Whole Foods Market Co-Founder John Mackey Launches Health and Wellness Company Love.Life
Natural and organic pioneer aims to transform health care as Whole Foods transformed grocery; company announces expansion of virtual health offerings and first flagship location
AUSTIN, Texas (July 27, 2023) – Love.Life, an integrated health and wellness company, is proud to announce the launch of its groundbreaking virtual health optimization programs and plans for its first flagship location slated to open in the summer of 2024. Love.Life provides a one-stop immersive health experience by combining nourishing food, evolved medical care, and cutting-edge wellness therapies.
The company's new optimization programs provide patient-centric medical care that is outcome-driven, personalized, and dedicated to addressing all aspects of an individual's health. With licensed physicians practicing telehealth nationwide, Love.Life empowers individuals to proactively improve their health by focusing on the root causes of chronic diseases and offering comprehensive solutions.
"Love.Life aims to transform the lives of millions of people," stated CEO and co-creator John Mackey. "The conventional medical system is fundamentally flawed, focusing on managing diseases and treating symptoms rather than prevention and finding the root cause. Studies show that 80% of chronic diseases can be prevented and reversed through diet and lifestyle changes, which are the focus of Love.Life's philosophy and are rarely included in conventional treatment plans."
Love.Life's medically supervised virtual programs far exceed the limitations of standard bloodwork testing, acute care models and transactional doctor-patient relationships of the conventional health care system. Through comprehensive testing and health assessments, individuals work in partnership with doctors to establish their true baseline health. This detailed information forms the basis of a customized, actionable plan that addresses both health risks and opportunities. Love.Life's virtual optimization programs offer a supportive environment, educational resources, and access to health and wellness coaching to facilitate the implementation, measurement, and sustainability of healthy habits.
"With grocery, we made natural and organic products mainstream, and Love.Life is going to play a similar role in the health and wellness industry. We're ready to support and empower millions in optimizing their health potential, proving that genes are not destiny," said Mackey.
"Health is highly personal, so it can be frustrating when you don't feel heard by your doctor or you leave the appointment feeling confused about test results and treatment options," said Dr. Brian Asbill, chief health officer, Love.Life. "The physicians at Love.Life evaluate all aspects of health to create highly personalized plans with — not for — patients. Whether you are seeking preventative care for overall wellness, struggle with an existing condition, or have not been able to pinpoint the root cause of a health issue, we want to offer a single source of clear, trusted, evidence-based care for patients."
Love.Life's board-certified physicians practice "lifestyle medicine" as the foundation of care and are guided by the philosophies of integrative and functional medicine. An emerging evidence-based field, lifestyle medicine evaluates various aspects of an individual's lifestyle, such as nutrition, movement, sleep, stress, and social connection, to provide a holistic view of health. The goal is to help people lead long, healthy, and vibrant lives by improving both lifespan and health span.
Love.Life's virtual health optimization programs are available to individuals across all 50 states and internationally, with three membership programs designed to support a range of health goals. The Healthy Lifestyle Program offers an entry-level option for individuals seeking to jump-start their well-being and proactively maintain their health. It includes an assessment phase of two 30-minute appointments with a physician with a recommended set of labs to assess the individual's baseline cardiovascular and metabolic health as well as key nutrient and vitamin levels. Group health and wellness coaching, educational content, and quarterly follow-up doctor appointments are also included.
The Longevity Program provides intensive, specialized care for specific health goals, including chronic disease reversal and proactive preventative care for optimization and wellness. Under this program, patients receive:
A more intensive assessment phase of 60-minute introductory doctor appointments, a detailed set of included labs, and tests to establish an individual's baseline of health.
Monthly 1:1 health and wellness coaching with unlimited messaging and at least one physician appointment quarterly.
Access to practical tools and exclusive educational content and advanced specialized assessments such as biological age, microbiome, continuous glucose monitoring, and body composition.
For the most comprehensive health and wellness care and more testing with assessments ranging from epigenetics and microbiome to cardiovascular and cancer screenings, the company also offers the Concierge Program.
As part of its commitment to revolutionizing health care, Love.Life has also acquired Mastering Diabetes, an established online coaching and education platform known for permanently reversing insulin resistance using food as medicine. This strategic acquisition complements the company's medically supervised care and enhances Love.Life's ability to provide evidence-based guidance and coaching services to combat various health conditions. The company recently launched Mastering Weight Loss and will continue to add specialized private and group coaching programs under its Mastering Programs service in the future. Cyrus Khambatta, Ph.D. in Nutritional Biochemistry, and Robby Barbaro, MPH, co-founders of Mastering Diabetes, are now members of Love.Life's executive team and lead the development of the company's coaching services.
In addition to its virtual offerings, Love.Life's commitment to providing comprehensive care includes physical locations offering medical care, fitness and wellness therapies, and healthy food under one roof. Its first flagship location, a 45,000-square-foot space in El Segundo, California, will launch in 2024, offering a fully integrated health experience. Love.Life's health-forward restaurant in Culver City is already open and will launch evidence-based meal prescription plans for specific health conditions once the adjacent medical and wellness components of the brand open. The company also operates Love Life Cafe in Miami love.life/restaurant/miami, which opened its new location in February 2023 with expanded seating, a bar, and new menu items.
To learn more about Love.Life's innovative medical programs or to book an appointment with a licensed physician, visit love.life/telehealth/healthprograms. For more information about Love.Life's Mastering Programs, including Mastering Diabetes and Mastering Weight Loss, visit love.life/masteringprograms.
About Love.Life
Love.Life is an integrated health and wellness company that makes lasting health and vitality attainable. The company unites the power of nourishing food, holistic medical care, and precision wellness therapies to promote healing, optimization, longevity, and community. The company was co-founded in 2020 by Whole Foods Market co-founder and former CEO John Mackey; Walter Robb, former co-CEO of Whole Foods; and Betsy Foster, a former executive of the grocer. For more information, visit www.love.life.
Media Contact
Robin Kelly press@love.life
Compass Coffee Talk Podcast to Feature Ibraheem Basir, Founder & CEO of A Dozen Cousins
Compass Coffee Talk™, a popular live webinar series featuring conversations with business leaders in the natural, organic and sustainable products industry, welcomes Ibraheem Basir, founder & CEO of A Dozen Cousins, a top Black-owned natural food brand.
What: Compass Coffee Talk™
When: Wednesday, July 19, 2023, 8:30 am PT; 9:30 am MT; 10:30 am CT; 11:30 am ET
Presented by: Compass Natural, Connecting Media and Markets in Natural and Organic Products
Sponsored by: Presence Marketing, Naturally Boulder, Naturally New York and Naturally San Diego
Register: Register for Free Here
BOULDER, CO (June 15, 2023) —Ibraheem Basir, founder and CEO of A Dozen Cousins, a natural food brand making beans, rice, sauces and more, will appear on July 19, 2023, on the popular Compass Coffee Talk™ podcast, which features lively conversations with natural products industry leaders, innovators and experts designed to help guide entrepreneurs and businesses to succeed in the market.
A Dozen Cousins, whose offerings hark back to the traditional Creole, Caribbean and Latin American dishes that Basir enjoyed in his childhood in the culinary melting pot of Brooklyn, N.Y., is named after Basir’s daughter and her 11 cousins.
Ibraheem Basir of A Dozen Cousins
Basir grew up in a large family where food was at the center of all celebrations and gatherings. After observing a gap in the market for authentic, nutritious cultural foods, Basir launched A Dozen Cousins to provide the comforting, flavorful recipes he grew up eating with his family. The brand’s flagship beans have become the No. 1 item in their category on Amazon and are sold nationwide at retailers including Whole Foods, Sprouts and Target, among others.
Hosted by natural and organic products industry veterans Bill Capsalis and Steven Hoffman, Compass Coffee Talk is produced by Compass Natural Marketing, a leading public relations, branding and business development agency serving the natural, organic, eco-friendly and hemp products industries. Capsalis and Hoffman will interview Basir to learn more about his and his company’s story.
Helping the Natural Foods Industry Evolve
Basir is a passionate advocate for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the consumer packaged goods industry and seeks to help the natural foods space evolve and grow to reflect the diversity of the United States. He is a founding board member of Project Potluck, a nonprofit that provides a range of mentorship and education programming in support of its mission to help people of color build successful companies and careers in the CPG industry.
Basir holds a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the university’s Wharton School of Business. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and daughter.
Project Potluck
While breaking into the natural and organic products industry isn't easy for anyone, Black, Indigenous and other people from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds can find it especially challenging to attract investors, find the right co-packers, refine recipes and garner placement on retail shelves. Enter Project Potluck, established by Ibraheem Basir, CPG veteran and founder and CEO of A Dozen Cousins, a leading Black-owned natural food brand, to provide the support that minority entrepreneurs in the natural products space need to succeed. In March 2022, Project Potluck won New Hope Network’s inaugural Justice Award for its efforts to promote justice, equity, diversity and inclusion in the natural and organic products industry. Read about the organization in Forbes magazine.
Register for Compass Coffee Talk with Ibraheem Basir
Register here for free to participate in the upcoming Compass Coffee Talk, Wednesday, July 19, 2023, 11:30 am – Noon ET.
About Compass Coffee Talk
Take a 30-minute virtual coffee break with Compass Coffee Talk™. Hosted by natural industry veterans Bill Capsalis and Steve Hoffman, Coffee Talk features lively interactive conversations with industry leaders and experts designed to help guide entrepreneurs and businesses of any size succeed in the market for natural, organic, regenerative, hemp-derived and other eco-friendly products.
Compass Coffee Talk™ is produced by Compass Natural Marketing, a leading PR, branding and business development agency serving the natural and organic products industry.
Previous Episodes of Compass Coffee Talk
View the entire library of Compass Coffee Talk episodes on YouTube. Co-hosted by natural products industry veterans Steven Hoffman and Bill Capsalis, Compass Coffee Talk has featured notable professionals such as Jared Polis, governor of Colorado; Steve Hughes, co-founder of Sunrise Strategic Partners; John Mackey, CEO and co-founder, Whole Foods Market; Miyoko Schinner, CEO and founder, Miyoko’s Kitchen; John Foraker, CEO of Once Upon a Farm; Emerald-Jane Hunter, founder of the MyWhy Agency; Heather Terry, CEO of GoodSAM; Milton Zimmerman, executive vice president, Presence Marketing; Jennifer Maxwell, founder and CEO of JAMBAR®, and more.
Contact
Steven Hoffman, Compass Natural, steve@compassnaturalmarketing.com
Amazon’s to Open Whole Foods Market Stores Featuring Cashierless Technology
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
This article originally appeared in Presence Marketing’s October 2021 Industry Newsletter
By Steve Hoffman
Whole Foods Market announced on Sept. 8, 2021 that it will open two stores featuring Amazon’s “Just Walk Out” cashierless technology as an option for customers. The stores, expected to open in 2022, will be located in Washington, D.C.’s Glover Park neighborhood and in Sherman Oaks, CA.
According to Whole Foods Market, by using Just Walk Out technology, customers can enter, shop for the items they want, and simply exit the store. Those shopping using Just Walk Out will also have the option to use Amazon One, a fast, convenient, contactless way for people to enter, identify, and pay. If customers prefer, they can also opt to shop using self-checkout lanes or check out at the customer service booth with Whole Foods Market Team Members, the company said.
In a news announcement posted on Amazon’s website, Dilip Kumar, Amazon's VP of Physical Retail and Technology, said the company has engineered its Just Walk Out system, which relies on computer vision, sensor fusion and deep learning, to Whole Foods’ services and assortment. “Customers at these stores will be able to shop stations with self-service fresh-squeezed orange juice and mochi ice cream, while still shopping with the Just Walk Out experience and without adjusting any shopping habits,” he wrote.
“By collaborating with Amazon to introduce Just Walk Out Shopping at these two Whole Foods Market stores, our customers will be able to shop for fresh, thoughtfully sourced products that all meet our unparalleled quality standards, receive exceptional service from our Team Members throughout their shopping trip, and save time by skipping the checkout line,” said John Mackey, Co-founder and CEO of Whole Foods Market.
Though the new cashierless system offers the prospect of labor savings, Kumar noted that the stores using the Just Walk Out system “will employ a comparable number of Team Members as existing Whole Foods Market stores of similar sizes. With Just Walk Out-enabled Whole Foods Market stores, how Team Members in the store spend their time is simply shifting, allowing them to spend even more time interacting with customers and delivering a great shopping experience,” he said.
John Mackey, Co-Founder and CEO of Whole Foods Market, to Give Exclusive Interview with Compass Coffee Talk™
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
John Mackey, Co-Founder and CEO of Whole Foods Market, to Give Exclusive Interview with Compass Coffee Talk™
Entrepreneurs, Marketers, and Innovators Are Invited to Join the Conversation with Natural Products Retail Pioneer, John Mackey, as he Discusses his New Book, ‘Conscious Leadership,’ February 25, 2021, 11:30 am EST
What: Compass Coffee Talk™
To Register: John Mackey, Co-Founder and CEO, Whole Foods Market, February 25, 2021,
11:30 am – 12:15 pm EST
Presented By: Compass Natural, Connecting Media and Markets in Natural and Organic Products
Sponsored By: Allegro Coffee and Presence Marketing
Boulder, CO (February 8, 2021) – John Mackey, Co-Founder and CEO of Whole Foods Market, will participate in a rare natural products industry interview with Compass Coffee Talk on Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021, 11:30 am – 12:15 pm EST. Mackey will discuss his latest book, “Conscious Leadership: Elevating Humanity Through Business,” a follow-up to the groundbreaking bestseller Conscious Capitalism — sharing what it takes to lead a purpose-driven, sustainable business.
John Mackey, Co-Founder and CEO, Whole Foods Market
Entrepreneurs interested in hearing John Mackey’s perspectives on business will have an opportunity to hear first-hand from the natural products executive during Compass Coffee Talk’s live episode via Zoom. Mackey will reflect on how Whole Foods Market has transformed in the past 40 years and share what’s ahead for the company in the next decade, including what it means to lead a business during these unprecedented times.
In his book Conscious Leadership, Mackey writes, “A conscious leader needs to be actively appreciative. We can be tough leaders at times, we can and should be strong, but at the end of the day, human beings respond best to care and appreciation. It’s important to remember that in business, everything we accomplish is ultimately done with and through other people. That is what conscious leaders do—we inspire, motivate, develop, and lead others.”
Compass Coffee Talk’s co-hosts Steve Hoffman and Bill Capsalis are looking forward to John Mackey’s participation on the show. "It’s not every day you get an opportunity to sit down and chat with legendary Whole Foods Market Co-Founder and CEO, John Mackey. We’re more than thrilled to be hosting an exclusive chance to speak with John in an intimate live setting and learn insights from his books and stories from his four decades in business at the nation’s top natural products grocer,” said Steven Hoffman, Managing Director, Compass Natural Marketing and Co-Host, Compass Coffee Talk.
Anyone who is involved in the natural products industry, entrepreneurs, marketers, brand managers, and communicators are encouraged to join in the conversation. Registration is free, and attendees can sign up here.
About John Mackey
John Mackey, Co-Founder and CEO of Whole Foods Market, has built the natural and organic grocer from a single store in Austin, Texas in 1978, into a Fortune 500 company, which went public in 1992, and was purchased by Amazon in 2017. Today, Whole Foods Market is a top U.S. supermarket with more than 500 stores and 95,000 Team Members across the U.S., Canada, and U.K. While devoting his career to helping shoppers satisfy their lifestyle needs with quality natural and organic foods, Mackey has also focused on building a more conscious way of doing business.
Compass Coffee Talk Sponsors
Compass Coffee Talk gives special thanks to its sponsors Allegro Coffee and Presence Marketing.
Allegro Coffee Powers Compass Coffee Talk™
Colorado-based Allegro Coffee, a specialty coffee company that believes that where and how coffee is grown matters. Since 1977, Allegro Coffee has been committed to sourcing the highest quality coffee from farmers dedicated to environmental stewardship and worker livelihood.
Presence Marketing
Presence Marketing is the nation’s leading independently owned natural foods broker. Over the past 25 years, Presence has grown from a small and humble Midwest-based natural and organic food brokerage to a national powerhouse with more than 500 employees.
About Compass Coffee Talk™
Compass Coffee Talk™ features lively interactive conversations with industry leaders and experts designed to help guide entrepreneurs and businesses of all sizes to succeed in the marketplace. Hosted by natural and organic products industry veterans Bill Capsalis and Steve Hoffman, Compass Coffee Talk is produced by Compass Natural Marketing, a leading P.R., branding, and business development agency serving the natural and organic products industry.
Contact
Bill Capsalis, Co-Host, 303.808.3441, bill@compassnaturalmarketing.com
Steven Hoffman, Co-Host, 303.807.1042, steve@compassnaturalmarketing.com.
# # #
Conscious Leadership: Join John Mackey on Compass Coffee Talk, February 25, 2021, 11:30am EST
Conscious Leadership
Join John Mackey, Co-Founder and CEO of Whole Foods Market, for a rare natural products industry interview with Compass Coffee Talk.
Thursday, February 25, 11:30 am – 12:15 pm EST
Zoom, Admission is Free
Featured guest John Mackey, Co-Founder and CEO of Whole Foods Market, joins Compass Coffee Talk. Mackey will discuss his latest book, “Conscious Leadership: Elevating Humanity Through Business,” a follow-up to groundbreaking bestseller Conscious Capitalism — revealing what it takes to lead a purpose-driven, sustainable business.
About John Mackey
John Mackey, Co-Founder and CEO of Whole Foods Market, has built the natural and organic grocer from a single store in Austin, Texas in 1978, into a Fortune 500 company, which went public in 1992, and was purchased by Amazon in 2017. Today, Whole Foods Market is a top U.S. supermarket with more than 500 stores and 95,000 Team Members across the U.S., Canada, and U.K. While devoting his career to helping shoppers satisfy their lifestyle needs with quality natural and organic foods, Mackey has also focused on building a more conscious way of doing business.
THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS, ALLEGRO COFFEE AND PRESENCE MARKETING!
About Compass Coffee Talk™
Take a 30-minute virtual coffee break with Compass Coffee Talk™. Hosted by natural industry veterans Bill Capsalis and Steve Hoffman, Coffee Talk features lively interactive conversations with industry leaders and experts designed to help guide entrepreneurs and businesses of any size succeed in the market for natural, organic, regenerative, hemp-derived and other eco-friendly products.
Compass Coffee Talk™ is produced by Compass Natural Marketing, a leading PR, branding and business development agency serving the natural and organic products industry. Learn more.
Top Industry Experts John Mackey, Winona LaDuke and Blair Kellison to Headline Compass Coffee Talk™ in Q1 2021
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Top Industry Experts John Mackey, Winona LaDuke and Blair Kellison to Headline Compass Coffee Talk™ in Q1 2021
Join the Conversation! Hear Insights and Words of Wisdom from Notable Entrepreneurs and thought leaders on Season 2 of Compass Coffee Talk, presented by Compass Natural
What: Compass Coffee Talk™
Save the Date(s):
Winona LaDuke, Water Protector, Hemp Farmer, Jan. 13, 2021, 11:30 am – 12:00 pm EST
John Mackey, CEO, Whole Foods Market, Feb. 25, 2021, 11:30 am – 12:15 pm EST
Blair Kellison, CEO, Traditional Medicinals, Mar. 17, 2021, 11:30 am – 12:00 pm EST
To Register: Click on Each Date Above, FREE on Zoom
Presented By: Compass Natural, Connecting Media and Markets in Natural and Organic Products
Sponsored By: Allegro Coffee
Boulder, CO (December 17, 2020) – Kick off the New Year with Compass Coffee Talk™, a lively webinar series featuring conversations with industry leaders, including Whole Foods Market Co-Founder and CEO John Mackey and Traditional Medicinals CEO Blair Kellison, plus hemp expert and Native American tribal leader Winona LaDuke. Compass Coffee Talk is pleased to announce the return of its second season starting January 2021, with robust programming designed to help guide entrepreneurs and businesses of all sizes to succeed in the marketplace.
Featured guest Winona LaDuke, a globally recognized Hemp Ambassador, and Water Rights Protector, will join the program on Wednesday, January 13, 2021, 11:30 am – Noon, EST, via ZOOM. LaDuke will discuss the possibility of a green economy, water rights, and her non-profit Honor the Earth, in addition to sharing her recent experience of protecting the land in her home state of Minnesota against the threat of corporate expansion.
Compass Coffee Talk’s co-hosts Steve Hoffman and Bill Capsalis are honored by Winona LaDuke’s participation on the show. "This will be an extraordinary and unique episode of Compass Coffee Talk in which we hear from former Vice-Presidential candidate and tribal leader Winona LaDuke, who will share a message from Honor the Earth, the future of hemp, and the ongoing activism against pipelines that threaten our water – and how the natural products community can help,” says Steven Hoffman, Founder of Compass Natural Marketing.
John Mackey and Conscious Leadership
John Mackey, the Co-Founder and CEO of Whole Foods Market, will speak in a rare natural products industry interview with Compass Coffee Talk on Thursday, February 25, 2021, 11:30 am – Noon, EST. Mackey co-authored the New York Times and Wall Street Journal best-selling book entitled, “Conscious Capitalism: Liberating the Heroic Spirit of Business” (Harvard Business Review Press 2013), which boldly defends and reimagines capitalism and encourages a way of doing business that is grounded in ethical consciousness. Mackey will discuss his latest book, “Conscious Leadership: Elevating Humanity Through Business,” a follow-up to groundbreaking bestseller Conscious Capitalism — revealing what it takes to lead a purpose-driven, sustainable business.
Return to Tradition
Rounding out the first quarter, Traditional Medicinals CEO Blair Kellison will share the legacy and story of tea's healing power on Wednesday, March 17, 2021, 11:30 am – Noon, EST. Hear the founding story behind one of the most successful, globally-known tea brands and its keys to success.
Featured Guest Biographies
Winona LaDuke is a rural development economist and author working on issues of Indigenous Economics, Food, and Energy Policy. She lives and works on the White Earth reservation in northern Minnesota and is the Executive Director of Honor the Earth (HtE). She co-founded HtE with music artists, The Indigo Girls, as a platform to raise awareness of and money for indigenous struggles for environmental justice. She works nationally and internationally on climate change, renewable energy, and environmental justice alongside Indigenous communities. She is the founder of the White Earth Land Recovery Project, one of the country's largest reservation-based non-profit organizations.
John Mackey, Co-Founder and CEO of Whole Foods Market, has built the natural and organic grocer from a single store in Austin, Texas in 1978, into a Fortune 500 company, which went public in 1992, and was purchased by Amazon in 2017. Today, Whole Foods Market is a top U.S. supermarket with more than 500 stores and 95,000 Team Members across the U.S., Canada, and U.K. While devoting his career to helping shoppers satisfy their lifestyle needs with quality natural and organic foods, Mackey has also focused on building a more conscious way of doing business.
Blair Kellison is the CEO of Traditional Medicinals, a mission-driven, organic, and fair trade wellness tea company based in Sonoma County, CA. Co-founded by Drake Sadler in 1974, Traditional Medicinals' purpose-driven social business model has resulted in five decades of commercial success and created a truly sustainable organization. Traditional Medicinals is now the 4th largest bagged tea brand in North America, with distribution in 70,000 retail outlets and over 200 employees. Blair came to Traditional Medicinals in 2008 in its 34th year to partner with the co-founder Drake Sadler and become the company's first non-founder CEO. Blair is a former CPA with Ernst & Young, a brand manager with Nestle, and he received his MBA from Booth at The University of Chicago.
Allegro Coffee Powers Compass Coffee Talk™
Compass Coffee Talk gives special thanks to its lead sponsor, Colorado-based Allegro Coffee. Each episode, one webinar attendee will receive a free bag of Allegro Coffee, a specialty coffee company that believes that where and how coffee is grown matters. Since 1977, Allegro Coffee has remained committed to sourcing the highest quality coffee from farmers dedicated to environmental stewardship and worker livelihood.
About Compass Coffee Talk™
Compass Coffee Talk™ features lively interactive conversations with industry leaders and experts designed to help guide entrepreneurs and businesses of all sizes to succeed in the marketplace. Hosted by natural and organic products industry veterans Bill Capsalis and Steve Hoffman, Compass Coffee Talk is produced by Compass Natural Marketing, a leading P.R., branding, and business development agency serving the natural and organic products industry.
Contact
Bill Capsalis, Host, 303.808.3441, bill@compassnaturalmarketing.com
Steven Hoffman, Host, 303.807.1042, steve@compassnaturalmarketing.com.
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Natural Products Industry on Front Lines of Coronavirus Crisis
Photo: Empty produce shelves at Whole Foods Market, Longmont, CO, March 13, 2020; Compass Natural
By Steven Hoffman
Editor’s Note: Since this article was prepared for publication, it was reported this week that employees at Amazon, Instacart and Whole Foods Market were planning to stage walkouts or “sick-outs” due to worker safety concerns. A handful of workers at Whole Foods Market locations in Huntingdon Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Chicago and New York have tested positive for coronavirus, raising employee concerns. Many grocers are installing plexiglass sneeze guards to protect cashiers from coronavirus. This article originally appeared in New Hope Network’s IdeaXchange and will appear in Presence Marketing’s April 2020 newsletter edition.
From the moment in early March when New Hope Network first announced the postponement of Natural Products Expo West – what Forbes Magazine referred to as the “Super Bowl of natural CPG” – to later in the month when UNFI CEO Steve Spinner joined a group of food, retail and distribution leaders at the White House to help ensure that America’s grocery shelves stay stocked – no small feat during the panic buying rush of the past few weeks – the COVID-19 pandemic has put the natural products industry on the front lines of the coronavirus crisis.
There have been many challenges – and a few opportunities – associated with this position. Stores find themselves short staffed and have had to cut hours to deep clean and restock empty shelves. Staffs are stretched thin. Restaurants and food service operations have had to shut down, putting many out of work. Long lines and controlled entry have been reported in some stores. Many retailers are dedicating Senior Hours before the stores open to the general public to give elderly people a chance to have access to product before the rush.
On the other hand, retailers are hiring, often providing jobs for laid-off restaurant and food service workers. Natural products grocers including Whole Foods Market and Natural
Grocers are offering interim incentives on top of current hourly rates to keep and recruit labor. Whole Foods is partnering with Amazon to expand resources and capacity for door drop and home delivery. Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen told CNBC in late March that the Cincinnati-based grocer, which operates 2,800 stores in 35 states, hired 2,000 people in March to keep up with increased demand from the coronavirus outbreak, and still has 10,000 openings to fill. Walmart announced it wants to hire 150,000 temporary workers through May, and Amazon is hiring an additional 100,000 workers to deal with coronavirus demand.
Sales, too, are through the roof for natural products retailers and CPG stores across the country as people stock up on a month's worth of groceries and staple goods instead of a typical week’s worth. Food Dive reported that sales of staples soared in March, indicating that consumers were preparing for the long haul. Add to that the fact that, with the closing of restaurants and cafes in many states, and with the call for social distancing, people are now eating at home, putting further strain on conventional and natural foods retail markets.
“You Need to Get Out on the Floor and Stock Shelves!”
For Gabe Nabors, CEO of the Mustard Seed Market & Cafe, with two full-service natural foods supermarkets and a bakery in Ohio and also renowned for its restaurants and catering, the stores have pivoted to offer in-store take-out meal solutions for its customers as the state of Ohio in March called for the closing of bars and restaurants. Mustard Seed has been promoting this expanded service on social media, and recently posted the steps it is taking to sanitize its stores, ensure product availability, and protect workers and customers.
“We are packaging our most popular soups from our restaurant in ‘fresh or freeze’ containers and are ramping up in-store prepared foods,” Nabors said. “We’re pivoting from banquets and catering to contacting assisted living homes, local nonprofits, hospices and elsewhere to let them know we have healthy prepared foods available for takeout. We’re also in talks with Instacart to expedite the launch of a delivery service. A large percentage of food sales in America is through restaurants and food service; with that closed, it puts added pressure on the grocery stores. As such, our entire team has been stocking shelves - if you have an office job and it’s not mission critical - you need to get out on the floor and stock shelves!” Nabors added about managing the current crisis situation.
“We and our distributors have trucks running nonstop throughout our 20 state system, but it’s still a limited number of pallets per load,” said Alan Lewis, Director of Public Policy for Natural Grocers. “To better serve demand, we've curtailed the delivery of water, which is generally available locally, to focus instead on providing staple goods, produce and perishables. Our stores have been the calmest, most organized places to shop and our customers have been exemplary in not hoarding, and helping create a sense of calm and the feeling that we are all in this together,” Lewis observed. "People have been so cordial and kind to each other and thanking everyone in the stores for making the food available,” he said.
“Currently, there is plenty of food ready to be delivered in the supply chain. The outages are not shortages,” said Lewis. To ensure steady supply, he feels that food workers, from agriculture to manufacturing and retail, should be termed ‘essential workers.’ “We’ve been in conversation with the Colorado Department of Agriculture and others asking them not to stop essential agricultural workers,” he said. “As a result, CDA has notified law enforcement officials, requesting that agriculture workers be able to travel to and from work,” he added.
“People working overtime in delivery, back of house, stocking shelves, cashiers, e-commerce fulfillment – they are now critical infrastructure to keeping this country running. We should be cognizant of the stress on store staff and provide more resources to help them, for example, living wages, free child care, paid sick leave, collective bargaining rights, proper protective equipment, etc.,” said Errol Schweizer, retail and brand veteran and former head of grocery purchasing for Whole Foods Market. “The cooks, clerks, packers, loaders – the folks that often are poorly paid, overworked and invisible – how often have we heard pundits refer to them as unskilled? Now that everyone sees how crucial – and skilled – they are, we need to assure they are treated with dignity and respect.”
Industry Responds to Heightened Demand
For distributors, which have received generally positive reviews in responding to the crisis, sales are up dramatically, too. Leading natural products distributor UNFI's stock more than doubled in late March as consumers stocked up. "It is important for all Americans to know that they can continue to count on companies like ours to keep stores well-stocked with a variety of food and wellness products during this critical period,” Spinner said in a statement. "In addition to having business continuity and safety plans in place to help keep America fed, UNFI is supplementing its coordination with federal, state, and local government agencies by now collaborating directly with the White House and industry peers. We firmly believe that increased levels of public-private collaboration can further enhance UNFI's around-the-clock efforts to meet our customers current and future needs.”
Natural and organic products manufacturers, too, are scrambling to satisfy increased demand. In a LinkedIn post, Wayne Wu, General Partner of VMG Partners, observed, "We're hearing many shelf stable food, beverage and supplement brands are generally doing well in brick and mortar stores as consumers stock up, but also seeing a 50%+ sales lift in the past couple of weeks in their e-commerce or grocery delivery channels, such as Amazon, Walmart.com, DTC or Instacart, as consumers are potentially pantry loading, but may lead to more permanent behavior change in how they purchase their more consumable-type products that they’ve traditionally purchased at a brick and mortar location to a more permanent lift online for these type of consumable items.”
Working from home is not stopping Steve Wangler, VP of Sales for The Good Crisp Company, maker of all natural canister chips. Working with Presence Marketing as its broker, Wangler said, “We’ve been in contact with every single field and accounting rep of Presence Marketing. Even sidelined, together we are engaging with retailers virtually, keeping them apprised of stock situations, asking what they need, etc. The entire Presence team has been very proactive, highly responsive, highly engaged, and looking for ways to support retailers and brands. Also, we are attracting consumers that are new to our brand through our online efforts, and we’re hoping we’ll keep those consumers once they experience our product."
Noticing a trend accompanying consumers’ response to the coronavirus crisis, Eric Schnell, cofounder of the marketing collective BeyondBrands and mood33, a cannabis and CBD based beverage line, was informed by his Florida distributor that mood33’s top-selling CBD SKU, Energy, was replaced by its Calm formula in March. “It’s an indicator of how stressed people are feeling right now,” Schnell observed.
"As a service provider we are doing our best to support our natural products clients, and on the brand side, we are seeing an immediate uptick in sales,” he said. "Every manufacturer I’ve spoken with is still operating at full capacity, including supplements, beverages and food, to meet demand from both brick and mortar and e-commerce.”
“Unity in the Community is Key”
The BeyondBrands team, like other natural products brokers, distributors and service providers throughout the country, is rising to the challenge and doing its best to help partner brands deal with retail demand. “Rather than going into stores to sell items, we are recommending going into stores and offering to help stock shelves,” Schnell said. “Connection and collaboration are key right now. More than ever, it feels like people need unity in the natural foods community. Whether you are on the service, brand or retail side, we are all in this together and we have to see ourselves through this, together.”
At Dr. Bronner’s, demand for soap and hand sanitizer has spiked, and the company is doing its best to fulfill the increase in orders, said David and Michael Bronner in a
statement published on March 16. “In spite of our best efforts, constraints prevent us from fully meeting orders: our hand sanitizer, for example, can only be produced at FDA-licensed drug manufacturing facilities, and is being produced at 600% our usual rate.”
In addition, the Bronner brothers wrote, “We are allocating a reserve of 2% of all hand sanitizer production to donate to at-risk communities and the organizations that serve them, so they have access to our hand sanitizer, as well. Please also buy only what you think you need, so that everyone who needs our products can obtain them. This is an important time to remember that we are all connected and need to look out for each other, now more than ever,” they wrote.
As for New Hope Network, after announcing that Expo West was not just postponed but cancelled for 2020, the company that leads communications efforts in the natural industry announced in a video update on March 20 that it would provide assistance to small businesses hurt by the cancellation.
“Due to the decision to cancel voluntarily and without being asked to do so by local, state or federal edict or other force majeure circumstances, our insurance provisions were not triggered and significant costs and liabilities were incurred by New Hope,” said Carlotta Mast, New Hope’s Senior VP of Content. However, she continued, “To help support those most impacted by the Expo West cancellation, our parent company Informa has established a $5 million fund that will be disbursed under the guidance of an independent advisory council made up of 20 industry leaders. The advisory council is working on this task now and is aiming to have its guidance delivered to the New Hope Network leadership team by the week of April 6,” she reported.
The company announced it is focusing its energies on the upcoming Natural Products Expo East, slated for Sept. 23-26, 2020, in Philadelphia, and is issuing a full credit for any Expo West exhibitor or sponsorship fees, in which the credit can be applied to Expo East, Expo West 2021, or to its media and market research publications. Expo West badge registration and education fees also will be fully refunded in the coming weeks. New Hope also announced a free product directory listing for 2020 Expo West exhibitors along with upcoming webinars and education, and referred further questions to its Expo West FAQ page.
In closing, John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, summarized how our industry has risen to the occasion in serving community, workers and customers during the coronavirus crisis. In an email to constituents, he wrote, “If you’ve shopped our stores in recent weeks, you’ve experienced our team members’ dedication and diligence to serving your community during a time of uncertainty. None of this is lost on us… As a company, Whole Foods Market is adjusting to the current circumstances that all of us are facing during this unprecedented time. We believe that the service we provide as a grocer is an essential one, and we are committed to continuing to serve our customers in a safe and responsible manner, both in our stores and through delivery. Thank you for your kindness and patience as our team continues to work hard to serve our customers and communities. Please take care.”
Plant-based Meat Market to Reach $2.5 Billion by 2023, But Whole Foods’ Mackey Says Today’s Most Popular Brands Are “Super, Highly Processed Foods”
Photo: Pexels
Originally Appeared in Presence Marketing News, September 2019
By Steven Hoffman
The plant-based meat market is expected to reach $2.5 billion in sales by 2023, and while Whole Foods Market CEO John Mackey does believe that plant-based products are a more ethical choice and are better for the environment than conventionally produced meat, he questions the highly processed nature of some of these products. “The [brands] who are capturing the imagination of people – and I’m not going to name these brands because I’m afraid I will be associated with the critique of it – but some of these that are extremely popular now that are taking the world by storm, if you look at the ingredients, they are super, highly processed foods,” Mackey told CNBC Make It. “I don’t think eating highly processed foods is healthy. I think people thrive on eating whole foods,” said Mackey, who has been a vegan for more than 20 years. “As for health, I will not endorse that, and that is about as big of criticism that I will do in public. So the reason why these plant-based meats have taken the world by storm is that they taste very similar to regular meats, whereas if you get a [healthy] black bean burger with flax seeds and sweet potatoes in it, that’s going to taste great to me,” he said. Mackey added: “A lot of people say ... that [plant-based] meat is a transition food, meaning it’s a way for [people] to begin to reeducate [their] palates”; it’s a good first step in weaning people off of meat products,” he said.