Wait, don’t call the ASPCA just yet. I meant Chia Pet — you know, those terra cotta figures shaped like animals (or the heads of Homer Simpson or Scooby-Doo) that get slathered with wet seeds and eventually grow “hair.” Rarely does a Christmas go by without the ad popping up on television, blaring that timeless refrain, “Ch-ch-ch-chia!”

Well, those sprightly green tendrils that make up the hair are actually an ancient grain, one of several species making a comeback as health and wellness reintroduces consumers to traditional foods. Chia was once a dietary staple of the Aztecs. Today, food manufacturers are looking at its high omega-3, fiber and calcium content as an ideal addition to processed foods (it helps that chia is flavorless, unlike its more modern cousins, flax and hemp).

A new report from Datamonitor found that chia — along with quinoa, spelt, and amaranth — are increasingly being used to boost the nutritional profile of mass-produced foods and beverages. Productscan Online, the firm’s database of new product introductions, found that the number of products incorporating these old grains grew 50% worldwide, from 257 in 2005 to more than 500 last year.

Chia is going into all sorts of products, ranging from energy bars and even tortilla chips; others, like amaranth, are getting mixed into cold cereals. The vast majority of American consumers probably still isn’t familiar with these primitive grains, so there are few expectations the market for them will blossom anytime soon. But, people are searching for ways to reduce the amount of processed foods they eat. Datamonitor researchers found that 63% of Americans polled said it was at least “important” to cut down on their consumption of highly processed foods.

So, now you know what I mean when I say, “Eat you pet.” But mind the pottery. It might be a bit too much roughage.

Take a look at any refrigerated case in the produce department, and you’ll understand just how supermarkets feel about fresh juices and smoothies. It’s not uncommon these days for stores to merchandise up to 8, multi-tiered feet of these fruit and vegetable concoctions.

Labor-sensitive retailers like juice smoothies because they require no special knowledge to pack out and don’t require trimming and rotation like fresh produce. Smoothies have a longer shelf life, too.

So, it’s no surprise to see fresh smoothie kiosks whipping up competition in the $2 billion category. Supermarkets like Safeway and Whole Foods Market have installed juice and smoothie stations in select stores over the past few years. Many are outlets of national chains like Jamba Juice and Smoothie King. Some are franchised, but the vast majority of these in-store units are leased to, and staffed by, the retailer.

Paul Clayton, CEO of Jamba Juice, told us a while back that a 250-square-foot kiosk produces about two-thirds the revenue of one of the company’s freestanding stores — not a bad return on a small footprint. They’re also much more efficient to run.

Smoothies offer a fantastic health and wellness profile, and are ideally suited for supermarkets. That’s why competition among makers of both bottled and fresh smoothies is growing intense. McDonald’s is making them, and Starbucks is planning to. This week, Jamba Juice partnered with Dole Food Company, to launch Jambafruit.com, an online portal where consumers can submit and share smoothie recipes. Dole has slapped millions of customized stickers on bunches of fresh bananas that read, “I Want to Jamba!” at thousands of grocery stores nationwide.

The co-branding effort gets Jamba’s name deeper into supermarket territory, and Dole gains brand-name access into foodservice. This is the kind of arrangement we’ll likely see more of in the category as consumer demand for healthful, indulgent beverages grows.

Much like the mainstream wellness movement it’s now a part of, soy has evolved from a crunchy niche (tofu casserole, anyone?) into a major shelf presence. Just walk through the aisles of your neighborhood grocer and you’ll see soy milk, soy nutrition bars, cereal made with soy, and more, all prominently displayed.

Chalk this up to a host of factors. Food technology has helped soy develop beyond bland and into a palatable lineup of foods and drinks. There are also the many perceived health benefits, including studies that link soy to heart health and weight loss. And then there are those who, for whatever reason, have begun to swear by soy. Many — including, ahem, my mom — believe substituting soy for dairy or meat helps control their allergies. Or perhaps it helps with asthma, or headaches.

Whatever the reason, soy-based product sales have shot up over the past couple years. According to Packaged Facts, the category grew 29% between 2003 and last year. By 2012, the research group estimates, soy sales could increase from a current $2.1 billion industry to a $3 billion one. Companies like Clif Bar, with nearly $100 million in sales last year, are cashing in on the trend. Same with Dean Foods and its WhiteWave brand, which racked up $333 million in soy milk sales last year — an 85% share of the category.

In addition to the factors that have driven soy sales up to this point, some emerging market and cultural trends could work in the category’s favor. More and more milk drinkers may switch to the soy variety, especially if price and supply instability continue like they have. The number of consumers looking for meat alternatives — currently 26% of all households, notes the Packaged Facts study — should also increase; along with the physical health reasons behind cutting out meat, there also seems to be a burgeoning awareness of livestock’s contribution to global warning. Those cows sure do burp and fart a lot.

Over the course of its 38 years, Earth Day has evolved from a daylong awareness-raising event with limited appeal into a near universal campaign that reflects our increasingly eco-conscious times. For many years, business and industry, including supermarkets, ignored Earth Day because it didn’t represent anything of much importance — either to them or to their customers.

Boy, has that changed. Retailers today have sophisticated promotions marking the occasion. And many — the best, in our opinion — are thinking outside the 24-hour timeframe, calling attention to ongoing sustainable initiatives or perhaps using the day to kick off a new campaign.

There are a lot of creative retailer promotions out there that are kicking off tomorrow. Here are a few of the trends we’re seeing:

Bags, bags, bags: Offering reusable totes has become the most effective way for retailers to spread their green message. As such, stores like Tesco’s Fresh & Easy will promote them further by giving away their reusable bags for free. Others, like Bashas’, will give away totes to consumers who bring in their plastic bags to recycle. And some, like Whole Foods, are planning even bigger things. As has been widely reported, the Austin, Texas retailer will discontinue plastic bag usage starting tomorrow.

Come together: A number of retailers will also participate in programs organized by nonprofits or trade organizations. Kroger, Supervalu, Publix and others will join the Organic Trade Association’s Go Organic! promotion, which includes discounts and specials on organic goods throughout stores. In England, supermarket chains like Tesco and Marks and Spencer are participating in a promotion to raise enough money to offset one million tons of carbon by 2012.

Green Deals: Throughout this month, Wal-Mart is offering discounts on its many of its sustainable products. The Bentonville retailer is also offering new green items, like T-shirts made from recycled plastic bottles and bags of recyclable rubber mulch. Then there’s Schnuck Markets, which plans to unveil a “Green Cleaning” section in stores, headlined by brands like Seventh Generation and Clorox GreenWorks.

So, what’s going on in your store?

Spruce up your signage and polish those shopping carts: Bargain hunting season is officially open.

Recent studies show that consumers are clipping coupons, trading down and making fewer and fewer shopping trips per week. This is good news for the likes of Dollar General, which offers more than 30% of its stock at a dollar or less. Indeed, ultra-low-price shopping seems to be catching on. This month, book publisher Adams Media released “The 99-Cent Only Stores Cookbook,” which includes a selection of gourmet recipes using only products bought at bargain basement prices. Chicken Tetrazzini, Pinot Noir Poached Pear Tart, and Artichoke Spinach Bake are just a few of the dishes that writer Christiane Jory was able to cobble together. The New York Times also recently turned a gourmand loose in $.99 stores around the city.

Mainstream supermarkets can’t exactly go toe-to-toe on the $.99 format, but they do have an array of healthful and gourmet bargains of their own. Take locally grown and seasonal produce, for instance. Or private label offerings, ala Safeway’s “O” Organics line. Products like these are economically and nutritionally sensible, and retailers would do well to play up their value.

At the same time, though, don’t forget about shoppers who covet premium priced natural and organic products. Supermarkets are seeing more and more of these loyal consumers as they ramp up selection, and they should start seeing people who are trading down from Whole Foods and restaurants during a recession.

Given their size and variety, supermarkets also have the marketing advantage over bargain outlets. With the right in-store display, they can make that can of organic garbanzo beans look like a million dollar find.

To be sure, the era of “one size fits all” in the beverage industry is long gone. Some recent product introductions aren’t even liquid. They’re energy-promoting mixes and tablets.

Among the newcomers: Jones Soda is in Whole Foods Market stores with 24c, a line of vitamin-enhanced powder drink mixes. Veteran mix companies are also present: 4C has introduced Totally Light 2Go Vitamin Stix; and Kraft’s Crystal Light has added three new varieties to its On The Go Enhanced line introduced last year.

“Traditionally people would buy powdered beverages for their value over ready-to-drink, because they provided the consumer with more beverage on a per-ounce basis at a much lower cost,” said Gary Hemphill, managing director of Beverage Marketing Corp., a New York-based consulting firm.

You know what? He right! It’s just not childhood without summers guzzling Kool-Aid and ice tea mixes. That’s why parents hate rainy days. All that sugar and nowhere to run it off…

Now, health and wellness is the single most important driver in terms of beverage choice. All these products share a functional aspect, and they also emphasize their convenience and portability. The tubes, tablets and powders are all designed to be carried in a pocket or knapsack until needed, and then added to bottled water.

What’s timely is that, given the ongoing debate over plastic bottle waste, the powder sachets reduce the need to repeatedly purchase ready-to-drink performance beverages, and therefore, reduce bottle trash. Pretty neat.

My colleague, Jeff Wells, is our go-to guy for coverage of the locavore market, but something crossed my desk that got me thinking. Maybe it’s spring, and everyone is getting excited about the coming season, but local food news is really taking the headlines this week.

The National Cooperative Grocers Association is putting the final touches on its first-ever “Eat Local Challenge” which calls on consumers to eat 80% of their diets (or four out of every 5 meals) from locally grown foods. The promotion runs during the height of the growing season, from mid-June to mid-September.

More specifically, the challenge is actually divided up into three periods, based on peak times. Since we’re in the Northeast, our challenge time will be Aug. 15 to Sept. 15. California, the Southwest and South go first, with their season peaking from June 15 to July 15. It’s OK. I don’t mind waiting for corn and tomatoes.

Robynn Shrader, the NCGA’s chief executive, says the idea goes beyond simple taste, to the heart of the “Go Local” movement that’s captured the imagination of so many shoppers.

“It’s good for economy, because money from each transaction stays in the region. It connects community members to the people who grow or produce our food, while helping to support endangered family farms,” says Shrader. “It also helps protect the environment because food doesn’t travel as far, reducing carbon dioxide emissions.”

Now, I know there are studies out there questioning the effectiveness of local buying, research examining the true benefit of food miles, and things of that nature. I’ll just say this. Last June I went cherry picking at an orchard in upstate New York, not far from my hometown. We had a blast running around the sunny orchard with these huge baskets, tasting the different varieties, listening to the farmer describe what a great year it was as he exhorted us to sample all we wanted. “Better you folks than the birds” was my memory of his exact words.

The science and economics and realities of “local” faded fast before the sheer joy of being right at the source, picking our own. We resolved then and there to go apple picking in the fall (just as fun, but apples are a lot heavier to lug around than cherries, and eventually I was forced to hail a tractor).

So, retailers, please have some local produce available this year. Bring the farmers in, let them talk and invite the kids. Not everyone has the luxury or the ability to get away to the fields and orchards. But you have the power to bring it all to them.

There probably aren’t that many people in the food industry who recognize the name Philip Howard. Many are familiar, however, with the colorful bubble graphics he creates every year that chart the structure of the organic industry. They’re easy-to-read guides to an ever-growing, ever-consolidating section of the supermarket — and they’re getting noticed by consumers.

Yesterday, in her Well blog for The New York Times, columnist Tara Parker-Pope wrote a post about Howard’s latest creation, an animated sequence showing acquisitions in the organic industry over time. Titled “When Big Business Eats Organic,” the piece discussed how large companies like General Mills and Hain Celestial own many beloved organic titles.

“These relationships aren’t very apparent,” Howard, an assistant professor of agriculture at Michigan State University, was quoted as saying.

Coverage like this is helping make the industry more transparent. Clorox’s buyout of Burt’s Bees last November appeared in all of the country’s major newspapers and zipped across the blogosphere. “I love BB products and am having a hard time in making a decision about if I will make future purchases of BB,” commented one consumer on a Chicago Tribune health blog. Coke’s recent 40% investment in Honest Tea generated similar buzz.

Companies like Clorox are responding to increasing consumer awareness about buyouts by launching sophisticated marketing campaigns. In February, Burt’s Bees started a “Natural Vs.” campaign, which sought to explain the term “natural” in the personal care category, and how Burt’s Bees upholds that standard.

Retailers are also responding, though not in the way you might think. A couple of manufacturers at last week’s Natural Products Expo West mentioned that supermarkets are looking for “new niche” products in the health and wellness category. They fear consumers might begin rejecting some products simply because they’ve been taken over by large corporations.

Of course, just because a company is big doesn’t mean they’ll exploit the smaller companies they acquire. In many cases, they can help that brand reach an audience it otherwise wouldn’t. Retailers should support the brands that are the ideal of authenticity, no matter who owns them.

Our California roadtrip to Natural Products Expo West is over. We spent three full days in the aisles of the Anaheim Convention Center, visiting exhibitors, talking with retailers and looking for the Next Big Thing.

Among the top performers at this year’s show were products that were enhanced, infused or improved with the addition of ingredients like antioxidants, or omega-3 fatty acids. There was a lot of tea, chocolate and coffee with fair trade certification. Kid cuisine continued to show improvement with a new round of healthful snacks and meals. And there was a generous splash of value-added waters. Many touted higher pH’s. The alkaline formulations of 8.0 or more were promoted as more nourishing for cells.

If there’s a common thread that ties these disparate categories together, it’s that they represent the hottest movers in the supermarket today. What we saw this past week wasn’t groundbreaking, but retailers can take heart that the products they currently stock promise to get better, and there are still plenty of consumers eager to purchase these items.

There was not only plenty to see, but plenty to listen to. Author Michael Pollan delivered the keynote address at this year’s show, talking about “our national eating disorder.”

“Food-related, chronic diseases are what kill most of us in this country,” he said, noting we are becoming a Lipitor nation, a place where our Western diet causes Western diseases like diabetes.

Pollan’s hypothesis behind this phenomenon clearly resonated with attendees. America’s ongoing obsession with individual nutrients like fat and carbohydrates reduces the significance of whole foods, and the complex interactions between nutrients as they are consumed and metabolized by the body. The country believes in this approach, which he calls nutritionism.

The problem is we still know so little about the science of good eating. There has yet to emerge a definitive best practice to this art. And so, it’s better to keep things simple. Pollan put it this way: “Nutrition is like surgery in the 16th century. It has a lot of promise and is interesting to watch, but I wouldn’t get on the table just yet.”

Last autumn, we had the chance to sit down with Meijer co-chairman Doug Meijer and president Mark Murray. At the time, the Grand Rapids, Mich.-based chain had just been given the SN Whole Health Enterprise Award for its leadership in bringing health and wellness to mainstream consumers.

One of the reasons Meijer got the award was its ability to broaden the concept of wellness beyond food and extend it into less-obvious departments. Since Meijer operates a supercenter format, there were plenty of surprises. Murray noted that even the chain’s garden center contributed to the customer’s wellness because it promotes activities that create peace of mind and a sense of well-being.

Meijer will take the idea one step further this spring, when it starts selling 1.3 million certified organic potted vegetable and herb plants in all of its nearly 200 stores. The plants come from a brand new, four-acre greenhouse built by Elzinga & Hoeksema Greenhouses, one the the region’s largest commercial greenhouse growers.

The facility, located in Kalamazoo, Mich., will open next week, and help Meijer add another dimension to its umbrella concept of wellness. Mark Elziinga (shown above in the greenhouse), notes the facility produces 1000 gallons a day of compost tea to feed the plants, and uses eco-friendly geothermal and solar power technology.

Study after study has been telling us that consumers want to get closer to the sources of their food. Researchers point to the popularity of farmer’s markets and community supported agriculture co-ops. Thanks to Meijer, they can add the backyard garden. And that’s about as close to your food as you can get.