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GOURMET NEWS FEBRUARY 2015 www.gourmetnews.com Retailer News RETAILER NEWS 1 2 BRIEFS Under New Ownership, Fresh & Easy Reinvigorating Brand, Launching Smarter Market Concept Since transitioning to new ownership a year ago, Fresh & Easy has reinvigorated its brand and its stores with the aim of ful- filling a new mission – saving customers time by making fresh and natural food more available and affordable. The com- pany is bringing this mission to life through remodeling stores and reintroduc- ing the retail brand to customers. Using its Las Vegas stores as a test, Fresh & Easy is unveiling its innovative take on modern convenience. Updates include the introduction of a new "Fresh To Go" hot food bar, a much more open, modern feel and layout and a revamped product selec- tion with lower prices and a more abundant selection of fresh food. "We've evolved Fresh & Easy by con- stantly innovating to improve our stores and our products," said Mike Evans, Fresh & Easy Vice President of Marketing. "The company has been reinvigorated, and we are now using Las Vegas as a test market to implement even more new ideas and con- cepts. As with all the changes we have made, we are going to constantly evaluate and fine-tune our ideas to bring our cus- tomers something exciting and new." At the core of the changes in the stores is the addition of a hot food bar, featuring great tasting fresh, made-to-order food, including sandwiches, fire oven pizzas and hot soups. The revamped stores also feature coffee bars, smoothie machines and self-service cold beverage bars. In addition, the stores will offer a new homeopathic and natural reme- dies section, as well as a natural baby sec- tion. From the hundreds of new unique fresh products introduced this year, to eggs stamped with a laid on date, to an in-store growler program, Fresh & Easy is delivering its promise to be a destination for value and products that do not exist anywhere else. Fresh & Easy operates 167 stores in Ari- zona, California and Nevada. All of the company's products, including the freshly prepared meals, are made with the highest quality ingredients and contain no artificial colors, flavors, high-fructose corn syrup or added trans fats. For more information, visit www.freshandeasy.com. GN Natural Grocers Acquires Nature's Pantry Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage Inc. has closed its previously announced agreement to acquire most of the assets of natural foods retailer Nature's Pantry Inc. in Independence, Missouri. The transaction closed on December 7, and Nature's Pantry began officially operating as a Natural Grocers store on December 8. The store is located at 19019 E. 48th Street in Independence. Natural Grocers plans to continue building on Nature's Pantry's success and provide the Independence community with healthy, affordable natural and organic groceries – a mix of national brands, as well as locally- grown, raised and manufactured products – in a small-store format and friendly environment. Similar to Nature's Pantry, the family-run Natural Grocers was built on the premise that consumers should have access to affordable, high-quality foods and dietary supplements, along with nutrition knowledge, to help support their own health. Premier Meat Company Launches Online Store Premier Meat Company recently announced the new PremierMeats.com, an informative and full-service online purveyor of meats, poultry and seafood. As the leading provider of high- quality protein to restaurants and top chefs on the West Coast for over 50 years, family-owned Premier Meat Company has expanded its offerings to include a new online store featuring a selection of fresh, never-frozen products that are now available nationwide to the public for the first time ever. Bringing restaurant-quality meats and seafood to the home chef, Premier products are sustainable, healthy and raised humanely on their way from farm to kitchen. Grass-fed veal osso buco, rib-eye steaks, venison, lamb lollipops, carpaccio, shabu shabu, bone marrow and buffalo short ribs as well as local halibut fillets, loup de mer and sea bass are available. Premier Meat also offers an array of other products, tips, recipes and educational information. Door to Door Organics Announces Milwaukee Expansion Door to Door Organics, a leading natural and organic online grocer, continues its high-growth trajectory with an aggressive focus on expansion by bringing its local, natural and organic produce and curated grocery delivery services to Milwaukee beginning in spring 2015. This new market launch is the first following the company's recent round of $25.5 million in Series B financing, which was secured in part to fuel Door to Door Organics' expansion into additional markets. The company plans to announce additional markets before the end of 2015. Door to Door Organics is empowering its customers with new, easier ways to shop, plan and cook family meals and make healthier food choices that also support their local communities and the environment. The company delivers fresh, high-quality, organic, natural and local food directly to homes, offices and schools throughout the West, Midwest and East Coast. The Olive Tap Continued from PAGE 1 reading a series of articles on the product in the now-defunct American version of the magazine La Cucina Italiana, Petrocelly and his wife set their sights on learning everything they could about how to operate a gourmet olive oil shop. Thanks to Petrocelly's vision, The Olive Tap is now a bustling hub for anyone with a passion for food and a desire to try a di- verse array of olive oils and balsamics sourced from across the globe. Most stores carry be- tween 50 and 70 oils and vinegars at any one time sourced from the United States, South America, Spain, Greece, Italy and be- yond. In addition, the stores carry a num- ber of additional specialty foods and tabletop items. Some of The Olive Tap's most popular offerings include jams and preserves from Braswell's, glazes and sauces from Earth & Vine Provisions, specialty goods from Delicaé Gourmet, Frontier Soups mixes, gourmet salts from SaltWorks and Sea Salt Superstore and ceramic goods from Harold Imports. When it comes to the store's namesake product, The Olive Tap supplies customers with olive oil in a unique way – through its fusti, or bulk program. When one enters one of the company's stores, the fusti (or oil tanks) will be the first thing he or she sees. At least 70 percent of the stores' floor space is occupied by long specially designed counters where the fusti sit. When a cus- tomer chooses an oil, an employee simply fills-to-order a pre-labeled bottle. Petrocelly is a passionate advocate for the benefits of merchandising olive oil in this way. "If you go into a grocery store today, you have no idea what is inside the bottle … If you buy something pre-bottled, you have no idea what it tastes like," said Petrocelly. "With us, you taste directly from the tank. If you really want that product, we bottle it right in front of you. There's a knowledge- able customer representative in that store that is going to give you a taste. When you have decided you found one that you like, we are going to bottle it, cork it and seal it right in front of the customer. We eliminate that flavor dis- appointment factor you get when purchasing from gro- cery stores. There is no sur- prise when you get home." In choosing what olive oils to offer at his stores, Petro- celly is very careful to select only the best quality olive oils, conducting detailed scientific and sensory tests of avail- able products on the market, but also polling his customer base to see what types of oils they favor. Customers at The Olive Tap are primarily drawn to three types of olive oil: sweet, light oils like Arbequina, Mission and Spanish Gold, medium inten- sity oils like Italiano and Picual and strong, peppery oils like Koratina. Arbequina is a particular favorite. Because of its popular- ity, the company works hard to offer cus- tomers a fresh supply year round, filling fusti with California Arbequina in the fall, then moving to oils sourced from Spain, Chile, Australia and Uruguay as the sea- sons change. The Olive Tap's bestselling balsamic vinegar is the versatile Italian import Aceto Balsamico di Modena. However, it is slightly more difficult for Petrocelly to identify the flavored balsamic vinegars that are most in demand, as customer prefer- ences shift throughout the year. In the fall, pomegranate, cranberry walnut, orange and tangerine vinegars fly off the shelves. However, in the summer, it is all about raspberry and strawberry. Although most customers at The Olive Tap are stopping in to pick up goods for their own personal use, the company also does a bustling gift business throughout the year as well. Shoppers come in to pick up custom gift baskets and corporate gifts. In addition, The Olive Tap's bulk service make it possible for bottles to be customized for special occasions, for example as wedding favors. Taking advantage of the knowledge that staff members of The Olive Tap have devel- oped surrounding the world of oils and vinegars, the company has actively branched out into the communities in which it operates, working with chefs and restaurants and also educating consumers about the products. Petrocelly himself teaches classes on the history of olive oil as well as a series dubbed "The Culinary Dy- namic Duo," in which he discusses the pair- ing of oil and vinegar. The company also maintains an educational blog where it dis- cusses issues related to these products in greater detail (www.theolivetap.com/blog/). In just eight short years, Rick Petrocelly has transformed an inkling of an idea into a bustling (and growing) retail concept that is treating consumers across the country to an enlightening shopping experience. Yet, in the beginning, he was never sure the risk would pay off. "When I first opened in 2006, I believe we were probably the third independent stand-alone olive oil store in the country. At that time, there was the question: 'Do you really think you can sus- tain a business in olive oil?'" he said. "That question has been very well answered." GN

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