Animal welfare continues to be an emerging segment of the food business, and it’s one supermarket retailers are right to invest in. Consumer interest and activist efforts to expose some of the darker secrets on the processing side can have a big impact on the sales end — particularly when there are protesters outside stores, amendments introduced at annual stockholders meetings and other public awareness stunts.

Resist all you want. One look at those undercover videos made by activists in slaughterhouses and consumers start demanding change. The images are shocking because everyone has become so far removed from the ugly, but necessary, act of slaughtering an animal for food. Consumers just see esoteric, overwrapped packages of red steaks and pale chicken breasts. They’ve forgotten about the bloody processing these animals go through to become case ready.

Safeway this week made the important decision to change its policies regarding food animals. The nation’s third-largest supermarket chain had been in ongoing talks with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and the Humane Society of the United States to adopt more animal-friendly sourcing rules.

There are three significant changes: The chain is “actively looking” for ways to increase purchases from poultry processors using “controlled atmosphere stunning” techniques (we’ll let the link explain that one); pork suppliers who do not use sow-confining gestation crates; and egg vendors who offer cage-free eggs. Safeway is already offering products based on these policies in some regions, with more to be added as the policy phase-in continues.

These are important initiatives, not only because it’s what consumers want, but it’s just a better way of doing business.

With a 2007 growth rate of more than 20% and sales of roughly $4 billion, the organic category runs the constant risk of attracting scammers. Luckily there’s Craig’s List to keep them occupied — for now. Each participant in the food industry needs to take some responsibility for helping to ensure that the food, beverages and other products labeled “organic” are authentic. Fraud can occur at any stage of distribution.

Several initiatives currently underway are worth keeping an eye on. On the retail end, the National Cooperative Grocers Association has been testing a retailer-based organic fraud detection and prevention program launched last October. The aim is to figure out what methods and best practices food retailers can adopt to limit the incidence of fraudulently traded organic products and to increase the chances of early detection when it takes place within the retail supply chain. NCGA is hoping to be able to offer some sort of program by the middle of this year.

Meanwhile, back at the farm, researchers are attempting to develop protocols capable of detecting the presence of synthetic fertilizers in crops labeled organic. A new report published in the Journal of Environmental Quality described successful trials of a process called nitrogen isotopic discrimination to see if fertilizers not approved by the National Organic Program were used on a sweet pepper plant.

While these trials are being conducted, it might be a good time to think about ways your company is protecting organic integrity. Getting in-store departments and entire stores certified, or contracting with third-party certifiers is all good. These actions demonstrate good intentions.

But it may not be enough. Organics continues to attract more consumers, and generate millions more dollars in revenue. Those interested in taking ill-gotten profits are captivated as well.

The number of in-store medical clinics in the United States has been growing at an astounding pace. In just over a year, more than 700 of these walk-in offices have opened in supermarkets, drug stores and mass merchandisers.

At that rate, there’s bound to be a few bumps and bruises — although one or two have actually succumbed to poor planning and inadequate financials. That’s why it was interesting to hear that Wal-Mart is rolling out clinics that are co-branded with area hospitals and medical groups, starting in April with a location in Little Rock, Ark. that will be staffed by nurse practitioners from the nearby St. Vincent Health System. By 2010, Wal-Mart hopes to have 400 of these clinics up and running.

By including the local medical community in this business, Wal-Mart is taking positive steps to quiet ongoing criticism of in-store clinics. Organizations like the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association have discouraged people from visiting them, citing a lack of quality care and fragmentation of the healthcare system, among other concerns.

Perhaps more important to the consumer is that Wal-Mart is taking steps to upgrade what has so far been an inconsistent format. Don’t forget that, last month, CheckUps, a company that operated clinics in 23 Wal-Mart stores, became insolvent and closed down unexpectedly. That had to hurt.

It’s odd to be blogging about a blog, but that’s what we’re doing today, after being invited by Seth Goldman, the “TeaEO” of Honest Tea, to read through his entry on why he approves of Coca-Cola taking a 40% stake in his company.

“Our challenge is to find a partner who wants to ‘buy in’ to our mission, rather than one who wants us to ’sell out,’” he wrote. We know exactly what he’s talking about. Large CPG companies have become huge investors in the health and wellness business. In the process they’re often maligned by core consumers as faceless corporations that strip their acquisitions and partners of everything for the sake of profit.

These types of investments do have benefits. A small company can’t spread its ideals to the masses if it can’t get the product out. This lack of adequate capital for research and development, marketing and distribution is what everyone, including Goldman, talks about when the conventional manufacturers step in with a proposal like this.

There’s been a bit of hand-wringing lately. Clorox snapped up Burt’s Bees and Kellogg’s acquired Bear Naked. Now this. Indeed, sometimes these deals go bad. There’s a sense of betrayal and compromise — think Ben & Jerry’s or Silk, as Goldman did in his blog.

“The world of mission-driven business is littered with entrepreneurs whose companies lost their soul or at least lost their leadership,” is how he put it. The company takes pains to point out that it will continue to operate as an independent business with the same leadership.

To Goldman’s (and Coke’s) credit, there’s a lot of transparency in the announcement. The reasoning is sound, even if current fans might be disappointed. If that turns out to be the case, it’s good Honest Tea has (pardon the pun) acquired the ability to reach to new customers.

Budweiser beer, Doritos, luxury cars and big-budget movies made their usual rounds during Sunday’s Superbowl, which drew 97.5 million viewers. So it goes with mainstream America. But for retailers there was also an interesting trend lumped in amidst the string of sometimes funny, often strained advertisements: value-added beverages proclaiming they’re ready for the bigtime.

Four spots, to be exact, touted bottled drinks infused with caffeine, vitamins, added flavor — or any combination of these. There was Diet Pepsi Max, which pledged to wake up a nation full of nod-offs. There was also G2, made by PepsiCo’s Gatorade sports drink franchise, positioned as an off the field “low calorie hydrator”. And then there were the flavored waters — one from Pepsi’s Sobe brand (dancing lizards?) and the other from Coke’s Glaceau and its Vitamin Water brand.

Like carbon credits and fad diets, enhanced water and other beverages offer a way to cut the guilt without curbing the habit. The actual health benefits are questionable. Vitamin Water contains almost as much sugar as soda does, even though it doesn’t contain high fructose corn syrup. There’s also been debate in the past over whether these beverages release as much vitamin-packed goodness as consumers think they do.

But we’ve covered the rise of this category in the past, and it appears there’s no stopping it. Energy drink sales are growing annually at around 40%; the flavored water industry could reach $800 million in sales by 2009, according to Beverage Marketing; and soda sales are gradually slacking off.

With numbers like these, it’s easy to rationalize $2.6 million for a 30-second spot during the Big Game.

An annual report on construction trends put out by the management consulting firm FMI Corp. (no relation to the Food Marketing Institute) is something we wouldn’t usually read.

That’s changing, however, and this new FMI report reminds us that the entire health and wellness movement is just one part of a much larger megatrend that also includes sustainability, social issues and world economics. The 2008 U.S. Construction Overview highlights three trends that are pushing green building practices to the forefront of all industries, including supermarkets.

According to the report, green nonresidential construction installed in 2006 reached $13.4 billion; by the end of this year it will pass the $21 billion mark — big growth on a big scale.

FMI cites three trends driving this increase:

* Government Initiatives. Many states and cities have adopted new ordinances that push sustainable practices in the construction of new buildings. There are also more tax rebates, credits and other incentives to go green. These projects also tend to get approved quicker, a benefit in and of itself.

* Residential Demand. There is a heightened level of interest in adding green elements at home, and this is spilling over in to the commercial construction sector, according to FMI. As homeowners increase their own investment, materials volume is increasing and becoming more common. Expectations grow that their retailers and other service providers will join in.

* Green Materials. Demand is creating increased inventory of sustainable building materials. People are making a conscious effort to source carpet, paint, wood and other supplies that are more healthful, more energy efficient and economically sensible. The growing demand is helping to drive down prices, and as the materials become more affordable, demand will likely increase even more.