Supermarket/Grocery Articles | Supermarket Battles

SUPERMARKET ARTICLES
	The Top Five Grocery Retailers for 2011
By Rick Shea (Shea Marketing Consulting, Inc.) -- Food retailing has been dominating the news lately with a focus on food inflation, food safety and competition for the almighty consumer's dollar. FULL ARTICLE

	Top Supermarket Industry Trends For 2011
By Rick Shea (Shea Marketing Consulting, Inc.) -- The grocery and supermarket industry continues to be highly competitive with rising commodity prices and competition for shopper traffic serving as strong headwinds to improved profits. However,... FULL ARTICLE

	Kraft Has $1.5B Gun in Starbucks Battle
ByJosh Kosman & Paul Tharp (New York Post) -- A nasty spat between two of the country's best-known coffee brands threatened to spill into grocery store aisles yesterday... FULL ARTICLE

	Coffee Market Competition Remains Hot
By Rick Shea (Shea Marketing Consulting, Inc.) -- Americans love their coffee and despite rising prices, the love affair continues. FULL ARTICLE

	Food Industry Consolidation to Rise in 2011
By Rick Shea (Shea Marketing Consulting, Inc.) -- Competitive activity remains intense, interest rates are ridiculously low and shoppers are more price sensitive than ever before. These factors will lead to further food industry consolidation in 2011. FULL ARTICLE

	Nestle: New 800 Pound Gorilla in Frozen Foods
By Rick Shea (Shea Marketing Consulting, Inc.) -- Nestle's recent acquisition of the Kraft frozen pizza division makes them the dominant player in frozen foods. FULL ARTICLE

	Too Much Choice and Variety: Assortment Realities
By Stuart Taylor (Custom Analytics) and Kristin Chaudoir (Price Promo Modeling) -- The CPG industry has been abuzz over assortment downsizing. Yet, despite all the talk of major SKU reductions, the average food channel store decreased variety by just 1% in 2009. FULL ARTICLE

	The Coupon Comeback
By Todd Hale (The Nielsen Company) -- Once on their way to extinction, coupons made a strong resurgence in 2009. FULL ARTICLE

	Store Brands Flex Muscle in Weak Economy
By Todd Hale (The Nielsen Company) -- Everybody, everywhere likes a good value, which is why store brands outperformed national brands in the U.S. on an average unit sales growth basis and has posted gradual gains over time in this country as well as in many European countries. FULL ARTICLE

	Restaurants' Loss is Supermarkets' Gain According to a new report, retailers quick to react to the shift away from dining out could boost annual food sales 3.2 percent.
(PrivateLabelBuyer.com) -- We all know the economy has forced many consumers to cut back on dining out, giving retailers the chance to provide a bigger share of their food needs. FULL ARTICLE

	Private Label Food Performs in a Down Market (RAH, THS, AIPC, KFT, GIS, SJM)
By Rick Shea (Shea Marketing Consulting Inc.) -- Recent earnings results by Ralcorp (RAH) and AIPC (AIPC) have been met with a positive response from investors. Both companies delivered improved earnings growth with flat volume pulled lower by price deflation. FULL ARTICLE

	Walmart Food-Bag Consolidation Wipes Glad, Hefty from Shelves Despite Amplified Ad Spending by Brands Last Year, Ziploc Emerges Clear Winner in Shootout
BATAVIA, Ohio (AdAge.com) -- In the latest of a growing wave of brand consolidations, Walmart has sent Glad and Hefty bags packing from its food-storage shelves. FULL ARTICLE

	U.S. Healthy Eating Trends Part 5: Nielsen Healthy Eating Index Debuts
By Tony Pirovano (The Nielsen Company) -- For years, retailers, manufacturers and marketers have been clamoring for a single benchmark that would facilitate comparisons of healthy eating patterns by key regions and time periods. FULL ARTICLE

	U.S. Healthy Eating Trends Part 4: Store Brands Expand Healthy Offerings
By Tony Pirovano (The Nielsen Company) -- U.S. retailers continue to make progress in offering store brand products with health claims relevant to shoppers looking for healthier food choices. FULL ARTICLE

	U.S. Healthy Eating Trends Part 3: Healthy Doesn't Have to Cost More
By Tony Pirovano (The Nielsen Company) -- One common misconception heart frequently is that healthy eating has become too expensive - that the struggling economy has driven U.S. families to make poor nutritional choices. FULL ARTICLE

	U.S. Healthy Eating Trends Part 2: Organic Enthusiasts Remain Loyal
By Tony Pirovano (The Nielsen Company) -- It's the economy! Organics enjoyed stratospheric growth in four of the last five years, but the economic crunch took a bite out of that trajectory in 2009. FULL ARTICLE

	U.S. Healthy Eating Trends Part 1: Commitment Trumps the Economic Pinch
By Tony Pirovano (The Nielsen Company) -- Consumers in the U.S. might be trimming the fat from their budgets and diets, but contrary to predictions, they continue to demonstrate a healthy appetite for foods featuring health and wellness claims. FULL ARTICLE

	The Lowest Price Is Not Always the Best Price
By Todd Hale (The Nielsen Company) -- Store brands continue to outperform brands in most categories in the U.S. Retailers' focus on cutting prices (for both brands and store brands) and increasing store brand assortment is positively impacting unit sales, but negatively impacting dollar sales. FULL ARTICLE

	Don't Blame Private-Label Gains on the Recession No-Name Brands Have Been Picking up Momentum for Past Decade Across Demographics
CHICAGO (AdAge.com) -- Private label growth didn't start gaining momentum in the downturn. Not only have private label brands been gaining share for the past decade, experts way these gains are the single-biggest problem facing branded packaged goods players. FULL ARTICLE

	Green-Marketing Revolution Defies Economic Downturn Sustainable-Product Sales Rise as Eco-Friendliness Goes Mainstream and Value Players Join the Trend
BATAVIA, Ohio (AdAge.com) -- Green marketing is turning out to be surprisingly recession-proof. FULL ARTICLE

	Coupons.com Sees 192% Increase Over Last Year Consumers Print Out $57 Million Worth in March; Cereal, Baby Products Top List
CHICAGO (AdAge.com) -- One area where consumers aren't cutting back: coupon usage. Coupons.com reported a 192% increase in the value of coupons printed from its site in March, compared with a year ago. The total alue of the coupons was $57 million. FULL ARTICLE

	Food Marketers Get Selective About Brands to Support With Private Label Eating at Margins, ConAgra, Others Putting Dollars Mainly Behind Top Performers
CHICAGO (AdAge.com) -- As supermarket brands pummel its business, the food industry is increasingly picking and choosing among its brands for the one to back. FULL ARTICLE

	What Sells in a Recession: Canned Goods and Condoms
By Sean Gregory (Time.com). Supermarket sales figures reveal the mind-set of U.S. consumers in a recession. FULL ARTICLE

	Casseroles Make Comeback as Easy, Quick Meals for the Cash-Strapped Campbell, Kraft Is Helping Nudge the One-Dish Wonder's Appeal With Consumers
CHICAGO (AdAge.com) -- Guess what's making a comeback: that ultimate comfort food, the casserole. FULL ARTICLE

	Frozen Food Fight Helps Consumers, Threatens to Burn Producers A promotional battle between food makers is leading to frozen entree bargains
By Matt Andrejczak (MarketWatch.com). A bruising battle for market share that has rattled frozen food aisles for months shows no sign of abating. FULL ARTICLE

	At-Home Diners Spice Up Heinz' Earnings
By Miriam Marcus (Forbes.com). Improved pricing and demand, and currency hedging, boosted ketchup maker's Q3 results. FULL ARTICLE

	Private Label Winning Battle of Brands Marketers Face Moment of Truth As Retailers' Lines Soar to Historic Sales High
By Miriam Marcus (Forbes.com). Improved pricing and demand, and currency hedging, boosted ketchup maker's Q3 results. FULL ARTICLE

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