September 2023

Amazon One Rolling Out to All Whole Foods Market Stores in the U.S.

Soon, Whole Foods Market customers will no longer need their wallet or a phone to pay at checkout. Amazon announced last month that it will expand Amazon One palm-scanning service to all 500+ Whole Foods Market locations in the U.S. by the end of the year. Customers will be able to use their palm scan for payment and to apply their Prime membership benefits.

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Amazon Fresh Layoffs

It is reported that Amazon Fresh is re-organizing and is eliminating the zone leader role. The zone leader manager had several functions including training employees, posting jobs, and helping customers.

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Whole Foods Market’s 365 Brand on Amazon

Amazon shoppers will soon be able to order Whole Food’s 365 private label brand. The brand will be offered this summer with up to 15% off for recurring orders.

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Whole Foods Market Founder Launches Love.Life

Whole Foods Market Co-Founder, John Mackey, is at it again. This time he is launching an integrated health and wellness company.

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Whole Foods Market Releases 2022 Global Impact Report

Whole Foods Market released its annual Impact Report this summer, which highlights the grocer’s initiatives to make a positive impact in the global food system.

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CBS News Names Thrive Market Among Top Online Grocers

Last month, CBS News Essentials named Thrive Market as one of the best grocery delivery services for organic groceries. Selections were made by examining the most popular grocery delivery services in the U.S. that serve the widest area and have the largest variety of food and beverages.

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Is Cell Cultured Meat Safe for Humans and the Environment?

Now that two California-based companies, Upside Foods and Good Meat, have received approval by the FDA and USDA to sell their lab-grown chicken products in restaurants before going full retail, the U.S. joins two other countries, Singapore and Israel, as the first to allow commercialization of cell cultured meat products.

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Body Care Market Expansion

In an era where consumers have unrestricted access to information and the barriers to product distribution have been significantly lowered, the concept of “natural” is primed to revolutionize the body care industry at an astonishing pace. This impending transformation emphasizes the importance for industry stakeholders to not only adapt to this evolution, but to be at its forefront, facilitating and driving the changing narrative of the body care market.

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H-E-B Opens Historic Nutty Brown Location in Southwest Austin

San Antonio-based H-E-B recently opened a 107,000 square foot location at the iconic Nutty Brown site in Southwest Austin, Texas.

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H-E-B Opens Third Store in Dallas Forth Worth Metroplex

H-E-B held a grand opening ceremony for its McKinney store in Collin County this summer. The new store is the third H-E-B in the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex.

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Aldi to Acquire Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarkets

In a bold move, Aldi announced that they have an agreement to acquire Winn-Dixie and Harveys Supermarkets in the Southeast. This will add 400 locations in five states which should further Aldi’s aggressive growth plans.

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Sprouts Farmers Market Opens New Stores in Arizona, Colorado

Sprouts Farmers Market opened its newest Arizona store in August. The natural grocery retailer opened a 50,000 square-foot location that will be an anchor tenant at Vineyard Towne Center, a 23-acre retail development that Vestar is currently developing in the Phoenix suburb of Queen Creek.

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Sprouts Farmers Market in the Works for Kyle

A new Sprouts Farmers Market location is currently in the planning stages for Kyle, Texas. The proposed 23,000-square-foot store would be located on the northwest corner of FM 1626 and Kohlers Crossing in Kyle’s Brick and Mortar District.

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Natural Grocers Beaverton Grand Re-opening

In addition to the Natural Grocers team, the PRESENCE sales team were out in full force assisting with the stores transition. Ensuring that all would run smoothly for this brand-new located at 3805 SW 117th Avenue in Beaverton (just a block away from the old location) in a new sustainable building which features 100% LED lighting.

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Brookshire Grocery Company Sells Pharmacy Business to Walgreens

Tyler, Texas-based Brookshire Grocery Company has announced its plans to expand its pharmacy operations through a sales agreement brokered with Walgreens.

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New Market Basket Store in North Conway Under Construction

Market Basket is opening a new store located at 80 Barnes Road in North Conway, New Hampshire. Set to be the grocers 89th store location, the 70,000 square store is expected to open in September 2023 following delays due to supply chain issues.

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New Hampshire Welcomes First Zero Waste Grocery Store

Live Free Refillery, the first zero-waste grocery store in the state of New Hampshire, provides a selection of foods, body care products and cleaning supplies that have a gentler impact on our planet.

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Coborn’s Names New President

St. Cloud, Minnesota-based grocery Coborn’s, Inc., announced that David Best, a former General Mills veteran will become President and Chief Operating Officer at the end of 2023, following the retirement of current President and CEO Dave Meyer.

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KeHE Announces Partnership with Affiliated Foods Inc.

KeHE announced they are the new primary distributor for Affiliated Foods Inc. (AFI). AFI is a leading wholesale distribution cooperative in Southcentral region, specifically, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, Nebraska, and Arkansas, serving more than 800 renowned grocery stores.

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KeHE and Foxtrot Partner to Redefine Convenience

KeHE announced its partnership with Foxtrot, a next generation corner store, and café with locations throughout the United States, including Chicago, Austin, Dallas, Virginia, and Bethesda and shipping nationwide.

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KeHE to Open New Miami Distribution Center – DC 31

KeHE will be moving its current Fort Lauderdale DC 31 operations to a new Miami distribution center (DC) in Hialeah, Florida less than 20 miles away. The new DC will initially service customers that are already being serviced out of Fort Lauderdale DC 31 today.

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KeHE Summer Show Applications Are Open

The in-person show takes place February 7th to 8th, 2024, in Salt Lake City, Utah, and exclusively in KeHE CONNECT® from February 1st to 15th, 2024. Register in full by September 7th, 2023 and receive $100 off your booth!

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UNFI Home Store Program Expanded

UNFI Home Store Program provides data driven Category Business Plans (CBPs) and labor including: category resets, conversion items (limiting loss of shelf placement), speed to shelf on new item cut ins, merchandising services for new store openings, re-tags, store remodels, and new affiliations (when UNFI becomes the distributor of products previously purchased elsewhere).

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Product Images for myUNFI.com

UNFI is investing in many initiatives to improve the customer experience and help grow their suppliers’ sales across digital platforms. Recently, UNFI upgraded myUNFI.com, their premier B2B website which provides access to an expanded assortment of brands and products, as well as billing, claims, and other timely business information.

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Natural Grocers Celebrates 68 Years With Prizes Including Tesla, Trip to Norway

Natural Grocers marked 68 years in the business in August with a weekend of sales, sweepstakes, and giveaways.

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Basha’s Adds Multi-Brand Gift Cards Across Arizona and New Mexico

The Raley’s Companies-operated Bashas’ company has partnered with Blackhawk Network (BHN) gift card provider to expand their gift card options across their 112 supermarket locations.

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Fareway to Move HQ to Johnston

Fareway has been headquartered in Boone since their founding 85 years ago. The move to Johnston was necessitated by a lack of space at their current location.

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Rouses Markets Opens First Drive-Thru Fried Chicken Restaurant

Rouses Markets held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its newest location in Houma, Louisiana last month. It is the first location to feature Rouses’ drive-thru restaurant called Houma da Chicken. The quick-service eatery will feature double-battered fried chicken from a Rouses family recipe that goes back three generations.

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Huckleberry’s Bulk Refresh

The Huckleberry’s store within store format at Rosauers Supermarkets has had challenges within their bulk department. Between recovering from COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine, finding items to fill their expansive bulk department has been difficult.

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Dwight Richmond Receives Nosh Notable Recognition

Dwight Richmond, a seasoned buyer and merchandiser, has been named one of Nosh’s most Notable people for 2023 under the “Gatekeeper” category.

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The Raley’s Companies Promotes Chelsea Minor To VP

Chelsea Minor has been announced as the newly promoted VP of Community Impact and Public Affairs with The Raley’s Companies. Minor has been with the company for eight years, starting in 2015 as an important spokesperson in the political and public arenas.

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Sprouts Seeking CFO Following Molloy’s Retirement

Sprouts Farmers Market announced in August that current CFO Lawrence “Chip” P. Molloy will be retiring at the end of this year. The Phoenix-based company will conduct an internal and external search of candidates for his successor.

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NCG Co+nvergence 2023

Another successful NCG Co+nvergence Vendor Showcase was held in St. Paul, Minnesota, on August 4th, 2023. The PRESENCE NCG team kicked off the fun with a team dinner the night before, joined by local PRESENCE team members.

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September 2023 Update from Natural Products Expo

Still not registered for Expo East? From multiple trade show halls packed full of new and natural brands to discover to keynotes from world-class speakers and live concerts and countless special events, Expo East is a truly can’t-miss event. Secure your spot by 9/17 to take advantage of significant savings!

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Beacon Discovery by New Hope Network – September 2023

Beacon Discovery is the platform for natural products discovery that combines New Hope Network’s standards for ingredients, transparency, and integrity with robust filtering to match buyers and brands.

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Sprouts Farmers Market Plans to Build 24 School Gardens in a Single Day

On September 23rd, approximately 500 Sprouts associates across the U.S. will gather to build 24 school gardens in 24 hours. The retailer’s company-wide volunteer service days have resulted in employees’ donating more than 10,000 hours of service in the past five years.

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C&S Charities, Inc raises $1.3 Million for Fight Against Pediatric Cancer and Childhood Hunger

C&S Charities, Inc., a nonprofit organization established as the coordinating entity of C&S Wholesale Grocers’ charity golf outing, announced its 38th annual Tee Up For Kids™ event raised more than $1.3 million for nonprofit organizations devoted to ending pediatric cancer and childhood hunger.

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PRESENCE Northwest Team Gets Busy Cleaning Portland Parks

On August 23rd, eight PRESENCE coworkers spent the morning volunteering with SOLVE to clean up the downtown Portland North Park Blocks and surrounding area. The blocks were some of the original park properties in the city dating back to 1869.

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Wedding Bells – Christina and G

We are excited to share that our Office Assistant, Christina Court, got married on August 1st on their 9th anniversary together! Please help me congratulate this happy couple!

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Milestones September 2023

PRESENCE New Hires and August 2023 Anniversaries

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Help Wanted September 2023

July 2023 PRESENCE Job Opportunities

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