The Private Eye
May 20, 2010
Supervalu, Safeway To Part Ways with Daymon
Effective May 15, Minneapolis-based Supervalu will end its relationship with Daymon Worldwide, a Stamford, Conn.-based brokerage company specializing in the sales and marketing of private label consumer products and consumer marketing events. A spokesperson for Daymon confirmed that the retailer is taking its private label development in-house.
The news came one week after Pleasanton, Calif.-based Safeway Inc. announced plans to sever its relationship with Daymon, effective May 28. Like Supervalu, Safeway also plans to take its private label development in-house, Daymon said.
“Over the past six years at Supervalu and five years at Safeway, we have helped them launch their new portfolio of brands and grow their [private brand] penetration steadily over time,” said Alex Miller, president and CEO of Daymon. “We are proud of the work we did at both of these companies and value our long-standing partnerships. We hope to continue to work with them in a new capacity.”
According to Daymon, the two retailers’ decisions are in no way related.
Although the loss of two customers poses a challenge for Daymon, the company said the retailers made up only a small portion of its customer portfolio, which spans the globe.
“These are only two customers out of the vast range of more than 75 U.S.-based retailers Daymon Worldwide works with,” Miller told PL Buyer. “As a matter of fact, the entire domestic private brand business represents only a third of our portfolio. We are a 40-year-old strong and successful company that will move forward with our model for developing and building successful private brands with our supplier partners and retail customers.”
Miller added that he wishes Safeway and Supervalu the best in their future endeavors, and that the door is always open to renew their relationship with Daymon in the future. — R. Hofbauer
Partnership Brings ‘Tube in a Tube’ Filling Technology To Life
World Wide Packaging Inc., a Florham Park, N.J.-based supplier of cosmetic packaging components, said it partnered with Nu-World Beauty, a Carteret, N.J.-based contract manufacturer, to introduce “tube in a tube” manufacturing filling technology. Included under the partnership are World Wide Packaging’s 50mm outer tubes with 35mm inner tubes, as well as 19mm outer tubes with 10mm inner tubes. Nu-World Beauty’s new high-speed machine is able to fill and crimp both sizes of these double tubes.
Jeff Hayet, World Wide Packaging’s executive vice president of global sales, said the partnership gives retailers and branded manufacturers the ability to put two different products in one flexible package that dispenses both products consistently.
“So a retailer can marry up two very unique private label products that complement each other or enhance the value of the package and cross-brand them,” he explains. “For example, the inner tube could be sun oil for sun tanning, and the outer tube could potentially be an SPF [product] or a moisturizer.”
Although tube-in-a-tube technology has been around for 30 or 40 years, it existed more in concept form until recently, Hayet told PL Buyer. World Wide Packaging now is able to produce the tubes robotically, he said, and Nu-World Beauty now has the equipment — purchased from a large multinational company — to accomplish the filling part of the equation economically.
“The retailer or end user would have to develop a formulation around the package by altering the specific gravity of the bulk,” Hayet added.
The two package sizes, both with two round orifices — one around the other — are designed to dispense “50 percent and 50 percent at one time,” he explained. The smaller version works well for lip applications, with one orifice containing the lip color, for example, and the other, the gloss.
Another similar package (30mm and 22mm) is commercially available, too, Hayet noted.
“It’s an oval tube in a tube,” he said. “It has side-by-side orifices, and [the products] dispense next to each other in a straight ribbon-like flow. It could be used for hand creams, lotions, body care — where one product complements the other.”
The technology also could be used for products that should not touch before being used together, he added — for example, when one product serves as a catalyst for a heating, coloring or foaming reaction.
For more information, contact World Wide Packaging at 973-805-6500. — K. Canning
Information Resources Inc. Rebrands As SymphonyIRI Group Inc.
Chicago-based Information Resources Inc. (IRI) unveiled a new name, SymphonyIRI Group Inc., in late March. The renamed company will build on its established leadership position in market measurement, the company said, while adding a “new family of solutions for predictive automated analytics, technology platforms and strategic consulting services to deliver a dramatic step change in value.”
Speaking during the March 23 General Session of IRI Summit 2010 in San Antonio, John Freeland, president and CEO of SymphonyIRI Group, said the rebranding reflects the capabilities the company has been investing in and developing over the last couple years.
“We aren’t rebranding because we desire these capabilities,” he explained. Instead, the company has been building such capabilities over the past few years, “and the time is right now,” he added.
Building on its position in market measurement, SymphonyIRI said it added a new family of solutions for predictive automated analytics, technology platforms and strategic consulting services “to deliver a dramatic step change in value.” An important foundation of these new capabilities is the Advantage Solutions suite, built on the IRI Liquid Data platform.
“While we now have all the capabilities to play a much broader role, the IRI brand name, in some ways, was confining,” Freeland said. “The last two years [have] been about fortifying the required set of building blocks, defining a bolder vision and, most importantly, innovating new capabilities and executional competencies to place us center stage in addressing clients’ most important strategic issues.”
Freeland also told summit attendees that SymphonyIRI would deliver a “more strategic level of commitment on critical issues impacting top-line development” in 2010 and beyond, and also would continue to innovate in shopper-centric solutions. — K. Canning
Consumers Sticking with Store Brands
A new survey by GfK Custom Research North America reveals that despite reports that the worst is behind us, more than eight out of 10 shoppers say they have seen no improvement in the economy, while 40 percent believe the economy actually has gotten worse. According to a report from the New York-based Private Label Manufacturers Association, which commissioned the February 2010 GfK poll, this reality means the appeal of store brand products is stronger than ever. Four in 10 respondents said economic decisions played a “very important” role in their decision to buy a store brand, the report stated. And more than six in 10 reported plans to buy more private label in the coming months as they attempt to stretch their food dollars further. Half of the consumers surveyed also said they intend to spend less money on groceries in the months ahead. The report also said consumer awareness of store brands is growing, with more than half of all respondents reporting they were more conscious of private label products today than they were a year ago. In addition, more shoppers than ever before (57 percent) identified themselves as “frequent” store brand buyers, up from less than 55 percent a year ago. The report also revealed that a greater number of shoppers are switching to store brands in categories in which they bought only national brands before. Some 43 percent said they recently chose a private label over a national brand, a marked increase from the 35 percent who had done so a year ago. Virtually all of the shoppers who switched to store brands (97 percent) were pleased with their decision, the report said. In fact, about half said the private label alternative compared “very favorably” to national brands in the same category, up from only about 25 percent the year before. For more information or to download a copy of the full report, visit www.plma.org. PLB
‘Green’ Gains
Thirty-five percent of respondents to a recent survey performed by Mintel International Group, Chicago, said they would pay more for “environmentally friendly” products. “Given this increased interest in the environment over the past few years, nearly every segment of consumer products now offers a ‘green’ option for shoppers,” said Chris Haack, Mintel senior analyst. “Food and beverage and personal care are the two most mature [green] categories and account for the majority of green products in the marketplace.” Despite the poor economy, Mintel reported, only 21 percent of organic-food buyers said they cut down or eliminated organic purchases, while 20 percent said they switched to less-expensive organic options. As a result, the natural and organic food and beverage segment actually managed a 1.8 percent gain in 2009, and sales are expected to grow nearly 20 percent between 2010 and 2012. “Organic food is a core lifestyle element for many people who may make cuts in other areas of their budget before they will turn away from organics,” Mintel said. Like the natural and organic food and beverage segment, green personal care products saw growth slow in 2009. Although sales edged up only 1.2 percent last year, Mintel said the segment is poised for rapid expansion post-recession, thanks in part to the fact that one-third of consumers still haven’t tried such personal care products, leaving plenty of room for growth. According to Mintel’s Global New Product Database, only 5 percent of all new products introduced in 2006 included an organic or natural claim, but that number increased to 10 percent for both 2008 and 2009. For more information, visit www.mintel.com. PLB
Hy-Vee Takes On Health and Wellness
Speaking during the March 24 General Session of IRI Summit 2010 in San Antonio, Randy Edeker, president and chief operating officer for West Des Moines, Iowa-based Hy-Vee Inc., provided a snapshot of Hy-Vee’s commitment to helping its shoppers live healthier lives. What started with a commitment from Hy-Vee’s chairman — reflecting the current and future needs of a shopper base dealing with issues such as obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes — is now a rich health and wellness program incorporating everything from more healthful own-brand products to sponsorship of athletic events.
Hy-Vee’s initial focus was on its produce selection, Edeker explained. The retailer analyzed its offerings to ensure it offered the healthiest selection and that natural and organic items were integrated into that mix.
Hy-Vee then moved through the rest of the store, he said, tackling things such as trans fat in its bakery, sourcing leaner meats and expanding natural and organic in the frozen foods and dairy departments. (The retailer even has a separate “one stop shop” health market area for those shoppers focused on natural and organic products.) Hy-Vee now is “leaning toward” more grass-fed beef and working toward a sustainable seafood program, Edeker added.
But the efforts go well beyond these and other product initiatives. Hy-Vee now boasts three corporate dietitians and 135 in-store dietitians in its 228 stores, Edeker said, and aims to eventually give shoppers access to such a professional in all stores. It also implemented the NuVal nutritional scoring system in its stores, allowing shoppers “to literally compare an orange to an apple,” he added. And Hy-Vee’s quarterly Seasons magazine focuses on health topics of consumer interest regularly.
Outside its store walls, Hy-Vee supports PE4Life, a program that promotes child wellness by encouraging physical activity, Edeker said. And it partnered with Live Healthy America, a health and wellness program that incorporates a team-centric “100 Day Wellness Challenge” focused on education, motivation and personal achievement. What’s more, Hy-Vee even sponsors triathlons: a “regular” version that comes with a $200,000 first price, and one for kids.
All the activity on the health and wellness front might sound, well, exhausting. But Edeker said the efforts mean the world to Hy-Vee.
“If we save a loved one’s life, we’ll have loyalty forever,” he said. — K. Canning
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