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PMA18.Oct20

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Produce Show Daily Saturday, October 20, 2018 4 0 Shared Values Create Customer Loyalty By Lorrie Baumann There's a dollars and cents case to be made in favor of talking to your cus- tomers about issues of social justice, food safety, animal welfare and envi- ronmental sustainability. Grocers who know how to do that well are in better position to build relationships with shoppers that they want to meet at the checkstands. Consumers are no longer asking just the simple questions about price, taste and convenience to preface their grocery purchasing decisions, accord- ing to David Fikes, Food Marketing Institute Vice President for Communications and Consumer/Community Affairs. They're now often bringing more complicated questions with them on their shopping trips, including broad concerns about where a food product was produced, whether the animal was humanely treated, whether workers were treated fairly and had safe working conditions and where the ingredients came from. Not every consumer asks all of these questions, but most of them are asking at least one or two."What's interesting is that, if you look at animal welfare, some of them are coming at it from health and wellness, and some of them are coming from concern for the ani- mals," Fikes said. "When over half of your shoppers are coming with these questions, if you're going to establish trust, if you're going to expect loyalty from them, you need to meet them at the point of shared values." Understanding this and acting on it is key to establishing customer loyalty, according to Fikes. FMI has concluded, in a 2017 report on "U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends" co-authored by the Institute and the Hartman Group, experts on demand-side trends in the food and beverage industry, that retail- ers who communicate with shoppers about safety, health and wellness and ethics are well positioned to build trust and loyalty. Shoppers want retailers to do more than just make them feel informed – they want to shop at a store that seems open and honest and that shares their values. They believe that the foods they eat influence their health and wellness, and today's shoppers "increasingly see being more closely connected to their food as an antidote to the ills caused by a food system that seems out of bal- ance," according to FMI. They know they can shop wherever they want, and they believe that their decisions about where and how to spend their money are meaningful. "There's research out that is pointing at the point that con- sumers feel they have more power in how they spend their money than in how they vote," Fikes said. "That's why we urge our grocers to be clear and to communicate about their values, about where they stand on these issues, so that when consumers are doing their research, they can espouse what the company values are." Retailers can demonstrate that they're open, honest and trustworthy by helping customers find out what's in a product and where it came from. They can show that they impose strict food safety standards on suppliers, fol- low Fair Trade practices and earn their reputation for selling high-quality goods. Shoppers also like product guar- antees and reasonable return policies, and they expect to know about it from their grocer when a food safety issue results in a recall, according to the FMI research. Shoppers don't necessarily want all this information about their grocer's values force-fed to them, but they want their grocers to be open in their answers to these questions as they're asked, according to Fikes. "Transparency is not simply a business negotiation; it is also about relationship building," he said. "You are sharing openly and honestly and, this is key, you are answering the questions they have, that they are able to find answers they want. That doesn't mean telling them everything you want them to know. It means paying attention to what they want to know and answering those questions." Shoppers also expect their grocers to be proactive and accountable. Those qualities can be demonstrated by quick action when there's a product recall and accepting responsibility for making it right when there's a problem with a product. Consumers also want to see fair treatment for employees up and down the supply chain, according to Fikes. "There's a great halo of account- ability and loyalty that can be had if your store has the reputation of treating employees fairly," he said. "They [shoppers] sense whether or not an employee enjoys working there and whether they're being treated fairly." It's still uncertain whether online retailers are being held to these same standards, and FMI has research that will be coming out in the Institute's 2018 trends report that will be delving into that question, Fikes said. While we wait for that, he has some advice for all grocery retailers: "In the age of skepti- cism, where people are skeptical of big business and their motives, we have to break that down and let people know that our business is comprised of peo- ple who share the values that they share," he said. "The only people that folks seem to trust are family and friends and people who share their val- ues. You've got to lead with the shared values to establish the rapport." New El Sabroso Cantina Tortilla Chips Did you know that the original tortilla chip was popularized as a snack in Los Angeles and San Antonio, Texas in the early 1940s? Which of the two cities was first to make the delicious snack is the subject of much debate. Today, according to IRI Multi-Outlet trends ending 12/31/17, the U.S. Tortilla Chip category is $4.2B in size with a dol- lar growth rate of 1.6 percent. "Consumers are looking for authen- tic, artisanal snack brands that are deli- cious and that have healthy good-for- your qualities," said Joe Papiri, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Snak King. "Our new El Sabroso ® Cantina Tortilla chips are crafted the old- fashioned way – cut from freshly made corn tortillas and cooked to a delicious crunch, plus they are non-GMO, gluten free, kosher and have no artificial flavors, colors or preservatives." "I believe that new entries such as this line can help to further accelerate growth in the category by attract- ing new shoppers as well as to increase the shopping basket for our retailers – as after all, who eats tortilla chips alone? Our chips are excellent as an appetizer or a meal starter– great for dip- ping, but terrific for nachos!" said Papiri. The new El Sabroso Cantina line is made up of three varieties: El Sabroso Cantina Thick and Crunchy Tortilla Chips, El Sabroso Cantina Thin and Crispy Tortilla Chips and El Sabroso Cantina Jalapeno Lime Flavored Tortilla Chips. The Cantina line can be found in specialty and grocery retailers across the country. For more information, call 800.748.5566, email privatelabel@snakking.com or go to www.snakking.com.

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