July 2009 «Food Marketing Network

Archive for July, 2009

Going Local, A Chance That Must Be Cultivated

Tuesday, July 28th, 2009

It is the new “in” thing. Celebrity chefs are doing it, big city newspaper food columnists are writing about it, Hollywood stars are bragging about doing it, and even ordinary people here in the Midwest are doing it. As a result, it has become the new hot trend in food retailing. “It” is buying food locally. Some of the nation’s largest grocery chains are falling all over themselves to brag about how fresh and locally produced their produce is.

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Values, Not Value, First

Monday, July 13th, 2009

As some independent natural products retailers react to recession-driven declines in customer traffic counts by offering discounts, a new nationwide consumer survey from Bellevue, Washington-based Hartman Group and National Research Network offers two cautions: One, shoppers tend to think the new, economic-downturn discounts mean the retailer has been gouging them with high prices all along and/or, two, the new lower prices mean lower quality. The survey finds that retailers who have started discounting during this recession risk losing customer trust.

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Time to Hop on the Twitter Train, or has it already passed?

Thursday, July 9th, 2009

“Follow me on Twitter!” Who hasn’t heard it before? And for that matter, who isn’t “Tweeting?” And for good reason, as Twitter is much more than just an instantly updated, 140 character limit, networking ‘soapbox.’ The microblogging service has actually produced tangible results for both individuals (i.e. Demi and Ashton) and businesses alike, and it’s time for the food world to embrace it.

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Do you know a rock star butcher?

Thursday, July 9th, 2009

IF chefs were rock stars, they would be arena bands, playing hard and loud with thousands cheering. ANCIENT SKILL, NEW FANS Ryan Farr takes a pig apart before a cocktail-drinking crowd at a bar in San Francisco. Farmers, who gently coax food from the earth, are more like folk singers, less flashy and more introspective.

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