GREENSBORO, NC - Nearly 9 months after former CEO Craig Carlock’s exit, The Fresh Market has found a new head honcho in retail veteran Rick Anicetti. The new President and CEO has also been elected to the company’s Board of Directors.
“I am honored and excited to have the opportunity to lead The Fresh Market,” said Anicetti. “I have admired the company’s brand and unique shopping experience for many years and believe that we have tremendous opportunity to further evolve our offerings and services. I look forward to working with our leadership team and employees to realize the growth potential of The Fresh Market.”
Anicetti is bringing The Fresh Market more than 30 years of experience across all key retail functions at Hannaford Brothers Company and Food Lion LLC. He served for eight years as President and Chief Executive Officer of Food Lion grocery stores, as well as currently serving as a member of the Board of Directors at Number Holdings, Inc., the parent company of 99 Cents Only Stores LLC, where he also served as interim Chief Executive Officer. Anicetti is a Director on the Board of Smart & Final Stores, Inc, but will have to resign from his current board positions as part of his new position at The Fresh Market.
“After an extensive search, we are delighted that Rick Anicetti will join us as the chief executive officer of The Fresh Market,” said Ray Berry, Founder of the company and Chairman of the Board of Directors. “Rick is a highly accomplished food retail executive serving in leadership roles at Hannaford and Delhaize. He and I have spent time together reviewing the competitive marketplace and I am impressed with his knowledge of store operations, as well as his demonstrated vision, innovation and ability to successfully run large grocery organizations. We have every confidence Rick will lead The Fresh Market effectively and creatively and are assured of the company's future under his direction. We remain grateful to Sean Crane for his efforts towards improving our operations in this time of transition.”
According to a press release, the company expects Anicetti to bring exceptional food retail experience and a strong track record of strategic leadership to The Fresh Market. Having led at the charge to change Food Lion from a distribution company to a customer-centric organization and serving as co-CEO of Delhaize America, Anicetti is no stranger to major business model transformation.
“As we look to return the company to growth, we focused on identifying a performance-driven leader with the ability to create a performance-driven culture,” said Rich Noll, Lead Independent Director of The Fresh Market’s Board of Directors. “As we look to return the company to growth, we focused on identifying a performance-driven leader with the ability to create a performance-driven culture.”
Anicetti will be the first CEO hired from outside the company, Noll continued, and The Fresh Market believes that he has the right combination of strategic leadership and personnel skills to lead the company into a new phase of growth.
MEXICO - Tropical Depression 14-E is slowly growing stronger, warranting the name “Kevin” as it becomes clearer that it will develop into a Tropical Storm.
AccuWeather reports that the weather pattern developed several hundred miles southwest of Mexico on Monday, Aug. 31st, and has a clear trajectory towards our southern neighbors.
While it is going to hit higher winds and cooler waters that should weaken it, the report states that both Baja California and the northern region of Mexico will see enhanced rain and thunderstorms starting tomorrow, and continuing on through the weekend.
And come Friday, Arizona and New Mexico could also see some of that moisture as it moves upward. AccuWeather reports that it is likely both states will also see a number of showers and thunderstorms through the weekend before Kevin is done.
Currently, Kevin is near the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula, according to The Weather Channel, having originally struggled to organize itself and keeping its strength down. Though it has graduated to a storm instead of a depression, however, Kevin is not considered a threat to the land areas through Friday beyond the storms forecasted.
AndNowUKnow will continue to keep you up to date on all weather news that could impact the produce industry, so stay tuned.
MONTEREY, CA - At this year’s PMA Foodservice conference in Monterey, CA, we joined Monterey Mushrooms' VP of Sales & Marketing Mike O’Brien to learn all about the company’s future plans for growth and penetration into the foodservice industry.
“We’re talking to a lot of new prospective customers with the increased consumption of mushrooms and the fact it's high in vitamin D and low and sodium. It’s also a healthy alternative to meat,” O’Brien tells me. “That’s causing a huge increase of consumption of mushrooms.”
O’Brien also touched on Monterey’s capacity to expand in the foodservice industry, citing this new wave of mushrooms replacing meat products as an exciting opportunity.
To find out more about the growing capabilities of mushrooms and Monterey Mushroom’s next steps, watch my full interview with Mike O’Brien above.
LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE, CA - The Allen Lund Company’s Minneapolis office is welcoming new leadership as longtime employee Toni Rooney steps in as Manager.
"I am excited about this new opportunity in Minneapolis, and am looking forward to growing this office to become a notable presence in the upper Midwest," Toni said in a press release. "I am grateful for the chance to promote Allen Lund Company in another city and for the support and encouragement I receive from this company.”
Toni started out with Allen Lund Company bringing an extensive background in the transportation business to its Los Angeles dry van division in 1999. According to the company, she relocated to the Louisville office in 2004, moving up to Manager of the Memphis office in January of 2008.
"Toni's energy and experience will be a great addition to the Minneapolis office,” Eddie Lund, VP of Sales and Branch Operations for Allen Lund Company, said in the release. “She has been a valuable part of the Allen Lund Company for many years and will help the Minneapolis office thrive.”
Toni added that she is excited for the company’s success, and is looking forward to working with a new team that shares that enthusiasm.
VANCOUVER, B.C. - After the earliest start in history, proceeded by hot, dry weather, the Blueberry Council is anticipating that the 2015 British Columbia will close out strong.
"While our 800 growers faced weather challenges this season, we remain confident that British Columbia continues to be a strong producer of highbush blueberries, and we're expecting consistent supply into early-September," Debbie Etsell, Executive Director of the British Columbia Blueberry Council, said in a press release. "The hot weather we've experienced this season has resulted in our late harvest variety, Elliott, producing some of its sweetest berries ever."
British Columbia continue to be in the top category for highbush blueberry producers as the season comes to a close, according to the company. Overall, volumes are looking to come in at more than 68 million kilograms (150 million pounds), which is on par with last year.
The Blueberry Council continues to expand, according to the release, with an increase in available product allowing it to grow its marketing efforts overseas. This season China signed a trade agreement for access to British Columbia blueberries, coming at a time when demand in the country is high due to the product’s quality and health benefits.
Korean inspectors are also among those the company has visited as it continues its endeavor to create new demand for exports from the province.
PELION, SC - WP Rawl is taking a step into the future by adding three members of fourth generation family members—Amber Rawl, Robert Clifton and Lauren Clifton.
“We are of course elated to have Lauren, Robert and Amber join the company,” said third-generation family member Karen Johnson, Vice President of H&R and Administration. “It is especially meaningful this year as we celebrate 90 years of WP Rawl. I know our grandparents, Walter and Ernestine, would be proud of everything we have accomplished and that the family continues to have interest in growing the business and carrying on the legacy.”
This summer, Lauren and Robert Clifton accepted full-time positions at WP Rawl, joining the second and third generations already running the company. Lauren and Robert, daughter and son of Susan Clifton, Vice President of Finance & Administration, are eager to learn more about all aspects of the business. According to a press release, Lauren graduated from Anderson University in 2013, while Robert followed the footsteps of his great uncle Howard Rawl, uncle Charles Wingard and second cousin Ashley Rawl, earning his degree from Clemson University.
Amber Rawl, daughter of Dean Rawl, Vice President of Equipment and Engineering, is also now working full time at WP Rawl. She fills her role at the company while simultaneously attending Midlands Technical College. All three have previously worked at the Pelion, SC headquarters during the summer and say they look forward to developing their careers and contributing to the growth of the family business.
BELLINGHAM, WA - The retail battle between Haggen and Albertsons is heating up.
Haggen filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against Albertsons for over $1 billion, claiming that the supermarket giant sabotaged its expansion into new markets and made misleading remarks to influence its decision to buy more than a hundred Albertsons and Safeway stores.
The lawsuit, filed in a Federal Court in Delaware, professes that Albertsons had engaged in an illegal campaign against Haggen including “premeditated acts of unfair and anti-competitive conduct that were calculated to circumvent Albertsons obligations under federal antitrust laws, FTC orders, and contractual commitments to Haggen, all of which were intended to prevent and delay the successful entry of Haggen (or any other viable competitor) into local grocery markets that Albertsons now dominates.”
The lawsuit also lists several “malicious and unfair actions” that “strained Haggen’s resources” and “created substantial distraction and diverted the attention of store-level and senior Haggen management” during the store conversion process. According to the filing, some of these actions allegedly include:
- Using proprietary and confidential conversion scheduling information to plan and execute aggressive marketing campaigns intended to undermine Haggen grand openings;
- Providing Haggen with false, misleading and incomplete retail pricing data, causing Haggen stores to unknowingly inflate prices;
- Cutting off Haggen-acquired store advertising in order to decrease customer traffic;
- Timing the remodeling and rebranding of its retained stores to impair Haggen’s entry into the relevant markets;
- Diverting customers by illegally accessing Haggen’s confidential data to gain an unfair competitive advantage;
- Deliberately understocking certain inventory at Haggen-acquired stores below levels consistent with the ordinary course of business just prior to conversion, resulting in out of stocks which negatively impacted the shopping experience upon Haggen grand openings;
- Deliberately overstocking perishable inventory at Haggen-acquired stores beyond levels consistent with the ordinary course of business just prior to conversion such that Haggen had to throw away significant amounts of inventory it paid for;
- Removing store fixtures and inventory from Haggen-acquired stores that Haggen paid for;
- Diverting Haggen inventory to Albertsons stores;
- Failing to perform routine maintenance on stores and equipment.
The move comes at a time when both retailers have been engaged with a legal back-and-forth, the latest of which includes Albertsons’ $40 million lawsuit for past due inventory purchases.
Albertsons made a statement saying that Haggen’s allegations are “completely without merit.”
Haggen made headlines last December when the regional grocer bought 146 Albertsons and Safeway stores in Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. The decision enabled Albertsons to gain the FTC’s approval of its merger with Safeway, a combination that would create “one of the largest food retailers in the United States, with over 2,200 stores and $61 billion in combined sales,” the complaint states.
The grocer said that Albertsons' anti-competitive conduct caused “significant damage to Haggen’s image, brand, and ability to build goodwill during its grand openings to the public,” noting that these unlawful acts had lessened the economic viability, marketability, and competitiveness of the Haggen stores.
Since the start of its rebranding efforts, Haggen’s stores have faced considerable pressure, including shoppers complaining of high erroneously priced products, cut backs on employee hours, and hundreds of layoffs. Most recently, Haggen said that it would close or seek to sell at least 27 stores.
For now, this retail battle will have to be settled in court. For more on Haggen and Albertsons, stick to AndNowUKnow.
WENATCHEE, WA - Supermarkets looking to get a jump on this year’s early apple season may be in luck. According to Steve Lutz, CMI’s Vice President of Marketing, this opportunity offers retailers an easy way to boost sales prior to the traditional October peak.
Harvest dates in Washington State have been pushed forward by as much as three weeks due to an early bloom and consistently high temperatures through the growing season. Early season sales reports from the Washington State Tree Fruit Association show that shipments to date are 12 percent higher than the early crop in 2014, and over 300 percent higher than the same time period in 2013, according to a press release.
“Washington had an early crop last year as well,” said Lutz. “This year is even earlier and the category data from last year shows that retailers who seized the opportunity enjoyed peak season sales levels several weeks before their competition.”
Looking at Nielsen scan data results from last fall, the earlier harvest has enabled retailers to build out full apple assortments sooner. As a result, Lutz says, supermarkets that seized this opportunity generated “significant sales gains.”
“The top 20 chains in September grew apple sales by 6.5 percent with a category contribution of over 9 percent,” Lutz continued. “The apple category average for the total U.S. was an increase of just 1.6 percent in sales with a category contribution of 6 percent.”
The early season provides supermarkets who capitalize on the early season with an additional four weeks of peak season dollars and volume because they can reach the seasonal plateau of 8 percent category contribution to total produce by mid-September, rather than the early to mid-October average.
“We’re so much earlier than normal – it’s just a great opportunity for retailers to energize their sales right after Labor Day,” Lutz added. “The opportunity to bring in the apple shopper is right now, not October.”
CMI is already well into harvest on Galas, Honeycrisp, Reds, Fujis, and organics, with Grannies on the way next week. Now is the time to push the apple category further than ever before.
IRVING, TX - California Giant Berry Farms’ new website layout and design has propelled DMA Solutions, Inc. to the final round for Hubspot’s Website Design of the Year.
DMA’s creative web design and strategy incorporates high-impact photography, recipes, and convenient navigation with drop-down menus for easy use, constructed by utilizing consumer data from Hubspot. It also includes a personal touch, with personalized greetings featured on the site.
“Fresh produce marketing is advancing and California Giant Berry Farm’s website is a direct reflection of this progress,” Dan’l Mackey Almy, President and CEO of DMA Solutions, Inc., said in a press release. “DMA Solutions, Inc. has established a cost-effective way to produce results-based website designs that truly reflect an advanced level of marketing that is accessible to brands across the fresh produce industry.”
According to California Giant, the latest design has resulted in a 77 percent growth in website traffic, as well as quadrupled the company’s contact conversion rate.
“We are now able to be more strategic by providing berry lovers with content that they prefer and that is helpful, using the Hubspot platform for conducting permission-based online marketing,” Cindy Jewell, Vice President of Marketing for California Giant Berry Farms, stated. “Ultimately, we are adding value to the fresh, delicious California Giant berries that people love and thereby increasing and solidifying brand loyalty.”
You can view the nominated California Giant website by going to www.cagiant.com and going to The Buzz blog.
DMA Solutions, Inc. has a long-term commitment to enhancing the consumer online experience with fresh produce clients, according to the company, and continues to partner and invest in Hubspot as part of that commitment. DMA Solutions’ The Core blog is also hosted on the Hubspot platform.
The announcement of the winners for the 2015 Hubspot Impact Awards is also quickly approaching, planned to take place on Sept. 9th at the INBOUND 2015 conference in Boston, Massachusetts.
DENVER, CO - Following the company’s April announcement that it would be eliminating all GMO products from its menu, Chipotle is now being slapped with a lawsuit that claims the chain may have been “misleading consumers.”
Earlier this week, a law firm filed a class-action lawsuit in federal court claiming that the fast-casual chain’s marketing is “misleading and deceptive” because it still sells a substantial amount of foods made with GMOs. Chipotle’s meat, cheese, and sour cream is made from animals fed with GMO soy and corn, the complaint claims, and the soft drinks it serves are made with corn syrup made from GMO corn. Filed in the Northern District of California, the lawsuit is on behalf of California consumers who have purchased food from Chipotle since the company made its official announcement, with Kaplan, Fox, and Kilsheimer representing.
“Chipotle’s advertising in its stores should have accurately informed customers about the source and quality of its ingredients and should not mislead consumers that they are serving food without GMOs when in fact they are,” says Attorney Laurence D. King from the firm. “Chipotle’s advertising in its stores should have accurately informed customers about the source and quality of its ingredients and should not mislead consumers that they are serving food without GMOs when in fact they are.”
Chipotle has yet to make a comment on the lawsuit, with the company’s Communications Director Chris Arnold telling Fortune Magazine, “Generally speaking, we do not discuss details of pending legal action, though we do plan to contest this.”
The company, however, has made efforts to clarify that not ALL of its menu items can currently be made GMO-free at this time. At the time of Chipotle’s announcement, the chain posted the following disclaimer on its non-GMO website.
“The meat and dairy products we buy come from animals that are not genetically modified. But it is important to note that most animal feed in the U.S. is genetically modified, which means that the meat and dairy served at Chipotle are likely to come from animals given at least some GMO feed,” the company stipulated. “Many of the beverages sold in our restaurants contain genetically modified ingredients, including those containing high fructose corn syrup, which is almost always made from GMO corn.”
Despite this clarification, the class-action lawsuit still claims that Chipotle advertisements on the matter were distinctly misleading. “Now, all of our food is non-GMO,” says one billboard for the company, and one sign displayed in the company’s restaurants says, “Only non-GMO ingredients.”
To be clear, there is no evidence to the Food and Drug Administration’s knowledge that GMOs are not 100% safe. Most of the country's big crops like corn and soybean crops are genetically modified to resist common issues such as herbicidal damage and plant diseases.