Plum opens store in Detroit Metropolitan Airport

Oct 30, 2015Elliot Zwiebach

Travelers and airport workers will find the 3,700-square-foot store in the McNamara Terminal.

Plum Market opened a store Friday inside the Detroit Metropolitan Airport that features made-to-order sandwiches, prepared foods, a coffee bar and a full-service wine bar.

It also features a curated selection of local food products “that are well-suited for both travel and gifting,” plus an assortment of natural supplements, the company noted.

The store offers a selection of prepared foods and a coffee bar. (Photos courtesy of Plum Market)

The 3,700-square-foot store is located in the McNamara Terminal, Detroit’s hub for Delta Air Lines, and is being leased and operated as a joint venture by Hojeij Branded Foods, an Atlanta-based operator of restaurants and bars, and AP United, a Detroit-based company that operates six retail stores in the airport.

However, all merchandise and recipes come from Plum, and Plum selected the wine list, Todd Belden, marketing coordinator, told SN.

The airport Plum operates from 5 a.m. through 10 p.m. and features Zingerman’s baked goods and deli products. All workers are employed by the joint-venture operator, Belden noted. 

According to Matt Jonna, co-founder and CEO of Romulus, Mich.-based Plum, “It’s an honor to have our store be part of the Detroit Metropolitan Airport. We believe this is a world-class city, and we’re proud to show it to the world.”

Plum operates conventional grocery stores focusing on natural, organic, local and specialty items.

The airport location in Plum’s fifth store, with one unit in Chicago and three in Michigan — in Bloomfield Township, West Bloomfield and Ann Arbor — and a second Ann Arbor location scheduled to open Nov. 11.

7 Ways Physical Retailers Are Trying to Fight Amazon in Their Stores

ByRebecca BorisonFollow|

Amazon  is every traditional retailer's worst nightmare. The e-commerce giant is slowly but surely gobbling up market share and turning consumers into frequent online shoppers.

This past week, Amazon surprised Wall Street analysts with a nice profit of 17 cents per share on revenue of $25.4 billion, up 23% year over year. And Wells Fargo analyst Matt Nemer recently estimated that Amazon's North American gross merchandise volume accounts for 36% of all retail dollar growth for the year (excluding vehicles, fuel and food/beverage). A scary figure for any non-Amazon retailer to see.

Amazon's innovation in delivery and logistics plus its breadth of inventory have made it easier for consumers to choose e-commerce over brick and mortar, forcing physical retailers to get creative to keep consumers coming through the door.

"Retailers must infuse digital features into the store environment to exceed customer expectations, compete more effectively with online pure-play retailers and offer a better, more complete, shopping experience," said Ken Morris, principal at Boston Retail Partners.

Here are some of the best implementations we've seen.

1. Entertain Shoppers

Some retailers are trying to attract customers to their stores by offering relevant entertainment.

Bass Pro Shops and Cabela's (CAB) , for example, have archery ranges and aquariums in their stores. This gets people in a store, and then once they're already there, they may pick up some products as well.

Other retailers go for a more technology-focused form of entertainment, offering virtual reality experiences in-store and interactive screens. Tommy Hilfiger, a unit ofPVH Corp. (PVH) , for instance, lets shoppers in some of its stores watch a virtual reality version of its fall catwalk show.

VF Corp's (VFC) North Face has a virtual reality setup in its New York store that lets consumers experience things like hiking, climbing or base-jumping.

"The most successful retailers will seamlessly blend the physical with the digital in the future store," Boston Retail Partners principal Ken Morris said.

2. Order Online, Pick Up In-Store

One easy way to get customers into a store is by offering free delivery to the store if a customer orders online, but picks up the products at a store. The customer will be happy to have free shipping, and perhaps while the customer is in a store he or she will decide to browse some of the other products in stock.

Some of the many retailers now offering this service include Lowe's (LOW) , Home Depot (HD - Get Report)   and Toys R Us.

A similar feature is Gap's "Reserve in Store" service, which also lets consumers check online to make sure a store will have a product in the size and color they want before actually going to the store.

Many retailers also offer the flipside of shopping in-store and having a product delivered to a customer's house. That tends to be most helpful with heavier products such as a large TV. This essentially turns a physical store into more of a showroom, letting customers see a product in real life, interact with associates and then get it delivered to their home.

It's all about flexibility and letting the customer do what he or she wants.

3. Offering Services on Top of Products

The Apple  stores have got this one down pat. They offer free in-store workshops on different topics such as Apple Watch Basics and iPhone Photography. They also have their famous Genius Bar with experts that can help with any issues you may be having with your Apple products. And once they've got you in their store for a workshop or a Genius Bar visit, it's easier to sell you their products. (It doesn't hurt that their stores are aesthetically pleasing, too.)

Best Buy  took a page from Apple's playbook and introduced its own Geek Squad to help consumers with any issues they may be having with their gadgets. For the holiday season, Best Buy is offering free Geek Squad setup for anyone who receives a gift from Best Buy. Best Buy will also host robot and virtual reality demos in its stores during the holidays. Both are great excuses to get customers into physical stores.

4. Upgrade the Store Visit With an App

A number of retailers have created helpful in-store features in their apps that add value to any visit. One example is Home Depot's app, which uses geolocation to help customers navigate the store. It'll tell them if a product is in stock and where it's located in the store. It also lets customers scan a product to find out more information about it.

Target  also has really useful in-store features in its apps. It offers an interactive store map, which will showcase trending items on Pinterest. It also lets customers create a shopping list to help them expedite their shopping visit. In addition, Target has a separate app called Cartwheel that gives customers discounts as they shop.

5. Reward Their Loyalty

Starbucks (SBUX) is the classic example of loyalty done right. Their My Starbucks Rewards program reels in customers who want to collect as many stars as they can to get free drinks and food. Granted, Starbucks isn't directly competing with Amazon, but they successfully convince consumers to forgo buying K-cups and other coffee products on Amazon and instead make a daily trip to their nearby Starbucks.

Other physical retailers try to attract customers with loyalty programs. 7-Eleven,Neiman Marcus, Sephora and Bloomingdale's, which is owned by Macy's (M) , are just a few examples of the many retailers that try to reward customers for shopping with them.

6. Personalize With Beacons

Several retailers have been testing out beacons, which let them ping customers when they are near certain products or aisles. In August, Target started testing beacon technology to bring an item to the top of a customer's mobile shopping list when he or she was close to that item. Last September, Macy's started testing beacon technology to ping customers with any deals or discounts happening that day.

American Eagle Outfitters (AEO) , J.C. Penney (JCP) and Best Buy have also tried out beacons. Beacons are still a bit controversial, though, since some customers are averse to having a store know too much about them and be able to track them throughout a store. For that reason, Nordstrom pulled the plug on a beacon trial two years ago. But some retailers still have faith that beacons and geolocation can offer a store experience that will help them fight Amazon.

7. Arm Store Associates With Devices

Many stores are giving their associates tablets and smartphones so that they can better assist customers. Burberry (BURBY) , Target and Apple are  examples of retailers that have done this.

In some cases, the tablets can enable associates to search through a customer's purchase history and preferences, if they have that information saved, so they can better guide the customer. The tablets can also let customers check out from any place in the store, getting rid of the annoying lines at cash registers.

Food industry leaders meet to discuss 'the War on Big Food'

By Mike Hughlett Star Tribune

 

OCTOBER 30, 2015 — 11:14PM

LEILA NAVIDI, STAR TRIBUNE

Jeff Harmening, General Mills' Chief Operating Officer, from left, Sally Smith, Buffalo Wild Wings' CEO, Greg Page, Cargill director and the company's former CEO and Jeffrey Ettinger, Hormel's CEO speak on a panel titled the "War on Big Food" during event organized by the Economic Club of Minnesota at the Minneapolis Convention Center on Friday.

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The panel of food industry heavyweights assembled to address “The War on Big Food,” yet they shied away from the whole “war” notion.

Yes, consumers are increasingly veering away from processed food. Yes, food companies face rising skepticism on everything from genetically modified organisms to animal welfare, all of it amplified by the Internet.

But food technology is scientifically sound, the panel said. The industry just isn’t getting its message across. “It’s a failure of storytelling,” Greg Page of Cargill Inc. said Friday at a half-day-long “food security summit” put on by the Economic Club of Minnesota.

“I think we need to think of this not as a war, but as a contest to be the trusted party.”

Of course, that’s a conundrum. As Page acknowledged, a Cargill director and former Cargill CEO like himself isn’t going to be seen as a trusted messenger. Cargill, after all, is the epitome of “Big Food.”

The Minnetonka-based agribusiness giant, celebrating its 150th anniversary this year, was a cosponsor Friday of the Economic Club’s food security gathering at the Minneapolis Convention Center. A packed ballroom listened to top executives from Minnesota’s nationally prominent food and agriculture industry.

From left, food industry leaders Jeff Harmening of General Mills; Sally Smith, Buffalo Wild Wings; Greg Page, Cargill; and Jeffrey Ettinger, Hormel.

General Mills, Hormel Foods, Buffalo Wild Wings, Land O’Lakes and fertilizer maker Mosaic were all represented, as was Ecolab, a big player in food industry sanitation.

Consumers these days are increasingly asking questions about the origins of their food. Simpler is increasingly seen as better.

“Consumer food values are changing — they are always changing — but with this millennium generation, they are changing faster,” said Jeff Harmening, General Mills’ chief operating officer. “There is no doubt that consumers are demanding real food, and when we give it to them, they respond.”

General Mills is building up its natural and organic food business, including through acquisitions. The company is the nation’s third largest producer of organic foods, Harmening said, with such brands as Annie’s, Cascadian Farm and Muir Glen.

Indeed, most of the top U.S. organic food brands are owned by large, publicly traded food companies. Hormel, the maker of processed meat poster child Spam, recently took a huge step into the organic meat market with its $775 million purchase of industry leader Applegate Farms.

“The whole organic and natural phenomenon is not a fad,” said Jeffrey Ettinger, Hormel’s CEO. “We will have to have a whole different supply chain … I see a strong bifurcation.”

The food industry has been under fire on a number of fronts. Animal welfare activists have pilloried large-scale livestock and poultry production — i.e. “factory farming.” Health advocates have taken shots at sugar, salt, corn syrup and a host of other common food ingredients. Then there’s the turmoil over genetically-modified organisms or GMOs.

Most of the corn, sugar beets and soybeans raised in this country are grown from GMO seed. Food regulators long ago approved GMOs as safe, and the executives at Friday’s food summit see them as vital for increasing the world’s agricultural productivity.

But consumer mistrust about bioengineering persists, and debate rages over whether food companies should be forced to label products containing GMO ingredients as such.

“If you talk to consumers right now, it’s ‘I want technology in everything but my food,’ ” said Chris Policinski, CEO of Land O’Lakes. “That’s a problem.”

Headlines don’t always reflect the mass audience’s food views. That’s what Buffalo Wild Wings has taken away from its consumer research, said the company’s CEO, Sally Smith. Buffalo Wild Wings is one of the nation’s fastest-growing restaurant chains, doing over $1 billion in annual sales with its wings, beer and sports motif.

“We have a pretty good handle on the broad range of what consumers want,” she said. “What is showing up in the headlines and on the Internet is not necessarily what the American mainstream is buying, can afford to buy or really even cares about.”

Wakefern Reveals $15.7B in Retail Sales

Board elections also held at annual shareholders’ meeting

October 29, 2015, 03:50 pm

At Wakefern Food Corp.'s annual shareholders meeting, the retailer cooperative reported record retail sales of $15.7 billion for the 53-week fiscal year ending Oct. 3, 2015 – a 6.7 percent increase from the prior year – and $12.8 billion in wholesale sales.

During the same period, the company opened five new ShopRite stores and four Price Rite stores. 

"Our customers have different expectations of us today, and we need to meet those expectations," observed Wakefern Chairman and CEO Joseph S. Colalillo. "We are going to deliver that customer experience by uniting around our purpose and bringing our values to life in our stores."

Colalillo also revealed the retirement of two longtime members of Wakefern's board of directors: Steve Ravitz, president of Supermarkets of Cherry Hill, and Kenneth Capano, president and CEO of Five Star Supermarkets. "Both men will remain active in their own companies and with the cooperative," he said, going on to welcome new board members Neil Greenstein, president of Brookdale ShopRite/ShopRite of Newark, and Marshall Klein, VP and COO of Klein's Shoprite of Maryland.

"Our world is rapidly evolving and we are transforming with it," noted CEO Joseph Sheridan, who was re-elected president and CEO during the event. "We're optimizing our brick-and-mortar experience, accelerating our digital platforms and engaging our associates to deliver the ultimate customer experience."

Also at the meeting, shareholders elected the following people to the board: Joseph S. Colalillo as chairman and CEO; Larri Wolfson, Irv Glass and Dominick J. Romano as vice chairmen; Lawrence Inserra Jr. as treasurer; Jeffrey Brown as assistant treasurer; Richard Saker as secretary; and Ned Gladstein and Nico Sumas as assistant secretaries, in addition to Robert Clare, Jordan Coe, Lawrence Collins Sr., Harry Garafalo, Jon Greenfield, Charles Infusino, Vincent Lo Curcio III, Leonard Sitar, Richard Tully and Richard McMenamin.

Keasbey, N.J.-based Wakefern comprises 50 members who individually own and operate more than 260 supermarkets under the ShopRite and The Fresh Grocer banners in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware.

New Program Pairs Operators With Coffee Farms For One-Of-A-Kind Brews
by Devocion
Posted: 2015-10-29 15:34:13 EST

NEW YORK -- Raising the traceability and transparency bars for third wave coffee roasters, Devocion - the Colombian brand that entered the U.S. market in November 2014 with the debut of a roasting facility in Brooklyn, NY - announced today the inauguration of its new Exclusive Farm Program for wholesale clients.  The game-changing initiative affords operators the truly unique opportunity to claim the global exclusive for coffee made from beans grown on a single Colombian farm, one whose beans will not be available to any other end user.  Devocion will act as the facilitator to establish the operator / farmer relationship, drawing from its network of 400 small growers throughout Colombia, and will: process the beans at its Bogota mill; fly them to New York for roasting; package; and ship them to their exclusive designated destination.  And those beans, grown under the purest, most natural conditions to assure their singular high quality, will be roasted within 10 to 30 days after harvesting to assure the unparalleled level of freshness that is the hallmark of Devocion.

At a time when transparency is key, when people want to know the origins of what they consume, according to a recent "What America Eats" Report from Nation's Restaurant News, having an exclusive partnership with a Colombian coffee farm is a valuable distinguishing element for an establishment.   A distinctive feature that can be showcased for public and press alike with captioned pictures of the farm and the people who work it on-site and in social media.  In fact, the farm can provide ongoing social media fodder with updates on growing conditions, harvesting and improvements made possible by the partnership.

As Steven Sutton, founder of Devocion, notes,  "The relationship between the operator and the farmer can be as close as the former would like.  We can facilitate ongoing direct communication between them and make arrangements for an operator or senior management to spend time at 'their' farm to get to know the farmer and his family.  A very special experience that can be shared through various social media platforms."

In its role as facilitator, Sutton says Devocion will also work with operators to co-brand their coffee, with its traceability to the farmer that grew the beans, and package it for retail sale in their stores.  He reiterates, once forged, the operator / farmer relationship can be developed as far as both parties wish to take it.

However the relationship progresses, it will begin with Sutton conducting tastings to determine what flavor characteristics would best define a proprietary coffee for an operator's brand and to ascertain the monthly quantity required, so he can identify the best farm pairing.  Sutton describes the minimum coffee commitment for participation in the program to be somewhat flexible, depending on the size of the farm partner, but that as low as 25 pounds a week is a general benchmark.

In addition to being the only purveyors in the world of coffee from their individual farms, participants in the new program will have the benefit of Devocion's industry leading wholesale client service including:  technical support 24 /7; no charge for labor on machines; monthly equipment cleaning and maintenance; and complimentary professional coffee service and culture courses.

The new Exclusive Farm Program is the second coffee industry precedent-setting initiative Devocion has implemented in the U.S.  The first being its redefinition of "fresh coffee," by tying the word "fresh" to the age of the beans when roasted.  Devocion roasts beans at their most intensely rich flavor profile prime at only 10 to 30 days out-of-their-natural-parchment young, as opposed to the industry norm of four months to a year old.   This new definition of fresh coffee is made possible by Devocion's partnership with FedEx, which flies its beans to New York weekly and translates to Devocion being the source of the freshest coffee brewed in this country.

Foodservice Trends

CHICAGO  -- The U.S. restaurant industry is evolving in profound ways, according to Technomic. The nation's leading food research and consulting firm lays out 10 trends that may prove transformational in 2016, ranging from menu tweaks to technological and social upheavals. Technomic's consultants and experts base their annual predictions on site visits in trendsetting cities plus interviews and surveys of operators and consumers, backed up by qualitative data from Technomic's vast Digital Resource Library and quantitative menu data from its searchableMenuMonitor online database.

1. The Sriracha effect. Having learned that Sriracha sauce can add instant ethnic cachet to something as straightforward as a sandwich, chefs are scouting the world for other assertive flavorings to employ in similar ways. Likely bets: ghost pepper from India; sambal from Southeast Asia; gochujang from Korea; harissa, sumac and dukka from North Africa.  
2. Elevating peasant fare. Meatballs and sausages are proliferating—traditional, ethnic or nouveau, shaped from many types and combinations of meats. Likewise on the rise are multi-ethnic dumplings, from pierogis to bao buns. Even the staff of life gets the royal treatment, from haute toast to signature cheesy bread.
3. Trash to treasure. Rising prices for proteins raise the profiles of under-utilized stewing cuts, organ meats and "trash" species of fish—but the "use it all" mindset has also moved beyond the center of the plate. How about a veggie burger made with carrot pulp from the juicer?
4. Burned. Smoke and fire are showing up everywhere on the menu: in charred or roasted vegetable sides; in desserts with charred fruits or burnt-sugar toppings; in cocktails featuring smoked salt, smoked ice or smoky syrups.
5. Bubbly. Effervescence makes light work of the trendiest beverages: Champagnes and Proseccos, Campari-and-soda aperitifs, adults-only "hard" soft drinks including ginger ales and root beers, fruit-based artisanal sodas, sparkling teas. 
6. Negative on GMOs. Whatever the science says, many consumers have made up their minds: no genetic tinkering with their food. Some diners will gravitate to restaurants touting GMO-free fare; others will demand GMO labeling on menus. That's a big issue for the supply chain, since many crops (such as soy fed to livestock) have been modified to boost productivity.
7. Modernizing the supply chain. Climate destabilization, mutating pathogens and rising transportation costs, among other challenges, will lead to increasingly frequent stresses on the food supply chain, such as 2015's Florida orange freeze or avian flu-related egg shortage. Consumer demand for "fresh" and "local" fare also challenges a distribution system based on consolidation, centralization, large drop sizes and long shelf life.
8. Fast food refresh. Consumers gravitate to "better" fast food, transforming and diversifying the industry. "QSR plus" concepts with fresher menus and spanking-bright units exploit a price niche between fast food and fast casual (think Culver's or Chick-fil-A). "Build your own" formats are springing up in more menu categories. Many quick-service eateries are adding amenities like alcohol. Others are giving up on upscaling and returning to their roots, serving simple, traditional menus at low prices.
9. Year of the worker. In today's tighter labor market, mandates to boost minimum wages will reverberate up and down the workforce, with experienced staffers demanding proportional raises and skilled workers (already in short supply) even harder to hire. That's tough news for operators trying to hold down menu prices. Front-of-house technology and back-of-house automation will help restaurants do more with fewer or lower-level workers, and companies will devote more resources to training and retention.
10. The delivery revolution. Proliferating order-and-pay apps and third-party online ordering and delivery services make "dining in" easier than ever and, in some cases, "dining out" a thing of the past. Transformational companies like Uber and Amazon are muscling into the market. App-only services like Munchery deliver food from commissaries, bypassing the brick-and-mortar restaurant altogether.  

Starbucks is feeling the pain from employee tuition, wage hikes

• by 
 
• Phil Wahba

 

• @philwahba

 OCTOBER 29, 2015, 7:18 PM EDT

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The coffee giant is spending tens of millions more on employees and tech.

Better customer service and reduced turnover comes at a cost.

Starbucks  SBUX -4.11%  reported another set of stellar quarterly results, but its stock got slammed when it forecast a profit for the current quarter that missed Wall Street’s expectations because of rising employee costs and higher mobile tech investments.

The world’s largest coffee-shop operator reported global sales at cafes open at least 13 months rose 8% in the quarter ended Sept. 27, the 23rd straight quarter of 5%-plus growth. Starbucks’ amazing run, which has sent shares up more than 50% this year, has been helped by CEO Howard Schultz’s investments in the retailer’s tech to speed up service.

Starbucks has also been spending more on employees, which the company calls “partners,” providing college-tuition help and a raise, something Schultz said is lowering employee turnover, which in turn helps with customer service.

“We are seeing improvements in partner attrition, a direct result of our partner investments at a time when the industry overall is actually moving in the opposite direction,” Schultz told Wall Street analysts. “Our comp (comparable sales) results are strongest where we are having the greatest success in reducing turnover.”

The coffee giant rolled out mobile ordering in the U.S. last month and recently launched it in Canada, something aimed at improving a problem that has dogged it for some time: long lines in its stores..

Starbucks will increase spending on employees and tech by between $100 million and $125 million in the current fiscal year that just got underway. That compares to $145 million in fiscal 2015.

PANERA CEO: Robots will replace our labor 'like the sun comes up in the morning'

• Bob Bryan
 
•  

• 6h

Wikimedia Commons

Whether in "The Terminator" or "The Matrix," the idea of a robot revolution has established a place in the cultural lexicon for decades.

According to Ron Shaich, founder and CEO of Panera Bread, a tech revolution is coming, and it will be bad news for many workers.

"Labor is going to go down," Shaich said Wednesday in aquarterly earnings call. "And as digital utilization goes up — like the sun comes up in the morning — it is going to continue to go up. Digital utilization. You are seeing it happen in Panera today.

"As it happens, it's going to benefit larger organizations like Panera, who already have the technology in place."

Shaich's company, Panera Bread, is in the middle of the rollout for Panera 2.0, which includes installing touch-screen ordering stations for customers at tables and the to-go line.

While rising labor costs were not the explicit impetus for the change, Shaich recognizes it is a side benefit and "one of the reasons" for the rollout.

"When we think about 2.0 — we think about digital utilization," Shaich said according to a transcript of the call. "We did our digital capabilities to give a better guest experience. It was never about labor."

According to Panera's earnings release, costs associated with labor accounted for just over $190 million in the third quarter, or 32.6% of store-related expenses. This is up from just over $170 million, 0r 31.2% of expenses, in the third quarter of 2014.

Stephen Lovekin/Getty ImagesPanera Bread founder and CEO Ron Shaich.

The way Shaich sees it, labor is a commodity. And as commodity prices increase, businesses have to look to alternatives.

"All of us in the industry essentially view this as inflationary, just like if there was a broad-based increase in any commodity," he said. "And labor is a commodity in that sense. It's going to affect all of us, and we are all going to have to take price. That's the reality of it, and I think it's going to affect us all."

Panera's story isn't unique — companies such as McDonald's and the Cheesecake Factory have previously raised wages and described this sort of pressure. Macro-level data such as the time it takes to fill a job and job openings also point to rising wage pressure.

Nor is the company's response unique. McDonald's has installed similar ordering stations in some of its restaurants, and even Best Buy has begun to install robot helpers to make shopping quicker.

In fact, some economists predict that half of all jobs now done by humans will be done by robots in the next 10 years.

So according to Shaich, the tech revolution is coming, at the very least to restaurant workers.