IGA Exclusive Brands Perspective

Secure Exclusive Brands Sales through POP Materials and Signage

A message to the IGA Retailers from...
Dave Bennett
Senior Vice President
Procurement & Exclusive Brands
IGA USA

Shopper demand for private brands is growing briskly, as is the sales potential for IGA Exclusive Brands. Today, IGA's Dave Bennett uses findings from a recent white paper report developed with consulting company Willard Bishop to help IGA Retailers take advantage of IGA Exclusive Brand POP materials and signage.

During the past few weeks I have shared insights from the Willard Bishop study on how to maximize sales with your weekly ad and strategic pricing. Today, in part three of my five-part Perspective series, I introduce another best practice from the study: the use of POP material to drive shopper awareness of IGA Exclusive Brands.

POP is a great way to educate shoppers about the breadth and depth of the IGA Exclusive Brand program and help them find IGA brand items in the aisles. But even more than that, IGA Exclusive Brand POP drives your overall IGA Brand identity. Just as the IGA Red Oval on the storefront promises a preferred shopping experience, the IGA Red Oval on the package has promised great IGA products for more than 80 years. Your IGA products are a huge brand distinction, and when you post IGA Exclusive Brand POP and signage in your store, it serves as a highly visible reminder to your shoppers that IGA products are an important part of the IGA shopping experience—an important part that keeps them coming back.

Take, for example, a retailer comment from the study: "When you walk into our stores you know you're in an IGA. We have ceiling signs, perpendicular signs, shelf channels, and Compare and Save Tags." ...All of which spread the word about IGA's powerful brand distinction!

So how can you leverage the power of POP to drive awareness and purchases?

Step 1: Make sure you're utilizing all the resources available to you, like for instance the IGA Exclusive Brand POP designed to promote the line's new look.

Click on the image below for ordering information.

Step 2: Display POP in a clean and uncluttered manner. Keep in mind, more is not always better when hanging POP.

Yes, it's a simple reminder, but it's also a highly effective one. And remember, today's best practice on POP is only a small part of the insights offered by this study. Check out the full white paper report for more, and be sure to watch The Independent View for next week's Perspective on in-store merchandising.

Thanks,

Dave Bennett

Retail News

Personalization is a multi-dimensional experience rather than a discrete, singular component of shopping, according to Personalized Grocery Shopping, An In-Depth Shopper Interview, a report released by Brick Meets Click. The report examines how shoppers are using and thinking about grocery shopping technology from the viewpoint of a Safeway shopper, who frequents the chain every 1.5 to two weeks and purchases for a family of three. Full Report

BJ's Wholesale Club Inc.'s sales of food increased by approximately 5% in its second quarter for the second year in a row, driven primarily by an 8% increase in perishable foods. On a two-year stacked basis comparable club sales of perishable foods increased by approximately 16%. Full Story

About 60% of consumers reported drinking regular hot coffee or tea within the last month, second only to the 62% of consumers who had a non-diet carbonated soft drink during the same time period, according to Technomic's Market Intelligence Report: Coffee and Tea. Overall, grocery, drug and mass-merchandise stores experienced a 15.9% increase in coffee sales from 2007 to 2010. Green tea is of interest to nearly 73% of consumers, making it the most appealing flavor for hot or iced tea. Full Story

7-Eleven, Inc. agreed to acquire ExxonMobil's retail interests in 51 North Texas sites. The transaction is anticipated to close later this year. The majority of locations will be rebranded as 7-Eleven stores. Full Story

Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. signed, through its wholly-owned indirect subsidiary, Circle K Stores Inc., an agreement to acquire 33 stores in Southern Louisiana from ExxonMobil which operates under the On the Run banner. The transaction is anticipated to close in December. Full Story

Retailers divide the year into 13 to 20 shopping sub-seasons designed to get shoppers into stores and increase impulse purchasing using seasonal displays. Consumers are usually willing to spend more during special seasons, retailers and manufacturers claim, especially if they are spending on their children. To capitalize on customer behavior during the sub-seasons, some big-box retailers plan seasonal displays with product manufacturers a year in advance or add grocery items prominently to increase the frequency of shoppers' visits, reported The Wall Street Journal. Full Story (WSJ Subscription Required)

Retail Roundup: Two Food Lion stores earned EPA's 2011 Gold-Level GreenChill Store Certification Award. The stores are in Conyers, GA, and Columbia, SC. Full Story ... Kroger Co.'s Smith's Food & Drug Stores completed the installation of photovoltaic energy panels at two Albuquerque, NM stores. The solar energy output from these two store systems is 320,000 kWh. Full Story ... Save Mart is closing a location in Fresno, CA on Aug. 26, the third store Save Mart will close in Fresno County in the last 10 months, reported The Fresno Bee. Full Story (Free Registration Required)

New Store News: Price Chopper opened a store in Chenango Bridge, NY, reported PressConnects.com. Full Story ... Aldi will build a $1.1 million supermarket in Buffalo, NY. The store is expected to open at the end of the year or in early 2012, reported The Buffalo News. Full Story

GeoPalz is partnering with Whole Foods Market to offer pedometers in over 60 Whole Foods Market stores throughout the Rocky Mountain and mid-Atlantic regions. Steps recorded by GeoPalz pedometers convert into points, which are recorded on the GeoPalz website and redeemed for prizes, including gift cards donated by Whole Foods Market. Full Story

Whole Kids Foundation, in partnership with FoodCorps, is accepting online grant applications for its first initiative, the School Garden Grant Program, which will be funded by a six-week, in-store donation drive at all Whole Foods Market stores, and online, from Aug. 17 to Sept. 30. Through the Whole Kids School Garden Grant Program, the Foundation and partner FoodCorps will offer $2,000 grants, along with curriculum, resources and mentorship, to 1,000 schools. Full Story

Target's Electronics Trade-in service expanded to 1,490 stores where Target Mobile centers are located, and new product categories were added to the service. The trade-in service at Target, offered in partnership with NextWorth, is now accepting calculators and DVDs in addition to iPods, iPads, iPhones, cellphones, Nintendo DS units and video games. Full Story

Twenty-four unit Russell's Convenience is using cloud collaboration technology from IBM to better integrate and share data across its stores and improve collaboration between employees, customers and partners. Full Story

Manufacturer News

Wholesale finished consumer food prices inched up only slightly in July but were still up 7.1% from a year earlier, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Full Story

Cargill resumed ground turkey production at its Arkansas plant that was the source of a recall. Production resumed after the addition of new safety measures approved by USDA, including increasing by 25% an anti-bacterial wash for just-slaughtered birds, and adding two new anti-bacterial baths during the evisceration process. While the Arkansas plant is now producing a limited amount of 93% lean ground turkey, Cargill has not determined when it will resume making its 85% lean product, reported The Minneapolis Star-Tribune. Full Story (Free Registration Required)

New Product News: Kraft Foods introduced Triple Double Oreos. Full Story ... Sara Lee North American Fresh Bakery is offering Sara Lee Iron Kids white bread and Sara Lee Thin Style Buns. Full Story ... Louisiana Food Company's fall Voodoo Roast Seasonal Blend coffee will be Southern Pecan. The product will launch at the end of September. Full Story

Former VP of the American Humane Association's American Humane Certified farm animal welfare program Tim Amlaw launched a venture called Sustainable Food Development, Inc. The company is an agricultural consumer food company that aims to help meet the food needs of the world and will be seeking both operational and capital partners in ventures. One of its first projects is developing Australia's Northern Territory Beetaloo Basin with four sustainable elements: production, processing, distribution and market branding. Full Story

Foster Farms Dairy is shifting its milk and orange juice production from Fresno, CA to a larger plant in Modesto. The company's Modesto plant has the capacity to process milk along with juices, ice cream, sour cream, cottage cheese and specialty dry powders and mixes, reported The Fresno Bee. Full Story (Free Registration Required)

Phadia's peanut allergen component test uKnow Peanut Test is commercially available in the U.S. through the Phadia Immunology Reference Laboratory. The uKnow Peanut Test reports specific IgE results to five FDA cleared peanut allergen components in addition to carbohydrate cross-reactive determinants, a laboratory developed test. Full Story

PureBrands' Sheets Energy Strips entered into distribution relationships with Convenience Valet and Energy1 Distribution. Full Story

CERT ID is now American National Standards Institute accredited to certify companies to the Global Food Safety Initiative-benchmarked SQF Food Safety Code. Full Story

SABMiller took its $10 billion bid for Foster's Group hostile. The cash offer was unchanged from SABMiller's first approach in June, and will be reduced by any second-half dividend Foster's pays, forecast at around 15 cents, or 3% of the offer price, reported Reuters. Full Story

Joseph Enterprises introduced Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia Omega-3 Chia Seeds. The product is available at Walgreens, CVS and Supervalu and online. Full Story

American Greetings Corporation introduced Let Me Out, a collection of greeting cards. Each card in the collection features a 360 die-cut paper card placed inside a corresponding base. When the card is pulled out of the base, a surprise sound is triggered. Characters include a gnome inside of a garden, a squirrel in a bag of peanuts, a monkey in a pile of bananas and a kitten resting in a basket of yarn. Full Story

Maybelline New York introduced a limited edition collection of Great Lash mascara in celebration of its 40th anniversary. The company partnered with three fashion designers to create the collection: Max Azria, Tracy Reese and Vivienne Tam. Full Story

Foodservice News

Executives on the Move: McDonald's Corp. enacted several executive changes, including naming Doug Goare president of McDonald's Europe. Full Story ... El Pollo Loco, Inc. appointed Dennis Farrow COO. Full Story

Washington News

CB Holding Corp. and its subsidiaries filed a Joint Plan of Reorganization and related disclosure statement with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. The plan effectuates an agreement between the company's lenders and the official committee of unsecured creditors that was appointed in the company's Chapter 11 cases to split proceeds of sales of the company's assets that provide for a recovery to unsecured creditors. A hearing was scheduled for Sept. 9. Full Story

Some 18 Dallas-area Burger King locations are going on the auction block, reported Dallas Business Journal. Full Story (Free Registration Required)

USDA, Energy and Navy will invest up to $510 million during the next three years in partnership with the private sector to produce advanced drop-in aviation and marine biofuels to power military and commercial transportation. Full Story

Winn-Dixie Stores, Inc. issued a voluntary recall of Choco Charm Chocolate Drink because the products may be mislabeled and contain undeclared wheat, reported Reuters. Full Story

Global News

Asda raised its target for smaller-format shops to 250 as it integrates the purchase of the Netto chain and opens more outlets. The retailer is opening eight smaller stores a week and converted 61 Netto outlets so far, with its 100th supermarket opening next week. The company aims for 180 of the format by year-end, reported Bloomberg.com. Full Story

The first stage of a grain oil production hub by the China National Cereals, Oils & Foodstuffs Corporation went on stream in Tianjin. The project, reportedly the largest cooking oil processing base in North China, is expected to meet the consumable oil demands of 200 million people by the year 2015, reported China Daily. Full Story

China Oil & Foodstuffs Corp. Tunhe Co. Ltd. is working with Unilever Co. Ltd to improve irrigation systems in its tomato fields in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, a Chinese agricultural base. It invested $26 million in water-saving irrigation systems in the region, reported China Daily. Full Story

Market News

About 2.3% fewer fresh potatoes were sold last year than in 2009, according to Potato Sales & Utilization Estimates, a report from the U.S. Potato Board. Meanwhile, after significantly exceeding exports in 2007 and 2008, fresh imports returned to a level comparable to exports. In 2010, fresh foodservice sales vs. year ago were estimated to be off 1% compared to retail's decline of 3.1%. Nevertheless, over the past 10 years retail's share of total U.S. domestic sales has been relatively stable, accounting for between 57.7% and 60% of annual sales. Full Report

The forecast for the 2011 cranberry crop is 7.50 million barrels, up 10% from 2010. If realized, this will be the second largest production on record. Production forecasts are up from last year in Massachusetts, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin but down in New Jersey, according to USDA. Full Report

The 2011 California olive crop forecast is 65,000 tons, down 67% from last year's record crop of 195,000 tons. Bearing acreage is estimated at 36,000 for a yield of 1.81 tons per acre. Of the total production, an estimated 27,000 tons will be utilized for canning, and the remaining 38,000 tons are expected to be harvested for oil or specialty products, according to NASS. Full Report

California melons are ripening en masse and should be in good supply through October after a slow start due to cool weather. "Everything is about two weeks later than usual," stated the owner of Wholeness Farm. Watermelons, cantaloupes and honeydews represent 99.2% of all melons sold in the U.S., according to Produce Retailer, while California will account for 205 million-lbs. of watermelon this season, according to the National Watermelon Promotion Board, reported The Sacramento Bee. Full Story (Free Registration Required)

The California Dry Bean Board claims the quality of beans harvested so far has been good, with quantity higher than originally expected. Fewer acres of garbanzos were planted, because rains during the planting season caused some farmers to shift direction and plant other crops, reported California Farm Bureau.

Sluggish California broccoli and cauliflower markets likely will not pick up until September, grower-shippers stated. There are two reasons for the slump, according to a broccoli commodity manager for Ocean Mist Farms. "Freight rates are high and there is a lot of homegrown product," reported The Packer Online. Full Story

Cocoa butter prices will likely increase from near-decade lows as manufacturers use more of the chocolate-making ingredient before the year-end festive season. The multiple of cocoa butter prices to London International Financial Futures Exchange cocoa beans could rebound to 1.3 before the end of the year from a current nine-year low of 1.05, which could attract producers to use cocoa butter amid high demand for cocoa powder in emerging Asian markets such as India, China and Indonesia, reported The Wall Street Journal. Full Story (WSJ Subscription Required)

Peach and plum harvests are continuing in Michigan, including varieties such as Starfire, Redstar and Bellaire. In apples, Pristine harvest is done in most sites, while Paula Red, Zestar and Early Mac harvest is starting, according to Michigan State University. Full Story

An EPA regulation established a tolerance for residues of fluoxastrobin in or on squash/cucumber subgroup 9B at 0.50 parts per million (ppm), residues of metconazole in or on the bushberry subgroup 13-07B at 0.40 ppm and the tuberous and corm vegetable subgroup 1C at 0.04 ppm and for residues of thiamethoxam in or on peanut at 0.05 ppm; peanut, hay at 0.25 ppm; peanut, meal at 0.15 ppm; alfalfa, forage at 0.05 ppm; alfalfa, hay at 0.12 ppm and in food/feed commodities in food/feed handling establishments at 0.02 ppm.

APHIS prepared a pest risk analysis evaluating the importation of fresh shredded lettuce from Egypt. The agency found that the application of one or more designated phytosanitary measures will be sufficient to mitigate the risks of introducing or disseminating plant pests or noxious weeds. Full Notice