The organics industry has brought great opportunity to food retailers as well as suppliers and finding a place compatible with the products being sold is a crucial part of the retailing mix. All natural products are filling grocery stores at an increasing rate and consumers are purchasing more and more of these products with the intent to protect themselves and their families from harmful pesticides and artificial ingredients.
Specialized health food stores and markets are no longer the only retailers taking advantage of this growing awareness. Now, supermarket chains and convenience stores (including college campus stores where they are in high demand) have jumped on the organic hay ride and are being rewarded by rising sales that are even leaving some conventional products in the dust. Many ingredients, and therefore brand products, are offering an organic format to their existing product lines.
Integrating organics into mainstream supermarkets has posed a bit of a challenge though. The question is whether or not they should have their own section or fixture within a store or whether they should be dispersed throughout the store with their conventional counterparts. Commonly, brands that sell primarily organic, like Amy’s Kitchen, will be placed in an organic section or in worst case (I’ve seen it before) stuck in the far corners of the frozen food isle with very little visibility. Andy Berliner, founder and president of Amy's Kitchen said in an article by Richard Turcsik of the Progressive Grocer, "We've come to the conclusion that if the store does a really nice job with fixtures and staffing and having it in a section of the store with a lot of foot traffic, then the store-within-a-store concept can work," and added, "But a lot of people don't do it that way, they kind of stick it in a corner and say, 'This is the natural food corner.' There's not much signage, and that doesn't work. It's kind of like a dust collector."
Now that many conventional brands are adding organic to their product mix they can be found collectively within the family of products. For example, Silk has original and organic soy milk and they can be found on the same shelf. Berliner, mentions the use of banners, awnings and self danglers to draw attention to these products in an integrated setting. This is a form of advertising that proves to be very affective in a retail setting. Amy’s soups are placed on the same shelves as such popular soup brands like Campbell’s and Progresso and they often use such forms of advertising to distinguish themselves from the rest. Amy’s is presently the #1 organic brand soup.
Both, the “store within a store” concept and full integration can be equally as successful if executed well. This entails actively conducting in-store consumer research and excellent management activities. As a customer who frequents the organic food section I know that they can certainly have their own charm but I feel strongly that in order to penetrate the entire market the organics must put on their best suits and venture into the big picture. There are the consumers that know before they set foot in the store that they are going to buy organic and then there are the majority who aren’t exactly sure what organic is or means for them and their family. These are the people that companies need to fight hard for, educate and develop strong relationships with. These people and their children will decide the future of the organic expansion and the companies who put organic on the front burner.
