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Retailer News BRIEFS GOURMET NEWS MARCH 2020 www.gourmetnews.com RETAILER NEWS 1 0 premium chocolate bars won't carry that imprimatur. "Certifications are important, within reason," Guittard said. "They aren't everything." Those bars that don't carry a Fair Trade notice on their label may very well be com- ing from a small-batch maker who deals di- rectly with a farmer and pays a premium price because he's getting the quality and flavor he wants from the beans he's going to make into his chocolate. Those beans will have received extra care during culti- vation and have been reserved for the pre- mium market from a crop that would otherwise be delivered to a broker and sold at market price for commodity chocolate. Those chocolate makers point out that the farming communities with which they work have varying needs, and the nature of those needs may not be accommodated by a Fair Trade process that relies on a stan- dardized audit and a bureaucracy that stands behind it. TCHO, for instance, has built 10 flavor labs in Ecuador, the Dominican Republic and Peru, the countries from which the company buys its chocolate. Many of the bean-to-bar makers supplying the Ameri- can market are buying their beans from Latin American countries that produce cacao with the fruity flavors that Americans prefer – in contrast to the cacao that's pro- duced in Africa, where it develops nuttier flavors. TCHO's flavor labs were built with financial assistance from the U.S. govern- ment and provide farmers in those commu- nities with the tools they need to test their beans and develop the knowledge that helps them grow higher-quality beans for which they get a premium price from TCHO. That concept has proven to be so popular that other farmers who've visited the communities to see how the labs work have gone on to develop flavor labs in their own communities, so that there are now 35 of them. But the chocolate makers who are sup- porting farmers with the services and the financial backing they need don't necessar- ily qualify for Fair Trade certification, which leaves them with a dilemma. "How do we create authentic evidence that we're doing good things?" Kintzer asked. That's where the retailer comes in, ac- cording to Caputo, who said that he's found that premium chocolate has to be hand- sold, much as artisanal cheeses are hand- sold by educated mongers behind the cheese counter. Chocolate mongers must tell the chocolate's story and provide those reassurances along with pairing the flavor profile of a particular chocolate bar with the consumer's taste preference. "In the premium space, among elite chocolate brands, certifications aren't really relevant," he said. "Fair Trade is a good thing, but it needs work to work for fine chocolate. There are retailers who won't buy it if it doesn't carry the certificate – I'm not one of them." GN Geekery Continued from PAGE 1 to his palate and reassurances that the farmer who cultivated the beans from which the chocolate was made wasn't op- pressed by the grinding poverty akin to slavery that has been the subject of media coverage of the chocolate industry in recent years. The chocolate industry and the grocers who purvey those elite chocolates have to work harder to communicate to those con- sumers an expectation that their chocolate will provide them with a unique experi- ence, since all the bars on the retail shelves tend to look alike to many, said Amy Guit- tard, Marketing Director for Guittard Chocolate. "Consumers are already con- fused. They're often just looking at percent- ages," she said. "Any chance that you can start to dive in with the consumers to what's inside the wrapper, you're putting power into the hands of the consumer." Those artistically designed wrappers tend to feature either whimsical art that's unique to the maker or elegant minimalism and sleek typography, frequently along with a Fair Trade certification. But while that Fair Trade certification, with its assur- ance that the farmer who grew the beans from which the chocolate was made got a fair price for his product, may provide some reassurance to the consumer, many Four New Jersey Supermarkets Rebranding as The Fresh Grocer New Jersey shoppers are noticing a change at some of their local supermarkets in Cedar Grove, Colonia, North Haledon, and the Township of Washington. The Maniaci family and its Nicholas Markets company, which currently oper- ates four Foodtown stores in those New Jersey towns, began transitioning its stores to The Fresh Grocer brand in February. The Fresh Grocer is a registered trademark of the retailer-owned cooperative Wakefern Food Corp. and an accomplished super- market chain specializing in high quality, fresh prepared foods and meeting the needs, tastes and traditions of the commu- nities in which the stores are located. Customers at the rebranded markets can expect all the favorite parts of their store to remain while new products and features are added with the new name. "My customers know they get a top-notch, specialty gro- cery shopping experience at our stores, and we will continue to provide all the things our customers know and love while adding new and exciting features as we rebrand to The Fresh Grocer," said David Maniaci, current President and Chief Executive Of- ficer of Nicholas Markets. "This is the ex- citing next chapter in my family's 77-year history in the grocery business. I want to thank shoppers for their ongoing support as we complete our rebranding efforts and make the change to The Fresh Grocer." The Maniaci Family announced last Octo- ber that it had joined retailer-owned cooper- ative Wakefern Food Corp. The move made the Maniaci family and its company, Nicholas Markets, the 51st member of the supermarket cooperative based in Keasbey, New Jersey. The rebranded stores in Cedar Grove, Colonia, North Haledon and the Township of Washington will continue to offer restau- rant-quality take home meals with best-in- market pricing and a wide variety of high quality fresh foods at low prices. Cus- tomers will also notice new advertising cir- culars with special deals for The Fresh Grocer stores, and Instacart, the on-de- mand and online grocery delivery service, will also be available to customers. The new Fresh Grocer locations will also offer several new Wakefern Own Brand products including the popular Bowl & Basket™ and Paperbird™ lines. Bowl & Basket foods pair thoughtfully selected in- gredients at a budget friendly price. Paper- bird offers a new line of effective and beautifully designed household products. Shoppers will also be able to purchase Wakefern's award-winning Wholesome Pantry brands, which include the Whole- some Pantry Organic line as well as a range of products free from 110 ingredients and artificial additives and preservatives. Nicholas Markets is a family-owned spe- cialty supermarket that was founded in 1943, when Rocco Maniaci and his son Nicholas opened a small grocery store in North Hale- don, New Jersey. The family's addition to Wakefern Food Corp. was a natural fit given Wakefern's history as a cooperative made up of many family-owned independent grocers. The Fresh Grocer joined Wakefern in 2013 and by spring 2020, 12 family-owned The Fresh Grocer stores will be operating in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The Fresh Grocer stores support regional food banks, local pantries and hold various food drives throughout the year to help hunger relief agencies and those in need. In addition, The Fresh Grocer supermarkets host a variety of in-store fundraisers to raise money for the American Red Cross, Alex's Lemonade Stand, and the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Store as- sociates celebrate Earth Day each year by partnering with Neighborhood Gardens Trust to clean up local gardens in Philadelphia. GN Natural Grocers Opens Second Store in Spokane, Washington Natural Grocers opened its second store in Spokane, Washington, on Wednesday, February 19. The store, located at 2512 E. 29th Avenue, is the chain's fourth store in Washington state. Earth Fare Inc. Announces Liquidation Natural foods grocer Earth Fare announced on February 3 that it was liquidating the inventory at all of its stores and pursuing a sale of assets, in whole or in parts. All employees have been notified of the impending closure of the company's stores and corporate office. Natural Grocers Raises $66k for Jack And Jill Of America HBCU Gap Fund In honor of Martin Luther King Day, January 20, 2020, Natural Grocers, donated $66,600 to Jack and Jill of America's (JJOA) Graduation Assistance Program (GAP) Fund, exceeding its original fundraising goal for the day. The partnership between Natural Grocers and JJOA, which marks the GAP Fund's first corporate sponsorship, was born of the shared values of both organizations to give back to the communities they serve. Natural Grocers' direct donation to the JJOA GAP Fund was equal to 2.5 percent of the company's total sales on MLK Day. The GAP Fund is used to provide scholarship endowments to directly satisfy tuition debt of students attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Woodward Corner Market Now Open in Royal Oak, Michigan Woodward Corner Market opened on January 9 in the Woodward Corners by Beaumont commercial development at Thirteen Mile Road and Woodward Ave. in Royal Oak, Michigan, marking the first small format store opened by Meijer in metro Detroit. The market is focused on bringing customers a mix of fresh, local and convenient food at low prices. It is also not using single-use plastic or paper bags at checkout; instead only offering sustainable bag alternatives that are made to be re-used up to 125 times. The 41,000-square-foot store offers a wide assortment of fresh and prepared foods, including bakery items, fresh meat and deli offerings; Meijer and national brand products; and an estimated 2,000 local, artisan items, including Daily Dozen Doughnuts, New York Bagel and Bath Savvy Soaps. It hosts a Great Lakes Coffee coffee shop that specializes in nitro brews, an extensive beer, wine and liquor counter and an expansive international food aisle with eight ethnic backgrounds, including Middle Eastern, kosher, Hispanic, European and Asian foods.