uCampbell Soup Goes Grocery Shopping, Spends $231M On Hummusr

4 4 4 9

• Consumers have made their preferences known: their tastes are turning more toward fresh, organic, and minimally processed food. Large food manufacturers like Hormel and Campbell Soup Company are solving this problem by going out and acquiring smaller independent brands in the “fresh and organic” sector that people already like. The Campbell Soup Company announced today that it’s buying Michigan-based Garden Fresh Gourmet for $231 million.

  While “organic” has a set meaning according to the U.S. Department of agriculture, other terms like “fresh,” “natural,” and “local” don’t. That’s what consumers want, though, and that’s why Spam-maker Hormel purchased “natural and organic” meat company Applegate Farms last month. General Mills bought beloved organic snack and pasta company Annie’s last year, a transaction that made some customers react with outrage, and others with a shrug.

  In these transactions, the “natural” brand keeps its identity, but becomes part of a larger company with a more expansive distribution network. That’s how such acquisitions are supposed to work, anyway: in a few years, it will be interesting to see whether these brands stay independent.

  How did Campbell executives find Garden Fresh Gourmet? The head of the company’s “fresh” division told Reuters that they literally wandered around a grocery store looking for brands that no larger conglomerate had acquired yet.

  “Garden Fresh was the only significant brand in that space that hadn’t been acquired,” he explained. “We knew eventually the family was going to sell the business.”

  Garden Fresh Gourmet makes hummus, salsa, chips, and dip. While the new acquisition is supposed to remain independent within the larger Campbellverse, there are interesting overlaps with its existing Pepperidge Farm and Pace divisions. Acquiring new customers by acquiring independent brands has worked out well for Campbell, which also owns the Bolthouse Farms vegetable and Plum Organics baby food brands.

  Campbell Soup to buy salsa maker Garden Fresh for $231 mlm [Reuters]

  
• 
  

ribbi

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

uCompanies Can Charge Customers A Bunch Of Money For Snack Bars Because They Know We’ll Buy’emr

4 4 4 9

• 

  (robertstinnett)

  There are some things we won’t blink an eye at paying a premium for because, well, that’s just what we do when we want something. Like steak — meat lovers are willing to hand over a hefty chunk of change because part of that high price implies high quality. Such is the case for snack bars, which are enjoying increased popularity right now and commanding high prices.

  Snack bar loyalists are keeping the products in great demand, with 1,012 different nutrition bars on the market today. That’s compared to only 226 a decade ago, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing Valient Market Research.

  Many popular ingredients in these bars are expensive as sources of protein when compared to a traditional cookie. And if you’re looking at the per ounce price for protein, the WSJ notes, some cost more than a steak.

  While candy bars go for about a buck, snack bars command higher prices, with the average bar going for around $2. That’s 100% more than it cost 10 years ago, in a sign that people are willing to pay up for their favorite snacks, says Valient founder Scott Upham, calling the phenomenon “diminishing price sensitivity.”

  And of course, there are those consumers who don’t mind paying as much as $3 for a bar that’s perceived as healthy, retailers say. To that end, bar consumption corresponds to household income with households that earn between $100,000 and $149,000 eating the most, according to market research firm Mintel.

  Speaking of that steak, bars featuring meat have recently been getting more attention as well, which can be a pricy protein. So you can have your steak and eat it too, with much less mess.

  “Five years ago we didn’t consider [meat bars] as an option,” Dwight Richmond, global grocery purchasing coordinator at Whole Foods Market told the WSJ. “It was a fringe element of a jerky category.”

  Snack Bars Push the Price Envelope and Find Consumers Don’t Push Back [Wall Street Journal]

  
• 
  

ribbi

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

uPotentially-Toxic Beetle Shows Up In A Salad From Aldir

4 4 4 9

• Just when the Consumerist staff were about to think about maybe buying some packaged spring mix again, we’ve heard about another Salad Beetle. Normally, an insect in your organic salad is a startling but not dangerous problem to have: vegetable packagers would prefer that it didn’t happen, and so would consumers, but no one will get hurt. Iron Cross blister beetles are different, though: they give off a toxic substance when stressed, and eating the salad can make you sick.

  Reader Dave sent us this photo of the beetle that he found in his organic salad from discount grocery Aldi, which he purchased last week.

  WARNING: BUG PHOTO
  

  Our advice, which should apply to all produce, really is this:

  1. Check your produce for stray insects when you arrive home or open the package.

  2. Wash thoroughly before eating.

  3. Report anything that isn’t supposed to be there to the retailer, the food packager if not the same company, and to the Food and Drug Administration.

  RELATED:
  This Toxin-Emitting Beetle Is Not A Crunchy Salad Topping

  
• 
  

ribbi

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

uGrocers: Egg Supply Is Fine Amid Bird Flu Outbreak Because Higher Prices Keep Demand Downr

4 4 4 9

• 

  (Dyanna Hyde)

  Although you might be seeing higher prices for a carton of eggs at the supermarket or limits on how many you can buy at once, it’s not likely you’ll be facing bare shelves at stores anytime soon, say grocers. Prices have tripled in some areas, tamping down demand as some customers aren’t willing to shell out the extra dough for a dozen eggs.

  Despite the fact that there’s an egg shortage going on thanks to the recent bird flu epidemic, pushing egg prices higher, grocers in the Midwest say there are plenty of eggs at the moment for those who want them because some shoppers don’t want to pay more, reports the Des Moines Register.

  Before the avian flu outbreak, a dozen extra large eggs sold for $0.99, Aaron Irlbeck, vice president of wholesale purchasing at Fareway Stores Inc. told the Register. Now those same eggs sell “in the $3 range,” he said. The chain has 110 stores in five states.

  “We haven’t had trouble with supply, because the high prices are keeping demand down,” Irlbeck told the paper.

  Hy-Vee Inc. also says things seem to be on an even keel, with a few delays for larger-sized eggs but nothing major.

  “Looking ahead to the coming weeks, we’re hopeful that we’ll continue to receive our regular supply of eggs,” the company said.

  Thus far almost 47 million birds have been destroyed because of the H5N2 virus that’s spread through Midwest farms this spring, with Iowa’s poultry population getting hit especially hard. Of those felled birds, around 35 million were egg-laying hens.

  $3 for a dozen eggs? Blame bird flu [Des Moines Register]

  
• 
  

ribbi

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist

uPandora CFO Not Worried By Apple Music Announcementr

4 4 4 9

• Yesterday’s Apple Music announcement was seen as a long-overdue swipe at streaming music services like Pandora and Spotify that have dominated the market that Apple helped to create with the introduction of the iPod and iTunes, along with the iPhone and iPad mobile devices that people listen to the music on. Given Apple’s ability to instantly reach the large swath of iOS users, you wouldn’t fault these competitors from being frightened, but the Chief Financial Officer of Pandora doesn’t seem terribly worried.

  “I don’t think it was anything too surprising,” Pandora CFO Mike Herring told CNBC this morning about Apple Music. “We’re still confident in Pandora’s position as the market leader, and expect to see our business continue to grow.”

  A good part of why he’s not openly fazed by the prospect of Apple Music is that so much of Pandora’s audience has not yet shown a desire to pay a premium for streaming.

  Pandora currently has around 80 million users, but only a fraction of them are paying for access that removes ads from the service. Of the company’s $921 million in revenue last year, only $188 million came from subscriptions. The rest came from advertisers.

  “We understand consumers are curious and we expect as new services are offered people will reach out and try different services,” admitted Herring. “That’s happened many times over the years.”

  In spite of challenges from Spotify, Google, Amazon, Apple’s own Beats, and the Jay-Z backed Tidal, Herring noted that Pandora “has been very successful with a lot of competition. We don’t expect that to change… We lead the industry in terms of ad-supported radio and we think that that’s going to be a competitive advantage for years to come.”

  
• 
  

ribbi

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

uThis Smart Oven Is Smarter Than You Are, Streams Video Of Your Dinnerr

4 4 4 9

• We remain cynical but open-minded about the idea of smart appliances. What we’ve seen so far isn’t all that impressive: from the potential for kitchen appliances to launch cyberattacks to an incredibly stupid WiFi-enabled drip coffeemaker, we aren’t really sold on the idea yet. News of a new oven available for pre-order that is able to sense what you’re cooking and automatically determine how to cook it has us intrigued.

  Normally we shy away from reporting on gadgets that aren’t available for sale already, since we also report on plenty of failed projects funded through pre-orders and crowdfunding. The company behind the June oven, though, has actual investors as well as taking deposits on their first product, a smart oven equipped with WiFi, a high-definition video camera, and a built-in digital scale.

  That camera gives the oven two superpowers: First, it can identify certain foods using that camera, like a tray of cookies or a steak (the two major Consumerist food groups [editor’s note: don’t forget cheese]) and automatically know how to cook them.

  And second, in case you don’t trust the oven, you can keep an eye on how well the cookies are browning from inside the appliance, using the same camera that the oven uses to figure out what it’s cooking.

  The first ovens won’t ship to consumers until the spring of 2016, so we’ll reserve judgement until then. Live-streaming one’s dinner seems like too much appliance smartness… but I could be on the wrong side of history here.

  June [Official Site]
  Review: June Smart Oven Offers to Cook for You [Wall Street Journal]

  
• 
  

ribbi

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

uAirline Industry Proposes Ideal Bag Size For Overhead Binsr

4 4 4 9

• Line up to board a plane, and you will see a wide array of carry-on bags in a variety of shapes, colors and, unfortunately for the airline staff, many different sizes. While some of those oversized bags immediately get the boot, the assortment of sizes can still make it tough to maximize overhead bin space. That struggle could be a thing of the past, if carriers sign on with the industry’s new specifications for the “perfect” carry-on.

  The perfectly-proportioned rolling suitcase is small enough to allow all passengers on a flight of 120 people or more to fit one bag in the overhead space near their seat, said Tom Windmuller, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) senior vice president for airport, passenger, cargo and security.

  Working with Boeing and Airbus, the IATA came up with exact measurements for the ideal size: 55 centimeters (21 inches) tall, 35 centimeters (13.5 inches) wide and 20 centimeters (7.5 inches) deep.

  Because airlines set their own size requirements for carry-ons, this can lead to confusion, said Windmuller, calling sizing bins placed near the gate “ridiculous” when addressing reports, says the Associated Press.

  Many airlines have different size requirements for carry-ons, which can lead to confusion, he adds.

  “The development of an agreed optimal cabin bag size will bring common sense and order to the problem of differing sizes for carry-on bags,” Windmuller says in a press release (warning: link has video that autoplays). “We know the current situation can be frustrating for passengers. This work will help to iron out inconsistencies and lead to an improved passenger experience.”

  The IATA worked with baggage manufacturers to make bags widely available by the end of the year. Price will vary depending on the quality and materials chosen by bag makers. If the bags fit IATA size specifications, they’ll get a label reading “IATA Cabin OK.”

  To be clear — other carry-on bags will still be allowed, even without such a tag.

  Airlines don’t have to sign up to be a part of the initiative, but Windmuller says airline executives have been responding well so far, with “a number of major international airlines” planning to introduce guidelines soon into their operations.

  
• 
  

ribbi

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist