Oser Communications Group

GOURMET NEWS MARCH 2016 www.gourmetnews.com NEWS & NOTES 1 1 This January FreshOne welcomed the new year by celebrating its tenth anniversary. FreshOne was founded in 2006 with the commitment to provide consistently fresh, delicious, high-quality foods to retailers nationwide. The company work with its partner suppliers to provide custom, fresh food solutions as both a product producer and direct store distributor. FreshOne's unique logistics capabilities include a new fleet of temperature-con- trolled trucks and the latest logistics tech- nology to ensure the most streamlined and fresh processes possible for every client on every delivery. Customers are able to man- age each step of the process through FreshOne's proprietary web based order management system, which makes the process of providing fresh food to cus- tomers and maximizing profits easy for re- tailers. FreshOne continues to implement the most rigorous safety and freshness standards to generate strong sales results based on turnkey solutions for all of its customers. "We truly value our customers and thank them for their continued confidence and trust in our solutions. These past 10 years have been rewarding as we fulfill our purpose while adhering to our core values. Our recent entry into the grocery and higher education channels leads us to be- Distributor Celebrates Tenth Anniversary Investment bank Harris Williams & Co. has announced the sale of PANOS brands, LLC (PANOS) to Hammond, Kennedy, Whitney & Company, Inc. (HKW). PANOS is a leading provider of branded consumer foods in a wide variety of grow- ing categories. Known for its unique port- folio of brands, the company has consistently expanded its footprint over the last few years with a focus on provid- ing consumers with high quality, great tasting and better for you products in the specialty, natural, organic and mass gro- cery channels. Harris Williams & Co. served as the exclusive adviser to PANOS, a portfolio company of High Road Capital Partners (High Road). "PANOS' management has executed nu- merous brand development initiatives to establish PANOS as a leading, differenti- ated portfolio of trusted consumer brands," said Glenn Gurtcheff, a Manag- ing Director at Harris Williams & Co. "The company's on-trend product offer- ings, new product development capabili- ties and diversified customer base garnered significant interest in the market. We believe management has a terrific part- ner in HKW, and we are looking forward to the company's continued success." PANOS' unique portfolio of natural and specialty food brands include Andrew & Everett, KA-ME, MI-DEL, Sesmark, Amore and Chatfield's. PANOS was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Rochelle Park, New Jersey. High Road is a private equity firm fo- cused on lower-middle market transac- tions. High Road was formed in 2007. The company focuses on niche-leading com- panies with revenues of $10 million to $100 million and EBITDA of $3 million to $10 million. Once acquired, High Road works in partnership with management to take the companies to the next level through a combination of organic growth initiatives and add-on acquisitions. HKW is a private equity firm founded PANOS Brands Sold to Hammond, Kennedy, Whitney & Company in 1903 with offices in Indianapolis and New York. Since 1982, HKW has spon- sored 51 platform transactions of lower- middle market companies throughout North America, as well as 56 add-on ac- quisitions. Investment banking services are pro- vided by Harris Williams LLC, a regis- tered broker-dealer and member of FINRA and SIPC, and Harris Williams & Co. Ltd, which is authorized and regu- lated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Harris Williams & Co. is a trade name under which Harris Williams LLC and Harris Williams & Co. Ltd conduct business. GN lieve the next 10 years will be even more exciting," said FreshOne President Don Janacek. During 2015 FreshOne experienced a record year for sales and profits. Matt Yost, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, at- tributes this growth to FreshOne's ability to maintain an innovative line of fresh, prepackaged grab-and-go and home meal replacement products, data-driven solu- tions that increase the customer's bottom line and a custom distribution network that gets products to retailers quickly, efficiently and cost effectively. The research and de- velopment team is constantly working on new and innovative products to introduce to the market, including health-oriented items as well as seasonal items that are on trend with consumer demands and regional preferences. "Whether the goal is to attract premium customers, discount shoppers or someone in between, FreshOne builds pro- grams that are the right fit for the retailer who wants to do fresh grab-and-go in a world-class manner," Yost said. FreshOne products are now available in major convenience chains, supermarkets and college campuses across the country. This year FreshOne will be commissioning a new fleet of trucks with a brand-new look in addition to hiring new sales personnel. GN American grocery shoppers are strapped for time yet willing to work for the very best value, according to new research from Blackhawk Engagement Solutions. The new shopper data shows that con- sumers are well prepared, and arrive at the grocery store knowing exactly what they're going to buy, and most impor- tantly, why (value). "Brands can no longer take grocery cus- tomers for granted. Price sensitivity, cus- tomer time deficiency, and instant access to promotions and product information are putting greater pressure on retail and product companies to shift with con- sumer demands," said Rodney Mason, GVP of Marketing at Blackhawk Engage- ment Solutions, an international incen- tives and engagement company. Blackhawk Engagement Solutions' "How Grocery Shoppers Shop: Changing Trends in Grocery Shopping" report sum- marizes the findings from two distinct studies: the first was a study conducted in September 2015 that surveyed more than 1,500 Americans and focused on how they shop for groceries. The second sur- veyed more than 2,500 Americans in Oc- tober 2015 about their use of shopping apps. Together, these surveys identified grocery shopping path-to-purchase be- haviors. When asked to rank the factors in se- lecting a grocery store by order of impor- tance, shoppers placed the convenience of location behind the attraction of price: 70 percent said price was the leading factor, 59 percent said products/brands I specifi- cally need, 48 percent said store location and 31 percent said faster checkout. Ad- American Grocery Shoppers Drive for Value ditionally, 60 percent of shoppers report being loyal to a particular grocery store. Grocery shoppers do their money-sav- ing homework: Fifty-eight percent of shoppers actively look for deals and pro- motions before going to the grocery store; 68 percent belong to at least two grocery store loyalty programs; 68 percent always use deals, promotions and coupons on grocery store items, and the rest do some- times. Consumers aren't always brand loyal: Ninety one percent of shoppers believe store brands are a great value, and 72 per- cent believe store brands are the same quality as national brands. Only half (52 percent) of shoppers report buying brand- name products always or in certain cate- gories. Consumers prefer larger values from re- bates: Shoppers don't mind jumping through a hoop for bigger savings. By a large margin, the majority prefer richer rebate rewards over instant discounts for single-item purchases across all grocery store departments, including gift cards, cooking and baking supplies, cleaning supplies, pet supplies, baby supplies, paper products, meat and deli items and more. Shoppers embrace grocery store apps, not third-party shopping apps: Con- sumers are becoming increasingly more comfortable using apps for grocery shop- ping; the top-used apps are: Amazon (71 percent), grocery store apps (28 percent), Walmart (26 percent) and Target (25 per- cent). Third-party savings apps are not used much, with use in the low single dig- its for the grocery channel. GN Publix supermarkets are now selling two sausage products from Field Roast Grain Meat Co.: Smoked Apple Sage and Italian. With over 1,100 Publix locations, this partnership showcases the increasing in- terest and demand in quality vegetarian and vegan proteins. Field Roast sausages, boldly seasoned and made with fresh fruits and vegetables, are not health first, but represent a taste- first approach to the category. More akin to their natural and nitrate-free animal meat counterparts, Field Roast sausages are high protein, contain expeller pressed oil, and cost about $6.99 a pound. This is not your run-of-the-mill soy-based vege- tarian product. Since their macrobiotic beginnings, the reputation of so-called fake meats have turned off mainstream customers shop- ping at mega supermarkets. Now, major retailers across the nation are placing Specialty Brand Vegetarian Meat Alternatives Now Sold at Publix Supermarkets more expensive and specialty brands on shelves, creating value from the real food movement and attracting new customers to the category. Plant-based vegan meats and cheeses are making a real impact on conventional grocery store shelves, giving more choices to communities that don't have the luxury or demographic for a fully natural store or a co-op. It's no longer a niche, as flexitar- ian habits have become commonplace and vegan meat alternatives are much more satisfying than they used to be. In 2015, Seattle-based vegan meat alter- native and vegan cheese maker Field Roast expanded into conventional retailers such as Safeway, Meijer and Kroger in the West and Midwest. Field Roast products have been steadily growing in popularity in all markets nationwide for several years run- ning, punctuated by this new placement in Southeast retailer Publix. GN

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