supermarkets

Grocery chains are adapting to the times by adopting eat local practices and sustainable seafood standards, but the biggest change consumers worldwide will see in the coming year could be the size of their supermarkets.

Shrinking supermarkets aren't a brand-new concept: Two years ago, we reported that Safeway, Jewel-Osco, and Walmart were focusing on stores with smaller square footage in hopes to capitalize on the segment of time-strapped shoppers who don't want to spend hours searching for what they need. Now, the small-scale supermarket movement is making its rounds outside of the States. Asda, a British supermarket company that's a subsidiary of Walmart, is also changing its business model to hone in on smaller stores.

There are additional reasons — such as faster inventory turnover, greater appeal to single-person households, and more expensive offerings — to incentivize retailers to move to a smaller-scale format. With mom-and-pop shops and slow food principles gaining traction, it's possible that we're ushering out the era of Walmart Supercenters and SuperTargets. Do you agree?

Aiming to eat healthier during this holiday season? Then be mindful of your spending habits. Consumers aren't as likely to buy junk foods if they pay using cash, Slashfood reports. According to Bloomberg Businessweek, a study conducted by Cornell University and the State University of New York in Binghamton and Buffalo found that shoppers who paid with credit or debit cards stocked up on more unhealthy snack food.

To find out why health goes hand in hand with purchasing behavior, head over to Slashfood and read the full story.

Yesterday was a rough day for children's products at Walmart, but thankfully the corporation's food department is doing much better. In the afternoon, the world's biggest retailer announced its ambitious plans to double the sales of locally sourced produce in the US by the end of the year 2015. "Our size and scale have been big tools for change . . . There is an opportunity to lead in this area of sustainable agriculture," said CEO Mike Duke.

Walmart will focus more on working with small- and medium-sized farms and reducing farms' carbon footprint on the environment. Although meeting its lofty goals means local product makes up only nine percent of the chain's produce, nearly half of Walmart's $405 billion in annual revenue comes from food.

While I'm certain that other factors aside from altruism (like brand management and supply chain efficiency) come into play in these decisions, I'm still enthused that a corporate behemoth such as Walmart is setting an example and influencing the market for other grocers to follow. What do you think? Would you buy local produce from Walmart?

Source: Flickr User mjb84

Trader Joe's is following in the footsteps of stores like Target and Safeway, announcing plans to sell only sustainably sourced seafood by the end of 2012. The phase-out, which applies to all fresh, frozen, and canned seafood in the chain's stores, comes after pressure from environmental groups, and was first posted on the Trader Joe's website.

There, the grocer revealed that, in addition to the mandatory country of origin and wild/farm raised labeling, they also plan to include information on species' Latin names, origin, and catch or production method.

It's a big move for Trader Joe's, which has historically been ranked the lowest of any national grocery chain in the sustainable seafood department. Still, with a number of stores — like Costco, H.E.B., and Meijer — yet to take action, there's a lot of room for improvement. Where do you shop when seeking out eco-friendly seafood choices?

Source: Flickr User arnold | inuyaki

Florida's inclement weather this Winter is no pulp fiction. Due to a deep freeze in January that impacted tomatoes and citrus, Tropicana is saying it has no choice but to raise prices on its orange juice. In May, Tropicana plans to keep the price steady on its Pure Premium orange juice half-gallon cartons, but reduce their size from 64 to 59 ounces. Its gallon-sized jugs will stay the same in volume, but go up in price by five to eight percent.According to the company, the Florida citrus industry has produced the smallest crop in 20 years. Its yield is down 12 percent from last year, after a freeze damaged a large portion of the produce. Part of this devastating cost is being passed off to customers. I'm not that bothered by the price increase — it likely won't be more than 50 cents extra — but I think the practice of shrinking sizes is deceptive. How do you feel about the move?

Source: Flickr User justinlai

Although I thoroughly enjoy grocery shopping, I like to make my trips to the store quick and efficient. It's my philosophy to get in, get the goods, and get out. To ensure that my market experiences are smooth, I always put together a detailed list on a large, blank sheet of paper that's organized by section of the store.

The produce goes on one side of the paper, the dairy items on another, the dried goods on another, etc. All of the ingredients are grouped together in order of where they come in the store. Since I enter my grocer near the veggies, I start with produce. It takes a few more seconds to compile my list, but the extra time is worth it because I don't zigzag (or wander aimlessly!) through the market.

Do you have a tip for easy grocery shopping? Please share it below!

At the beginning of the month, I swore that the sustainable seafood trend would explode in 2010. Now it's already going mainstream. Earlier this week, Target announced its plan to stop selling farmed salmon in all of its stores.

The policy, which is part of an effort to make more ocean-sustainable choices, will encompass all fresh, frozen, and smoked seafood offerings, including Target's private labels Archer Farms and Market Pantry and national brands. The company will also stop selling sushi made with farmed salmon by the end of the year.

The eco-conscious decision by Target, a corporation that operates 1,744 stores in 49 states, will undoubtedly send ripples throughout the food retail industry. I'm thrilled Target has gone to such great lengths to take a stance on fish farming practices, and I hope other stores like Costco and Walmart will follow suit. Are you surprised to hear about the company's decision?

The UK government, in an effort to reduce wasted food, is pressuring grocers to stop employing buy-one-get-one-free sales tactics. The nation's administration found that a third of all food in the UK is wasted, including roughly 5.1 million potatoes and 220,000 loaves of bread each year.

According to the Waste and Resource Action Program, or WRAP, the average Briton throws away more than his own weight — over $700 worth — in food annually. Eliminating the amount of food being tossed would decrease carbon emissions equivalent to removing a fifth of the country's cars on the road.WRAP suspects that since many of the buy-one-get-one-free promotions are applied to older items, consumers are tossing products that pass their "sell-by" dates, unaware that the commodities can still be consumed, as long as they haven't reached a different "use-by" date. As an alternative, supermarkets are being asked to offer half-price deals on perishable goods instead.

Since I've spent my whole life exposed to these deals, it never occurred to me that this sales pitch could be wasteful. But the policy, which appears to have plenty of market research behind it, makes sense. What do you think of the move? Should America consider doing the same as well?

Source: Flickr User Michael_Lehet