Molecular gastronomy pushes the boundaries of techniques and challenges basic ideas of food that we take for granted, but we are also seeing a return to traditional methods from homemade pasta to home cured meats. The Oldways Preservation Trust is passionate about preserving food’s past in the face of advancement. It grew out of a concern over the diminishing health of our population and a belief that it was related to the growing chasm between our modern food supply and its heritage, which was slipping away.

Return of the Artisan—It used to be you could spot an authentic Italian restaurant if they made their own pasta. Now, pizzerias are making their own mozzarella in-house, and chefs are curing their own meats. Big brands are already trying to tap into this trend with the Dominos line of Artisan Pizzas and Tostitos Artisan Recipe chips. The higher prices of artisan products have stalled growth in recent years, but gourmet specialty foods continue to gain popularity. We should all be careful of consumer fatigue with the word and skepticism as it proliferates across product line extensions of big brands. However, I don’t see any slowdown of an increasingly educated populace about the food they eat and where it comes from. Technology is lifting back the veil and making this information more easily accessible than ever before. Artisan products have a story to tell, and ironically, it is new technology that is helping them tell it.

Classic Cultural Flavors—Curry from India, mole from Mexico and kimchi from Korea all have a few things in common. They are incredibly flavorful, ubiquitous in the cuisine of its native country, and they take a long time to make. Perhaps that is why they have been slower to capture the American palate, but as traditional flavors are adjusted and convenient bases are developed, they will fit in nicely to the growing market for bold, flavorful foods. We are seeing kimchi proliferate in expanded permutations across menus. As we delve deeper into regionality of global cuisines we will discover more nuanced variations of these flavors.

Lost Foods Rediscovered—I’m not referring to that M&M tucked down in the couch, but rather quinoa and other “ancient grains” that have seen a rebirth in recent years and have broken out of natural food stores into supermarkets and manufactured foods. The term “ancient grains” (spelt, farro, Kamut) has been popular to describe these foods, especially by food manufacturers. It denotes a certain authenticity to them and is easier to pronounce. Though some are not truly grains they can get lumped together for simplicity. Manufacturers of breads, crackers and cereal bars are riding this wave of “Ancient Grains” and like with terms such as “Artisan” and “Natural” the lack of definition and overuse by aggressive marketers will lead to fatigue in consumers’ minds.

With food there is a stronger desire to look to continue traditions. Fashion is all about the next seasonal line or new designer while food has a past that it is reluctant to let go. While there is always innovation and momentary fads, there is a sense of cultural and family history in which it will always be rooted. For food marketers it is important to balance trends with the past, but as my colleague Roasalie wrote yesterday about Trader Joe’s, it is always better to set the trends…especially if they have a few thousand years of staying power.

By Rosalie Morton (@rosaliemo)

As a Pasadena, Calif. native, I have a special place in my heart for Trader Joe’s. The very first store is only a few miles from my house.  I love the “crew” with their Hawaiian shirts, the friendly neighborhood atmosphere, the sample stations, the amazing pre-packaged salads, the innovative private-label selection, and most of all the low prices and phenomenal wine and beer section. I mean, Trader Joe’s invented the reusable “Save-A-Tree” bag back in 1977. What’s not to love?

And, America loves Trader Joe’s. Its stores sell an estimated $1,750 in merchandise per square foot, double that of Whole Foods. The story gets better… this ridiculously successful, kid-friendly neighborhood market with a cult following was a brand built on booze.

Here are three marketing lessons we can learn from Joe Coulombe, the founder of Trader Joe’s, who created one of the most well-loved markets in America:

Choose a specific audience (and choose wisely) who has a need: Joe Coulombe opened the first Trader Joe’s store to serve overeducated and underpaid population of Pasadena – the journalists, teachers, museum curators and musicians. He chose this group because their influence is disproportionate to their salaries, and they love to share their discoveries with their friends of the same strata. Furthermore, Coulombe noted a strong correlation between alcohol consumption and education level.

He understood that these folks liked to get their drink on, appreciated quality alcohol, but couldn’t afford the really expensive stuff. So, if he provided them with good alcohol at a good price, he knew that not only would they buy it… they would tell their friends to buy it too.

Build loyalty by addressing that need better than ANYONE else: Coulombe stocked the first store with 70 bourbons and 100 scotches. In the 1960s, Trader Joe’s literally sold every California wine available. Coulombe bet on the booze and he bet on value. He set out to prove that you could buy a decent bottle of wine for less than $10, and he built his empire on this notion.

He also secured an old license that leveraged a loophole in the fair trade laws. This license enabled him to act as a wholesaler and develop a private label, which was actually the precursor to the infamous Charles Shaw wine  a.k.a. Two Buck Chuck.

Create a sense of urgency and never stop innovating: Once he conquered booze, Coulombe also knew this educated crowd had sophisticated and experimental palates. Trader Joe’s has an urgency to understand what their shoppers want even before they do. The company doesn’t follow trends — it creates them — from Mochi Ice Cream, to Kettle Corn, to Quinoa. According to a Fortune article, a former senior executive revealed that TJ’s biggest research and development expense is travel to find these taste-making foods. It’s through this sense of urgency and dedication to innovation that the company continues to captivate its audience.

By golly, it worked. Today, Trader Joe’s is known not only for its value wine selection, “make your own six pack” loose craft beers and house-brand spirits (Vodka of the Gods, anyone?), but also its incredible top quality, low cost, house-label, limited run food. True TJ’s devotees can tell you their favorite TJ’s product that only comes once a year. For me, it’s the Candy Cane Green Tea at Christmas.

Nearly 50 years since the first store opened, the word-of-mouth continues as well, but now it’s amplified by an army of social media-savvy TJ’s addicts. In fact, Trader Joe’s wine section has inspired a series of spin-off blogs, TJ’s Wine Notes, Trader Joe’s Wine Compendium, and TJ’s Wine List to name a few.

So wave your Fearless Flyer and raise a glass of Two Buck Chuck to Joe Coulombe to thank him for a remarkable lesson in Marketing 101 and for bringing us Trader Joe’s.

Annnd… I’ll keep driving 20 minutes to the TJs in Short Pump to do my grocery shopping.

Source: Gayot; Forbes; Wikipedia; Los Angeles Magazine

Private labels have prospered in the down economy. Store brands are popping up everywhere from drugstores to specialty stores. Most people are surprised to learn that the largest grocery brand in the country is Great Value, Walmart’s store brand. Incidentally, Walmart sells more food than the three largest grocery chains (Kroger, Safeway and Supervalu) combined. Most consumers select store brands for the lower price, however, some retailers like Trader Joe’s have managed to instill loyalty for their brand. For my 22 month old daughter, I can swap Stonyfield’s Banilla for Trader Joe’s Vanana without a blink of the eyes. If I tried to swap her Cheerios for Toasted Oats, we may have problems. Often times, stores don’t want you to know the company making their private label products, as it dilutes the strategy of customer loyalty. They want them to think these are products you can’t find anywhere else.

Big brands are battling for shelf space as room is made for the growing line of private label products. For major retailers like Walmart, it has become an opportunity to leverage improved pricing, expanded advertising support and in some cases, a new manufacturer for its own brand. Expect this to continue as Walmart sales have declined for the past nine quarters. Food, and especially fresh produce, has helped minimize these declines through strong growth. Other retailers have taken notice and turned to private labels to improve diminishing margins.

Most often, when you look beyond price, store brands have little to offer. Walmart has made a conscious effort to distinguish its store brand rather than trying to mimic name brands. When they can instill a belief in quality among consumers, they show shoppers they have nothing to lose and everything to save. What are supermarkets doing to instill this confidence? Here are four successful tactics I have seen:

Exclusive Items—Trader Joe’s has built its business on this, even if they are not the only place they can be found. The Fresh Market has also done a good job of this, by identifying up and coming specialty brands without national awareness or distribution that can help build a sense of premium exclusivity. Other chains like Meijer have established a subset of their private label brand that offers unique quality. Meijer Gold looks to deliver local, family-owned food products that are one-of-a-kind.

Price Specials—Store brands already have an advantage on price, but a modest discount tied into a multi-unit purchase can trigger a trial purchase and help customers get over their attachment to the name brand. This tactic should be used sparingly, so that consumers don’t become trained to only purchase when discounted. On a weekly basis, the store brand will win out on price.

Sampling—If you can’t pull customers from their brands on price alone, sampling product can lower the purchasing hurdle of quality concerns. In a Deloitte report, 80% of consumers believed that private label products were made by the same company as the brand name items. This is generally the case, with some exceptions. The benefit will extend beyond the product being sampled to other store brand products as customers gain confidence in it.

Recipes—Package recipes have been a strategy for the largest brands for decades. It not only provides usage solutions for consumers, but a list of additional purchases. For store brands, this is an even greater advantage, directing them to other items you carry for incremental sales. This can even be utilized outside of store brands. When discounting chicken legs, provide a simple recipe with store brand seasoning, sauces and dressings to add to their list.

Brand loyalty is waning in the recession according to recent reports. Some categories see steeper declines than others. Some brands will do anything to be noticed, like Abercrombie & Fitch’s plea to the Jersey Shore cast to stop wearing its clothes. A successful store brand will offer unique products as well as those that mimic popular brands and offer value to their customers. The Deloitte study also showed that less than 1 in 3 brands are considered “must-haves” in most categories. This helps explain why most product and retail execs are so bullish on private labels even when the recession ends.

For retailers to enjoy this continued growth, store brands need to move out of the value category and be recognized as quality, reliable products. If they don’t work now to build their own brand loyalty, their brand-loving customers may begin to look elsewhere as the economy improves. Moves like the one by Meijer to develop its Gold line can go a long way in building that loyalty and casting a positive glow on its other private label items and the Meijer brand in general. It is a new era for store brands beyond the low cost mimics of crackers and soup, and one that I think is here to stay.

Photo:  StoreBrandsDecisions.com

ProlificLiving.com

We hinted in the Mashable article about Greenpeace‘s next targeted corporate campaign to end greenwashing. Little did most folks know it was the hipster’s beloved Trader Joe’s. Dubbed Traitor Joe, the Greenpeace campaign has garnered some serious momentum around the blogosphere.

At the same time, the campaign has not made a big impact on Twitter or in Trader Joe’s Google results, yet. It will be interesting to see if the blogging momentum takes off, and spills over into a full groundswell movement.

The heart of the matter is Trader Joe’s claims of greenness and conservation, while the company is in actuality selling several species of red list fish species. Greenpeace ranks Trader Joe’s as #17 on the list of friendly supermarkets (Wegman’s being #1). Says Greenpeace’s Traitor Joe:

You see, I have a bad habit of greenwashing. Instead of telling you how I am destroying the oceans, I bend the truth and tell you that I do everything “green” and look out for the well being of the Earth. But, if you dig a little deeper (and I hope you won’t) you will see that I have a treasure chest (or freezer case) full of red list seafood.

In response to allegations of greenwashing, Trader Joe’s has stated:

The Greenpeace report details that Trader Joe’s sells a certain number of items on their “Red List.” But several of the items that they call out are NOT for sale in our stores. We do NOT sell Chilean Sea Bass, Monkfish, Ocean Quahog or Redfish in any of our stores. In fact, Trader Joe’s sells fewer items on that “Red List” than the #1 ranked grocery retailer in their report.

It’s an interesting effort. One thing is certain, if Trader Joe’s wasn’t on the up with its green marketing, it definitely noticed the campaign and is acting. No matter how far the campaign goes, Greenpeace has to consider that a success. This tactic seems to work for Greenpeace, as one of its more notable social web campaigns was its targeting of Apple’s environmental efforts with the GreenMyApple effort.

Companies thinking green is sexy without actual substantive products/services behind the message should beware. Those interested in learning more about green marketing and avoiding these kinds of issues should read the 2009 Greenwashing report.