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GOURMET NEWS JULY 2015 www.gourmetnews.com GENERAL NEWS 1 2 Jeni's Ice Cream Continued from PAGE 1 Jeni's immediately voluntarily recalled over half a million pounds of ice cream – about $2.5 million dollars worth – and shuttered its 20 shops while the company cooperated with the FDA and outside ex- perts. "After the finding of Listeria, the FDA and our team took a fresh look at everything we were doing," said John Lowe, CEO of Jeni's Ice Cream. The FDA told Jeni's that between April 20 and April 30, the agency observed pro- tocol issues, sanitary violations and a lack of contamination prevention oversight by the company. The closure gave Jeni's staff and outside experts time to reevaluate its practices and locate the source of the Lis- teria outbreak. Jeni's broad testing found a second pint to be contaminated, and the company isolated the source to a single piece of equipment. "When we found the 'smoking gun' we were than able to insti- tute a plan based on recommendations from outside experts," Lowe said. The company spent $200,000 to over- haul its facilities and modify everyday pro- cedures. "We installed new walls, new operating pro- cedures, and we introduced new testing proto- cols," said Lowe, "We want to put ourselves in the best position possible to never have this happen again." Jeni's now re- quires that all equipment must be cleaned overnight by a third party operator. "Every morning now, we protein test all of the equipment before putting it back together. If it comes back all green, it's all good. If it comes up red, then the equipment needs to be cleaned again," Lowe said. The processing of fruits and vegetables was also modified. Prior to the inspection, fruits and vegetables were processed in the same kitchen as the ice cream. "We won't bring in fresh fruit directly into the fa- cility anymore. Now there is an in- termediate step. Fruits will be cleaned and processed before being brought into the facility," Lowe said. From the volun- tary recall through the reopening on May 22, Jeni's used its website and social media to communicate with customers in an effort to maintain consumer confidence. "We have always been an open company. We want to be transparent with customers and con- sumers. We sought to keep the public in- formed about what we knew," said Lowe. Jeni's says that the time during the clo- sure was its darkest hour and that commu- nity support and the welcome reception made its comeback particularly special. The company attributes its renewed suc- cess from its transparency during the clo- sure. "We feel the love from the people that stood with us. We are in communication with all retailers and don't believe we'll have lost a single shelf slot," Lowe said. Building inventory back up to normal levels will take a while, since production will be handled more slowly as the com- pany gets accustomed to the new sanitary protocols, but retailers and consumers can expect Jeni's to be back on store shelves in July. "We will be able to maintain produc- tion that will keep the shelves stocked," said Lowe, "We are 100 percent confident that it is 100 percent safe, and we wouldn't go forward if that was not the case." GN Restaurateurs Continued from PAGE 1 a piece of the 13 percent of the average per- son' income that gets spent for food. The restaurant industry's share of the average consumer's food dollar is now 47 percent, up from 25 percent in 1955. That propor- tion will continue to edge up over the decade ahead, according to Riehle, as em- ployment growth means more people with less time to prepare meals at home and more spending power as well. In this dog-eat-dog marketplace, restau- rateurs are responding by offering more healthful options on their menus, particu- larly their children's menus, which are get- ting a lot of attention from chefs this year, said Annika Stensson, Director of Research Communications for the National Restau- rant Association. She cited research show- ing that about 80 percent of consumers say that they're finding more healthful options on restaurant menus now than they did two years ago. About three quarters of con- sumers say that they'd be more likely to visit a restaurant that offers healthy op- tions, she said, and seven out of 10 con- sumers say that they're ordering more healthy items when they dine out than they did two years ago. They're also offering more local food op- tions, since seven out of 10 consumers say that they're more likely to visit a restaurant that offers local food, Stensson said, adding that more than half of consumers also say that they'd be more likely to visit a restau- rant that offers organic or otherwise eco- friendly options. Restaurant operators agree that they're hearing more of their customers asking for locally-produced food, and the industry's top menu trends for 2015 among restau- rants that provide table service include more locally-sourced meats, seafood and produce. Both table service restaurants and limited-service restaurants also say that they're already changing their menus to offer healthier options on their children's menus. Over the next five years, we can ex- pect restaurants to be paying even more at- tention to offering healthier options and sustainably-produced, locally-sourced food on their menus as Americans continue to demand those things, Stensson said. GN Shoppers Prefer Discounts on Groceries Over Gas The results of a nationwide LoyaltyOne survey show that U.S. grocery shoppers have a resounding message for grocery re- tailers who have been enticing them with fuel rewards for over a decade: Fuel re- wards alone aren't winning their loyalty. Grocery discounts are the new value driver. In a March 2015 survey of 1,000 U.S. Consumers, 72 percent said they'd prefer that grocers offer discounts in the aisle in- stead of at the pump. The preference is strongest in the densely populated North- east, where 81 percent said they'd opt for grocery discounts over gas savings. It's weakest but still noteworthy, in the West, where 65 percent favored grocery discounts. Among the biggest spenders, those who budget $700 a month on groceries, no less than eight out of ten (83 percent) expressed a preference for grocery discounts versus gas re- wards. Similarly, the majority of shoppers (74 percent) spending $300 to $500 a month, said they prefer grocery discounts to gas savings. Age-wise, older millennials are leading the charge for grocery discounts over gas re- wards. Among shoppers 25-35 years old, 76 percent said they prefer grocery, rather than gas rewards. That's five percentage points higher than any other age group in a range spanning from 18 years old to over-65. "Too many grocers have become compla- cent with a one-offer-fits-all mentality about loyalty. Not only is a generic fuel offer not relevant to all customers, it equates to untargeted marketing spending undermining ROI," LoyaltyOne Consulting Managing Partner Dennis Armbruster said. "Fuel reward programs still have rele- vance and value, but our research and client engagements confirm they're also not a cure-all for building loyalty. Progressive gro- cers need to heed the signs. Few can afford to not leverage shopper data and explore al- ternatives or additions to their fuel pro- grams to engage more customer segments, improve their marketing response and de- rive significant returns," Armbruster said. LoyaltyOne Consulting helps leading companies create differentiated loyalty pro- grams and services that drive sales, ROI and maximize customer value. The organ- ization also identifies high-risk gaps in the customer experience and value proposi- tion, which according to this research is re- liance on fuel alone. In other key findings from the survey, 62 percent of respondents said they'd switch to grocery rewards if a grocer offering gas rewards gave them the option of a different type of reward; 24 percent said they'd stay with gas rewards; eight percent said they'd opt for travel rewards; and six percent chose electronics, housewares or apparel. The survey results are based on an online survey in March 2015 of 1,000 American respondents. The survey's margin of error is +/- 3.5 percent at the 95 percent confi- dence level. GN California Dairy Industry Contributes $21 Billion To State's Economy Cementing its place as California's most important agricultural commodity by farm revenue, California farms sold about $9.4 billion worth of milk while the dairy industry contributed approximately $21 billion in value added to the gross state product in 2014, according to a California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB)study con- ducted by the University of California Agricultural Issues Center (AIC). Includ- ing sales of inputs to dairy farms and milk processors along with raw milk and wholesale milk product sales, the dairy industry contributed $65 billion in total sales to the California economy in 2014. The growing demand for dairy products like cheese and yogurt as well as strong dairy exports accounted for 189,000 jobs that are dependent on the state's milk pro- duction and processing. "The dairy industry's contributions are vital to California's economy, from creating jobs to stimulating local and regional economies to providing nutritious and en- joyable products to consumers every- where," said John Talbot, CEO at the California Milk Advisory Board. "A large number of California residents depend on the dairy industry for employment and these jobs would not exist without it." The $21 billion to California's gross state product included $7.4 billion as income to industry workers and owners and $13.4 billion through related, outside industries such as feed, veterinary and accounting services used for dairy production and elec- tricity, packaging, equipment and trucking services used by processors. The tax rev- enue generated from these jobs supported important statewide initiatives to improve education, health care, roads, community services and the environment. Overall, 189,000 jobs in California are associated with the dairy industry. Of this amount, approximately 30,000 jobs are on the farm and 20,000 jobs represent dairy processing. For every dairy farm job, there are several more jobs that are tied to the business and create a linked chain of eco- nomic impacts. California leads the nation in dairy pro- duction and dairy continues as the top commodity in the country's top agricultural state. It has been the nation's largest milk producer since 1993 and is also the coun- try's leading producer of butter, ice cream, nonfat dry milk and whey protein concen- trate. California is also the second largest producer of cheese and yogurt. Farm milk sales generated $9.4 billion gross revenue in 2014. Wholesale dairy product (cheese, fluid milk, ice cream, but- ter and other dairy) sales hit $25 billion in 2014. GN

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