As a percentage of the overall grocery retail market, Amazon’s $420m in Q2 grocery sales in the US is pretty small fry. But its 50% year-on-year growth is making the whole industry pay attention, says e-commerce data firm One Click Retail.
In an about-face, Blue Apron’s stock is surging on the strength of positive investor ratings published earlier this week, but the meal kit company’s initial rocky start in public trading still could have a negative long-term impact on competitors’ ability...
“Lidl will be a very real threat for small scale grocers that lack differentiation or operational efficiencies," predict analysts at Bernstein. However, its success in the US “is by no means a foregone conclusion,” they caution.
Is Lidl’s ‘Preferred Selection’ private label “confusingly similar” to Kroger’s ‘Private Selection’? Or is Kroger’s recent trademark infringement lawsuit against Lidl merely an opportunistic bid to derail a rival’s US market entry?
For many Americans grilling is more than a means to put dinner on the table – it is a way to celebrate special occasions and everyday joys with friends, family and neighbors – creating an extended marketing opportunity for brands and retailers alike,...
Using a novel nutrition rating system, such as Guiding Stars, could give retailers and food service chains a competitive edge by creating the perception they offer more of the healthy, fresh foods that today’s consumers increasingly want, new research...
There’s a very likely chance that Amazon will come to dominate the meal kit category, according to market research analyst Howard Waxman at Packaged Facts.
Leading trade groups for the retailer and food service industries are suing New York City to stop inspectors from holding their members responsible for posting calorie counts for prepared “restaurant-type food” ahead of a similar federal rule that has...
As consumers continue to seek new flavors and experiences, Coca-Cola is exploring the booming US meal kit market in a new partnership with Chef’d that offers co-branded meal kits with complementary Coca-Cola brands.
Amazon's increased penetration into the grocery sphere will mean computer wizards, molecular biologists and sustainability experts will be developing ultra-intelligent grocerants of the future, predicts 'supermarket guru' Phil Lempert.
The thought of fermenting coffee beans by feeding them to small cat-like civits or large elephants only to collect them again at the other end of the digestive process sounded unappetizing and cruel to Edgar Salgado – even if it produces a less bitter...
The Amazon/Whole Foods deal has “absolutely rattled food retailing and CPG markets in a way I have never seen in my life,” says the founder of organic meal-kit company Green Chef, who says he has been approached by multiple ‘strategic’ suitors as the...
LIFEWTR on track to generate $200m in retail sales on annualized basis
As the lines between channels continue to blur and sales increasingly shift to untracked channels, CPG companies will have to think about growth opportunities in a more holistic manner, the CEO of PepsiCo told analysts and investors this week.
A comparison between Lidl stores in Europe and the first wave of US stores suggests the retailer is moving “away from the hard discount model as we know it in Europe,” according to an analysis by Bernstein.
Adding the massive Chicagoland to its service area, Meijer and Shipt’s grocery delivery partnership now spans all of Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, and Wisconsin.
Amazon.com offers startups a way to test their products' proof of concept and gain an early, loyal following before approaching large physical retailers. But the website also leaves brands vulnerable to public consumer reviews and can be difficult...
The center of the store may be where growth of online sales and orders thrive, but consumers are getting more comfortable clicking away to buy products from other aisles to. According to 1010DATA, online ice cream orders have grown threefold since 2014...
Consumer demand for products that are authentic and ethnic is not only prompting brand manufacturers to innovate it is also raising the competitive bar at retailers, according to industry experts.
Food price inflation has colored the behavior of shoppers in Canada, with soaring vegetable prices early in 2016 prompting many Canadians to become more conscious about food prices in general, according to food price experts from Dalhousie University.
Part delivery service, part online storefront, by working exclusively with independent retailers, Mercato founder Bobby Brannigan is confident he has carved out a space where his company can thrive in a post Amazon-Whole Foods-acquisition world.
Certifying a product as approved by the popular Whole30 diet is a “pretty intensive” process, according to the diet’s co-creator, but for the few and proud that make the cut, the licensing deal can provide exposure to a fiercely loyal consumer base, boost...
While barely a week goes by without the launch of a new meal kit company, there is room in the market for “many multi-billion dollar players,” provided they carve out a distinct niche, insists the founder of Gobble, which focuses on pre-prepped meals...
Aside from giving Amazon a network of bricks & mortar stores from which to expand Amazon Fresh and other services, acquiring Whole Foods gives the ecommerce giant access to the 365 private label brand, which could become a “focal point of its online...
Amazon’s purchase of Whole Foods Market for $13.7bn will enhance the beverage shopping experience, which depends on a multichannel approach to succeed, according to Charlie Cain executive partner of Building Oz in Seattle.
What foods and beverages do Millennials like to buy online? Why do shoppers buy locally-grown foods, and why don’t more consumers scan QR codes? Here are 10 things that caught our eye in the 2017 US Grocery Shopper Trends report from the Food Marketing...
While TABS Analytics founder Dr Kurt Jetta argues that Amazon is effectively ‘raising the white flag’ when it comes to food e-commerce by coughing up $13.7bn to buy a bricks & mortar retailer (Whole Foods), most analysts are predicting that over the...
Speakers include Chobani, PeaPod, Sir Kensington's, Geltor, Miyoko's Kitchen, Terra's Kitchen, Sun Basket, VMG
With more Americans only starting to think about what to have for dinner a few hours – or even minutes – before they plan to eat, but at the same time becoming more demanding and health conscious, retailers and manufacturers are under pressure to offer...
As Lidl prepares to open its first US stores this week, German rival ALDI has unveiled a $3.4bn plan to expand its US store base to 2,500 by 2022, on top of a $1.6bn store remodeling plan unveiled in February to revamp 1,300 stores by 2020.
‘Amazon Choice is becoming increasingly important as we transition to this world of voice’
It’s well known that the brands that are growing the most rapidly on Amazon are not necessarily growing the most rapidly in grocery stores, so what are the most successful CPG players on Amazon doing differently?
More retailers are adapting new technology to keep them at the forefront—what does this mean to manufacturers? At Sweets and Snacks Expo 2017, we met with several exhibiting tech companies to chat about how their products can disrupt the landscape of...
A “powerful and emotional brand connection,” “constant product innovation,” “attractive unit economics,” a “hard-to-replicate value chain,” and “proprietary technology and data,” help Blue Apron stand out in the burgeoning meal kit market, says the company....
Thanks to its unique partnership model, wider selection, and no subscription fees, customer acquisition costs at meal-delivery firm Chef’d are significantly lower than rivals,’ claims founder and CEO Kyle Ransford, who says Chef’d has been “first order...
Associated Wholesale Grocers (AWG) has joined a growing number of high-profile names – from Ahold and Whole Foods to Target – that have signed up with online platform RangeMe to help streamline the product and supplier discovery process.
The first Lidl US stores will open on June 15 in the Carolinas and Virginia, the company announced at an exclusive press event in Manhattan on Tuesday.
Meal-kit delivery services account for less than 1% of US food and beverage retail sales, and most are likely to remain stubbornly in the red in the short term. That said, they are already having a “compelling” impact on consumer behavior, and “will play...
Retailer Kroger is testing coolers in the baby aisle in 10 stores around Dallas and Houston, responding to demand from Millennial parents for fresh baby food.
The private equity arm of global CPG giant Unilever, called Unilever Ventures, led the $9.2m Series C-2 funding of organic meal kit company Sun Basket.
Sales of food and beverage online may be lagging significantly behind those of other consumer packaged goods, but analysts expect them to pick up exponentially in the coming years – meaning now is the time for brands and manufacturers to develop a game...
All eyes have been on Whole Foods since activist investors demanded radical action to address its recent “chronic underperformance." But is Albertsons – rumored to be courting the Austin-based retailer – the right suitor?
As a percentage of the overall grocery retail market, Amazon’s $350m in Q1 grocery sales (annualized – that’s $1.4bn) is pretty small fry. But its mouthwatering 30% year-on year-growth suggests that CPG manufacturers that don’t have a clear strategy for...
It was a record-breaking year for in-store convenience store sales, which hit $233bn in calendar year 2016, data from the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) 2016 indicated. Among the top performers were non-alcoholic beverages and sweet...
Activist investors led by Jana Partners have acquired 8.3% of Whole Foods’ stock according to an SEC filing, which says Whole Foods must take radical action to address its recent “chronic underperformance."
What keeps US food & beverage retailers awake at night? Amazon? Deflation? Competition from new channels? The prospect of a border adjustment tax? We quizzed retail experts to get their take on the biggest challenges facing grocers today.
Not many US grocery stores stock mangosteens or passion fruit, but Baldor Specialty Foods, a produce wholesaler deeply rooted in New York City’s culinary scene, is catering to the increasingly curious consumer and home cook by making these uncommon ingredients...
Private label sales now account for more than one in every ten dollars spent at Sprouts stores, said the Phoenix-based retailer, which posted a 0.7% rise in same store sales in the latest quarter while rival Whole Foods Market has continued to see its...
As natural and organic goes mainstream, Whole Foods’ differentiator is, well, not that different from the rest of the market anymore, says one retail analyst.
When nutpods burst onto the scene in 2015 with its almond and coconut non-dairy creamers, it pretty much had the market to itself. Within months, however, a phalanx of better-known - and better-funded - competitors, had muscled into its territory. But...
The consumer packaged goods sector may lag behind other industries in terms of e-commerce, but IRI’s experts and analysts say shopping online is increasingly becoming the new norm, even for groceries.
What keeps food & beverage industry CEOs awake at night? Declining returns on promotional spending? Lackluster topline growth? An uninspiring innovation pipeline? Anxiety about how to tap into the e-commerce revolution?
