In the latest edition of AndNowUKnow’s print publication, The Snack Magazine, we explored Kings Food Markets’ new ideas, store concepts, and much more.
Check out The Snack article by clicking here, or read the full article below:
Kings Food Markets: Food Fit For Kings
Where inspiration strikes… this is Kings Food Markets’ newly evolved message as the New Jersey based-retailer takes on its most recent initiative to redefine the company’s fresh concept and philosophy. Kings’ founders began by selling what they treasured the most—fresh produce, and now the concept is being revitalized as the retailer moves into the latest phase of rebranding - a mission to enhance the neo-traditional supermarket space.
In the beginning, the founders went straight to the local markets and worked at developing strong bonds with the most dedicated farmers. That tradition is holding true today as Kings continues to source from local farmers first, as well as elite producers from around the world.
“We’re taking produce to the next level while remaining true to our roots. It’s our twist on ‘going back to the basics,’” Paul Kneeland, Vice President of Produce, Floral, Seafood, and Meat, tells me. “Produce inspires everything the company strives for, from presenting the freshest and highest quality produce, meats, and seafood, to offering a vast assortment of organic and gluten-free options. The individual needs of the customer always come first.” And they come with the opportunity to experience the sights, sounds, and aromas of something truly special.
One of the unique aspects of Kings is the care and consideration that they put into visually stimulating and pleasing the new wave of health-conscious consumers. Convenience is key, and grasping the consumer’s attention at the entry point is ideal for drawing in the on-the-go shopper.
Currently, this retailer is looking to innovate its new concept through presentation and offerings. With 14 of its 25 stores already converted to its new format and 9 more planned by April, Kings is bringing store design to a whole new level.
About 15 years ago, the company began looking at redeveloping its strategic plan. In the past 5 years, Kings has been strategically focusing on honing in on how the consumer experiences food and the supermarket environment. “We’ve looked at center store and realized that with the recent trends in fresh foods, we needed to create a more dominant perishables platform,” Paul tells me.
So, what groundwork is Kings laying for these current rebranding efforts? At the core, it will always be about providing a variety of grocery offerings with the best quality and consistency, but now Kings is shifting the traditional “Center Store” to the periphery.
The company’s redesign reflects a more fresh-forward program, with perishables now accounting for 50% of Kings’ inventory. Generally, supermarkets are about 65% center store, Paul notes. “That is changing for us. Nearly 90% of all perishables are on one side of the store, beginning at the entrance. Center store has turned to ‘left store,’” he laughs. “We are going for a European style market.”
It’s easy to see that Kings is far from portraying themselves as a retailer with a cattle-chute layout. “We are going for an amphitheater effect,” Paul tells me. And why shouldn’t fresh produce entertain and entice?
With a stage of fresh produce in mind, the retailer has created an L-shaped amphitheater on which to present its latest, fresh-from-the-fields assortment of produce.
“Imagine the customer’s line of sight. We are designing an experience that captures the senses right when you walk through the door. The more colors and layers you see, the more variety and possibility you can communicate,” Paul smiles.
Kings keeps most fixtures at a lower level and typically at the eye line of the consumer. Where large walls of produce can scream fresh-focused, Kings is taking an equally impressive and also strategic approach, creating a visceral landscape where you can take in nearly all produce items from the front of the store, all the way to the back. Kings has something for everyone, from stainless steel casings or cherrywood fixtures with their artisan-forward feel to cheese cases, and an open air bakery with brickwork. Not to mention the fresh seafood department that transports you to the country’s best fish markets.
Kings is also extremely passionate about the Jersey Fresh program. After all, New Jersey is where Kings began and where the company calls home. The retailer has served 23 New Jersey communities for almost 80 years and is proud supporters of New Jersey farmers. Kings has helped pioneer the state’s "Jersey Fresh" campaign to highlight all the great foods from the Garden State.
Hand-in-hand with the produce landscape, the prepared foods department has also become a focus for refreshing the format with even more convenience. Kings is exploring new concepts on the foodservice side as well, deconstructing menu ingredients for those shoppers that are looking for certain individual elements to an overall recipe.
“We always focus on variety and convenience, but it is important to note that as much as the company enjoys a diverse product program, we are highly focused on flavor. It’s what really ups the ante,” Paul tells me.
“Our hope is to inspire shoppers just by walking into our stores. We set the stage for everything artisan, fresh, and trending, to make its way to the consumers shopping basket,” Paul says.
I can see from the store format and from speaking with Paul that Kings focuses on the “why.” Why do people come in? Why should they come in? Why does fresh matter and why should they care? That’s enough to keep anyone up at night. Kings is constantly working to surprise and educate consumers on the range of flavors, eating experiences, and new items on the shelf. When a consumer asks ‘why’, Kings has the answer.
What’s in store for Kings as we look to the horizon? “I see us becoming increasingly organic. For our demographics, we are finding that consumers want more organic options and more education,” Paul notes. Currently, Kings is about 19% organic in its produce department. “That might not seem like much,” Paul relays, “but the average supermarket is around 3-5% for produce.”
Additionally, Kings is hoping to expand in the near future to markets that are similar to those where it currently resides, as well as surrounding areas. “We would like to double the size of the company in the next five years. While we are thriving within our present footprint, we know there is a demand for our brand of retail and our concept in equally profitable and ideal areas.”
Paul is also a huge advocate of programs like PMA’s Sesame Street partnerships and initiatives and Let’s Move Salad Bars to Schools, which are playing a huge role in produce consumption.
“5 or 10 years down the road when kids become the consumers, it will be a boom for the produce industry. So we are preparing now, staying ahead of the game for the increase in consumer demands for variety and availability. When kids go home after eating at school salad bars, they are asking their parents for broccoli and cauliflower. It’s a matter of paying attention to who is dictating the shopping list,” Paul mentions.
“Our format aligns with these new initiatives and help to inspire kids to eat produce. We see it as our role to communicate the possibilities of fresh produce to kids with a real foodie feel. We have kids tastings, cooking classes, lectures on produce… it’s all about engaging the next generation,” Paul says. “Our passion for food hasn't stopped for nearly 80 years and we continue to bring our message to the new wave of little shoppers.”
And it’s true, Kings hasn’t stopped their passionate journey towards perfection since the company opened in 1936. The founders began with the humble purpose of finding the freshest produce around and have evolved into a family of 25 locations, each one seamlessly integrated into the community it serves.
“What it really comes down to is creating that genuine shopping experience which also tells a story. In this case, our story,” Paul tells me. And it seems like the future holds no end in sight for this retailer. With its foot steady on the pedal, Kings is continuing to drive its success forward with an eye for innovation and a love for fresh produce.
CHINA – Avocado consumption has traditionally been low in China with Chinese consumers having difficulty finding and eating avocados. To help remedy this, Mission Produce and Lantao have partnered to increase avocado sales and consumption.
The companies looked to previous experience before deciding to enter this market. Ron Araiza, Vice President of Sales for Mission Produce explained, “We saw a similar situation with Japanese consumers when we entered their market. Though they knew relatively little about avocados, their culture was big on giving fruit as gifts and eating fruit for health, which is a similar environment for fruit with Chinese consumers. So we figured it was a good bet that China was a great growth opportunity for us just like Japan has been.”
According to a press release, the big challenge was how to reach 1.3 billion Chinese consumers in a market where 80% of shoppers purchase their fruits and vegetables on a daily basis from traditional markets like fruit stands, push carts, farmer’s markets and small wet markets.
John Wang, CEO of Lantao, and his team used feedback from customers to learn the best way to teach Chinese consumers about avocados through point-of-purchase material at the traditional markets to help store vendors and consumers learn nutritional information, recipes and usage tips for the fruit.
“We came up with a flag campaign,” said Wang. “Promotional flags were distributed with each box of fruit that we sold so the fruits stands and markets could display information about avocados. The flags included a QR code, which is a popular way for Chinese consumers to get information or redeem promotions and coupons.”
The QR code linked consumers to Lantao’s WeChat platform, which provides information and direct fruit sales to consumers. The company reports that in China, 900 million people have cell phones, and 60-70% of those have capability for WeChat technology. There are currently 396 million WeChat monthly active users. That is a 40 million user increase over the end of last year.
Through the joint promotion between Mission and Lantao, avocado sales have risen 15% since the promotion began in September.
JACKSONVILLE, FL – Crowley Maritime Corporation’s Puerto Rico liner services group announced that Ken Orben is being promoted to General Manager of Terminal Operations in Jacksonville, Florida, and Karen Dempsey is being promoted to Director of Port Operations in Pennsauken, New Jersey, starting January 1.
Ken is a 27-year Crowley veteran and current Director of Port Operations in Pennsauken. For this promotion, he will relocate to Jacksonville and report to John Hourihan, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Puerto Rico Services.
Karen has worked with Crowley for 32 years and is currently the Manager of Port Administration in Pennsauken. She will remain based there and report to Ken.
“Ken and Karen bring a wealth of experience to their new roles,” said Hourihan. “I know they are looking forward to continuing to ensure our terminals run at peak efficiency, with a focus on safety and environmental stewardship.”
According to a press release, Ken will be responsible for all aspects of land operations including line and staff functions, ocean terminal and related container year and container freight station operations, stevedoring, yard, car, and gate operations, safety security and the transition to new technology. He will also maintain relationships with union leadership, stewards and employees by the administration of company policies and collective bargaining agreements.
Ken joined Crowley in 1987 as the Manager of Port Operations and has held positions of increasing responsibility in the operations area during his tenure with the company. Earlier this year, he was promoted to Director of Port Operations. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in criminal justice from Norwich University.
Karen joined Crowley in 1982 and has served in managerial roles in port documentation and traffic before being promoted to Manager of Port Administration in 2005.
Congratulations on the promotions, Ken and Karen!
EDEN PRAIRIE, MN - C.H. Robinson has reached an agreement to acquire Freightquote, one of the largest internet-based freight brokers in the U.S., for $365 million.
The Kansas City, MO-based company utilizes proprietary e-commerce technology to allow shippers to easily access competitive rates and automated load acceptance and payment functionality.
Speaking on the acquisition, John Wiehoff, Chairman and CEO of C.H. Robinson, commented, “E-commerce is going to be a bigger part of future supply chain services and Freightquote brings us a leading solution in our industry. Along with their track record of success, Freightquote has an established brand, a talented management team, excellent people, and a performance-based company culture.”
The acquisition will significantly expand C.H. Robinson’s presence in the Kansas City market and increase market share with small businesses. 
“Freightquote will operate as one of our flagship operations in Kansas City and we plan to continue to aggressively grow the operations there,” said Scott Satterlee, Senior Vice President of North America Surface Transportation, C.H. Robinson.
Tim Barton, Founder and Executive Chairman of Freightquote, will serve as a consultant to the company following the closing of the acquisition, which is expected to occur in the first quarter of 2015.
“We spent a long time looking for the right strategic partner and are pleased to join the C.H. Robinson organization,” said Barton. “The two companies complement each other and together we are well positioned for success into the future.”
The agreement is subject to certain customary closing conditions, including regulatory approval.
Congrats on this successful acquisition, C.H. Robinson!
SIERRA NEVADA, CA - California's farmers are looking towards the winter's storms to help rebuild the state's snowpack. Currently at 24% of normal levels for early December, this snowpack is key to providing California's farmers with the cruicial water they need throughout the year, according to ABC News. Enter this week's winter storm warning for the Sierra Nevada/Greater Lake Tahoe area, as the National Weather Service is predicting up to 2 feet of snow on the mountain between 4pm Tuesday and 4am Thursday from elevations of 7,000 to 7,500 feet.
Combined with the storms that California has enjoyed over the last week, these weather systems are promising some measure of relief for the drought striken state.
“The North Tahoe area has already received 10-14 inches of snow over the last 3 days,” Steve Hash of Steve Hash Farms/Tahoe, explained to me. He also noted that South Tahoe has received 5-7 inches over the same period.
It is necessary to note that this latest bout of wet weather has not made a significant impact on California's reservoir system or the California snowpack. The previous week's back-to-back storms have helped some cities in northwest California reach normal rainfall levels for 2014, however. For example, weather forecaster Austin Cross told ABC News that Redding has reached 124% of its typical yearly rainfall while San Jose is only a third of an inch shy of its normal 2.89 inches for the period.
Despite these gains, California's reservoirs and the snowpack remain significantly below their normal levels, according to CBS News. National Weather Service forecaster Eric Kurth shared that Lake Shasta and Lake Oroville are at 50% of their typical capacity for the start of December, while Folsom Lake is at 59%.
"Certainly we're quite a bit wetter than we were last year, especially to the north, [but] we're not seeing huge storms,” he said. "The good news is there's more storms on the way."
Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow for any future updates on the California drought and weather conditions relevant to the fresh produce industry.
THE NETHERLANDS – Oerlemans Foods, a grower, food processor and supplier, has joined forces with TOMRA Sorting Solutions by investing in a brand new steam peeling processing line.
“During a visit to another plant we have seen a peel separator in production, and we were impressed with the straightforward concept and effectivity of the system,” said Gerard Busser, Manufacturing Services Manager at Oerlemans.
According to a press release, the company researched various peeling solutions for its processing line against its performance criteria before choosing TOMRA.
“We considered other companies as well, but we decided to team up with TOMRA because they offer the best technological and technical solutions. In particular, the efficiency and maintenance of the steam peeler is very good,” said Mr. Busser. “TOMRA has a long history in steam peeling. They have more than 40 years’ experience in supplying solutions to the global fresh and processed food industry. We are convinced that this expertise gives them a competitive edge.”
The TOMRA steam peeling line at the processing plant in the Netherlands is made up of the Orbit steam peeler with the latest steam saving technology, the TOMRA steam accumulator and the DPS for low peel loss and dry peel separation.
The steam peeler can operate at a high steam supply pressure using a TOMRA steam accumulator to achieve very low steam times while providing minimal peel loss. It includes TOMRA’s patented mixing process and TOMRA’s steam saving process, which enhances the efficiency of the peeling process.
“TOMRA’s steam peeling line highly exceeds our expectations. The combination of the Orbit with the DPS showed substantial revenue improvements compared to the Orbit and brusher in our other plant. This yield improvement was achieved even during the first production runs,” added Busser.
The design of the peeler helps to reduce the number of components to stock and maintain. The drum drive bearings are made outside the chassis for easy inspection, maintenance and lubrication. This new system helps to improve yield while and boosting long-term profit.
HERMISTON, OR - River Point Farms has broken ground on a new state-of-the-art 70,000 square foot whole onion packaging facility. The project, which is part of the company’s $17.5 million capital expansion plan for 2014 to 2015, is expected to finish completion by the end of July 2015.
“As we nurture our current customers and prepare for growth, seamless execution in packaging and shipping facilities is paramount to our success,” said Bob Hale, River Point Farms CEO. “The new packaging facility provides us with an opportunity to fully automate our whole onion sorting and packaging process with a high level of accuracy and efficiency and also allows us to convert our current packing facility into a state-of-the-art shipping facility.”
The new facility will feature best-in-class equipment that the company has strategically vetted over the last two years in preparation for its doubling of production and shipping capacity in the next twelve months, according to a press release. Until the day of transition, River Point Farms will continue to operate out of its current facility.
For a greater in-depth look at River Point Farms and its upcoming facility, check out our exclusive video here.
BOISE, ID - Samuel Zell, the billionaire investor and Founder and Chairman of Equity Group Investments, has publically confirmed his interest in the over 100 soon-to-be divested Albertsons locations.
“Obviously, like every deal it starts with price,” Zell explained during an interview with Fox News' Maria Bartiromo. “In this particular case, this is a $9 billion or $10 billion merger of Safeway and Albertsons with about 140 stores that they were forced to divest. Their focus is on getting the big deal done which creates a more opportunistic environment for taking care of the remnants.”
“We have a lot of confidence in the supermarket business,” he continued. “We've been in it before very successfully and we think this is an interesting opportunity and a good deployment of capital.”
Zell and his partner, Stuart Sloan, the former Chairman of Quality Food Centers, will be pitting themselves against Capital Management and Comvest Partners in this bidding race. So far, no actual bid amounts have been disclosed to the public.
Could Zell be on his way to becoming a big time player in the North American retail game? For now, it sounds like his interest is largely limited to this particular transaction, according to Zell.
“It's a one-off situation like most everything else that we're currently doing,” he shared.
It is nonethess interesting to see his focus honed in on our industry. It will be fascinating to see what role he could play going into the future.
Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow for future updates on this bidding war as they develop.
WENATCHEE, WA - Together with FruitTracker, Stemilt is releasing its first Stemilt-O-Graphic apple category report. This info-graphic reports on apple category performance across the U.S. for the month of October 2014 by comparing Nielsen scan data to its counterpart from the previous year, according to a press release. In doing so, it offers the industry a high-level look at apple category performance across the U.S.
Check it out for yourself below:
“The first issue of our Stemilt-O-Graphic shows that apples were once again a big part of the produce department in October 2014,” Roger Pepperl, Stemilt's Marketing Director shared. “On average, apples accounted for 8.1% of total department dollars in October, with Gala, Honeycrisp, and Red Delicious leading the way among varietals.”
“Additionally, more than two-thirds of apples were sold as bulk in October,” he continued. “This is an important sign of overall category health as bulk sales historically drive more dollars to the department than bags because of their higher retail price.”
Great work on the release of this first issue, Stemilt!
NICARAGUA – Construction will begin December 22 on a giant canal in Nicaragua that will join the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
The International Business Times is reporting that executives from the Chinese contractor tasked with building the canal have announced the groundbreaking.
The $50 billion project is projected to be built within five years with the target of becoming operational by 2020, according to Global Construction.
This new canal, which will span 278 kilometers (172 miles), will be longer, deeper and wider than the Panama Canal.
According to the International Business Times, government officials have hailed the canal as a way to lift millions of Nicaraguans from poverty. Opponents to the canal have voiced concern with the impact on that country’s largest freshwater source, Lake Cocibolca, also known as Lake Nicaragua.
The construction will begin with the building of a port on the Pacific, which will eventually pass through Lake Nicaragua on its way to the Atlantic.
The project is expected to include two ports, an airport, a resort and an economic zone for electricity and other companies, according to Global Construction. There will also be a 600-meter bridge that will cross over the canal.
Opponents are currently campaigning in the Parliament to invalidate the law that gave the canal concession to start. To repeal the law, they would need a majority vote in the National Assembly.
Stay tuned to AndNowUKnow as we continue to track this ongoing story.