IGA Exclusive Brand Perspective

Satisfying Shopper Demand for IGA Exclusive Brands

A message to IGA Retailers from...
Jon Hauptman
Partner
Willard Bishop

IGA Exclusive Brands demand has never been higher, as demonstrated by findings from this year's IGA brand study and whitepaper report conducted in conjunction with Willard Bishop. Today, Jon Hauptman, partner at Willard Bishop, outlines some of the study's most interesting shopper insights.

In today's challenging economy, shoppers are looking to stretch their grocery budgets and take great care of their families at the same time. For many IGA shoppers, IGA Exclusive Brand products are the obvious—and trusted—choice. We talked to IGA shoppers across the country during our study, and found that the future is bright for IGA Exclusive Brands. We learned that IGA shoppers:

• Are actively searching for price and value — Eight out of 10 shoppers are more focused on price and value than they were a couple of years ago. In short, the economy has fundamentally changed the way they shop.
• Are purchasing more store brands — 62 percent of IGA shoppers are buying more store brands than they did a couple of years ago, and that goes for purchases from all the stores they shop. That means the time is right for promotion and merchandising tactics that will ensure those private brand purchases are from your store.
• Trust IGA Exclusive Brands — 88 percent of IGA shoppers have a high level of trust in IGA Exclusive Brand products and they view them as at least the same quality as national brands. Moreover, they know that when they see the IGA Red Oval on the package, it has to be a high quality product.
• Want more IGA brand products — The majority of IGA shoppers are looking for even more IGA brand products than they find today. They recognize the value these items offer and want to see them more widely available across the store.

IGA shoppers told us that they love their local IGA stores and prefer to shop there provided the stores offer the value they're actively seeking. What better way to satisfy shoppers and retain more of their spending dollars than by giving them exactly what they want—i.e., more IGA Exclusive Brand products!

Are you carrying as many IGA Brand products as you can? And are you effectively highlighting them in the store so that our shoppers can easily find them? This is the perfect time to expand our assortment of these value-oriented items and showcase them in a way that will keep customers coming back for more. A great way to jump start your IGA Exclusive Brand program is to review the information and best practices contained in the report.

Thank you,

Jon Hauptman

Retail News

Declining gas prices will put additional dollars into consumers' wallets, adding flexibility to pay higher prices on food products, suggests a report from Citi Investment Research. The report estimates that the 53 cent decline in gas prices from the May 2011 peak of $3.96 will put approximately $725 a year back into the wallet of the average U.S. household by year-end. Full Report

99 Cents Only Stores entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by affiliates of Ares Management LLC and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board for approximately $1.6 billion in cash. Members of the Gold/Schiffer family entered into a voting agreement in support of the transaction, expected to close during the first quarter of calendar 2012, and will continue to hold a minority ownership stake. Full Story

About 60% of holiday shoppers have used coupons to reduce costs on holiday food, catering and groceries, according to the Valpak Semi-Annual Consumer Savings Report. Meanwhile, about 40% of consumers plan on purchasing their holiday gifts online compared to in-store and 29% will rely on deal sites for these purchases. Full Story

Retail Roundup: FoodLink added Giant Eagle to its online network, becoming a certified partner to Giant Eagle, Inc. and its produce team. Full Story ... Two Food Lion grocery stores in North Carolina were awarded LEED Silver certification. Full Story

Exposure to online display ads can lead to improved in-store sales for CPG brands, according to multiple studies conducted by comScore, Inc. and dunnhumbyUSA. Households exposed to advertising with the buying behavior of households who were not exposed revealed a median in-store sales lift of 21% among the exposed households, with five out of every six campaigns generating a positive sales lift. Approximately 70% of campaigns generated a double-digit sales lift, and more than 40% generated lifts of at least 30%. Full Story

The Kronos Retail Labor Index rose to 3.9% in September, reflecting a strong gain in hires and a modest decline in applications. The index is defined as the ratio of hires to applicants within a given month, expressed as a percentage. The retailers represent 18,362 distributed locations across the U.S. that make up the Kronos data sample, and made 38,252 hires in September. The total is up 12.6% from an upwardly revised 33,974 hires in August and is the highest reading in nearly three years and 16% above its level one year ago. Full Story

Manufacturer News

Goya Foods Inc. is looking to build a 600,000-sq. ft. warehouse and headquarters in Jersey City, NJ for $127 million. The company plans to consolidate operations from its existing headquarters in Secaucus, NJ into the new structure, and convert the old headquarters into a manufacturing plant. New Jersey awarded an $82 million tax break to the company to keep the company in the state, reported The Record. Full Story

Barber Foods plans to streamline its line of fully cooked foods, which accounts for about 7% of its business, by shutting down its oven and moving production in Portland, ME to an AdvancePierre Foods plant in Enid, OK. The vast majority of production at the Portland plant will continue to focus on raw foods, including stuffed chicken breasts and chicken tenders, reported Press Herald. Full Story

Synergy Flavors acquired Sethness Greenleaf. Sethness Greenleaf manufactures natural, natural and artificial, synthetic flavors, extracts, beverage emulsions and clouding agents for the food and beverage industries. Full Story

Joint Juice, Inc. acquired the Premier Nutrition Brand and its assets. Premier Nutrition, Inc. offers several lines of high-protein nutrition products, including ready-to-drink shakes, bars, powders and cookies. Full Story

Ball Corporation opened an expansion of the company's Graphics Center of Excellence in Westminster, CO. The facility features a pilot line for both graphic testing and color standards. Full Story

American Greetings Corporation introduced Neon Wishes, a collection of day-glo, pop-up greeting cards. Full Story

Hallmark Cards Inc. introduced Reveal Cards, which feature thermochromic ink that disappears when you warm it up by rubbing the treated area of the card with your finger or breathing on it. Full Story

Foodservice News

One in 10 consumers (31 million people) do not have breakfast in the morning, according to The NPD Group's Morning MealScape 2011. The study finds that males ages 18-34 have the highest incidence of skipping (28%) whereas adults 55 and older have the lowest incidence of skipping among adults. Among children, the incidence of skipping increases as children age with 13-to-17-year-olds having the highest incidence (14%) of missing the meal. Full Story

About 71% of consumers have visited a bakery cafe, up from 43% in 2008, and nearly three quarters of those consumers visit bakery cafe concepts at least once a month, according to Technomic's Bakery Cafe Consumer Trend Report. Total bakery cafe units increased 4.2% and bakery cafe sales increased 12% during the past three years. Meanwhile, some 34% of consumers strongly agree that they would visit bakery cafes more often for breakfast if their menus offered a wider variety of breakfast items. Full Story

Darden Restaurants is pursuing tax incentives from cities and counties to build new restaurants. In at least half a dozen communities, incentive deals have been approved, unveiled or proposed over the past nine months, reported Orlando Sentinel. Full Story (Free Registration Required)

Health News

A healthy diet with lots of fruits and vegetables can significantly weaken the effect of the 9p21 gene variant associated with an increased risk of heart disease, according to a study published in PLoS Medicine, reported HealthDay. Full Story

Researchers from Northwestern University found a method to tweak the immune system so that it does not respond offensively when foods like peanuts and eggs are encountered in allergic mice, reported MSNBC.com. Full Story

Washington News

FTC is reconsidering certain aspects of its proposal for voluntary marketing to children and may revise voluntary food marketing guidelines "to more narrowly focus" on marketing techniques used most extensively toward children, according to a statement from FTC's head of Bureau of Consumer Protection David Vladeck. Mr. Vladeck is expected to reveal to to a congressional committee that the agency will shift attention to children aged two to 11 and will not recommend that companies remove cartoon or brand equity characters from packaging. Full Story Purchase the Food Institute Webinar on this Topic Today! The Food Institute's Advertising to Children: Successfully Meeting the Challenges webinar provided guidelines on how to create truthful, accurate and acceptable advertising directed to children. Moderated by Dr. James Tillotson of Tufts University, the webinar can be purchased by clicking here or contacting Sue Antista at 201-791-5570, ext. 212.

FDA, CDC, FSIS, ARS and the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion will hold a public meeting, "Approaches to Reducing Sodium Consumption," to discuss topics relevant to the dietary intake of sodium as well as current and emerging approaches designed to promote sodium reduction. A Sept. 15 Federal Register notice established dockets to obtain comments, data and evidence that would inform future agency activities regarding the reduction of dietary intake of sodium. Full Notice

Representatives from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance and the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators observed that Mexico has rigorous requirements for commercial driving knowledge and skills testing that are similar to those in the U.S. The representatives visited a Mexican driver license facility, medical qualification facility and test and inspection location to review Mexico's on-going compliance with a memorandum of understanding on the equivalency of a Mexican Licencia Federal de Conductor and a commercial driver's license issued in the U.S. Full Notice

U.S. Marshals seized food products held at the food storage and processing facility of Dominguez Foods of Washington, Inc., in Zillah, WA on Sept. 30. The seized products were subject to a Sept. 2 detention order issued by FDA following an FDA inspection of the facility that found evidence of widespread and active rodent and insect infestation in the facility's warehouse and processing area. Full Story

About half of all foreign farms supplying produce to the U.S. and inspected by the FDA in recent years have had a written food safety plan, and nearly all had worker hygiene training in place, according to a presentation by a produce safety specialist during the United Fresh Produce Association's Washington Public Policy Conference, reported The Packer Online. Full Story

The U.S. Patent and Trademark office issued patent No. 8,034,925 to Cargill. This patent describes a unique glucosamine composition formed from a vegetarian-based material, as well as a kosher fungal biomass-derived glucosamine suitable for human consumption. Full Story

Commercial Meat Co. initiated a voluntary recall of approximately 377,775-lbs. of ground beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. Full Story

Nestle Prepared Foods Co. initiated a voluntary recall of a limited quantity of Lean Cuisine Dinnertime Selects Chicken Fettuccini due to some Dinnertime Selects Lemon Garlic Shrimp product inadvertently being placed into packaging for the Chicken Fettuccini variety. Full Story

Global News

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. agreed to suspend operations at more stores in southwest China, bringing the total to 13 on accusations the company mislabeled ordinary pork as organic. The company has been disciplined 21 times in Chongqing since opening there in 2006 for false advertising and for selling food that had expired or had not passed safety inspections, according to the city, reported Bloomberg.com. Full Story In addition, Chongqing police detained 37 Wal-Mart Stores Inc. employees, formally arresting two of them, as part of its investigation, reported The Wall Street Journal. Full Story (WSJ Subscription Required)

PTT Chemical is collaborating with Cargill to form a 50/50 joint venture by investing $150 million in NatureWorks LLC, a bioplastics manufacturer and supplier of renewable Ingeo biopolymers. The investment will go toward building a new production facility in Thailand. Full Story

The Danish government implemented a tax on food products high in saturated fat, which affects dairy products, vegetable oils and meat, noted FAS. The expected cost for Danish food producers and importers is about $180 million per year. The tax will be collected by the processors and importers, not the retail sector; expected increases in food prices will vary depending on the food category. Full Report

The European Commission presented a draft reform of the Common Agricultural Policy for the period after 2013. The draft aims to strengthen the competitiveness, sustainability and permanence of agriculture throughout the EU. The Commission is proposing to reduce farmers' direct subsidies gradually from about $206,000 with a ceiling of over $413,000 per farm per year. Full Story

Coupons.com Incorporated acquired the remaining 50% ownership of its UK joint venture, Couponstar Ltd. (UK), a London-based digital promotions and coupon provider. Couponstar will rebrand to operate in the UK and Europe as Coupons.com. Full Story

Market News

The Florida all orange forecast, at 147 million boxes, is up 5% from last season's final utilization. The Florida Valencia orange forecast, at 73.0 million boxes, is up 4% from the 2010-2011 crop. Florida frozen concentrated orange juice yield forecast for the 2011-2012 season is 1.60 gallons per box at 42.0 degrees Brix, up 1% from last season's final yield. Meanwhile, U.S. dry edible bean production is forecast at 19.6 million cwt for 2011, down 38% from last year. Pecan production is forecast at 252 million-lbs. (utilized, in-shell basis), 14% below 2010. USDA Crop Production

Projected U.S. wheat ending stocks for 2011/12 are raised 76 million bushels as lower expected domestic use and exports more than offset reduced production, according to ERS' World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report. U.S. feed grain supplies for 2011/12 are projected higher this month as higher beginning stocks more than offset lower forecast production. Full Report

Dole Food Company, Inc. acquired all of the capital stock of the parent of SunnyRidge Farm, Inc., a fresh blueberry company. SunnyRidge also sources and sells blackberries, strawberries and raspberries. Full Story

The raisin industry's packers will pay a record $1,700 a ton for the 2011 crop due to fewer acres, higher demand and competition from the region's wineries, according to the Raisin Bargaining Association. A rain storm last week may cost growers money, and some may be forced to send their grapes to a dehydrator or to be reconditioned to remove any sand from their raisin grapes, reported The Fresno Bee. Full Story (Free Registration Required)

A new produce marketing company, OAG Global, is bringing Peruvian table grapes to the U.S. in its first import season. The company plans to ship table grapes from Peru to the U.S. beginning in November and continuing through March 2012. OAG is billing its Peruvian grapes as the solution to the gap between the end of the California season and the beginning of the Chilean harvest, reported The Packer Online. Full Story

Well-Pict Berries Inc. plans to increase production of many of its new strawberry and raspberry varieties by expanding production of its No. 3352 and No. 4053 strawberry varieties in the Oxnard growing district. Switching acreage to the new varieties will lengthen the Oxnard harvest and boost supplies through early winter, reported The Packer Online. Full Story

Pacific AgPak Inc. released a new strawberry clamshell, the Freight Buster clam. The new clam holds one pound of strawberries, packed in a single layer, reported The Produce News. Full Story

APHIS will allow the importation of commercial consignments of tomatoes with stems from Korea, under certain conditions. Requirements include pest exclusion at the production site, fruit fly trapping inside and outside the production site and pest-excluding packinghouse procedures. The tomatoes will also be required to be accompanied by a phytosanitary certificate issued by the national plant protection organization of the Republic of Korea. Full Notice

APHIS determined that a soybean line developed by the Monsanto Co. is no longer considered a regulated article under regulations governing the introduction of certain genetically engineered organisms. The soybean line, designated as event MON 87701, was genetically engineered for insect resistance. Full Notice

The USDA Secretary's Advisory Committee on Animal Health will meet on Nov. 1 and 2 in Washington, DC, organized by APHIS to discuss matters of animal health. Topics to be discussed include a proposed rule on traceability for livestock moving interstate, wildlife diseases and foot-and-mouth disease vaccination. Full Notice