Grist on Whole Foods Mobile Slaughterhouses
Whole Foods commitment to small ranchers (warning to vegetarians–don’t click on the link below) has gotten more ambitious with a new mobile slaughterhouse. Small world, mobile processing. http://www.grist.org/article/2009-11-20-Whole-Foods-chicken-farms/
Bill Joel’s Daughter OD’d on Homeopathics—Want To Buy The Brooklyn Bridge
When NBN first heard the news that Alexa Ray Joel, daughter of Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley overdosed on Traumeel, a homeopathic remedy, we laughed. Not at the story of a depressed child of celebrity, but at the supposed cause of the hospitalization. Overdosing on a homeopathic medicine is impossible. It is about as likely […]
Hartman Group On The Ecology Of Food Retailing and FREE Webinar
Once again NBN found an essay from the research firm The Hartman Group to be worthy of multiple reads and the focus of several dinner party conversations. Well, actually only one took place over dinner. The other discussions were over bourbon at various bars and both friends and more than one bartender were impressed with my insight, […]
Newsweek Small Business Panel Looks at Guayaki
Ask anyone who works at Guayaki why the love yerba mate and you’ll be left impressed. Not only will you learn a lot but you’ll come away wishing you loved your job as much as these folks. Newsweek Magazine’s Small Business Panel featured Guayaki, noting both the company’s enviable growth rate of 30% and its […]
Sioux City Iowa To Go Organic
Interesting story on on city’s mission to get healthy. http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2009/11/25/25greenwire-evangelist-for-organics-going-against-the-grain-4927.html
Interview with Nasoya Founder John Paino of Paino Foods
Time and time again we’ve seen industry pioneers return to the game after a long absence, recovering from burning the natural and organic candle seven days a week. Add John Paino co-founder of Nasoya Foods to the growing list. If you don’t know Nasoya you aren’t eating tofu. Paino and his partner founded the tofu […]
Fresh Market in Westport Leaves Whole Foods Empty
Take a look at the NBN archives and you’ll find more than a few stories covering the impact of Whole Foods opening up in what was then, Wild Oats territory. Louisville and West Hartford were the most obvious examples of what WFM was doing right and Wild Oats doing wrong. Examples of what WFM was […]
Mackey World–Why We Respect His Leadership and Voice and Resent His Ignorance
Of all the things anyone has written or said about John Mackey the word CONVENTIONAL has never been used unless to describe him. Those who were amazed at his comments regarding the health care debate or his assessment that Whole Foods sells mostly junk clearly need to increase their intake of gingko biloba because their […]
Tree of Life To Be Sold—UNFI Purported Suitor
While not as mighty as General Motors, to those who grew up in the industry during the 1980’s Tree of Life’s demise signals the complete transformation of the industry. Consolidation is king! Once upon a time natural distribuors were regional, all with the exception of Tree. Rock Island and Stow Mills in the Northeast, Mountain […]
Hartman Group on Tesco’s Fresh and Easy Failure
While we were among those who initially reported that U.K. giant Tesco’s willingness to spend up to $1 billion dollars to enter the U.S. had Whole Foods bigwigs shaking in their granola boots we were wrong. We got our proverbial viewfinder in by the market research mavens at the Hartman Group last February. In their Tesco White […]
