Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Hopes 'eatwell' Makes For A Healthy 2011

Private Brand Showcase
If it's about 'eatwell' - you read it here first

In September 2010 Fresh & Easy Buzz reported that Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market would be introducing a number of new ready-to-eat and ready-to-heat fresh-prepared foods SKUs, and a couple items in other categories, under its 'eatwell' healthy foods brand, in January 2011. [See - September 10, 2010: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Extending its 'eatwell' Healthy Foods' Brand Into Frozen Food Category and September 27, 2010 - First Items in Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market's 'eatwell' Brand Frozen Foods Line Arriving in Store Freezer Cases This Week.]

Fresh and Easy Neighborhood Market is doing just that.

Additionally, in this piece - January 4, 2011: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Kicks Off 2011 With an Appeal to 'eatwell' - on Tuesday, we reported that some of those new items were set to be introduced this week.

They are.

Further, we said in the story on Tuesday that Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market would feature the 'eatwell' brand, along with many of the new items in the line, in its weekly advertising circular, which came out a day later, on Wednesday, January 6.

The items are in the weekly ad, which started yesterday.

The ('eatwell') 411

Today, Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market announced the introduction of 11 new 'eatwell' brand items for 2011 - 10 fresh, refrigerated ready-to-eat or ready-to-eat SKUs and one Caesar salad dressing. The new 'eatwell' fresh-prepared foods items include: salads, wraps, soups, pasta dishes and meals. You can view a listing of the 11 new items here.

Additionally, although it's not mentioned in the press release, Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market has extended its 'eatwell' brand SKU-count in the shelf-stable dry grocery category, adding a new item, 'eatwell' veggie crackers, to its existing two items in the line, canned turkey and vegetarian chili.

The veggie cracker (in a 7 ounce box) SKU is the first of what Fresh & Easy plans to be a line of snack crackers, and most-likely eventually other self-stable snacks, according to our sources, under its 'eatwell' healthy foods' brand.

Brand ('eatwell') extensions

Fresh & Easy Buzz was the first publication to report that the fresh food and grocery chain, which has 155 stores in California, Nevada and Arizona, had extended its 'eatwell' brand into the dry grocery category. We did so in this August 2010 piece - August 18, 2010: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Extending 'eatwell' Healthy Foods' Private Brand Into Dry Grocery Category.

We were also first to report Tesco's Fresh & Easy extended brand 'eatwell' into the frozen foods category. (See the two September 2010 stories linked in the first paragraph of this piece at top.)

In our story on Tuesday (January 4), we said Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market would be featuring its 'eatwell' healthy foods' brand, including the frozen meals and many of the new items, in its weekly advertising circular, which broke on January 5 and runs until January 11.

The grocer has done just that. You can view the 'eatwell' feature in Fresh & Easy's current weekly ad here.

More ('eatwell') to come

We've said since we first broke the news in April 2010 about the development and launching of the 'eatwell' brand by Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, which it started out using for fresh-prepared foods only, that it was the grocer's plan to make its "healthy foods" private brand, and extend it into numerous additional categories, which so far include dry grocery and frozen foods, in addition to fresh-prepared foods.

That process will continue, along with the development of new 'eatwell' items in the fresh-prepared foods, shelf-stable dry grocery, frozen foods and refrigerated foods categories.

Stay tuned.

Recent stories in 'Private Brand Showcase'

January 5, 2011: Safeway Adds 'Open Nature' to its Natural-Organic-Healthy Foods' Private Brand Portfolio

January 4, 2011: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Kicks Off 2011 With an Appeal to 'eatwell'

Click here to read a selection of stories from 'Private Brand Showcase' in 2010. See the headline links at the end of the post.

New Items Show Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market's Niche-Specialty Category Private Brand Development Focus

Private Brand Showcase

Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market has gone decidedly niche and specialty products-oriented with three new food and drink items it recently introduced, pegged to the November-December holiday season, under its fresh&easy private brand.

The three new fresh&easy brand products fall clearly into the specialty food and drink category because they are niche-oriented consumer packaged goods items and feature gourmet or organic product attributes, and in case of the coffee also offer a fair trade attribute, along with the organic.

Below is our rundown on the three new items, followed by some analysis on Fresh & Easy's current private brand development focus:

Holiday Blend Coffee

The fresh&easy Holiday Blend coffee - pictured here - is a seasonal item introduced by the grocer for the November-December-New Year holiday period. The special blend coffee features both organic and fair trade coffee beans. [You can read about fair trade here. There are different definitions of what is considered fair trade, along with different certifications. In other words, it's somewhat buyer beware when the words fair trade are used on products.]

Pumpkin Pecan Waffle & Pancake Mix

The recently introduced fresh&easy Pumpkin Pecan Waffle & Pancake Mix is designed to be merchandised in the store all year but has a clear fall and holiday season focus to it, which is why Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market has introduced it when it has.

The quick-prepare-and-cook product (pictured above) contains the dry mix and pecans, and requires adding eggs, milk, oil/or butter. The private brand specialty pancake and waffle mix is made without artificial colors or flavorings, is free of trans-fats, and contains no high-fructose corn syrup. It currently retails for has $3.99, based on store visits this week.

Cranberry Walnut Loaf

The new fresh&easy brand Cranberry Walnut Loaf specialty bread (pictured below) is made for Tesco's Fresh & Easy by its bread vendor Il Fornaio. The 16 ounce loaf contains cranberries, walnuts, raisins, pecans and citrus.

Interestingly, Walmart recently introduced a nearly identical Cranberry Walnut Loaf under its "Marketside" private brand. See a picture at our story here - December 21, 2010: New 'Marketside' Brand Fresh Food Items From Walmart - Part Deux.

Analysis: Niche, specialty private brand focus

In a recent Private Brand Showcase piece - December 13, 2010: House (Sparking) Cider Rules at Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market - we noted that based on our ongoing research and analysis, Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market this year has been putting the majority of its consumables private brand development and new item introduction focus in the specialty foods, natural-organic and healthy foods' niche categories rather than into the development of more mainstream or mass market types of packaged food and grocery products. The three items featured in this piece lend further evidence to our observation and analysis.

Its our further analysis the grocer will continue with this niche-oriented specialty products focus in the consumables category next year.

That doesn't mean Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market won't introduce any new mainstream packaged goods items. Rather it means the Tesco-owned 155-store fresh food and grocery chain will put its focus on the specialty, natural-organic and healthy foods' categories, looking even more and more like Trader Joe's, for example, when it comes to retailer brand development and merchandising.

A key reason we believe Fresh & Easy has been and will continue to put a majority focus on niche and specialty oriented categories with its private brand development is two-fold.

First, the grocer believes doing so will help it to build a larger and stronger customer following based on its private brands and products.

Second, Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market hopes a focus on the specialty-premium, natural-organic, and healthy foods' categories, where the items tend to have higher price-points and gross margins, will help it to achieve two essential goals: increase the average market basket sales in its stores and increase Fresh & Easy's current negative-38% overall margin.

Tesco says it will break-even or show a slight profit with Fresh & Easy by the end of its 2012/13 fiscal year. In order to achieve that it must raise the negative-38% margin to at least something close to plus-20%. That's a tall order for any grocer.

[Private Brand Showcase is a regular feature of Fresh & Easy Buzz. In it we report on, write about and offer analysis and commentary on the fast-growing private or retailer brand (sometimes called private label) movement, along with featuring various private brand products being offered by Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, along with those of other grocers and retailers operating various types of formats. Below is a selection of 2010 stories in our Private Brand Showcase]

Below is a selection of 2010 stories from our 'Private Brand Showcase'

December 21, 2010: New 'Marketside' Brand Fresh Food Items From Walmart - Part Deux

December 18, 2010: Walmart Launches New 'Marketside' Fresh Food Lines - Plus A 'Fresh' Campaign to Create Brand Buzz

December 13, 2010: House (Sparking) Cider Rules at Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market

October 30, 2010: Raley's Launches New 'Raley's TO GO' Pre-Packaged, Refrigerated Fresh-Prepared Foods Line

October 16, 2010: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market 'Bags' the Humble and Nutritious Plantain For A New Snack Chip Item

October 16, 2010: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market's Private Brand Kids' Cereal Wins Bronze 'Pentaward' in 2010 Packaging Design Competition

October 9, 2010: 'Use Me': Should Reusable Packaging Be Part of Tesco's Sustainable Private Brand Offering? A Student-Designer Thinks So

September 27, 2010: First Items in Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market's 'eatwell' Brand Frozen Foods Line Arriving in Store Freezer Cases This Week

September 4, 2010: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Unveils New fresh&easy 'goodness' Brand Items and Packaging

August 29, 2010: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Expanding its fresh&easy 'goodness' Co-Branded Line; Launching Numerous New Items

August 18, 2010: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Extending 'eatwell' Healthy Foods' Private Brand Into Dry Grocery Category

July 21, 2010: 'Sipsational' & 'Quenchtastic': Safeway Introduces New 21-Flavor Line of Soft Drinks Under 'refreshe' Private Brand

July 17, 2010: New Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Clock-Shaped Private Brand Candy Line Hits the Shelves at Fresh & Easy

July 12, 2010: Tesco Launches Private Brand 'Lasagne Sandwich' in the UK Today...With No Apologies to The Earl of Sandwich

June 24, 2010: New Fresh & Easy Clock Logo-Shaped Candies Are A Pretty Sweet Idea

May 11, 2010: Tesco Might Want to Get 'fresh & naked' at 'fresh & easy'

April 2, 2010: Fresh & Easy's New 'EatWell' Healthier Fresh, Prepared Foods Brand to Hit Stores on April 7

April 11, 2010: When it Comes to Fresh, Prepared Foods, New York City's Duane Reade is Simply 'deLish' for Walgreens

February 22, 2010: Food, Drug Retailers With Stores in California, Nevada & Arizona Honored for Private Label-Store Brands' Excellence

Special Product Focus: Long Live Newman's Own and its Charitable Mission: Newman's Own on A New Product Introduction Rampage; Next Up Frozen Pizza

Ladies and gentlemen, start your ovens -- natural and premium foods company Newman's Own is getting in the ready-to-bake frozen pizza business.

The food company founded by and named after actor, race car driver and entrepreneur Paul Newman, who passed away last month, plans to soon introduce four varieties of all-natural, premium, frozen ready-to-bake pizzas called Newman's Own Thin and Crispy frozen pizza.

The all-natural and premium frozen pizza pies come in four varieties: Supreme; Four Cheese; Roasted Garlic and Chicken; and Uncured Pepperoni.

According to Mike Harvard, vice president of marketing for Newman's Own, the all-natural, premium frozen pizza's will be competitively priced with the leading national frozen pizza brands. This has been one of the keys to the fabulous success of the Newman's own brand in fact. While offering a premium-quality product, be it salad dressing, pasta sauce, popcorn or ready-to-drink lemon aid, the food company always made sure to price the brand close to or just slightly higher than other national, mass market brands in the respective categories, even though its products are all-natural and of premium quality.

Asked why frozen pizza's are the newest line extension for Newman's Own, Harvard says: "For 25 years, our consumers have loved our all-natural products that help make delicious meals. So, we figured, why not make it easier and provide the whole meal. Our new pizzas deliver what consumers want --delicious, convenient meal solutions the whole family will love,"

"I guess you could say we've jumped from the salad bowl onto the pizza pan," Harvard adds.

Of course he is referring to the fact the very first category Newman's Own began with 26 years ago was ready-to-pour salad dressings. We see lots of potential synergies between the two product lines, such as salad dressing and frozen pizza FSI coupon cross promotions, in-store tie-ins and the like.

The new frozen pizza line is being launched in stores this month in five test market areas. Those market regions are: New England; Albany, NY; Milwaukee, WI; Minneapolis, MN; and Charlotte, NC. Harvard says Newman's Own has plans to expand to other U.S. markets next year and roll the frozen pizza line out nationally by 2010.

Newman's Own Thin and Crispy pizza retails for a suggested price of $6.49-$6.99 for pizzas that range from 12.3 oz. to 14.7 oz, according to marketing vice president Harvard.

Among the supermarket chains in the U.S. states mentioned above involved in the frozen, premium pizza pie line's introduction this month include: Shaw's supermarkets; Price Chopper; BigY; Hannaford; Demoula's Market Basket; Roche Bros.; Foodmaster; HarrisTeeter; CUB Foods; Piggly Wiggly; Woodman's Markets; Copps; Sentry; Byerly's; Lund's; Kowalski's and a number of others.

That Newman's Own is introducing its new line of frozen pizzas just shortly after the death of Paul Newman is particularly bittersweet because along with popcorn (and pasta and Lemonade), pizza is said to be the award winning actor's other favorite food.

The Newman's Own brand frozen pizza's go from the freezer to the oven, taking only 10-12 minutes to bake, according to the company.

All four of the premium, thin crust frozen pizzas are trans-fat-free. Additionally, The crust is made with flaxseed, all-natural cheeses are used in all the pizzas, the roasted garlic chicken pizzas are made with only all-natural white meat chicken, and the pepperoni on that variety and on the Supreme pizza is uncured. The Supreme Pizza variety contains sausage, uncured pepperoni, green, red, yellow peppers, onions and cheese.

There are no artificial ingredients or colorings in any of the Newman's Own frozen pizzas, according to company marketing chief Mike Harvard.

Newman's Own is on a new product introduction rampage.

The food marketer recently introduced a new line of ready-to-eat breakfast cereals, Newman's Own Sweet Enough breakfast cereals. As is the case with the frozen pizza category, the new cereal line is the company's first entry into the shelf-stable ready-to-eat breakfast cereal category.

It's not an accident the food marketer's two newest product lines are both in the ready-to-eat and ready-to-heat segments.

Mike Harvard says a major segment focus of the company's new product development efforts is in the meal solutions sector. These are food products of various types that are ready-to-eat with either zero or only a slight (like adding milk to cereal or baking a frozen pizza) effort needing to be added by consumers. In other words, most of the value has already been created and added by the products' manufacturer.

Prior to introducing the new breakfast cereal line, Newman's Own introduced a new line of shelf-stable marinades named Dress Up Dinner Marinades, along with a new line of salad dressings in sprayer-style bottles called Newman's Own Natural Salad Mists.

These two new lines fit into the meal solutions strategy from the opposite end in that they are convenient, value added products that can be used by consumers to aid in the preparation of and to enhance a meal with very little preparation -- marinading chicken with the marinades and then simply baking or grilling, and spraying the salad dressing misters on a packaged salad mix and simply eating, for example.

Newman's Own was founded on a lark by Paul Newman and his buddy, the writer A.E. Hotchner, in 1982 in the kitchen of Newman's Westport, CT USA home. Newman and Hotcher, who wrote a best selling biography of Ernest Hemingway and the famous memoir King of the Hill about his life growing up in St Louis, Mo. during the Great Depression, along with many other works, made up a batch of Newman's favorite salad dressing -- the company's first commercial product sold at retail stores -- and gave it away to friends and family members for Christmas, creating a label that said "Newman's Own" in part as a tongue-in-cheek joke.

From there as is often said -- the rest is history. The company was launched by the pair with one key proviso -- that all of its profits after expenses would be donated to charity.

Newman and Hotchner followed up the salad dressing line with popcorn, ready-to-drink lemonade and pasta sauce. Today Newman's Own produces and markets 175 different varieties of food products in the U.S. and internationally.

And of course Newman's Own has even produced its own food company offspring, Santa Cruz, CA-based Newman's Own Organics, which was founded by and is run by Paul Newman's daughter, Nell Newman.

Still based in Westport, Conn., the charitable mission of Newman's Own is expressed in its Company motto: "Shameless exploitation in pursuit of the Common Good."

The food company's charitable mission is reflected in the following statement that will appear on every package of Newman's Own products: "The Newman's Own Foundation continues Paul Newman's commitment to donate all after tax net profits from this product and related royalties for educational and charitable purposes," says company marketing chief Mike Harvard.

The statement is being added to every Newman's Own product package to reflect Newman's wishes and plans that the company and its charitable mission live long after his death.

The Newman's Own Foundation, which is the charitable arm of the food company, have given over $250 million to thousands of charities since its founding in 1982. That's impressive. And a wonderful legacy for Paul Newman to leave.

[Fresh & Easy Buzz Editor's Note: 'Special Product Focus' is a new feature of the Blog. Every so often we will write about a branded product line or product we believe has merit to the industry and to our readers. We also will include occassional stories about Fresh & Easy store brand products in our 'Special Product Focus' column.]