control.
One of the keys to
our success has
been a willingness
to adapt to the
situation at hand.”
Jim Burke Sr.
President
Seafood America
22
From a small group of eat-in and take-out we’ve benefited from that as well. We’ve also square foot facility is now SQF certified and
restaurant in the Philadelphia area in 1984, aggressively marketed the fact that we offer the company has prioritized becoming a toSeafood America and its “Dockside Clas- a wide array of fresh products with an excel- tally “green” organization” as part of its goto-market strategy.
sics” brand has emerged to become one of lent shelf life.”
“It only makes sense since we’re in a fresh
the country’s fastest growing fresh and froIndeed, the Dockside Classics line ofzen seafood manufacturers.
fers six varieties including: Premium Crab and sustainable business,” Matt Burke noted.
We asked Matt’s father what Seafood
The company’s formula for success is a not Cakes, Lobster Cakes, Lobster Ravioli,
secret, it involves combining a quality-ori- Stuffed Shrimp and Maryland-Style Crab America’s future plans may include.
“We need to continue to create new items
ented product line specializing in crab, lob- Cakes. Added to the line this year is an auster and shrimp items and giving consumers thentic New England Style Cod Cake. The – that’s vital for any business. We’d also like
with excellent value and an innovative new company also offers customers a full com- to open a West Coast plant in the next three
products program.
plement of frozen items ranging from Crab to five years. And of course, we’re always inIt certainly helps that the company’s core and Lobster Cakes to appetizer and holiday terested in acquisitions,” Burke Sr. affirmed.
management team combines seafood and specialty products.
So why is a 70-something entrepreneur
supermarket industry veterans who are foCurrently being rolled out is an all-natu- still so excited about the future of a business
cused on product quality and efficiency. And ral premium line of lobster and crab cakes he acquired when it was still only a local
as a family-owned business, it’s clear that the that are being marketed as a more upscale roadhouse?
“I’m still having fun and really have encompany has thrived on the entrepreneurial addition to the Dockside Classics Signature.
spirit of its president, Jim Burke Sr.
Early results show the new line doing well in joyed watching us grow over the past de“We’re in a commodity driven business both distribution and initial sales.
cade,” Burke Sr. said. “We’ve been averagwhere there are many factors we can’t always
Another recent enhancement at Seafood ing double digit revenue increases in a very
control,” said Burke of the company he ac- America has been its completely refurbished tough market with spiraling raw materials
costs and the economy slumping. Frankquired more than 30 years ago. “One of the and upgraded manufacturing plant located
keys to our success has been a willingness to in Warminster, PA. Under the supervily, I want to keep going as long as I’m
adapt to the situation at hand.”
healthy and still enjoying myself.”
sion of Burke’s son, Matt, the 26,000
One of those issues has been the spiraling
price of crabmeat over the past two years
as local supply has been compromised by
a declining harvest and increased demand.
“We’ve been fortunate that
we’ve continued to grow sales
despite those challenging conditions,” Burke explained, attributing those gains to strong supply
relationships, better planning and
the utilization of select promotions.
“We’ve also been successful because we’ve never compromised
the quality of our products, “said
Jim Randazzo, Seafood America’s
senior VP of sales & marketing,
who grew up in the seafood business (his family owned Brilliant
Seafood in Boston). “Our core
Dockside Classics line offers the
consumer fresh and convenient
product that remains a tremendous value.”
But to Randazzo and Burke Sr.,
the ability to offer a fresh product has proven vital to Seafood
America’s growth.
“Seafood sales are growing nationally as consumers want to
eat healthier,” Randazzo stated. The leadership team that has seen Seafood America grow from a small local roadside eatery to become one
“That’s led to larger fresh seafood of the fastest growing seafood products manufacturers in the industry are: (back row l-r) Jim Randazzo, senior
VP-sales & marketing; Don Donnelly, VP-operations; Jim Burke Jr., VP-sales development; (front row l-r) Matt
departments in many stores and Burke, executive VP; Jim Burke Sr., president: and Hope Kadesh, comptroller.
▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
taking stock
From page 20
to market. In the 25 months he’s been at the helm, he’s toiled feverishly to
change many aspects of AUSA’s business because he firmly believed that the
company was on a path towards extinction. Believe him or not (and popularity
aside) there’s no hypocrisy at all. And ultimately he may be right that painful,
radical surgery was necessary to bring the patient back to good health.
In the meantime, McCann’s got to focus on the culture. Make the associates
feel better about their jobs (refer to the approach of Jim Perkins, who once
worked as regional VP for Giant/Landover). That means more than encouraging
them to empower themselves as part of “Thunder.” (That same Ahold official
noted that AUSA is aware of the importance of upgrading the company’s overall morale and is working diligently to improve associate engagement).
But it’s only McCann himself who can change this perception. It’s his job
to create confidence and consensus among the employees, and as such he’s
the one who needs to initiate the bonding. That’s part of leadership. If McCann
really wants to reshape Ahold USA and bring back the company’s swagger, he
must next focus on associate satisfaction.
Nothing is more important.
Wal-Mart Raises Its Minimum Wage To $9 An Hour;
Posts Solid Earnings, Improved Comp Store Sales
Now that CEO Doug McMillon has reshuffled his leadership deck, WalMart clearly is ready to make some strategic moves designed to improve its
execution, consumer perception and a lengthy period of generally flat U.S.
sales.
On February 19, McMillon said Wal-Mart has been developing and testing
new ideas to reward associates for serving customers. As part of those
initiatives, the home grown chief executive who was named to the top post
at the world’s largest retailer a year ago said that approximately 500,000
full-time and part-time associates at Wal-Mart U.S. stores and Sam’s
Clubs will receive pay raises in the first half of the current fiscal year. Current
and future associates will benefit from this initiative, which ensures that WalMart hourly associates earn at least $1.75 above today’s federal minimum
wage, or $9.00 per hour, in April. The following year, by February 1, current
associates will earn at least $10.00 per hour.
“Today (February 19) we announced comprehensive changes to our
hiring, training, compensation and scheduling programs, as well as to our
store management structure. These changes will give our U.S. associates the
opportunity to earn higher pay and advance in their careers. We’re pursuing
a comprehensive approach that is sustainable over the long term,” explained
McMillon. “By realigning our store operational structure, associates can
enjoy a closer relationship with their supervisors. In addition, associates will
have more control over their schedules. The investment in these initiatives is
more than $1 billion for this fiscal year.”
According to McMillon, the leadership teams are very focused on improving customer experiences through various investments and program initiatives, and for several months, developed and tested new ideas to reward
associates for serving customers.
“We have work to do to grow the business. We know what customers want
from a shopping experience, and we’re investing strategically to exceed their
expectations and better position Wal-Mart for the future,” said McMillon. “Our
first priority is to run great stores and clubs. We will continue to integrate our
physical locations with a great e-commerce and mobile commerce business.
We’re strengthening investments in our people to engage and inspire them
to deliver superior customer experiences. We will earn the trust of all WalMart stakeholders by operating great retail businesses, ensuring world-class
Farm Fresh recently launched its “Healthy You Challenge” program, a free six-week
educational program in which participants register with Farm Fresh dieticians and pharmacists, who
weigh them, answer nutritional and health-related questions and help set goals. At the launch of the
program last month at the retailer’s Victory Crossing Shopping Center in Portsmouth, Farm Fresh district
pharmacy manager, Michelle Harmon (c), talks about community health, while Portsmouth Mayor Kenny
Wright and Farm Fresh President Micky Nye listen in behind her.
Photo Courtesy of Suffolk News-Herald
safeway
From page 20
ty. We view this as a fight. There
will be winners and losers and
we’re determined to win.”
He referred to the six “Ps” as
being of vital importance: product, placement, price, promotion,
people and protecting the brand.
“We have a proven business
model, but we can’t do it without
you, our vendor partners,” he affirmed.
Some changes from the previous Safeway marketing model
include a monthly “big book” of
promotions designed to produce
additional marketing funds and
faster product movement and
a more aggressive response to
competitive openings in the Baltimore-Washington market.
Merchandising-wise, Lofland
said that Safeway eastern wants
to “Simplify everything – sales
message, displays and product allocation. Be all in! One size does
not fit all. Bring us stuff that sells
products. Go big – think shippers
and pallets.”
Like Perkins and Burnham, Lofland also told the vendors that
they should be expecting at least a
10 percent increase in sales if they
become engaged with Safeway
eastern’s new business plan.
Dean
Willhite,
Safeway’s
VP-operations who joined the
eastern division about 15 months
ago, told the vendors that he is
anxious to work with them on all
operational related issues.
“In my nearly 40 years in the Matt Boyd, grocery sales managbusiness, this is the most excited er; Kevin Cooper, deli sales manI’ve ever been,” he proclaimed, ager; Ricardo DiMarzio, produce/
noting the advantage of changing floral sales manager; Christine
from a cost-focused to a sales-fo- Hernandez, bakery sales mancused model. “Our stores will ager; Mike Voss, GM/HBC sales
look fuller and fresher. This is re- manager; and Matt Wirth, beer,
ally an exciting opportunity for us wine, and alcohol sales manager.
at Safeway and for the vendors as
Additionally: Steve Merello
well. We are going to make a dif- (DSD, cookie/cracker, snacks),
ference.”
Diane Mulcare (family and home
In response to questions from care, tobacco), Jeff Robert (frozen,
the audience, Lofland said that fuel), Brian Short (dairy, grocery
Safeway’s loyalty card will remain main meals, spreading cheese)
in place and work has already be- and Amanda Wirth (meals and
gun on determining how to uti- ingredients) will serve as assislize Safeway’s expertise in market- tant grocery sales managers. John
ing and IT to enhance the entire Timpano (seafood) and Sara Cashopper marketing experience.
sica (pre-pack meat and cheese)
He also noted that Safeway are the new assistant meat sales
eastern is committed to its part- managers. Angie Marshall has
nership with C&S Wholesale been named deli assistant sales
Grocers, which supplies the divi- manager; Katie Vasquez will work
sion’s 127 stores through a con- with Ricardo DiMarzio in floral;
tractual agreement with the Safe- James Maselas is now assistant
way-owned distribution center in bakery sales manager who will
Upper Marlboro, MD.
be responsible for in-store bakIn summarizing the personality ery and commercial bread; B-W
of the new $57 billion organiza- market veteran Tim Lee will work
tion, Perkins said: “We make de- with Mike Voss in GM/HBC;
cisions. We take risks. We haven’t and Beth Webb will oversee own
missed a sales or budget number brand and private label business.
since we took over. We push hard
On the procurement side, anand play hard. And we will treat other B-W veteran, Ron Stone,
you like professionals. We think will supervise grocery; Safeway
like a family and we honestly care stalwart Steve Coomes becomes
about your needs.”
produce procurement manager;
Safeway also released its new and former Ahold USA perishorganizational chart for the east- ables executive Phil Bravo is the
ern division. Other than Burn- new meat procurement manager
ham, Lofland and Willhite, other for Safeway’s eastern division. All
key merchandising and procure- three report to long-time Safeway
ment personnel include: Mike exec Jack Jacobs, GM/director of
Salisbury, meat sales manager; distribution.
March 2015 Food world I 23
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From page 21
3. Our health and wellness
team, including 15 in-store nutritionists, are enthusiastic about
communicating the health benefits of eating more seafood. In
addition, supplier partners help
to provide information to seafood
associates so that they can counsel customers on their buying decisions.
Tom Quinn
VP-Retail Sales
Handy International Inc.
1. Handy is the oldest seafood
processor in America and we have
lasted because of our impeccable
reputation for quality and integrity. Our mission statement is to
always be the most trusted source
for superior seafood solutions.
We must know our sources well.
Handy is a founding
member of the National Fisheries Institute
(NFI) Crab
Council.
In addition to
quali t y,
our
customers’
safety
has always been
of primary importance. We have
voluntarily sought out independent inspections of our plants. We
became a part of the Food & Drug
Administration’s (FDA) Hazard
Analysis and Critical Control
Points program (HACCP) before
it became mandatory and are
annually inspected by Silliker, a
recognized independent auditing
firm, that has given us a “gold”
rating – a ranking attained by less
than 10 percent of the plants it
inspects. We also conduct DNA
testing of our products. The DNA
test ensures the authenticity and
integrity of stated species so that
every part of the supply chain
is being measured and held accountable.
2. About 15 years ago, I started
selling seafood and left a packaged goods company that sold
products in another area of the
grocery store. One of my first
observations of my colleagues
was the depth and breadth of the
product knowledge required to
Tom Quinn
sell seafood. It felt like they were
speaking a different language. I
realized that to survive in the seafood industry, it is imperative to
quickly become as knowledgeable
about the products you sell. Our
customers ask great questions that
drill down to deep levels of securing knowledge about the products
they put in their stores. At Handy,
product knowledge is part of our
company culture established by
senior management. Our education process includes plant visits,
quarterly company meetings that
include training to ensure there
is evidence that Handy personnel are proficient with knowledge
about our products. The advent
of technology with tools such as
GOTOMEETING and SKYPE
enable remote training in between face to face meetings. However, I believe to be truly effective
in training Handy team members
about product knowledge and
safety, it requires team members
who thirst for knowledge. Our
team members always want to
learn more and realize that they
can never know enough. These
are the type of people that thrive
at Handy. Besides our U.S. plant
in Crisfield, MD, Handy also operates and has an office in Asia
where we have a quality assurance staff to monitor and protect
See seafood on page 26
• Full Line Seafood Programs • Fresh, Frozen, Live, Smoked, Salted
Daily Deliveries to All Major Northeast Markets • Exclusive Distributor of Baltimore Crab Products
Private Label Product Design & Sourcing • Promotional Planning & Ad Management
Retail Training & Support Programs • Seafood Manager Certification
Maryland Wholesale Seafood Market • Jessup, MD • www.nafcoﬁsh.com • 800-394-6694
24
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taking stock
From page 23
compliance, and doing good in the world through social and environmental
programs in our communities.”
Additionally, McMillon revealed that Wal-Mart and the Wal-Mart Foundation also committed $100 million over five years to help increase the economic mobility for entry level workers by advancing their careers. This initiative will
benefit the retail and service industries. The Wal-Mart Foundation will work
with other foundations, employers, community colleges and non-profit organizations to address a fundamental challenge in America -- how to better train
and advance workers in the retail and adjacent sectors.
“Beyond this commitment, Wal-Mart is also piloting a new, comprehensive
on-boarding and training program to create clear career pathways for associates, so they can earn more and seek promotions,” McMillon explained. “We’re
encouraging our associates to continue their education by providing no-cost
access for them to complete their high school diploma or GED, as well as free
and low-cost college credit to reduce the time and cost of earning a college
degree. The skills and training that an associate receives through this program
will be transferable outside of Wal-Mart.”
Wal-Mart also announced its fourth quarter and fiscal year ended January 30. For the 13-week period comp store sales at its U.S. units increased
(excluding fuel) 1.5 percent (compared to negative 0.4 percent last year),
reflecting the chain’s 1.4 percent improvement in store traffic -Wal-Mart’s first
quarter of positive traffic since the third quarter of fiscal 2013.
In the U.S., profits declined slightly from $6.22 billion in fiscal 2014 to
$6.18 billion this year. Overall, Wal-Mart posted net income for the fourth
quarter was $16.4 billion, a 12.1 percent increase. Diluted earnings per share
from continuing operations attributable to Wal-Mart were $1.53, compared to
last year’s $1.34.
“Our fourth quarter was the first positive traffic comp we’ve had since the
third quarter of fiscal year 2013,” said Greg Foran, Wal-Mart U.S. president and
CEO, whom McMillon promoted last summer. “Wal-Mart U.S. had increased
traffic during the six-week holiday season, with strong sales in seasonal, toys,
home and apparel. We completed almost 1 billion total transactions during the
holiday season, including our largest online day ever on Cyber Monday. We are
also pleased to deliver positive comp sales for the full year.”
Foran also noted the strong comp sales of Neighborhood Market stores.
“Neighborhood Markets delivered approximately a 7.7 percent comp during
the quarter,” he said. “We opened 233 Neighborhood Markets during the year,
and customers like their easy and convenient access to fresh foods, pharmacy
and services.”
He affirmed Wal-Mart would build 180 to 200 new Neighborhood Market
stores this fiscal year, including 10 to 15 of the smaller (Express) unit which
are still in the test phase.
Foran also stated that he’s developed an urgent items agenda which
included produce rotation to improve fresh presentation which had a positive
effect in the quarter, adding “we still have a long way to go to improve our fresh
business and we remain focused on that goal.”
As for Sam’s Club, president and CEO Rosalind Brewer noted: “Throughout
the year, we’ve seen meaningful acceleration culminating in comp sales, without fuel, of 2.0 percent for the 13-week period, Strong holiday execution, combined with our strategic investments in member value, merchandise relevance
and the integration of digital and physical improved our performance.”
Wal-Mart said it expects U.S. comps in the current first quarter to increase
between 1 percent and 2 percent.
And if you’re still questioning Wal-Mart’s clout after a few unimpressive
years, all you need to know is the Bentonville Behemoth rang up U.S. sales
of $288 billion (up 3.1 percent). Globally, revenue increased 2 percent to a
whopping $485.7 billion.
I 25
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nutrition message is often overlooked.
Handy also uses social media
and has a Facebook page where
along with communicating to
our customers about the seafood
industry and Handy products,
we post to our followers information about the benefits of seafood
consumption and reaching a goal
of at least two servings per week.
Handy can also be followed on
twitter @SeafoodPeople.
From page 24
the integrity of Handy products.
Handy has our own quality assurance team members wherever we
process products. Our Q.A. members assure our customers can be
confident that whether it is the
crab that is in your crab cake or
the crab in your can of crab meat,
it is a product that is made with
integrity and quality.
3. It is no secret that America’s
population is overweight, and eating more seafood is a tool to win
the battle of the bulging waistline. Handy proudly supports and
sponsors the Seafood Nutrition
Partnership (SNP). Their mission
is to inspire a healthier America
through partnerships that raise
awareness about essential nutritional benefits of eating seafood.
SNP will bring together partners from both the seafood and
health industries to tackle America’s public health crisis. It is a non
profit organization that emphasizes that health and nutrition is
Bob Cerullo
Manager of Appy/Seafood
Wakefern Food Corp.
Bob Cerullo
the best and most enlightened
way to bring the seafood industry together for the greater good
of Americans. SNP will focus on
seafood deficiency being part
of a broader health crisis facing
America that the health community is dedicated to solving and
can get behind. It will be a sound
voice in the health, government,
NGO worlds where the seafood
1. Wakefern’s seafood facility
has an onsite U.S. Department of
Commerce inspector and all of
our seafood suppliers must comply with guidelines put forth by
the Global Food Safety Initiative.
As part of our ongoing effort to
achieve seafood sustainability,
Wakefern has also partnered with
the Marine Stewardship Council
(MSC) and Global Aquaculture
Alliance (GAA) to increasingly
source wild-caught and farmraised seafood for processing
in our facility that meets one of
these certification standards.
2. Wakefern makes various levels of training available for associates at retail from seafood merchandising to food handling, as
well as online training, depending
on the need.
3. There are currently more than
100 in-store dietitians serving
ShopRite stores and their free services include demos and culinary
classes to educate customers not
only on the health benefits of seafood but also how to cook and prepare it. Recipes are also available
at ShopRite.com or right at the
seafood counter, where customers can opt to have their seafood
steamed for free while they shop.
Visit us at
04
Booth #7 oston
xpo, B
Seafood E 15-17
March
We Do It All!
Whether it’s a customized value added program for your service
seafood case, one of our top selling items for your self-serve
refrigerated case, or our new innovative items for your frozen
seafood case, Dockside Classics has programs proven to add
sales and profit to your seafood department.
Contact one of our sales reps today
and let us design a program tailored to your needs.
215-672-2211 • www.docksideclassics.net
26
MADE IN
THE USA
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taking stock
From page 25
‘Round The Trade
And speaking about Wal-Mart, the battle to gain market share in Richmond
is heating up. Neighborhood Markets, the fastest growing unit of the planet’s
largest retailer, debuted its first two stores – on Hopkins Road in Chesterfield and on Sliding Hill Road in Atlee (Hanover County) in the Old Dominion’s capital city on March 5. Both units are about 41,000 square feet. The
Behemoth plans two other new Richmond units later this summer – on Brook
Road in Henrico County and in a new development near Iron Bridge Road in
Chesterfield County. Also coming in the next few years to an already overstored
Richmond market are two Wegmans, at least two Aldis, another Whole Foods,
three new Krogers (two Marketplaces) and possibly several Lidl discount units.
And at Wal-Mart corporate, a few more executive changes to report. Recently
departing was John Aden, who was executive VP-sales innovation. Given more
responsibility were Jane Ewing, senior VP-business development for Wal-Mart
U.S., who will head the Behemoth’s “Next Generation Stock Up” initiative, and
Jeff McAllister, currently senior VP-Wal-Mart Innovations, who will lead the company’s “Next Generation Supply Chain” effort. Moreover, Latriece Watkins, senior VP-snacks and beverages, will oversee the Bentonville, AR retailer’s “Ways
of Working” group. Wal-Mart also announced that it is changing some of the
rules of its “Savings Catcher” price comparison program, effective this month.
Essentially, the world’s largest retailer is removing departments (produce,
bakery) from the program, claiming that it is difficult to match “like” items that
are often unbranded. It is also eliminating comparisons with drug stores while
still allowing comparisons with supermarkets, dollar stores and other mass
merchants. “Thanks again for using Savings Catcher and shopping with us. We
are dedicated to providing customers like you with Everyday Low Prices. It is
a mission we’re proud of and we’ll continue to work hard to deliver to you,” an
email from Wal-Mart stated. I’ve utilized Savings Catcher several times, and
while Wal-Mart’s effort to consistently pound its low price image in many different way is notable, the truth is, utilizing Savings Catcher involves a fair amount
of time and is somewhat confusing to use…Costco, which continues to impress
everyone with its tremendous earnings and growth, will make its shareholders
very happy in the next few weeks. The nation’s largest club store merchant
plans on issuing a one-time special dividend to its holders because of its
success. The Issaquah, WA retailer will distribute about $2.2 billion ($5 per
share) funded from existing cash and some borrowing. Costco also announced
that it will partner with Visa and Citigroup to oversee its co-branded credit card
business on April 1, 2016. At that point, Costco will end the long exclusivity
arrangement it had with American Express…on the heels of a record quarterly
loss ($2.6 billion) which included the announcement to close all 133 Canadian stores in its recently completed fourth quarter, Target and its new chairman
and CEO Brian Cornell are turning a new page. The former Safeway and Pepsico executive said that Target is beginning to see momentum in some of its core
departments – style, baby and wellness. So where does that leave food? In the
post-earnings conference call with the analysts on February 25, Cornell stated:
“Food is very important to our guests, and we know food trips drive traffic.
We recognize we have a lot of work to do as we begin to build our reinvention
plans for food. We recognize we need to make changes to our assortment - to
deliver more organic, natural and gluten-free items that are critically important
to the guests. We also recognize we have to change the in-store experience
and really make sure our grocery merchandising complements the great experience we create at Target. We won’t get there overnight. It will be a multi-year
transition. But food is going to play a very important role and complement our
other signature categories to make sure we drive traffic to our stores and to
our website.” A week later, at an analyst meeting in Manhattan, Cornell again
addressed its food plans reiterating its intention to healthier items while also
Advertise your business
in the April
Food World &
Food Trade News
Focus on
Specialty Foods
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World
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WWW.BEST-MET.COM
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News
Food Trade
www.best-met.com
Ad commitments due by:
Food World: Friday, March 20th
Food Trade News: Friday, April 3rd
For more info contact: Karen Fernandez • 410.730.5013 • kfernandez@best-met.com
I 27
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people
Gary Lauer has joined the
Pennsylvania Food Merchants
Association (PFMA) as its director of membership development..
Lauer has nearly 45 years of experience in the food industry, which
will be a great asset to the association as it works to grow its membership and increase contact with
its current members.
“We are so pleased to have Gary
Lauer on the PFMA team,” said
David McCorkle, PFMA president and CEO. “His industry experience and contacts will help
us grow the PFMA membership
and provide more outreach to our
current members.”
Lauer most recently worked
for Associated Wholesalers Inc.
(AWI), now C&S Wholesale
Grocers, for 15 years where he
served as director of retail devel-
ahold
From page 16
worked in corporate merchandising and marketing as director
division merchandising, director
category management, regional
director, and group director of
marketing. Most recently, she
was the VP-category development consumer brands. In this
role she had end-to-end responsibility for perishable strategy including financial goals, product
development, merchandising,
pricing, and execution.
“Tonya brings a strong balance of operations, marketing
and merchandising that blends
well with our team. She possesses strong leadership, industry knowledge, entrepreneurial
spirit and most importantly, a
real passion for the business. I’m
opment. At AWI, Lauer worked
closely with independent retailers
to help plan their business growth
and succession.
Before joining AWI, he worked
at wholesaler Fleming Foods (formerly Scrivner and P.A. & S Small
Company) for 29 years. During
his tenure he worked his way
through positions such as retail
management trainee, head buyer,
director of merchandising, director of sales and division president.
Lauer has also served on the
PFMA board and Pennsylvania
Convenience Store Council executive committee.
He is a graduate of Saint Joseph’s University Academy of
Food Marketing and he earned
his MBA from York College of
Pennsylvania. Lauer and his wife
Kathy live in the York area, where
he is active in the community.
confident that Jeff and Tonya will
work together to lead us to success as we build our world class
merchandising department, McGowan proclaimed.
As part of the restructuring,
there will be some changes as to
direct reports. Continuing to report to Dichele will be portfolio
leads: Tara Ponnett (warehouse
beverage, main meals and enhancers); Lee Nicholson (baking,
breakfast and candy); Denise
Mullen (beverage, rewards, beer/
wine and commercial bakery);
Natalia Torres-Furtado (ethnic
and specialty); and Maria Ruisi
(natural and organic). Dichele
will also continue to oversee Sal
Marrocco (Peapod project) and
Kyle Kirkpatrick (director negotiation strategy)
Portfolio leads now reporting
to Herring are: Jim Wonder-
ly (general merchandise); Ken
Kehres (fuel); Todd Patti (dairy)
and Sean Maurer (frozen).
As for the internal restructuring, headquarters employees are
being offered a VSIP (voluntary
separation incentive payment).
Tracy Pawelski, Ahold USA’s
vice president of external communications said, “These changes bulild on the successful steps
we’ve taken in other parts of
our operations to lower prices,
limit costs and make our decision-making quicker and less
complex. Unfortunately, this
means we will need to eliminate
a small percentage of AUSA support center positions, a decision
we do not take lightly. We prject
that approximately 6 percent - or
around 120 of our current AUSA
support positions - may be eliminated.
Gary Lauer
Advertise with us online
and hit your target.
It’s that simple.
Contact Karen Fernandez
kfernandez@best-met.com
443.765.1575
28
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taking stock
From page 27
making its ingredient labeling clearer and simpler. “We’ll be more nimble,
much more agile. We’re in the very early stages of a shift in our business.”
Additionally, in a belt-tightening effort, Target will cut “several thousand” jobs
over the next two years in attempt to save $2 billion…it is with sadness that I
report that the Oscar Mayer “Wienermobile” has crashed. We all know how the
weather in the Northeast has frankly sucked since the first of the year, and one
of its victims was Kraft’s giant “hot dog on wheels” (one of several the company owns). Pennsylvania state highway officials said that the 27-foot vehicle
was traveling on South Enola Road in Enola, PA (near Harrisburg) on February
15 when it slid of the road and crashed into a pole. No injuries occurred, but
the vehicle’s wiener was reportedly damaged. Sounds painful.
Local Notes
Based on recent earnings results, it seems like supermarket retailers
are now clearly in the recovery mode as witnessed by the earnings and
sales performances of some of the country’s largest merchants. Topping the
list again was Kroger, which posted a 22.7 percent profit gain while also
increasing its ID sales by an impressive 6 percent. Kroger’s been on a spectacular run over the last five years and, when asked by Ed Kelly of Credit
Suisse at the post-earnings conference call why Kroger’s identical stores
sales are widening the gap against its competitors, CEO Rodney McMullen,
answered the inquiry in a Kroger-esque manner – direct, but humbly:
“Ed, it’s a question that actually we’ve spent a little bit of time trying to
think through internally, and probably the biggest thing is our associates, our
store teams and all the people that support our stores, they continue to do
a better job of helping serve our customers on a daily basis. Everything from
making sure products are fresher to making sure that we treat our customers right. And we really do believe we had a great foundation in place and
our associates really are taking it up to the next level in terms of how they’re
taking care of our customers. And we think that that’s the thing that’s really
been successful and we really appreciate what our associates are doing.”
The other retail merchant that continues to hit it out of the park is Whole
Foods. For its 16 week first period (ended January 18), the Austin, TX-based
“good for you grocery merchant” saw its profits rise 5.7 percent to $167
million while same-store sales increased 4.5 percent. Overall sales climbed
an impressive 10.2 percent to a record $4.7 billion. In his conference
call with the analysts, co-CEO Walter Robb attributed WFM’s momentum
to “customers’ positive response to many strategic initiatives along with
improving consumer confidence.” Specifically, the 24 year Whole Foods vet,
who shares the chief executive title with founder John Mackey, noted that the
launch of its first national ad campaign – “Values Matter” – has aided the
company’s overall perception when measured against its competitors. Robb
also praised his company’s partnership with Instacart (online delivery sales
currently in 15 cities), its aggressive use of digital technologies (including
Apple Pay whose users account for about 2 percent of Whole Foods’ sales)
and its willingness to test new ideas, including its new shoppers “Affinity” rewards program, which debuted at a dozen stores in the Delaware Valley last
fall and will be expanded to the Washington, DC market this spring. Other
initiatives that Robb claims have aided Whole Foods include a new mobile
application that has recorded 600,000 downloads and a test of lower
produce prices in several markets. During Q1, WFM opened nine new stores
and completed 40 remodels. In the first month of Q2, three new stores have
already opened with eight other units scheduled to debut. My, my, my, it’s
been a tremendous run for both Kroger and Whole Foods…also continuing
its recent positive trend was Delhaize, whose U.S. banners (Food Lion and
Hannaford) saw their underlying operating profit increase 44.1 percent to
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taking stock
From page 28
$199 million. Underlying operating margin for the quarter was 4.2 percent
compared with 3.3 percent in 2013. Excluding the 53rd trading week, underlying operating profit increased 20.7 percent to $166 million. Underlying
operating margin increased from 3.3 percent to 3.8 percent mainly due to a
higher gross margin helped by a favorable sales mix as well as due to lower
selling, general and administrative expenses as a percentage of revenues,
the Brussels-based retailer noted.
Overall U.S. sales for the quarter totaled $4.7 billion, a 12.1 percent
increase. Excluding the effect of a 53rd week in the 2014 year, sales
improved by 3.3 percent and comparable-store sales totaled 3.6 percent,
supported by retail inflation of 2.6 percent. Frans Muller, CEO of Delhaize,
said the chain would continue to expand out its “Easy Fresh and Affordable” strategy to an additional 160 more Food Lion units in 2015, noting
the program, with price and service elements designed to increase basket
sizes, has driven positive results at 76 stores that have already received the
investments. The strategy requires an investment in $1.5 million in each
store, The Dutch-born chief executive who joined Delhaize 18 months ago
added, “We believe this will favorably position us in an increasingly competitive southeastern U.S. market. While we are focused on maintaining our
sales momentum, we are also mindful of non-recurring costs related to Food
Lion’s strategic initiative.” In related Delhaize America news, Brad Wise, president of Hannaford and a 30 year veteran of the company, will retire on June
30. He’ll be replaced by his top lieutenant, Mike Vail, who began his career
with the Scarborough, ME retailer 29 years ago. One more Delhaize item:
former CEO of parent firm Delhaize Group, Pierre-Olivier Beckers, will be
leaving the company’s board this May…at Weis Markets, the company’s efforts to build sales and lower retails is working, but at the cost of short-term
profits. The Sunbury, PA merchant said its fourth quarter sales increased
4.0 percent to $713.8 million while comp store sales grew by 3.5 percent.
During the 13 week period ending December 27, 2014, earnings at the
closely-held publicly-traded retailer declined 11.6 percent to $13.9 million.
Weis attributed its sales increases to the continuing success of its pricing
programs, which were fully implemented in the first quarter. It added that
results also benefited from strong sales increases in pharmacy, HBC and its
fresh departments. “One year ago, we spoke of our plans to recalibrate our
go to market strategies and focus on increasing sales and market share,”
said Jonathan Weis, president and CEO. “Over the past year, we steadily
invested in our pricing programs and successfully executed our strategy,
which has produced consistent sales increases in key center store and fresh
departments. These investments helped us increase our market share and
our customer count. We also improved our in-store customer experience and
increased our customer service focus. As a result of our investments and
customer service programs, we are well-positioned to build on our success
in 2015.”…Giant Eagle is exiting the “extreme value” discount business, announcing it would close its eight “Good Cents Grocery + More” locations on
March 26. “Good Cents,” which began life in 2008 as Valu King, has stores
in western PA and northeast OH. About 200 associates will be affected by
the closures…in one of its first moves since being acquired by Cerberus/
New Albertsons Inc., Safeway’s eastern division is saying sayonara to its
Rancher’s Reserve “select” beef brand and replacing it with “choice” beef
at all 127 stores in the region. And Safeway’s sister firm, Acme Markets, will
cut the ribbon on its rebuilt Chestertown, MD unit on March 13, the first new
Acme of the Eastern Shore in more than 15 years…following the acquisition of Grocery Outlet (GO) late last year by private equity firm Hellman &
Friedman, the grocery discounter, whose 214 stores are primarily located on
the West Coast, announced it will change the name of its 16 Amelia’s stores
in the Philadelphia and Central PA market to Grocery Outlets, effective this
Legislative Line
year 2016. The President’s budget
also proposes the consolidation of
FSIS and FDA’s food-safety components into a new agency within HHS. However, consumer and
food safety groups are opposed
to the plan because the new entity would not be an independent,
stand-alone agency. The legislation introduced by Durbin and
DeLauro, however, would be an
independent food safety agency that combines all of the food
safety programs across the federal
government.
on eggs, pork and foie gras sold
within their borders. “But this issue goes far beyond the California
egg issue. Restricting interstate
trade would create a great deal of
confusion and increased costs to
manufacturers and would create
a patchwork quilt of conflicting
state regulations…..,” said King.
His bill, HR 687, has six cosponsors, including the Chairman and
Ranking Democrat of the powerful House Agriculture Committee, but it still faces a tough road
to enactment.
Controversial Agriculture Bill
Reintroduced
Genetically Modified Apples
Update
California egg prices have increased significantly at retail
levels. On average in the U.S., a
dozen eggs retails for about $2.00.
Prices in California have jumped
to $6.00 a dozen! This is because
of anticipation of the new state
law coming into effect that references a statewide ban on the sale
of eggs from hens raised in battery
cages. The new law calls for larger
cages, and that means much more
costly operating expenses. So last
month Representative Steve King
(R-IA) reintroduced his Protect
Interstate Commerce Act (PICA),
which would prevent states and
local jurisdictions from interfering with the production and distribution of agricultural products
in interstate or foreign commerce.
His legislation would allow eggs
from out-of-state areas already
regulated by the Federal Egg Inspection Act to be sold in California even if they are not produced
under the new California standards for more humane treatment
of hens. His bill is also aimed at
other states for their penchant
for imposing production requirements, which increase costs on
agricultural products, such as
In a prior column when I discussed GMO crops, I mentioned
that a new genetically modified
apple that does not brown when
sliced or bruised was on the horizon. Well, just last month that
apple took another step closer
to retail produce departments as
USDA’s Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Service approved the
nation’s first genetically modified
apples. The approval clears the
way for commercial planting in
the U.S. However, it may be several years before the new GMO
apples reach stores as tree grafts
with the modified trait would
need about three to five years to
produce crops after splicing with
existing trees. The apples will be
marketed by Okanagan Specialty
Fruits Inc. as Arctic Granny and
Arctic Golden.
While on the subject of GMOs,
you should know that the National
Association of State Departments
of Agriculture (NASDA) passed a
resolution last month calling for
FDA to be responsible for GMO
labeling and supporting federal
preemption of state GMO labeling laws. Its support for preemption is in contrast to its position
Who
knows?
on federal preemption of other
state food safety and labeling laws.
In effect, NASDA has come out in
support of the Pompeo/Grocery
Manufacturers of America bill
that I referenced several months
ago in this column. Also, House
Bill 6042 has been introduced
that would scrap the multi-state
trigger contained in Connecticut’s
2013 GMO labeling law but it is
unlikely to pass.
Food Contribution Tax Deduction
Bill Passes House
Last month, by a vote of 279
-137, the House passed HR 644,
the Fighting Hunger Incentives
Act, which would make permanent the deduction in current
law for donations of food from
restaurants and grocery stores.
The legislation should also pass
the Senate, but the president has
threatened a veto.
SNAP on the Decline
With an improving U.S. economy, the share of people receiving
food aid under the Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program
(SNAP) should decline to 2007
levels, the Center on Budget and
Policy Priorities stated in a recent
report. The number of people
utilizing the program, formerly
known as food stamps, declined
by 2 percent in fiscal 2014 to 46.5
million. But with program costs
still rising, House and Senate conservatives are saying that the program still needs to be overhauled.
Hearings are on tap for Congress
so anticipate less SNAP dollars to
flow through your checkouts in
future years.
Barry Scher is a principal at the
public policy firm of Policy Solutions Motley Scher Truitt and may
be reached at: Bscher@policy-solutions.net
Is your next event listed
in the Mid-Atlantic food market’s
number one calendar of events?
Let us know, we’ll let our readers know.
We’ll publish your special event listing
in the Trade Calendar of Events.
Contact Terri Maloney, Editor
410-730-5013 or tmaloney@best-met.com
I 29
Mid-Atlantic Chapter Of Network Of Executive Women Meets At Mimi’s Cafe In Elkridge, MD
The
Mid-Atlantic
Chapter of the Network of Executive
Women (NEW) held
a function last
month at Mimi’s
Café in Elkridge,
MD. Among those
attending were (lr): Manda Johns
of Supervalu, Mark
Tarzwell of Ahold
USA and Debbie
Grosh of Tedco.
Felis Andrade (l) of Giant/Landover is joined in this photo by
Jerry Chadwick of Lancaster Foods.
Giant/Landover is well represented at the event by (l-r): Kelli
Hall, Cathy Miller and Tara Beadenkopff
These smiles belong to Wendy Zahradka (l) of Shoppers
Food & Pharmacy and Cheron Diggs of Allegis Group.
All smiles for the Food World photographer are Cheryl Harrop (l) of Nestle and Anne Golding of Giant/Landover.
These Giant/Landover ladies are Jeanine Jones (l) and Billye Pounds.
On hand from Star/Pro-Star are (l-r): Leigh Grube, Debbie
Roberts, Bonnie Nicholls, Staci Rapisardi, Amy Phillips and
Anna Arthur.
Making their way to Mimi’s Café from The Nielsen Company
are Carla Schreckengost (l) and Erin Fitzgerald.
Ria Gray (l) of Supervalu chats with Amy Mulryan of ConAgra.
Giant/Landover’s Robin Moran (r) brought her daughter Molly Moran to the NEW event.
Food World’s Karen Fernandez (r) poses for a photo with
Felis Andrade (l) of Giant/Landover and Christine Collins of
Burris Logistics.
This Frito-Lay group shot includes (l-r): Donna Gertsel, Megan Carson, Stephanie James, Dorothy Johnson, Jennifer
Christy and Shanee Waller.
Elda Devarie (c) of EMD Sales is flanked in this photo by John Dillinger (l) and Phyllisann Fobian, both with
GlaxoSmithKline.
Mark Otto (l) and Patricia Thomas, both with Giant/Landover, enjoy the recent NEW event.
30
Holly Speck (l)
of Bic says hello
to John Dillinger
of GlaxoSmithKline.
▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲
taking stock
From page 29
month. Amelia’s was acquired by GO in 2011 ...unintentional funny of the
month: Kmart announced that its remaining Super K combo stores (the only
remaining unit in our market is in Uniontown, PA) will be downsized and
become less service oriented (how much “less” does that mean?). The new
format will be renamed K-fresh, despite the fact that service meat, bakery
and deli will be eliminated and more pre-packaged items and fewer overall
items will reportedly be featured. Sounds like another Kmart winner to me…
several obituaries to report this month including actor Leonard Nimoy, a
true Renaissance man. In addition to a long acting career that spanned 62
years, the Boston-born Nimoy was also a photographer, poet and musician.
Of course, he’ll always be remembered for his signature role as “Mr. Spock”
from the iconic TV series “Star Trek” (1966-69). Nimoy made a mini-career
out of the role appearing in numerous spinoffs including another newer Star
Trek TV show, eight movies, an animated series and video games. Nimoy
was 83…from the world of sports, ascending to basketball heaven were the
legendary coaches Dean Smith and Jerry Tarkanian. Smith, 83, was one of
the greatest coaches in any sport in any era. The iconic University of North
Carolina head basketball coach from 1961-1997 had a career winning
percentage of .776 that included 879 victories. More than that, Dean Smith
was a man of humanity and humility. At the urging of his pastor, he actively
recruited black athletes in an era when Southern schools were slow to move
toward racial equality. More than 95 percent of Smith’s players graduated
and he developed more than 50 NBA players, including the greatest of all
time, Michael Jordan. Jerry Tarkanian’s public image was the polar opposite
of Smith’s. That wasn’t due to the relationship with his players (who loved
and respected him), where he performed similar good deeds. Tarkanian’s
problem was with the NCAA which tried to run him out of college basketball for his allegedly questionable recruiting tactics. In the end, the head
coach at the University of Nevada Las Vegas won that battle, collecting a
$2.5 million settlement from the dictatorship that oversees college sports.
Tarkanian, 84, often recruited players from the inner city that other coaches
usually wouldn’t touch. He combined an explosive fast-break offense with
his self-developed tenacious “amoeba” defense. His 1990 Runnin’ Rebels
team, which arguably was the most dominant team of its era, won it all that
year. Overall, the towel-chewing Tarkanian amassed 706 victories and a winning percentage of .781…the music industry also suffered some big losses.
Lesley Gore, pop singing sensation of my youth, died earlier this month at
the age of 68. The native New Yorker burst on the scene in 1963 at the age
of 16 with her plaintive “It’s My Party.” Other Gore hits (all released in 1963)
included “Judy’s Turn To Cry,” and “You Don’t Own Me.” She was discovered
by Quincy Jones, and in the early and mid-1960s, played in live shows
that featured such future Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Famers as James Brown and
The Rolling Stones. Taking advantage of her huge short-term popularity, the
producers of the campy TV series “Batman” cast her as Catwoman’s sidekick. …I was saddened to hear of the death of Bob Simon, long-time “60
Minutes” correspondent and one of the best reporters of his era. Simon was
killed in an auto accident in Manhattan on February 11 at the age of 73.
During a career at CBS News that spanned 47 years, Simon collected 27
Emmys and four prestigious Peabody Awards. Early in his career, Simon was
one of the best war correspondents covering Vietnam in the early 1970s. He
was usually given high level but dangerous assignments, including reporting
on violence in Northern Ireland and from war zones in the Falkland Islands
and Somalia. He was also imprisoned and tortured for 40 days by the Iraqi
army during the first Gulf War. Simon was a gritty, intelligent and talented
journalist, kind of like the anti-Brian Williams, a handsome, vapid talking
head whose fiction skills had been overlooked until recently.
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Why Make Delaware Your Home? Your Taxes Are Too High!
Thousands upon thousands of people
have already discovered the answer to that
question and are coming to Delaware not only
to enjoy the laid back coastal living, but to
enjoy the tremendous tax advantages of living
here. There is good reason why AARP and
Kiplinger have repeatedly found Delaware,
and specifically Rehoboth Beach to be one of
the best places in the US to retire. Here’s why:
• Very low property taxes (the average
annual tax on a home worth $450,000 is
around $1,300)
• Home prices away from the immediate beach areas are low to moderate (average around $250K $450K)
• No sales tax (and there is plenty of outlet shopping available)
• No state inheritance tax
• Social Security and railroad retirement benefits are exempt from state income tax
• Taxpayers 60 and older can exclude up to $12,500 of investment and qualified pension income from
State income tax
• The weather here is moderated by the warm ocean breezes in the winter and cooled in the summer
• We’re within a couple of hours drive to Philadelphia, Washington and Baltimore
• We’re only 4 hours drive to New York City
• We have great health care facilities such as Christiana, Beebe and Peninsula General Hospitals
• Access to some of the cleanest beaches in the US
So if you’re thinking of retiring in the next 3 to 5 years, now is the time to invest in Delaware real estate
while the inventory is high and the home prices and interest rates are low. Come and take a look to see
what so many have already discovered, Delaware is not only a great family vacation area…..it’s a great
place to live!! Call us and schedule a tour.
People pay big bucks to vacation here, why not move here?
Greg Cox, RealtoR®
317 Rehoboth Ave.
Rehoboth Beach, DE 19971
Office: 302-227-4800 • Cell: 302-448-0810
Toll Free: 800-955-6350 • Fax: 866-218-5221
Email: Greg@GailnGreg.com • www.GailnGreg.com
By the way, did you know you could use your 401K or IRA to fund a real estate
purchase? Visit our blog www.GailnGreg.typepad.com for more info.
Call Ivan
410-242-7200
www.
www.portraitsinthesand.com
GRANDMA’S
TM
“It’s so good,
it’s registered!”
bestmet.
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Maryland deli Foods Co.
The home of Grandma’s oven roasted Turkey Breast
extra sharp Cheddar Cheese and Thumann’s Fine deli Products
sTore door delivery 410-682-3354
I 31
32

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