Posts tagged with "Grocery dive"

Above, The Fresh Grocer, a family-owned Philadelphia-based grocer, joins Wakefern’s family of brands. (Photo source: The Fresh Grocer)

The Fresh Grocer makes New York State debut

August 27, 2024

The Fresh Grocer has officially entered New York, debuting its first location in the state on Long Island on Friday, August 23, reports Grocery Dive.

The specialty grocer’s newest store, located at 871 Montauk Highway in Oakdale, brings the chain’s store count to 22 across New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

The store, spanning 26,000 square feet, includes a “from-scratch bakery,” butcher counter, full-service seafood department, deli with made-to-order sandwiches, grab-and-go prepared foods, sushi, and international cheeses.

The store also will stock Bowl & Basket, Wholesome Pantry, and Paperbird private label products developed by Wakefern and also sold in ShopRite stores. Online shopping services are available on The Fresh Grocer app and website.

The latest Fresh Grocer location strengthens Wakefern’s presence on the East Coast, where the company already has six additional supermarket banners—ShopRite, Dearborn Market, Price Rite Marketplace, Fairway Market, Di Bruno Bros. and Gourmet Garage. Of Wakefern’s banners, ShopRite has the most dominant presence on Long Island, with around a dozen locations.

The store is owned by K. Thompson Foods, a family-owned company that also owns three Long Island ShopRite locations.

Over the past year, The Fresh Grocer has bolstered its presence. Last November, the specialty grocer gained ten new stores when Northeastern Pennsylvania grocery Gerrity’s transitioned its ten locations to the The Fresh Grocer banner.

Research contact: @GroceryDive

Above, a 3-D rendering of a Whole Foods Market Daily Shop entrance. (Photo source: Whole Foods Market)

Whole Foods readies for national rollout of Daily Shop format

July 17, 2024

Whole Foods Market is gearing up for a national rollout of its Daily Shop concept, which will begin after the opening of several New York City locations under the small-store format, reports Grocery Dive.

The grocer also announced plans to open its second Daily Shop at 301 W. 50th St. in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood. A Whole Foods spokesperson confirmed that the grocer has five leases in the New York City area for upcoming Daily Shops.

A third New York City Daily Shop will be announced soon, according to the spokesperson, and a national rollout “will follow.” The grocer did not specify a timeline or what other cities the national rollout will include.

The first Daily Shop, originally announced in March, is slated to open this fall at 1175 Third Ave. on the Upper East Side. Whole Foods did not specify an opening date for the Hell’s Kitchen location.

Like the Upper East Side location, the Hell’s Kitchen Daily Shop will include Amazon One payment technology, self-checkout kiosks and traditional checkout stands, grab-and-go meal options, and private label goods, the spokesperson confirmed.

The grocer added that both upcoming New York City locations will feature Juice & Java, which serves coffee, tea, fresh-pressed juices, smoothies, sandwiches, soups, and desserts.

Whole Foods’ Daily Shops will span between 7,000 and 14,000 square feet—no more than about half the size of the grocer’s traditional stores—and aim to bring fresh, quality food and ingredients to customers with “fast-paced urban lifestyles.”

The expansion of Daily Shop is Whole Foods’ latest attempt at a small-format store and comes several years after the company abandoned its 365 store concept.

Whole Foods’ focus on New York City as the launch site for Daily Shop builds on the grocer’s 17-store store footprint in the metropolitan area.

Research contact: @GroceryDive

Above, the box builds on Raley’s efforts to support product innovation and discovery. (Photo source: Bunny James)

Raley’s launches a quarterly sampling box with assortment of 20 products for ‘top-tier’ customers

November 6, 2023

Raley’s—a family-owned grocery and retail technology company based in California—is launching a personalized sampling box for its loyal customers through a partnership with gifting services company Bunny James Boxes, reports Grocery Dive.

Set to roll out this fall, the Something Extra Sampler Box—named after the grocer’s Something Extra loyalty program—will include a curated selection of around 20 products. The boxes will get delivered to Raley’s “top-tier shoppers,” the company says.

The new box program comes at a time when grocers and retailers are innovating their sampling offerings to fuel product discovery, win customer loyalty, and find new ways to work with suppliers. The new sampling box is the latest move by Raley’s to up its personalized shopping experience, which is already a key focus of its loyalty program.

The Something Extra Sampler Box, which is “designed to create a fun, appreciation experience,” will include new products as well as customer favorites. The boxes will be delivered quarterly.

The program will collect customer data for Raley’s to help the grocer gain insights into customer preferences. Suppliers will also benefit from the customer data such as having visibility into consumer responses to survey questions about specific items. Participating suppliers will be able to see how the sampling program affects their in-store and online velocities.

The box builds on Raley’s efforts to support product innovation and discovery for new offerings. The company sponsors a food lab within the Lab@AgStart incubator in Woodland, California; which serves as a location for product experimentation, development, and testing.

Research contact: @GroceryDive

Above, Wonder plans to continue Blue Apron’s current operations under the Blue Apron brand. (Photo source: Blue Apron)

Blue Apron to be acquired by Wonder Group

October 12, 2023

Blue Apron announced Friday, October 6, that it has agreed to be purchased by Wonder Group, a food tech company founded by former Walmart e-commerce executive Marc Lore, for $13 per share—which represents an equity value of roughly $103 million. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2023, reports Grocery Dive.

Blue Apron said the deal is intended to create a leading platform for meals.

While the deal’s price represents a 137% premium over Blue Apron’s closing price on Thursday, it is significantly below the company’s $1.9 billion valuation from its 2017 IPO.

Blue Apron furthers Wonder’s strategic position as it looks to offer a mealtime super app that serves a range of occasions and offers a variety of cuisines, Lore said in the announcement.

“Wonder and Blue Apron deliver high-quality, chef-curated meals—making this a great match to offer more incredible mealtime experiences,” Blue Apron President and CEO Linda Findley said in the announcement.

After the transaction closes, Wonder plans to continue Blue Apron’s current operations under the Blue Apron brand with expected “new synergies between consumer-facing apps and delivery logistics,” per the announcement. Findley said that Blue Apron’s brand and products “will stay the same” and that there is more opportunity for product expansion in the future.

Blue Apron’s merger agreement with Wonder follows the meal kit company’s recent shift to an asset-light business, which resulted from the sale of its operational infrastructure and strategic partnership with FreshRealm, a supplier of fresh meals to retailers. Blue Apron said it considered Wonder’s proposal along with others as part of a strategic review process led by its board of directors.

“[The] transaction delivers immediate and certain value for Blue Apron stockholders at a significant premium over recent trading prices,” Findley said.

Wonder initially ran mobile kitchens serving up meals designed by celebrity chefs—but then pivoted its business strategy to conventional meal delivery.

In summer 2022, Wonder raised $350 million in Series B funding, putting its valuation at about $3.5 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Wonder currently partners with chefs and restaurants on meal delivery and has food halls in New York and New Jersey for delivery, pickup and dine-in, according to its website. Meals ordered through Wonder are made to order in a Wonder location and delivered by a company courier.

Blue Apron said that the closing of the transaction is not subject to any financing conditions or regulatory approvals, and noted that Wonder has committed financing on its balance sheet to fund the deal.

Research contact: @GroceryDive

Above, Kroger Health and Performance Kitchen will offer medically tailored meails to people with various chronic diseases. (Photo source: Catherine Douglas Moran for Grocery Dive)

Kroger Health tie-up offers medically tailored meals to people with chronic conditions

September 25, 2023

Kroger’s healthcare arm, Kroger Health, has partnered with Performance Kitchen to expand access to medically tailored meals (MTMs) for people living with various chronic diseases, including diabetes, heart disease and cancer, reports Grocery Dive.

The MTMs are created to meet each individual’s specific needs with the goal of improving his or her overall health and wellness, per the announcement.

Kroger Health said this partnership marks the first time it is offering “evidence-based, registered dietitian-approved meals that will offer nutrition intervention” for people with chronic health conditions.

Kroger Health’s latest announcement furthers the grocery company’s food-as-medicine work toward supporting preventative care through food and making healthcare more accessible.

Kroger cited a recent study by the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University that found MTMs could help prevent 1.6 million hospitalizations and save insurers $13.6 billion in one year after paying for the cost of food. The grocery company noted in an email that MTMs usually result in a three-to-one cost reduction on meals.

Indeed, Kroger claims that, over ten years, the healthcare cost savings from MTM program participants who receive ten meals per week for eight months could reach an estimated $185.1 billion, on top of the cost of the MTMs.

The MTM options include chicken Dijon with kale, Moroccan-style chicken with quinoa, vegetable chickpea curry, and salmon pasta, per the announcement.

As part of the partnership, Kroger Health and Performance Kitchen are focused on serving diverse populations and including culturally relevant foods. Kroger Health Director of Nutrition Taylor Newman, PhD, RDN, says that the meals available include a variety of culturally diverse recipes and flavors “to make sure everyone’s needs are met.”

“Offering MTMs allows us an opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to supporting individuals on their wellness journeys, while providing a personalized approach to help them transform their health,” Kroger Health Chief Commercial Officer James Kirby says.

Founded in 2013 and based in Seattle, Performance Kitchen has a team of chefs, doctors and registered dietitians for its meal delivery business. Since 2021, the company has been delivering its ready-to-eat meals to qualifying health plan members, according to its website. Along with ordering directly from the company’s website, consumers can also buy Performance Kitchen’s cases of meals and meal plans online at Walmart.

Kroger Health noted it can pair MTMs with its other health services—such as virtual appointments with registered dietitians and access to healthy groceries “for a holistic approach.”

Kroger funded a clinical research study in 2022 conducted by the University of Cincinnati that assessed the impact of dietary intervention on the health of primary care patients shopping at the grocer. That same year, Kroger participated in the historic White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health, during which the company pledged new research and funding focused on nutrition.

Research contact: @GroceryDive