October 2, 2023 • 33 mins
Ready to get the lowdown on the food industry's biggest battles, innovative solutions to food waste, and the ethical implications of marketing to youth via social media? Buckle up! We're navigating the competitive landscape of food delivery giants - Instacart, DoorDash, and Uber Eats, and exploring how they're evolving to stay ahead. But it's not all corporate skirmishes; we're also shining a spotlight on Marty, a novel platform making big strides in combating food waste. Since its launch in September 2021, they've saved over 2.5 million pounds of food - and that’s just the beginning of their story.
We're not stopping there, though. We're peeling back the layers on food marketing and sustainable packaging, dissecting the ethical importance of transparency in brand claims. With examples from Whole Foods, the Impossible Burger, and more, it's a deep dive into what it truly means to be 'sustainable'. Then, we're pressing play on a conversation inspired by Sophia Paley's poignant article, Social Media: A Teenage Wasteland. We're giving the mic to the youth, discussing the realities of social media's impact, and wrestling with the ethics of advertising to young people. It's a bold conversation and it's high time we had it. So join us as we traverse these food industry landscapes, don your headphones, and prepare to be enlightened.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Phil (00:05):
Welcome to the Lempert Report LIVE.
On today's episode, gearing upfor the new war with Instacart.
Morty takes on food waste, thescam offloads claims, the push
to get on restaurant menus, howthe pandemic changed food
marketing forever on food andoff phones.
A look at social media's effecton teens and on the bullseye.
(00:29):
We have to question whetherHeinz has pushed too far with
Taylor Swift.
Let's get started.
So, Sally.
What we find is a war isbrewing in a big way.
We look at Instacart that onSeptember 18th went through
their IPO.
Their IPO went out at $30 ashare.
(00:51):
Last time I looked a couplehours ago it was about $27.66 a
share, and this morning a reportcame out that Instacart's first
couple of quarters on thepublic markets could come with
slower revenue growth and lowerprofit than it reported in the
first half, according to privateforecasts from analysts at the
(01:13):
banks that underwroteInstacart's IPO.
The low expectations couldfurther dent Instacart's stock
price, which has still beenhovering around its IPO price.
If the company can surpassforecast, analysts at Goldman
Sachs and other banks expectInstacart to report between 7
and 8% revenue growth in thesecond half.
(01:34):
Two people familiar with thematter said that's down from
growth of 31% in the first halfand 50% growth in profits.
As we talked about at the timewhen Instacart went with their
IPO lots of controversy becausethey got a big tax credit that
(01:54):
we at the time said, well, maybethis is going to really change
the numbers.
At the same time that Instacartis floundering and I would use
that word what we find is wefind Uber Eats and DoorDash
really picking up steam andtrying to get to the grocery
business.
What Uber Eats has done.
(02:16):
They followed Instacart's leadand they now offer SNAP
recipients the ability to usetheir benefits to order
groceries.
So what do you think?
Is Instacart really in troubleand have major competitors from
DoorDash and Uber Eats now?
Sally (02:39):
Tisha, and there are a lot of different things to
consider that these companiesare offering Uber Eats for one,
now opening up their services topeople who are using food
stamps to pay for theirgroceries, which is a great
benefit for many people who somepeople have disabilities and
(03:01):
can't get to the store or don'thave transportation or have
small children.
There are a lot of differentreasons that might keep someone
from being able to actually goto the grocery store and shop in
the store.
So this is a great benefit forthose shoppers.
And then DoorDash what we'reseeing from DoorDash is that
(03:22):
they are offering some differentbenefits to retailers.
They're not just working on thedelivery part, but they're also
assisting retailers in how tomanage their in-stocks in their
store, their product inventory.
They're trying to help themwith their overall sales in
(03:46):
their store and not just online.
Phil (03:49):
Yeah, I think that Uber Eats is probably a good move to
take food stamps and snapbenefits, but the one I'm really
watching is DoorDash because, Iagree with you, I think
DoorDash is in it for the longhaul.
They really want to build thatrelationship with retailers.
They want to work hand-in-handwith retailers.
(04:11):
What they've said is that theysee grocers and retailers as
being more and more innovativein terms of how the store
doubles as both a traditionalphysical store that a customer
goes to and also an e-commercefulfillment hub, and they're
partnering with them along theway to figure out how to make
shopping more efficient.
(04:32):
So I think DoorDash is the onefor us to watch.
So, Instacart, look over yourshoulder.
Doordash is coming.
Martie is a new app and a newwebsite started by two food
entrepreneurs.
Who really wants to make foodwaste front and foremost
(04:58):
throughout the entire country?
What I love about Martie andwhat they basically do is they
operate the way a dollar storedoes or the way a grocery outlet
does, where they buy from majorcompanies and smaller companies
.
They've got over 2,500different brands, including
folks like Kellogg's and Quakerand Pepsi and the like, so
(05:21):
they're buying the brand'ssurplus and overstock inventory
and they give it to consumers ata deep discount.
Now, the reason that they'redoing this is a lot of these
companies, when they haveoverstocks, they really send the
stuff to the landfill, so it'sall about waste, and I am really
impressed with this company.
(05:43):
They launched in September 2021.
They say they've salvaged about2.5 million pounds of food
since that point.
What I really like about theirwebsite, sally, is it's fun and
it's engaging, and I think thatthis is going to become huge.
(06:04):
The look of the website is fun.
They have filters on for healthand wellness and also similar
to going into a dollar store.
It's like an adventure.
So, for example, thenotifications that I got this
morning 48 hour flash salethey've just dropped prices on
over 100 items and, by the way,you save between 50 and 75%.
(06:29):
So I happen to love Ely Coffee,so Ely Coffee is about 70% off
the can that you would get inthe supermarket.
The over 200 new items justlanded.
And then what made me laugh isI get a free roll of who gives a
crap toilet paper, exclusivelyfor app shoppers.
(06:51):
Get a free roll with your nextorder while supplies last.
So I am just so impressed withthese women who have created
this company.
I love their website.
I really think the way they'vedesigned it is they're gonna get
people through the instantnotifications and just through
(07:12):
the website.
You know, I mean doing this allthe time.
It becomes like a social mediafun thing that, oh look, here's
something I could buy now.
What do you think?
Sally (07:25):
I agree, Phil.
This is something that we reallyneed.
We are looking for ways tomanage our food waste more than
ever, and historically we didn'thave the technology or the way
to communicate quickly withpeople to let them know that
there was food available and tofind a home for food that was
(07:46):
going to ultimately be wasted.
Another part of this is that ourconsumers now are much more
waste conscious, I believe, andthey are interested more than
ever in keeping foods out of thelandfills and, with food
inflation happening, they'realso looking for a great deal,
so they're much more willing tolook at these surplus, these
(08:11):
stores that sell surplus foodsor, you know, in the case not in
the case of Martie, but in thecase of some that sell
perishables, you know they'remore interested in buying
blemished fruits, ugly fruitsand vegetables that we've talked
about, because if they can geta discount and they can help the
planet, then that makes peoplefeel good about their shopping.
(08:33):
And also, what's great aboutMartie is that they are trying
to share the sustainabilitystory of these companies, which
we know consumers are veryinterested in knowing the story,
knowing what a company is doingto help the planet, knowing
what they are doing to createmore accessibility for everyone
(08:55):
to have food.
So these stories we want totell and Martie is doing that
through their work.
Phil (09:02):
Absolutely, and you know I just pulled up their website
and a six pack of Laura Barr KidChocolate Brownies normally 479
, here it's 289, kettle CrinkleCut Chips normally 379, a Buck
99, pellegrino six pack Lemonand Raspberry Sparkling Water
(09:24):
there's only two units left 469,a daily deal, I mean.
And unlike Amazon and mostsupermarket e-commerce site,
this is fun.
This is enjoyable.
You know you look at this andit makes you want to buy versus
just seeing product afterproduct.
(09:45):
So good for Martie and I hopethey do.
Well, they're in 34 statesright now.
They were a California, losAngeles company.
Their warehouse is in Texas,but they're going to be
expanding that and pretty soonin all 50 states.
So check it out.
It is Martie M-A-R-T-I-E dotcom.
(10:06):
Great job.
So you know, as you're talkingabout sustainability stories on
Martie, there's some newinformation that's coming out
across the pond from theEuropean Union, where they
reached an agreement to bangeneric environmental claims,
including climate neutral, by2026, and also what they're
(10:31):
doing is getting rid of claimslike biodegradable, natural or
environmentally friendly,because they say they mislead
consumers unless the company canprove without a shadow of a
doubt that it's reallybiodegradable things like that
and they're also going aftersomething you and I've spoken a
(10:53):
lot about, where you have a lotof these brands and companies
that are now claiming to becarbon neutral because they're
buying carbon offset, and that'svery sketchy and it really
doesn't mean that they'rehelping the environment.
It just means that they'rebuying carbon credits in order
(11:14):
to say that they're doing it.
There's also a lot of lawsuitstaking place.
Right now, for example, there'sa lawsuit against Starbucks
line of refresher fruit drinkswhich don't contain the fruits
that are on the name of theproduct that they have.
Now that's an old story becausewhen you think back, it was, I
(11:37):
think, pepsi's slice, but Icould be wrong and if any of our
viewers can correct me, thatwould be great.
But when Pepsi's slice firstintroduced, what they did is
they had a variety of flavorsand slice had, I think, 10%
fruit juice in it, but the fruitjuice in all the flavors was
(11:58):
grape juice, because grape juiceis the cheapest juice that's
out there.
So we're really seeing theseorganizations, we're seeing
countries really get drilleddown and make sure that
consumers are not being misled,and we have to this rule in the
(12:20):
EU.
That was on September 19th.
As I said, natural,biodegradable, neutral, echo.
You're gonna have to provethese things in order to put it
on your package, and I thinkthat we all really win by that,
because they also point outother ones that should be banned
(12:42):
, like green.
What does that mean?
Nature's friend, energyefficient, biodegradable all
these and the vote's gonna takeplace in November.
I only hope that this goesthrough, and do you think that
this is something that, eventhough the EU is taking the lead
on it, that we should be doinghere in the United States?
Sally (13:05):
Absolutely.
I think it is very important,as you've said, Phil, that
consumers know what these labelclaims mean and what they're
getting for that, and we haveseen in the past this labeling
issue come up in all kinds ofways, and one example that comes
(13:29):
to mind as I think about whenWhole Foods was getting in
trouble for a little while withsome companies that were calling
their animals farm raised orpasture raised or using those
claims, but then people werefinding out that that's not
exactly what was going on onthese farms, and so the shoppers
(13:52):
need to know what the story is.
They need to have a window into.
If you are makingsustainability claims, then
share on your website with yourcustomers what you're doing.
They want to know the story,just as we were talking about
with these brands that Martie istalking about and telling the
(14:12):
sustainability story.
Your shoppers want to know that, and also it's just our ethical
responsibility to do what wecan to help our planet and to be
honest about what efforts we'remaking.
Phil (14:28):
Yeah, and also consumers are willing to pay extra for
those products that do have areal value, whether it's for the
environment or for our health,and most of the time they're
getting ripped off.
You bring a great example withcage-free and free range and so
(14:49):
on, and to this day, to this day, I can talk to consumers who
really believe that when theypick up eggs that say cage-free,
that cost more thanconventional eggs, that it's
happy-go-lucky chickens runningaround and that's not what
cage-free means.
So consumers want and aredemanding better, Better
(15:14):
products, better company effortstowards the environment,
willing to pay for it and justto rip them off, you know, just
doesn't work.
And talking about rip-offs,what we're seeing and it started
with impossible foods where,when they introduced their
(15:34):
plant-based burger, they decidedto go to upscale restaurants
before they went to supermarketsto get it on their menus Now
we're seeing a whole bunch ofnew food and beverage startups
that are working withrestaurants to try to get on
their menus, to have thatcredibility, so that consumers
(15:55):
can feel better about a producteven though they've never heard
about the product.
But when it's partnered with,whether it's a fancy restaurant
or a fast-food restaurant, or inthe case of here in Los Angeles
with Erewhon.
Airwan has this huge programwhere they partner with various
(16:16):
brands in order to sell and makethat Airwan halo over them, and
the one that I think that ishysterical and very successful
for Airwan is the Haley BieberSmoothie, which is pink and it
costs $20 for a smoothie.
So do we think that this isgoing to be the next phase for
(16:40):
all these startups that they'removing away from human
influencers and now they'relooking for restaurant and
retail influencers?
Sally (16:52):
These collaborations can be great visibility for these
brands, where they may not see ahuge bump in their sales, but
the visibility is there and thatis a great thing for these
brands.
It makes me think of Phil inthe rap music world, in the R&B
(17:13):
music world, that many of thesereally famous artists are always
doing collaborations with otherartists, and one of the reasons
they do that is to expand theirvisibility and their reach, and
so it makes me think of thatwhen I look at these products
and how they are trying to findthe right partner to get their
(17:35):
product seen more.
One of the ones that was reallyinteresting to me reading about
in this article Phil was not afood product was the Dove brand,
which is participating with apartnership with Juice Press on
smoothies that are inspired bytheir body scrubs.
So there are a lot of differentways that brands that are not
(17:56):
even a food can partner with arestaurant or, let's say, a
retailer like Arawan and find asuccessful collaboration.
Phil (18:08):
And I love your analogy to the music business, which is
one that I had not thought of.
And when I really think aboutit, the way it used to be and
you would know this far betterthan I is, you would have a band
or an individual cover themusic from somebody else, so
(18:29):
somebody else would do a Beatlessong, but they would be doing
it themselves, but now, withthese collaborations, where you
have both artists actuallyworking together, there's that
spill-off.
So I think that's a fabulousanalogy and something that
brands should keep in mind,because 2 plus 2 is not 4.
(18:54):
2 plus 2 is 5.
That kind of thinking.
So there's a great article inFast Company about what the
pandemic has taught us aboutfood marketing, and this was
written by Megan Teates,Executive Vice President with
Affinity Group, which is a foodservice sales and marketing
(19:18):
group, and basically, you know,she points out four must-haves
One is that social media can beused to gauge consumer
perceptions in real time.
Two, globally inspired flavorsare in high demand.
Three, the definition ofhealthy continue to evolve.
And four, it's about theexperience.
And what she points out on theexperience is the dining out is
(19:42):
fun, but carry out is fun too,with add-ons like margaritas to
go or meal kits like Hello Freshor Blue Apron, and I totally
disagree, totally disagree.
If you take a look at BlueApron and not to rag on Blue
Apron, but Blue Apron in 2017,when they did their IPO, the
(20:02):
company's value was $1.89billion.
Just last week Ma rc Lore,brilliant guy in e-commerce, he
created Jet sold it to Walmartfor you know a fortune.
They went on to Walmart, helpedthem figure it out.
He's now on his own.
He has a new company calledWonder.
(20:22):
We've talked about that before.
It's a startup in New Jerseywhere, basically, they deliver
food to you, but in the trucksthat they deliver food, there's
actually a chef so that you knowthe basic food has already been
prepared in their commissary,but the chef is doing the
finishing touches on the truckoutside of your house to make it
(20:46):
that much better, that muchfresher, and so on.
Thank you, but here's the pointthat Mark Lohr just bought Lou
April last week for $103 millionStill a lot of money, but it's
not $1.9 billion that they werevalued at for their IPO.
(21:07):
So I think that it's reallyimportant to understand that.
Yes, the pandemic has shifted alot of what we buy, how we buy
it and so on, but still there'ssome basics there and we can't
just fast forward to chat GPT toAI, to e-commerce, everything
(21:30):
that we have to have somefundamentals there that are
gonna be consistent.
Sally (21:38):
Yes, and in this article that you're referencing, Phil.
For me, number one and numbertwo are the big winners in this
and in what we've learned fromthe pandemic, and that is I'll
go as far as for the socialmedia, to just pare it down to
TikTok.
Tiktok is where foodie contentgoes viral, and when we talk
(22:01):
about globally inspired flavorsbeing in high demand and how
people want to know how to makethese ethnic foods, it's on
TikTok where they are showingyou how to make these recipes in
a simpler way, with lessingredients, with easier to find
(22:23):
ingredients, and so these, tome, are the ones that are key
for retailers to focus on and topay attention to.
Phil (22:32):
Totally agree, totally agree.
So, on Food Not Phones, andjust to give you a recap Food
Not Phones on September 19th,when we launched great success,
we had a lot of influencers, alot of people picking it up and
posting on their own socialmedia.
Food Not Phones heard a lot ofgreat stories about people
(22:52):
putting down their phones.
On September 19th coming up,our next Food Not Phones day is
gonna be Thanksgiving, so checkit out on FoodNotPhones.
com.
The countdown is there.
Participate, be part of it.
Thanksgiving is gonna be biggerand better than it was in
September and we're gonna do itthroughout the year.
(23:13):
It's really important and thisstory that we're gonna talk
about, Sophia Paley, who's ahigh school senior at Horace
Mann School in New York City,wrote this on katiecouric.
com and basically her title isSocial Media a Teenage Wasteland
.
She's 16 years old, a terrificwriter, if you would, and I love
(23:40):
what she said.
You know, and I'll quote someof the things, it's difficult
for me to go an hour withoutchecking my direct messages or
scrolling past educational orcringe-worthy content, and then
she goes on to say an old schoolphone call.
Why bother when you can easilyspill the latest gossip through
(24:03):
a quick text on Snapchatin-person conversations.
Now a text will do, I'm gonna.
Group of teens is out fordinner together.
They're just as likely to begazing into their phones posting
insta stories of their spicytuna rolls as they are to be
actually talking.
So you know, being the mom oftwo teenagers, what do you think
(24:27):
of Sophia's column here?
Sally (24:31):
Phil, I really appreciated this column that
she's written and I think thatit is important for us to listen
to what more of our youth aresaying about this.
You know we can't just be.
You know you kids in your rockand roll.
You know we need to try andunderstand where they are coming
from.
This is part of their world.
This is how they are growing upsocializing.
(24:55):
Particularly during theshutdown, we saw a lot of kids
only had that way to connectwith each other.
So, while we know that there aresome really harmful and
dangerous things out there asfar as the internet and social
media go, you know that have todo with the rise in anxiety and
(25:15):
depression, eating disorders.
You know just overallself-image that kids are dealing
with.
We know that that's out here,but it is great to hear the
youth talking about it and whatthey think of it, and I think
you know she's making some goodpoints here about.
You know where are the limitsthat the adults are setting and
(25:37):
you know, as we've talked aboutis what are the limits?
As companies that are gettingon these social media sites and
advertising to youth, what aretheir limits, as far as you know
?
Are they acting ethically?
Is this algorithm performingethically to protect our
children?
These are all things that Ibelieve we are trying to figure
(26:01):
out and see how, you know, thisis going to evolve as our kids
grow into adults.
But, you know, as for our foodnot phones movement this is an
opportunity for us to have thoseconversations with our kids and
to talk about.
You know, we can find somebalance in here.
(26:22):
We can put them down and we canengage face to face and have
human interaction and have ourmeals together and not have to
look at our phones, and then wecan have our time with our
phones as well.
But there must be some sort ofbalance.
Phil (26:35):
Absolutely, and it's a great read.
Go to katiecouricmedia.
com, read Sophia's article.
There's just one other thingthat I want to point out, and
she points out just the same wayyou do, that we need a national
discussion on this, involvingteens, parents, tech companies
(26:55):
and lawmakers, to address theseissues and by not elevating the
conversation around the way itcan be misused, are we leading a
generation of future leaderstowards a teenage wasteland of
isolation, anxiety anddepression.
That's what Food not Phones, isall about.
So thanks, Sally, appreciate it.
(27:16):
Now on the bullseye.
There's no denying that popculture plays a powerful role in
shaping our purchasingdecisions.
Brands have long understood thevalue of leveraging celebrity
partnerships, moments andmovements to promote their
products, but every now and then, a partnership emerges that's
so unexpected yet perfectlypitched that it captures the
(27:40):
collective imagination EnterHeinz, taylor Swift and Travis
Kelce.
For those who may be slightlyout of the loop, which you know
over the past week would havebeen very hard to do unless you
were one of the few people whowere overcome by the madness in
DC and focused on what couldhave been the government
(28:03):
shutdown.
I'm gonna recap it for you.
Taylor Swift, theinternationally celebrated
singer-songwriter who has brokenall concert records with her
era's tour has supposedly beenromantically linked to Travis
Kelce, the NFL standout tightend.
Now, in a serendipitous twistof fate, Kelce plays for the
(28:27):
Kansas City Chiefs.
This is a team that issynonymous with Heinz Field, and
it gets even better than that.
In a master stroke of marketinggenius, maybe Heinz Ketchup
decided to take this goldenopportunity head on, as game
watchers noticed on September24th that Taylor Swift was
(28:49):
dipping a piece of chicken,dipping it in ketchup and what
appeared to be ranch dressing.
Now, this whole thing startedwhen one fan tweeted a picture
of Swift with the concoction,which now has over 40 million
views.
Heinz jumped quickly on theopportunity and came up with a
(29:10):
campaign to capitalize.
They took an existing product,which, frankly, most people have
never heard of crunch, and puta new label on it ketchup and
seemingly ranch.
And they went on Twitter toannounce that they're gonna be
giving away 100 bottles in acontest.
Just 100 bottles.
They're not going on the marketwith it as of yet.
(29:32):
No rules or information hasbeen posted, just the
announcement On Instagram.
Heinz's posting has just over13,000 likes.
All it says is a new era forHeinz Get it era era's tour,
lame, introducing ketchup andseemingly ranch Limited edition
bottles coming soon.
(29:54):
Well, what makes this promotiontruly intriguing is its nuance.
It's not just about slappingTaylor Swift's face on a bottle
or utilizing Travis Kelce'sathletic prowess which Heinz
probably couldn't afford to doeither of.
Heinz has woven a narrativearound the pairing of ketchup
and ranch that's authentic andon-brand, and just maybe because
(30:16):
of the power of Swift, they canactually sell crunch, which was
introduced back in 2019, buthas barely made a dent.
In fact, this past weekend wentto nine supermarkets here in
Southern California and not oneof them had crunch on its shells
.
Probably that's gonna changesoon.
It's worth noting that noofficial statement has been
(30:38):
released to suggest that eitherSwift or Kelce directly endorses
the product.
Instead, heinz's marketingfolks have made a huge impact
and it's getting major PR on TVnews, including on today, cbs
News and NPR, in newspapers and,of course, on social media by
moving swiftly swiftly sorryabout that and getting their
(31:01):
campaign up in less than 24hours.
Some, myself included, can argueabout the ethics of leveraging
Swift's personal relationshipsfor corporate and brand gain,
but you cannot deny theinnovative way that Heinz has
approached this.
It's engaging, it's fun andit's memorable.
I'm gonna go out on a limb here, but I'm imagining that the
(31:23):
brains behind this effort wasnot some stodgy old 50-year-old
marketing expert, but a20-something who's probably a
fan of Swift.
If I'm right, reach out to me.
I'd love to hear from you, Philat supermarketgurucom, and
guess what?
We'll get you right here on thebroadcast next week to tell
your side of the story and, ofcourse, reveal the rules and how
(31:47):
fans can win one of the hundredbottles.
Or are you gonna announce thatthere's so much buzz that you're
just gonna replace the laggingcrunch with ketchup and
seemingly ranch?
And, by the way, heinz is notalone.
Their competitors have decidedto jump in.
The official KFC X account,commented our ranch queen, while
(32:11):
Hidden Valley Ranch has sincechanged its Twitter name to
seemingly ranch.
Everyone seems to wanna getinto the act.
But at last night's game inEast Rutherford, new Jersey,
swift was there but to thebrand's dismay, there was no
shot of chicken ketchup orseemingly ranch.
Yes, this is a cheap socialmedia and marketing shot and yes
(32:37):
, it worked.
And yes, it's brilliant, aseveryone behind Heinz is posting
about it on social media.
It's great free publicity, butlet's remember, food still has
to taste good and only time isgonna tell if Taylor and Travis
will stand the test of time.
Yes, their pairing has givenHeinz a flavor victory, but it's
(33:00):
anyone's guess just how longeither pairing is gonna last.
Thanks for joining us and we'llsee you back here next week.
Sally (33:09):
Be sure to visit Supermarketguru.
com for the latest marketinganalysis issues and trends, and
don't forget to join us backhere next Monday at 2.30 pm
Eastern for more.
Welcome to the Lempert Report LIVE.
On today's episode, gearing upfor the new war with Instacart.
Morty takes on food waste, thescam offloads claims, the push
to get on restaurant menus, howthe pandemic changed food
marketing forever on food andoff phones.
A look at social media's effecton teens and on the bullseye.
(00:29):
We have to question whetherHeinz has pushed too far with
Taylor Swift.
Let's get started.
So, Sally.
What we find is a war isbrewing in a big way.
We look at Instacart that onSeptember 18th went through
their IPO.
Their IPO went out at $30 ashare.
(00:51):
Last time I looked a couplehours ago it was about $27.66 a
share, and this morning a reportcame out that Instacart's first
couple of quarters on thepublic markets could come with
slower revenue growth and lowerprofit than it reported in the
first half, according to privateforecasts from analysts at the
(01:13):
banks that underwroteInstacart's IPO.
The low expectations couldfurther dent Instacart's stock
price, which has still beenhovering around its IPO price.
If the company can surpassforecast, analysts at Goldman
Sachs and other banks expectInstacart to report between 7
and 8% revenue growth in thesecond half.
(01:34):
Two people familiar with thematter said that's down from
growth of 31% in the first halfand 50% growth in profits.
As we talked about at the timewhen Instacart went with their
IPO lots of controversy becausethey got a big tax credit that
(01:54):
we at the time said, well, maybethis is going to really change
the numbers.
At the same time that Instacartis floundering and I would use
that word what we find is wefind Uber Eats and DoorDash
really picking up steam andtrying to get to the grocery
business.
What Uber Eats has done.
(02:16):
They followed Instacart's leadand they now offer SNAP
recipients the ability to usetheir benefits to order
groceries.
So what do you think?
Is Instacart really in troubleand have major competitors from
DoorDash and Uber Eats now?
Sally (02:39):
Tisha, and there are a lot of different things to
consider that these companiesare offering Uber Eats for one,
now opening up their services topeople who are using food
stamps to pay for theirgroceries, which is a great
benefit for many people who somepeople have disabilities and
(03:01):
can't get to the store or don'thave transportation or have
small children.
There are a lot of differentreasons that might keep someone
from being able to actually goto the grocery store and shop in
the store.
So this is a great benefit forthose shoppers.
And then DoorDash what we'reseeing from DoorDash is that
(03:22):
they are offering some differentbenefits to retailers.
They're not just working on thedelivery part, but they're also
assisting retailers in how tomanage their in-stocks in their
store, their product inventory.
They're trying to help themwith their overall sales in
(03:46):
their store and not just online.
Phil (03:49):
Yeah, I think that Uber Eats is probably a good move to
take food stamps and snapbenefits, but the one I'm really
watching is DoorDash because, Iagree with you, I think
DoorDash is in it for the longhaul.
They really want to build thatrelationship with retailers.
They want to work hand-in-handwith retailers.
(04:11):
What they've said is that theysee grocers and retailers as
being more and more innovativein terms of how the store
doubles as both a traditionalphysical store that a customer
goes to and also an e-commercefulfillment hub, and they're
partnering with them along theway to figure out how to make
shopping more efficient.
(04:32):
So I think DoorDash is the onefor us to watch.
So, Instacart, look over yourshoulder.
Doordash is coming.
Martie is a new app and a newwebsite started by two food
entrepreneurs.
Who really wants to make foodwaste front and foremost
(04:58):
throughout the entire country?
What I love about Martie andwhat they basically do is they
operate the way a dollar storedoes or the way a grocery outlet
does, where they buy from majorcompanies and smaller companies
.
They've got over 2,500different brands, including
folks like Kellogg's and Quakerand Pepsi and the like, so
(05:21):
they're buying the brand'ssurplus and overstock inventory
and they give it to consumers ata deep discount.
Now, the reason that they'redoing this is a lot of these
companies, when they haveoverstocks, they really send the
stuff to the landfill, so it'sall about waste, and I am really
impressed with this company.
(05:43):
They launched in September 2021.
They say they've salvaged about2.5 million pounds of food
since that point.
What I really like about theirwebsite, sally, is it's fun and
it's engaging, and I think thatthis is going to become huge.
(06:04):
The look of the website is fun.
They have filters on for healthand wellness and also similar
to going into a dollar store.
It's like an adventure.
So, for example, thenotifications that I got this
morning 48 hour flash salethey've just dropped prices on
over 100 items and, by the way,you save between 50 and 75%.
(06:29):
So I happen to love Ely Coffee,so Ely Coffee is about 70% off
the can that you would get inthe supermarket.
The over 200 new items justlanded.
And then what made me laugh isI get a free roll of who gives a
crap toilet paper, exclusivelyfor app shoppers.
(06:51):
Get a free roll with your nextorder while supplies last.
So I am just so impressed withthese women who have created
this company.
I love their website.
I really think the way they'vedesigned it is they're gonna get
people through the instantnotifications and just through
(07:12):
the website.
You know, I mean doing this allthe time.
It becomes like a social mediafun thing that, oh look, here's
something I could buy now.
What do you think?
Sally (07:25):
I agree, Phil.
This is something that we reallyneed.
We are looking for ways tomanage our food waste more than
ever, and historically we didn'thave the technology or the way
to communicate quickly withpeople to let them know that
there was food available and tofind a home for food that was
(07:46):
going to ultimately be wasted.
Another part of this is that ourconsumers now are much more
waste conscious, I believe, andthey are interested more than
ever in keeping foods out of thelandfills and, with food
inflation happening, they'realso looking for a great deal,
so they're much more willing tolook at these surplus, these
(08:11):
stores that sell surplus foodsor, you know, in the case not in
the case of Martie, but in thecase of some that sell
perishables, you know they'remore interested in buying
blemished fruits, ugly fruitsand vegetables that we've talked
about, because if they can geta discount and they can help the
planet, then that makes peoplefeel good about their shopping.
(08:33):
And also, what's great aboutMartie is that they are trying
to share the sustainabilitystory of these companies, which
we know consumers are veryinterested in knowing the story,
knowing what a company is doingto help the planet, knowing
what they are doing to createmore accessibility for everyone
(08:55):
to have food.
So these stories we want totell and Martie is doing that
through their work.
Phil (09:02):
Absolutely, and you know I just pulled up their website
and a six pack of Laura Barr KidChocolate Brownies normally 479
, here it's 289, kettle CrinkleCut Chips normally 379, a Buck
99, pellegrino six pack Lemonand Raspberry Sparkling Water
(09:24):
there's only two units left 469,a daily deal, I mean.
And unlike Amazon and mostsupermarket e-commerce site,
this is fun.
This is enjoyable.
You know you look at this andit makes you want to buy versus
just seeing product afterproduct.
(09:45):
So good for Martie and I hopethey do.
Well, they're in 34 statesright now.
They were a California, losAngeles company.
Their warehouse is in Texas,but they're going to be
expanding that and pretty soonin all 50 states.
So check it out.
It is Martie M-A-R-T-I-E dotcom.
(10:06):
Great job.
So you know, as you're talkingabout sustainability stories on
Martie, there's some newinformation that's coming out
across the pond from theEuropean Union, where they
reached an agreement to bangeneric environmental claims,
including climate neutral, by2026, and also what they're
(10:31):
doing is getting rid of claimslike biodegradable, natural or
environmentally friendly,because they say they mislead
consumers unless the company canprove without a shadow of a
doubt that it's reallybiodegradable things like that
and they're also going aftersomething you and I've spoken a
(10:53):
lot about, where you have a lotof these brands and companies
that are now claiming to becarbon neutral because they're
buying carbon offset, and that'svery sketchy and it really
doesn't mean that they'rehelping the environment.
It just means that they'rebuying carbon credits in order
(11:14):
to say that they're doing it.
There's also a lot of lawsuitstaking place.
Right now, for example, there'sa lawsuit against Starbucks
line of refresher fruit drinkswhich don't contain the fruits
that are on the name of theproduct that they have.
Now that's an old story becausewhen you think back, it was, I
(11:37):
think, pepsi's slice, but Icould be wrong and if any of our
viewers can correct me, thatwould be great.
But when Pepsi's slice firstintroduced, what they did is
they had a variety of flavorsand slice had, I think, 10%
fruit juice in it, but the fruitjuice in all the flavors was
(11:58):
grape juice, because grape juiceis the cheapest juice that's
out there.
So we're really seeing theseorganizations, we're seeing
countries really get drilleddown and make sure that
consumers are not being misled,and we have to this rule in the
(12:20):
EU.
That was on September 19th.
As I said, natural,biodegradable, neutral, echo.
You're gonna have to provethese things in order to put it
on your package, and I thinkthat we all really win by that,
because they also point outother ones that should be banned
(12:42):
, like green.
What does that mean?
Nature's friend, energyefficient, biodegradable all
these and the vote's gonna takeplace in November.
I only hope that this goesthrough, and do you think that
this is something that, eventhough the EU is taking the lead
on it, that we should be doinghere in the United States?
Sally (13:05):
Absolutely.
I think it is very important,as you've said, Phil, that
consumers know what these labelclaims mean and what they're
getting for that, and we haveseen in the past this labeling
issue come up in all kinds ofways, and one example that comes
(13:29):
to mind as I think about whenWhole Foods was getting in
trouble for a little while withsome companies that were calling
their animals farm raised orpasture raised or using those
claims, but then people werefinding out that that's not
exactly what was going on onthese farms, and so the shoppers
(13:52):
need to know what the story is.
They need to have a window into.
If you are makingsustainability claims, then
share on your website with yourcustomers what you're doing.
They want to know the story,just as we were talking about
with these brands that Martie istalking about and telling the
(14:12):
sustainability story.
Your shoppers want to know that, and also it's just our ethical
responsibility to do what wecan to help our planet and to be
honest about what efforts we'remaking.
Phil (14:28):
Yeah, and also consumers are willing to pay extra for
those products that do have areal value, whether it's for the
environment or for our health,and most of the time they're
getting ripped off.
You bring a great example withcage-free and free range and so
(14:49):
on, and to this day, to this day, I can talk to consumers who
really believe that when theypick up eggs that say cage-free,
that cost more thanconventional eggs, that it's
happy-go-lucky chickens runningaround and that's not what
cage-free means.
So consumers want and aredemanding better, Better
(15:14):
products, better company effortstowards the environment,
willing to pay for it and justto rip them off, you know, just
doesn't work.
And talking about rip-offs,what we're seeing and it started
with impossible foods where,when they introduced their
(15:34):
plant-based burger, they decidedto go to upscale restaurants
before they went to supermarketsto get it on their menus Now
we're seeing a whole bunch ofnew food and beverage startups
that are working withrestaurants to try to get on
their menus, to have thatcredibility, so that consumers
(15:55):
can feel better about a producteven though they've never heard
about the product.
But when it's partnered with,whether it's a fancy restaurant
or a fast-food restaurant, or inthe case of here in Los Angeles
with Erewhon.
Airwan has this huge programwhere they partner with various
(16:16):
brands in order to sell and makethat Airwan halo over them, and
the one that I think that ishysterical and very successful
for Airwan is the Haley BieberSmoothie, which is pink and it
costs $20 for a smoothie.
So do we think that this isgoing to be the next phase for
(16:40):
all these startups that they'removing away from human
influencers and now they'relooking for restaurant and
retail influencers?
Sally (16:52):
These collaborations can be great visibility for these
brands, where they may not see ahuge bump in their sales, but
the visibility is there and thatis a great thing for these
brands.
It makes me think of Phil inthe rap music world, in the R&B
(17:13):
music world, that many of thesereally famous artists are always
doing collaborations with otherartists, and one of the reasons
they do that is to expand theirvisibility and their reach, and
so it makes me think of thatwhen I look at these products
and how they are trying to findthe right partner to get their
(17:35):
product seen more.
One of the ones that was reallyinteresting to me reading about
in this article Phil was not afood product was the Dove brand,
which is participating with apartnership with Juice Press on
smoothies that are inspired bytheir body scrubs.
So there are a lot of differentways that brands that are not
(17:56):
even a food can partner with arestaurant or, let's say, a
retailer like Arawan and find asuccessful collaboration.
Phil (18:08):
And I love your analogy to the music business, which is
one that I had not thought of.
And when I really think aboutit, the way it used to be and
you would know this far betterthan I is, you would have a band
or an individual cover themusic from somebody else, so
(18:29):
somebody else would do a Beatlessong, but they would be doing
it themselves, but now, withthese collaborations, where you
have both artists actuallyworking together, there's that
spill-off.
So I think that's a fabulousanalogy and something that
brands should keep in mind,because 2 plus 2 is not 4.
(18:54):
2 plus 2 is 5.
That kind of thinking.
So there's a great article inFast Company about what the
pandemic has taught us aboutfood marketing, and this was
written by Megan Teates,Executive Vice President with
Affinity Group, which is a foodservice sales and marketing
(19:18):
group, and basically, you know,she points out four must-haves
One is that social media can beused to gauge consumer
perceptions in real time.
Two, globally inspired flavorsare in high demand.
Three, the definition ofhealthy continue to evolve.
And four, it's about theexperience.
And what she points out on theexperience is the dining out is
(19:42):
fun, but carry out is fun too,with add-ons like margaritas to
go or meal kits like Hello Freshor Blue Apron, and I totally
disagree, totally disagree.
If you take a look at BlueApron and not to rag on Blue
Apron, but Blue Apron in 2017,when they did their IPO, the
(20:02):
company's value was $1.89billion.
Just last week Ma rc Lore,brilliant guy in e-commerce, he
created Jet sold it to Walmartfor you know a fortune.
They went on to Walmart, helpedthem figure it out.
He's now on his own.
He has a new company calledWonder.
(20:22):
We've talked about that before.
It's a startup in New Jerseywhere, basically, they deliver
food to you, but in the trucksthat they deliver food, there's
actually a chef so that you knowthe basic food has already been
prepared in their commissary,but the chef is doing the
finishing touches on the truckoutside of your house to make it
(20:46):
that much better, that muchfresher, and so on.
Thank you, but here's the pointthat Mark Lohr just bought Lou
April last week for $103 millionStill a lot of money, but it's
not $1.9 billion that they werevalued at for their IPO.
(21:07):
So I think that it's reallyimportant to understand that.
Yes, the pandemic has shifted alot of what we buy, how we buy
it and so on, but still there'ssome basics there and we can't
just fast forward to chat GPT toAI, to e-commerce, everything
(21:30):
that we have to have somefundamentals there that are
gonna be consistent.
Sally (21:38):
Yes, and in this article that you're referencing, Phil.
For me, number one and numbertwo are the big winners in this
and in what we've learned fromthe pandemic, and that is I'll
go as far as for the socialmedia, to just pare it down to
TikTok.
Tiktok is where foodie contentgoes viral, and when we talk
(22:01):
about globally inspired flavorsbeing in high demand and how
people want to know how to makethese ethnic foods, it's on
TikTok where they are showingyou how to make these recipes in
a simpler way, with lessingredients, with easier to find
(22:23):
ingredients, and so these, tome, are the ones that are key
for retailers to focus on and topay attention to.
Phil (22:32):
Totally agree, totally agree.
So, on Food Not Phones, andjust to give you a recap Food
Not Phones on September 19th,when we launched great success,
we had a lot of influencers, alot of people picking it up and
posting on their own socialmedia.
Food Not Phones heard a lot ofgreat stories about people
(22:52):
putting down their phones.
On September 19th coming up,our next Food Not Phones day is
gonna be Thanksgiving, so checkit out on FoodNotPhones.
com.
The countdown is there.
Participate, be part of it.
Thanksgiving is gonna be biggerand better than it was in
September and we're gonna do itthroughout the year.
(23:13):
It's really important and thisstory that we're gonna talk
about, Sophia Paley, who's ahigh school senior at Horace
Mann School in New York City,wrote this on katiecouric.
com and basically her title isSocial Media a Teenage Wasteland
.
She's 16 years old, a terrificwriter, if you would, and I love
(23:40):
what she said.
You know, and I'll quote someof the things, it's difficult
for me to go an hour withoutchecking my direct messages or
scrolling past educational orcringe-worthy content, and then
she goes on to say an old schoolphone call.
Why bother when you can easilyspill the latest gossip through
(24:03):
a quick text on Snapchatin-person conversations.
Now a text will do, I'm gonna.
Group of teens is out fordinner together.
They're just as likely to begazing into their phones posting
insta stories of their spicytuna rolls as they are to be
actually talking.
So you know, being the mom oftwo teenagers, what do you think
(24:27):
of Sophia's column here?
Sally (24:31):
Phil, I really appreciated this column that
she's written and I think thatit is important for us to listen
to what more of our youth aresaying about this.
You know we can't just be.
You know you kids in your rockand roll.
You know we need to try andunderstand where they are coming
from.
This is part of their world.
This is how they are growing upsocializing.
(24:55):
Particularly during theshutdown, we saw a lot of kids
only had that way to connectwith each other.
So, while we know that there aresome really harmful and
dangerous things out there asfar as the internet and social
media go, you know that have todo with the rise in anxiety and
(25:15):
depression, eating disorders.
You know just overallself-image that kids are dealing
with.
We know that that's out here,but it is great to hear the
youth talking about it and whatthey think of it, and I think
you know she's making some goodpoints here about.
You know where are the limitsthat the adults are setting and
(25:37):
you know, as we've talked aboutis what are the limits?
As companies that are gettingon these social media sites and
advertising to youth, what aretheir limits, as far as you know
?
Are they acting ethically?
Is this algorithm performingethically to protect our
children?
These are all things that Ibelieve we are trying to figure
(26:01):
out and see how, you know, thisis going to evolve as our kids
grow into adults.
But, you know, as for our foodnot phones movement this is an
opportunity for us to have thoseconversations with our kids and
to talk about.
You know, we can find somebalance in here.
(26:22):
We can put them down and we canengage face to face and have
human interaction and have ourmeals together and not have to
look at our phones, and then wecan have our time with our
phones as well.
But there must be some sort ofbalance.
Phil (26:35):
Absolutely, and it's a great read.
Go to katiecouricmedia.
com, read Sophia's article.
There's just one other thingthat I want to point out, and
she points out just the same wayyou do, that we need a national
discussion on this, involvingteens, parents, tech companies
(26:55):
and lawmakers, to address theseissues and by not elevating the
conversation around the way itcan be misused, are we leading a
generation of future leaderstowards a teenage wasteland of
isolation, anxiety anddepression.
That's what Food not Phones, isall about.
So thanks, Sally, appreciate it.
(27:16):
Now on the bullseye.
There's no denying that popculture plays a powerful role in
shaping our purchasingdecisions.
Brands have long understood thevalue of leveraging celebrity
partnerships, moments andmovements to promote their
products, but every now and then, a partnership emerges that's
so unexpected yet perfectlypitched that it captures the
(27:40):
collective imagination EnterHeinz, taylor Swift and Travis
Kelce.
For those who may be slightlyout of the loop, which you know
over the past week would havebeen very hard to do unless you
were one of the few people whowere overcome by the madness in
DC and focused on what couldhave been the government
(28:03):
shutdown.
I'm gonna recap it for you.
Taylor Swift, theinternationally celebrated
singer-songwriter who has brokenall concert records with her
era's tour has supposedly beenromantically linked to Travis
Kelce, the NFL standout tightend.
Now, in a serendipitous twistof fate, Kelce plays for the
(28:27):
Kansas City Chiefs.
This is a team that issynonymous with Heinz Field, and
it gets even better than that.
In a master stroke of marketinggenius, maybe Heinz Ketchup
decided to take this goldenopportunity head on, as game
watchers noticed on September24th that Taylor Swift was
(28:49):
dipping a piece of chicken,dipping it in ketchup and what
appeared to be ranch dressing.
Now, this whole thing startedwhen one fan tweeted a picture
of Swift with the concoction,which now has over 40 million
views.
Heinz jumped quickly on theopportunity and came up with a
(29:10):
campaign to capitalize.
They took an existing product,which, frankly, most people have
never heard of crunch, and puta new label on it ketchup and
seemingly ranch.
And they went on Twitter toannounce that they're gonna be
giving away 100 bottles in acontest.
Just 100 bottles.
They're not going on the marketwith it as of yet.
(29:32):
No rules or information hasbeen posted, just the
announcement On Instagram.
Heinz's posting has just over13,000 likes.
All it says is a new era forHeinz Get it era era's tour,
lame, introducing ketchup andseemingly ranch Limited edition
bottles coming soon.
(29:54):
Well, what makes this promotiontruly intriguing is its nuance.
It's not just about slappingTaylor Swift's face on a bottle
or utilizing Travis Kelce'sathletic prowess which Heinz
probably couldn't afford to doeither of.
Heinz has woven a narrativearound the pairing of ketchup
and ranch that's authentic andon-brand, and just maybe because
(30:16):
of the power of Swift, they canactually sell crunch, which was
introduced back in 2019, buthas barely made a dent.
In fact, this past weekend wentto nine supermarkets here in
Southern California and not oneof them had crunch on its shells
.
Probably that's gonna changesoon.
It's worth noting that noofficial statement has been
(30:38):
released to suggest that eitherSwift or Kelce directly endorses
the product.
Instead, heinz's marketingfolks have made a huge impact
and it's getting major PR on TVnews, including on today, cbs
News and NPR, in newspapers and,of course, on social media by
moving swiftly swiftly sorryabout that and getting their
(31:01):
campaign up in less than 24hours.
Some, myself included, can argueabout the ethics of leveraging
Swift's personal relationshipsfor corporate and brand gain,
but you cannot deny theinnovative way that Heinz has
approached this.
It's engaging, it's fun andit's memorable.
I'm gonna go out on a limb here, but I'm imagining that the
(31:23):
brains behind this effort wasnot some stodgy old 50-year-old
marketing expert, but a20-something who's probably a
fan of Swift.
If I'm right, reach out to me.
I'd love to hear from you, Philat supermarketgurucom, and
guess what?
We'll get you right here on thebroadcast next week to tell
your side of the story and, ofcourse, reveal the rules and how
(31:47):
fans can win one of the hundredbottles.
Or are you gonna announce thatthere's so much buzz that you're
just gonna replace the laggingcrunch with ketchup and
seemingly ranch?
And, by the way, heinz is notalone.
Their competitors have decidedto jump in.
The official KFC X account,commented our ranch queen, while
(32:11):
Hidden Valley Ranch has sincechanged its Twitter name to
seemingly ranch.
Everyone seems to wanna getinto the act.
But at last night's game inEast Rutherford, new Jersey,
swift was there but to thebrand's dismay, there was no
shot of chicken ketchup orseemingly ranch.
Yes, this is a cheap socialmedia and marketing shot and yes
(32:37):
, it worked.
And yes, it's brilliant, aseveryone behind Heinz is posting
about it on social media.
It's great free publicity, butlet's remember, food still has
to taste good and only time isgonna tell if Taylor and Travis
will stand the test of time.
Yes, their pairing has givenHeinz a flavor victory, but it's
(33:00):
anyone's guess just how longeither pairing is gonna last.
Thanks for joining us and we'llsee you back here next week.
Sally (33:09):
Be sure to visit Supermarketguru.
com for the latest marketinganalysis issues and trends, and
don't forget to join us backhere next Monday at 2.30 pm
Eastern for more.
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