Category: E-Commerce & Online Grocery

Dive Brief:

• Food waste technology company Flashfood announced Tuesday the hiring of Chris Taylor as chief financial officer.
• Taylor’s main goal is to bring financial maturity to the company using his decade’s worth of experience assisting food and e-commerce companies with their financials, according to the announcement. 
• Taylor’s onboarding marks the completion of the company’s “leadership team refresh,” according to Flashfood CEO Nicholas Bertram, who stepped into the top role in January.

Dive Insight:

Taylor is the latest in a string of executive changes for Flashfood as well as a “strategic hire for the company’s next phase of growth,” the press release noted. 

Prior to joining Flashfood, Taylor was vice president of finance and operations for ShopThing, an online marketplace that specializes in luxury goods, according to the announcement. His career also includes serving as head of operations for GoBolt, a technology-driven warehousing, fulfillment and last-mile delivery provider; leading logistics for meal kit company GoodFood; and working on the pre-launch team at Aryeh Capital Management, a global credit and equity hedge fund. 

“He’s the right hire for us, bringing a unique mix of deep financial experience and leadership in food operations and technology. Most importantly, he has already led companies in the growth stage Flashfood is now entering,” Bertram said in a statement. 

Flashfood has undergone significant changes since the start of 2024. Along with naming Bertram, former president of The Giant Company, as CEO, the company also announced two c-suite executive promotions: Jordan Schenck as its first chief customer officer and Josh Domingues, Flashfood’s founder and former CEO, as executive chairman. 

In July, the company launched Flashfood for Independents, which offers smaller retailers customizable features that enable them to integrate Flashfood’s network. 

Flashfood currently partners with more than 2,000 stores across 20 store banners, including SpartanNash, Save Mart and Meijer.

Dive Brief:

Dive Insight:

While California’s decade-old law banning plastic bags from grocery stores created an exception for thicker bags designed to be used multiple times, research shows that shoppers wind up throwing away those bags instead of repurposing or recycling them, according to a press release from state Sen. Catherine Blakespear, who championed the new measure.

The result has been that California has produced more plastic waste since the original plastic bag ban took effect than it did previously, Blakespear said during an Aug. 27 press conference.

Blakespear added that she hopes legislators will expand their efforts to reduce plastic use in the future and sees the grocery industry as a key way to gain momentum for her efforts.

“I am hopeful that we will take this to the next level and the next level as years go on,” said Blakespear, who worked with California Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan to win approval for the legislation. “So starting with grocery stores, but then moving on so that we actually are systematically eliminating a lot of the plastic pollution that comes from plastic bags.”

Under the ban, grocers in California would only be allowed to offer recycled paper bags to shoppers at the point of sale, but customers would retain the option to bring their own bags for their purchases. The ban specifies that, starting Jan. 1, 2028, paper bags must be made from at least 50% postconsumer recycled materials to be considered recycled, with no exceptions.

Under an exception specified in the ban, grocers would still be able to provide carryout bags for shoppers to protect items from damage or contamination or for unwrapped foods before they reach the checkout counter.

Both houses of the California legislature passed identical versions of the bill by large margins last week. The state Senate approved the bill by a 31-8 margin, while the Assembly approved it by a vote of 56-7.

The California Grocers Association endorsed the drive by Blakespear and Bauer-Kahan to win approval for the ban.

“Consumers are calling for sustainable practices from California businesses, but still value a convenient shopping experience. This bill bridges the two to meet consumers where they are while demonstrating care for the environments in which our stores reside,” CGA President and CEO Ron Fong said in a February statement.

More than 200 other groups, including Californians Against Waste, the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the Surfrider Foundation, also supported the legislation, according to the press release from Blakespear’s office.

Public scrutiny of Kroger’s effort to merge with Albertsons has centered on how the proposed deal could impact issues like food prices and community access to supermarkets, but the Federal Trade Commission has for months made the case that the transaction is unacceptable because it would give the companies undue power over grocery workers.

So it’s perhaps no coincidence that the FTC announced on Wednesday — just two days after the start of its high-profile court battle to stop the merger — that it has partnered with three other federal agencies to step up antitrust review of the interplay between mergers and labor markets.

The pact between the FTC, the Justice Department’s antitrust division, the Department of Labor and the National Labor Relations Board lays out how the agencies will share resources to strengthen their efforts to protect workers. The announcement about the intragovernmental arrangement doesn’t mention the Kroger-Albertsons deal, but it’s hard not to connect them.

Kroger has also drawn attention to the welfare of grocery workers as it seeks to dislodge the FTC’s bid to torpedo its deal to combine with Albertsons, but takes the position that the merger would be good for its workers because it would lead to higher wages and better benefits. 

In a statement provided to the media hours after the court fight got underway on Monday, Kroger sought to position itself as a defender not only of unionized workers but also of people who work for companies whose workforces do not have representation. “If the merger is blocked, the non-union retailers like Walmart and Amazon will become even more powerful and unaccountable,” Kroger declared.

Would allowing Kroger and Albertsons to merge make them too strong — or enable them to serve as a much-needed check on the competition? That’s a question that could help decide the fate of the supermarket mega-merger. And it’s one that only the judge will be able to answer.

In case you missed it

Instacart links with Pfizer ahead of cold season

Instacart announced Tuesday the launch of PfizerForAll, a digital platform through which consumers can order diagnostic tests such as COVID-19 and flu tests from the pharmaceutical company and have them delivered in as fast as an hour.

Stop & Shop shutters first Massachusetts store as part of chainwide closures

The Ahold Delhaize-owned banner closed its store at 165 Needham St. in Newton, Massachusetts, on Thursday, Boston 25 News reported. The store marks the first of eight in the state to shutter as the chain looks to shutter 32 stores by Nov. 2, the news outlet reported.

Stop & Shop announced in July its plans to close stores across the Northeast, including two in Rhode Island, five in Connecticut, seven in New York and 10 in New Jersey, amounting to 8% of its total store count.

Meijer opens pharmacy inside a hospital

Meijer announced this week it now has its second pharmacy inside a hospital operated by non-profit health system Corewell Health. The retailer opened a 3,100-square-foot pharmacy inside Blodgett Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

The Meijer-owned-and-operated pharmacy includes over-the-counter products often requested by hospital staff, patients and their families, as well as services such as immunizations, specialty pharmacy services and prescriptions tailored to patients’ needs. 

The retailer opened its first Corewell pharmacy in 2015 inside Butterworth Hospital, which is also in Grand Rapids.

Number of the week: 28

That is the number of Fred Meyer stores impacted by an ongoing strike. The strike, authorized by the grocer’s unionized workers over unfair labor practice allegations, began Wednesday morning and could last through Labor Day weekend.

What’s ahead

Dollar Tree earnings

The discount retailer plans to share its second-quarter earrings and host an investor call on Wednesday morning. 

Latest jobs report

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is set to release its latest employment report next Friday, giving insight into the grocery industry workforce during August.

Impulse find

Orange lobster pardoned for Labor Day

An “extremely rare” orange lobster was spared a deadly fate at a Long Island, New York, Stop & Shop store when Humane Long Island returned it to the ocean earlier this week, according to local magazine Dan’s Papers. According to HumaneLI, lobsters only have a 1-in-30 million chance of being orange, Dan’s Papers reported. 

The lobster — affectionately (and appropriately) named Clementine — was discovered in a shipment of regular brown lobsters just before the Fourth of July, according to the local news outlet. The Stop & Shop store it was sent to attempted to give Clementine to a local aquarium, but it declined to take the lobster. 

HumaneLI, after working to re-acclimate Clementine to cold saltwater, released her into the Long Island Sound and made sure “she was swimming, she was foraging — all sorts of lobster behavior,” John Di Leonardo, HumanLI director, told the paper.

Dive Brief:

• Consumer concern about food affordability over the past year has declined, and the majority of shoppers continue to feel they have “more or less control” over their grocery finances, according to FMI — The Food Industry Association’s latest U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends 2024 report. 
• However, worries about rising food prices remain persistent, with more than two-thirds of surveyed consumers stating they are “very or extremely concerned” with retail food inflation. 
• Despite food prices remaining a top concern, consumers aren’t blaming their grocers but rather government policies, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or manufacturers, Steve Markenson, FMI’s vice president of research and insights, said during a media briefing.

Dive Insight:

Shoppers’ perception of inflation has shifted throughout 2024. In response, grocers continue to employ value-focused strategies to win over their customers — and the strategy is paying off.

More than 40% of surveyed shoppers stated their “primary food store” is on their side as an entity supporting their financial health, while 30% said the same for “food stores in general,” FMI found. Only 17% said the same for manufacturers and food processors, with 31% feeling they are “working against me.”

“Sticker prices aren’t going down, but food is becoming relatively cheaper, or cheaper in real terms,” Dr. Ricky Volpe, an expert in agricultural and resource economics, said during the media briefing. 

Volpe added that despite challenges such as the pandemic and related supply chain complications, grocery baskets in the U.S. remain cheaper in “real terms” today than one or two generations ago. 

However, more than half of the 75% of surveyed shoppers who said their household income has increased over the past two years claim that it hasn’t grown enough to keep up with rising food prices, per the report.

More than 90% of shoppers surveyed reported having made at least one change in their grocery shopping habits to combat rising food prices, with the most common tactics including looking for more deals and purchasing store brands, according to the report. Markenson noted that the push for private labels remains especially prominent.  

FMI’s latest shopper behavior report uses data gathered from 1,576 grocery shoppers between July 26 to Aug. 2, 2024.

Dive Brief:

• Schnuck Markets announced Tuesday it has named Kim Gray, a former Ahold Delhaize executive, as its new chief merchant.
• Gray succeeds Ryan Cuba, who is becoming the supermarket chain’s first-ever chief growth officer.
• Both Gray and Cuba begin their new roles on Sept. 2 and will be members of the team of executives who lead the overall direction and execution of the company.

Dive Insight:

Gray brings more than 20 years of merchandising and leadership experience across fresh, center store and e-commerce category management to her new role at Schnucks. 

Gray held senior merchandising roles at Ahold Delhaize USA, Hannaford Supermarkets and Food Lion, including as vice president of center store, merchandising and pricing for Hannaford and vice president of omni channel development for Ahold Delhaize USA, according to her LinkedIn profile. 

At Schnucks, Gray will lead merchandising strategy, category management, procurement, assortment, pricing, promotions and supplier diversity.

“[Gray] steps into this role ready to lead thanks to her depth of category management leadership in Fresh and Center Store, her experience in E-Commerce and her keen eye for merchandising,” Ted Schnuck, Schnucks’ executive vice president of supermarkets, said in a statement. 

Cuba will become the grocer’s first-ever chief growth officer after 19 years with the Midwestern chain. In the new role, Cuba will oversee the teams responsible for strategic planning, acquisitions, business development, real estate, store design, construction and maintenance. 

Cuba has served as chief merchant of Schnucks since mid-2020 and previously held other leadership roles at the company, including chief business development and transformation officer, chief store merchant and vice president of store operations, according to his LinkedIn profile. 

Cuba oversaw the sale of Schnucks’ pharmacy business to CVS and the integration of 19 Shop ‘n Save stores, David Bell, Schnucks’ executive vice president – chief financial and administrative officer, said in a statement.

“With his cross-functional retail experience and understanding of our business from Merchandising to Store Operations, Ryan [Cuba] is the ideal leader to step into this role as we position Schnucks for growth,” Bell said.

Schnucks runs more than 100 stores in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin

Dive Brief:

• Workers at a Kroger automated warehouse outside Atlanta have voted to join the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the labor organization announced Saturday.
• Ninety-six percent of the drivers who participated in the vote chose to join Teamsters Local 528. 
• The workers at the Georgia facility are set to become the grocer’s second fulfillment center employees to unionize with the labor organization.

Dive Insight:

The workers at the Georgia facility are seeking better wages, guaranteed retirement benefits and “secure a strong voice on the job,” the union said.

The Teamsters said they plan to help the drivers secure a “strong” contract. The facility has a unit of 30 drivers.

A Kroger spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment about the workers’ decision to unionize.

The e-commerce facility located in Forest Park, Georgia, opened in February 2022 to provide grocery delivery service in the greater Atlanta area. The facility connects with two “spoke” sites in Birmingham, Alabama, and Nashville and is part of the network of e-commerce warehouses Kroger has developed with Ocado.

In May, drivers at a Kroger automated warehouse near Detroit voted to join the Teamsters, becoming the first of the grocer’s facilities to do so. 

The Teamsters, which represents about 22,000 employees at stores, distribution centers and manufacturing plants operated by the grocery giants, said last summer it decided to oppose the proposed merger between Kroger and Albertsons after discussions with the companies “to protect the most basic interests” of workers.

Last December, the Teamsters urged the Federal Trade Commission to reject the grocers’ plan to divest hundreds of stores and other assets to C&S Wholesale Grocers in a bid to assuage antitrust concerns.

Walmart has actually long grown a picture as a reputable resource of low-cost grocery stores, yet the retail titan’s most up-to-date relocate to expand on client commitment is actually focused around a definitely various technique individuals fulfill their food cravings: convenience food.

The firm’s tie-up with Burger King, introduced Thursday, urges consumers registered in its own Walmart+ subscription plan to fill on Whoppers and also french fries– hardly the kind of nutrition that creates a well-balanced partnership in between nourishment and also wellness. Walmart mentions, nonetheless, that relating to the convenience food link just shows its own objective of giving consumers along with “obvious worth and also advantage.”

Yet while Walmart’s selection to incorporate discount rates on Whoppers to its own growing list of Walmart+ perks may be great company, it is actually an interested selection for the country’s most extensive grocery store vendor. Walmart has actually been actually improving its own importance on private label food staples and also concentrating on produce and other fresh foods as it rejuvenates its own supercenters, and also grocery store purchases are actually participating in a crucial job in driving the retailer’s results. Furthermore, Walmart’s strong setting in the grocery store field is actually one cause Kroger wishes to merge with Albertsons.

Walmart placements on its own as a crucial resource of the products individuals require very most– coming from grocery stores and also garments to drug and also essential monetary solutions. Yet as its own treaty along with Hamburger Master emphasizes, the firm’s principal explanation for existing is actually to generate cash.

In the event you skipped it

Walmart’s brand-new alcoholic beverage robot

A ghost kitchen area inside a Rockford, Illinois, Walmart retail store is actually currently home to a humanoid drink robot, depending on to a Tuesday statement.

Equipped along with AI-technology, the robotic started operating at the Walmart-located One Kitchen Space on Aug. 16, providing several coffee and also boba alcoholic beverages to consumers. ADAM is actually counted on to provide in between one hundred and also 200 mugs of coffee and also herbal tea every day.

Created through Richtech Robotics and also referred to as ADAM, the robot drink body is actually slated to turn out throughout 240 One Home kitchen sites in the united state

Grocers operate to shut out reimbursement in Oregon

Measure 118, or even the Oregon Reimbursement, possesses storekeepers tense– therefore tense that several establishments are actually paying thousands to prevent it from passing. Actually, filings along with the Oregon assistant of condition recently show Kroger, Albertsons-Safeway and also Costco have actually composed $500,000 examinations to the Grocery store Retail Special-interest Group, which is actually aiding to finance a project resisting the procedure, Willamette Full week stated.

The Oregon reimbursement would certainly enforce a 3% total invoices income tax on any sort of enterprise along with Oregon purchases of greater than $25 thousand a year, depending on to the regional headlines electrical outlet. Advocates predict that the taxwould create sufficient amount of money to provide each Oregonian $1,600 a year.

Titan Food items or even TSA safety?

Some Washington, D.C., Titan Food items sites are actually implementing new measures to combat shrink and theft, depending on to regional television terminal WUSA9.

The improved plan, which changes guidelines the grocery store establishment executed 3 months back, makes it possible for consumers to introduce bags assessing 14″ x 14″ x 6″, which were actually earlier disallowed. Nevertheless, consumers should currently grant having their bags labelled when they go into and also checked upon entry and also departure, the headlines electrical outlet stated. Furthermore, since Thursday, particular sites will certainly no more permit people under 18 to go into after 6 p.m. without a grown-up.

Variety of the full week: $7.9 billion

That’s the amount of e-grocery sales totaled in July, up greater than 9% compared to July 2023, depending on records launched through Block Complies with Click On and also Mercatus. Pick up represented approximately 42% of those purchases final month, while shipping declared a reveal of simply over 40% and also ship-to-home captured 19%.

What is actually ahead

Dollar General states earnings

The discounter has actually arranged its own second-quarter profits ask for following Thursday early morning.

Kroger, Albertsons and also the Federal Business Percentage take on in court

A Monday hearing in the united state Area Judge for the Area of Oregon in Pdx will kick off the courtl battle in between both grocery store titans looking for to combine and also the government firm.

In February, the FTC filed a federal lawsuit looking for to shut out the suggested package. 9 attorney generals of the United States– working with Arizona, The golden state, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Wyoming and also Washington, D.C. — signed up with the FTC in submitting the grievance.

Instinct find

2000s fond memories comes to be a food set

Any very early 2000s little one may still perform Hefty Zoo Pals’ jingle, given that “Zoo Pals produce consuming enjoyable!”

Now, the famous 2000s dinnertime staple is actually providing a limited-edition meal kits giveaway to create supper a lot more enjoyable for the future generation. The food set features the fashionable animal-face platters you recognize and also enjoy coming from your youth in addition to top quality mugs, club sandwich cutter machines and also rollercoasters, depending on to journalism launch.

Customers may go online to apply for an odds to succeed the Zoo Pals food set. The deal finishes Aug. 28.

Dive Quick:

• The National Grocers Organization as well as United Natural Foods, Inc. possess released a guide on the Fda’s brand-new traceability needs, NGA introduced Wednesday.
• The FDA’s “Criteria for Added Traceability Records for sure Foods” policy entered result on Jan. twenty, 2023, along with a compliance date of Jan. 20, 2026.
• ” The brand-new traceability policy is just one of the largest modifications in food items security observance our participants have actually found in over a many years,” NGA Head Of State as well as chief executive officer Greg Ferrara claimed in a claim.

Plunge Knowledge:

On Jan. twenty, 2026, the FDA’s policy will definitely need all providers that store, stuff, disperse or even offer food items to always keep comprehensive documents for a particular checklist of meals and after that have the ability to offer these documents within 24 hr to the FDA or even local area food items security authorizations upon demand, depending on to the NGA’s statement.

” We understand just how crucial it is actually for sector participants to become capable to comprehend as well as quickly get through any type of brand-new policy, as well as this resource is going to be actually a helpful information as our team remain to companion, look into, as well as examine practical, lasting options,” UNFI Main Corporate Events Policeman Matt Echols claimed in a claim.

The business affiliation connected along with the grocery store supplier as well as dealer to establish the “easy-to-follow information” to assist individual storekeepers as well as representatives along with observance, the NGA claimed. The detailed resource features rundowns, representations, desks as well as pictures describing the FDA’s 600-page policy.

The information is actually cost-free for NGA participants as well as readily available to non-members for approximately $900.

Along along with the resource, NGA additionally released an on the web Traceability Facility for its own participants to accessibility design templates, references as well as a simulated traceability activity workout.

In overdue 2022, NGA teamed up with ReposiTrak to momentarily forgo the $2,000 create expense for accessibility to ReposiTrak Traceability System, which makes it possible for providers, dealers as well as stores to discuss traceability records.

T&T Supermarket, a Canadian chain selling Asian groceries, announced Thursday plans to open its first store in the San Francisco Bay Area, marking its third planned store in the U.S.

Located at the Westgate Center in San Jose, the 55,000-square-foot store will occupy a former Walmart location. T&T expects to open the store, which will create about 200 jobs, in fall 2025.

The new location will feature a barbecue counter, noodle station, dim sum and street food section along with a hot food bar and a made-to-order Chinese crepe station. The location will also have an in-store bakery with mochi puffs, egg tarts, Hong Kong-style pastries and customized cakes. 

“We aim to create a destination,” said CEO Tina Lee. “It’s a place for discovery, innovation, and bringing people together through food. We want to evolve our grocery store beyond the functional – we want to be the place where people want to go, not just need to go.”

T&T is gearing up to make its U.S. debut with a store in the Seattle suburb of Bellevue, Washington. That store was slated to debut this summer, but in July the company said the opening is delayed because an electrical panel is on backorder.

In June, T&T announced plans to open a second Washington location with a store just north of Seattle, in Lynnwood. 

T&T has more than 30 stores across Canada offering a selection of Asian products, fresh produce, full-service meat counters, live seafood tanks and in-store prepared foods programs.

Dive Brief:

• Replenium, an e-commerce company that offers auto-replenishment technology to retailers, filed a lawsuit Monday in federal court against Albertsons, alleging the grocer misappropriated trade secrets and breached the companies’ contract.
• The software company claims the grocer used its partnership with Replenium to build its own system to replace Replenium’s.
• “Albertsons’ calculated maneuver cost Replenium millions of dollars in contract revenue and tens of millions of dollars in development of the platform and inflicted a substantial loss to Replenium’s investors,” Replenium said in the suit.

Dive Insight:

Albertsons partnered with Replenium in October 2020 to launch the Replenium Platform, agreeing to pay the company service fees based upon the net revenue generated through the replenishment orders placed by the grocer’s customers, according to the complaint. 

At the end of 2021, Albertsons unveiled “Schedule & Save,” an online auto-replenishment offering for loyalty program members that it developed in partnership with Replenium, noting the tool was available to select Safeway customers in northern California. Albertsons said in the announcement that it planned to roll out the tool nationwide in 2022 as well as add a new feature to allow people to continuously add items for automatic replenishment. 

Replemnium says that Albertsons delayed — yet continued to promise — the nationwide rollout as it kept asking the software company to share trade secrets and confidential information.

“As an added inducement, [Albertsons Senior Vice President of Digital Shopping Experiences Jill] Pavlovich specifically pointed Replenium to Albertsons’ recently announced planned merger with Kroger, stating that Replenium stood to generate fees beyond Albertsons’ replenishment volume because” of the merger, according to the complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. 

In October 2023, Albertsons abruptly ended the contract with Replenium, citing the proposed Kroger merger as one of the reasons, and then quickly launched its own, “nearly identical” full-basket auto-replenishment solution, according to court documents. 

“Unbeknownst to Replenium, during Replenium’s three years of confidential information sharing, Albertsons was misappropriating Replenium’s trade secret and confidential information by building its own competing, full grocery basket auto-replenishment solution to replace the Replenium Platform,” the complaint says. 

Albertsons declined to comment.

Tom Furphy, a former Amazon Fresh and Wegmans executive, founded Replenium in 2015. 

Replenium is seeking a jury trial and wants Albertsons to pay it an unspecified monetary amount.