Over the past 13 years of writing about supermarkets, I’ve been witness to a good number of well-meaning but poorly executed promotions.

My personal favorite was the day a popular (but now defunct) regional chain here in the Northeast introduced a new mascot to customers. The event was heavily promoted, so the turnout was large — lots of families, which was the idea, since we all know that young kids love furry, colorful characters.

When the big moment came, out stepped this Frankenstein-like creation of what appeared to be a humanoid made of various food groups (“What’s with the cheese wedges?”). As it lurched onto the stage (a stiff, new costume), several children cowered and the applause was… polite. This was not a friendly, approachable mascot. This was something you wanted to run from.

Needless to say, the creation didn’t last long. Which brings us to the most recent example of this phenomenon at work: A Safeway store in Kirkland, Wash., recently erected a large, bright sign promoting a farmers’ market event in the parking lot.

The problem is, there were no farmers at this market. The store was just promoting what was basically a huge, outdoor display of regular, conventional produce.

Having a farmers’ market with no farmers is not only misleading, it runs afoul of a Washington state law that defines a farmers’ market as one with five or more farmers present. The discrepancy was called out by non other than the manager for a nearby farmers’ market, who happened to be driving by and saw Safeway’s sign. MORE…

Even if you’re lucky enough and can grill outdoors all year, the month of May is the kick-off for the rest of us. For the registered dietitian, especially one practicing in a supermarket setting, this is the time of year when we look around for ways to make outdoor cooking more nutritious. We’ll start playing up locally grown produce and some great seasonal foods. Healthy and good eating abounds!

This is also a time when our seafood and produce specialists are willing to team up and host taste tests, recipe demos and special displays that bring healthy eating to the top of the menu. So where do we start?

• Think safe grilling. Customers might be a little rusty from winter, so remind them of the basics. Equip them with meat thermometers. Explain the need to keep fat from dripping onto hot coals. Discuss the merits of grilling and keeping food from burning. There’s a lot of cross merchandising opportunities to promote safety while selling them the food they’ll be cooking.

• Look to produce for some great grilling foods. Right now, there’s fresh asparagus, Vidalia or other sweet onions, and some old favorites like tomatoes, zucchini, and green and red bell peppers. Emphasize organic and locally grown whenever possible. MORE…

Back in 2008, Greenpeace came out with its first sustainable seafood scorecard for mainstream supermarkets. Twenty companies were rated. All of them failed.

That seemed like a pretty harsh judgment at the time, but it definitely sent a message. In the proceeding two years, retailers have retooled their sourcing guidelines to rule out certain red-listed species, and to offer more options that are harvested with the health of underwater dwellers and their habitats in mind.

Greenpeace’s latest scorecard, released today, reflects these changes. Out of the same twenty that were rated, ten earned a passing score. They include Trader Joe’s, which recently ended its holdout by agreeing to source all of its seafood sustainably by 2012. Others include Wal-Mart, Safeway, Whole Foods (of course), Wegmans (of course), and taking the top spot, Target.

Target, if you’ll recall, announced earlier this year that it would stop sourcing farmed salmon, opting instead for the wild-caught Alaskan variety. That move was a first for a major supermarket retailer, and it definitely put them in Greenpeace’s good graces.

Just about every supermarket on the list has made improvements over the past two years. That shows just how important ethical sourcing is to consumers — and to retailers’ bottom lines as well, since you’re not going to turn much profit if a popular species is extinct.

Here’s hoping retailers continue to improve their sourcing. Hopefully we’ll see a couple “good” scores on next year’s report card.

The U.S. Census is almost wrapped up and the counting will soon begin in earnest. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is doing its own counting in 2010, but the constituents are a bit different. Instead of canvassing neighborhoods, the USDA is counting farmer’s markets.

The results will become part of an annual catalogue that’s a revealing snapshot of America’s love affair with fresh food — and provides supermarkets a valuable inside look at how this competing format is performing.

“For the future of sound farmer market policies, it is critical to make the USDA National Farmers Market Directory as accurate as possible,” said Rayne Pegg, administrator for the agency’s Agricultural Marketing Service, said in a promotional statement. “USDA can’t do it alone, and we ask for assistance in compiling this directory.”

The government has been tracking farmer’s markets since 1994, and at last count, there were nearly 5,000 of them operating all around the country. As any retailer will tell you, these venues are tough to compete with. Nothing satisfies the current consumer desire to connect with their sources of food like a farmer’s market, where farmers themselves bring their own product to sell, directly to the consumer. MORE…

Transitioning to cage-free eggs seemed to be all the rage in the food industry. Wal-Mart recently made this move, as has Trader Joe’s, along with restaurant chains like Wendy’s, Sonic and IHOP.

It’s a thoughtful gesture, for sure, and a smart business move with consumers these days demanding humanely raised food. They’ve seen the pictures of chickens crammed together in cages, of downer cows picked up by forklifts and pigs lolling in their pens. Earlier this month The Humane Society released undercover video taken at one of the country’s largest egg farms, showing workers abusing live chickens and casually discarding scores of dead ones.

But not everyone is on board — not by a long shot. McDonald’s, which serves millions of Egg Mcmuffins every year, had a proposal before its board of directors recently to source 5% of its eggs from cage-free chickens. Doesn’t seem like much, yet the board recommended a “no” vote to its shareholders, saying there’s not enough science to prove cage-free is actually better for the animals and the eggs.

Indeed, as we’re once again reminded, there are business realities that stand in the way of any health and sustainability movement, and the biggest one is price, a factor that McDonald’s and all the other quick-service chains are very sensitive to. And in the fight for cage-free chickens and eggs, farmers and industry groups are hitting back harder than ever. MORE…

In recent years there has been a noticeable surge in the value-added perishable items found around the perimeter of your favorite food store. In the past, there would typically be dairy items like milk, eggs, butter, cheese, yogurt, sour cream, cottage cheese, prepared pasta salads and meat, seafood and produce — but not much else.

Now we find items for the “speed scratch” cooks who are time-starved, but want to have a hand in the creation of a meal; so they purchase already prepared ingredients like ready-made sauces, pre-peeled and pre-cut veggies, meat that has been trimmed and sliced, pre-cooked pasta and rice, etc. — as well as items that are ready to heat and eat — for those of us who just want a fast meal without the time or fuss.

Most markets tout a well-stocked section of sauces (pestos, pasta sauces, cheese sauces, and meat sauces), spreads (hummus, bean dips, sour cream and cheese dips, and even compound butters) and an ever-growing assortment of ready-made, “home-cooked” entrees from single size portions to family size trays. Our inspiration comes from a variety of sources — ethnic and otherwise — but we should give credit to retailers across the pond for their ingenuity in the creation of this sector.

The large food retailers in the United Kingdom are all about value-added perishable items that are taking a serious hold here in the United States. They have taught us that quality is king in the fresh section: The better the flavor and the more reasonable the price, the higher the sales.

As this category in our markets continues to expand, we need to keep up with advances in our distribution networks, too. Improvements will translate into a reduction in the amounts of chemical preservatives used to extend shelf life. If stores are receiving multiple refrigerated shipments per week, there is no need for all of the preservatives. I am not sure if this would make Michael Pollen proud of our retail accomplishments, but it’s certainly a start.

Each day on the show floor brings new insights into how the many moving parts in the natural foods industry can process emerging consumer demand and turn out products that answer the call. There were two trends that we saw in the aisles yesterday that will soon be coming to a store near you:

Flexitarian Soy: Soy regularly gets into trouble. Studies come out against it, only to be answered by research refuting the original findings. Nevertheless, soy remains the dominant alternative protein of choice for vegans and vegetarians — and now, it seems, flexitarians.

That last term was coined recently to describe those people who might also call themselves “casual vegetarians.” They don’t follow a rigorous no-meat diet, but they have cut down on their meat consumption, either for health or ethical reasons. Judging from some of the products we’re seeing here, it seems as if soy manufacturers are poised to deliver a soy product that increases the acceptance factor of these part-timers.

First, from Vitasoy/Nasoya, comes a line that’s been fortified with essential vitamins (particularly B12) that are primarily found in meat, and often at risk in a vegetarian diet. The second comes from Harmony Foods, which is introducing a dry soy mix that is extremely flexible (after all, flexitarian eaters must desire flexibility) and can be shaped into patties, balls or crumbles, simply by adding water.

What’s more — and here’s the kicker — the latter product is flavored to mimic certain animal proteins, such as chicken. So, these optional vegetarian consumers will be able to find a compromise between their actions and their desires.

Then there’s product redesign: An impressive number of manufacturers are unveiling new graphics, updated logos and more ecological packaging at the show. Among the big ones we found were Nature’s Path, the Canada-based maker of cereals and cereal bars. Their new boxes are 30% smaller now, though they contain the same amount of product. What’s more, the dimensions of the boxes won’t require retailers to reset shelves or change planograms, One of the side benefits for companies undertaking such a program is that, if the work with retailers, they’ll likely be ablr to get one or two more facings of their products onto shelves.

Over at Barbara’s Bakery, the company’s iconic puffin no longer gets top billing in the graphics. We learned that the new design will harken back to the company’s founding, and its California roots, with a bucolic image and a craft-paper shade of brown threading throughout.

We’ll note that all of the products mentioned are either just coming to market or are going into distribution right after the show. The fact that many manufacturers time their efforts to Expo West indicates the importance they give the show as a marketplace of ideas. For this reporter, this makes wandering the aisle more like a treasure hunt for seek out the new and improved items your customers are going to soon see.

The following post was filed by Matthew Reynolds, managing editor of Modern Baking and Baking Management magazines, both sister publications to Supermarket News

If 2009 was about inexpensive, 2010 is about simple. If consumers can’t pronounce the ingredient, they don’t want it. Instead, they are looking for simple packaging and simple formulations; fewer ingredients, cleaner labels and slimmer packaging.

* 48% of products in the U.S. showed a decline in the average number of ingredients in the first three quarters of 2009. ( Mintel)

* Haagen-Dasz introduced its Five line of ice cream with only five ingredients–milk, cream, sugar, eggs and one natural flavor, like mint.

* Starbucks changed its banana bread from 15 ingredients to 10.

According to Lynn Dornblaser of Mintel, a consumer research firm based in Chicago, products with simplified labels will be more sought after in 2010 than those that contain the former buzzwords “organic” or “natural.” From 2005 to 2008, there was an almost 65% increase in products using the words “simple” or “simplify” in the product or brand name. (Datamonitor) MORE…

When you’re the best, you’re always looking to get better.

Colorado currently has the lowest obesity rate of any state in the union. If you look at this map from the Centers for Disease Control, it’s the only state colored blue, indicating that less than 20% of the population (the exact number is 18.5% as of 2008) is obese. That’s pretty good, especially when compared to Deep South states like Alabama and Mississippi, which have obesity rates above 30%.

So you’d think the Rocky Mountain state could kick back, have a veggie burger, and bask in its relative healthfulness. Wrong. Citizens and advocacy groups are working hard to keep their state in fighting form, and even bring obesity rates down further.

One organization called LiveWell Colorado just today released a “Food Policy Blueprint” that’s impressive for its comprehensiveness, and gives a glimpse into why the state is flying high. It focuses specifically on access and policy issues, encouraging a system of subsidies and other incentives to encourage healthy retailing and farmers markets in underserved areas, as well in schools. That’s targeting the most affected and at-risk segment of the population, and it echoes the Obama administration’s recent announcement that it will spend $400 million to help eradicate food deserts. MORE…

With baseball season fast approaching, there’s a pressing issue that goes beyond pitchers and catchers, squeeze bunts and any postseason predictions you might have.

What are we going to do about the hot dog?

As you may have read recently, the American Academy of Pediatrics has called for a redesign of that most American of delicacies. Sure, a lot of us grew up eating them. They’ve long been a symbol of summer, the easy-to-grill, quick-to-eat meal that can get a little messy, okay — but what’s a little mustard around your mouth or in your seat? Well, there’s a bigger problem here. Hot dogs also pose a choking hazard, causing about 17% of food-related asphyxiations, according to the academy.

“If you were to find the best engineers in the world and ask them to design the perfect plug for a child’s airway, you couldn’t do much better than the hot dog,” Dr. Gary Smith, lead author of the AAP policy statement, told AOL News recently.

This isn’t a revelation. Of course hot dogs can get caught in your throat! So can a lot of foods. That’s why we’re taught to take small bites, and to chew thoroughly before swallowing. What’s next? Grapes? Popcorn? Actually, yes, and yes. The academy also called out foods like popcorn, grapes, nuts and raw carrots. MORE…