At the recent SENPA/SOHO natural products trade show in Kissimmee, Florida, in December, we had the chance to sit down with Aaron Gottlieb, founder and owner of Native Sun Natural Foods Market, with three stores in Jacksonville, Florida. Here are excerpts from our conversation.  Read more...

The natural products movement pioneer opts for efficiency over authenticity, opening a huge market gap for independent natural products retailers. “Day One” of the Amazon acquisition of Whole Foods Market saw significant—and reportedly permanent—price cuts in Whole Foods’ stores on everyday market basket items. In addition, Amazon made a limited assortment of Whole Foods’ price-cut “365 Everyday Value” private label line available online to its Amazon Fresh and Amazon Pantry customers, generating an estimated $1.6 million in sales in the first month.  Read more...

One of the first moves Whole Foods made under Amazon’s new ownership was to kick all brokers and vendors out of the stores, preventing direct sales contact with store buyers. In the Wall Street Journal, Jay Jacobowitz weighs in on what this means for smaller brands and the consumers that still want them.  Read more...

Watching Wall Street hammer major food-retailing stocks immediately after Amazon’s June announcement to buy Whole Foods Market, I can understand why you—an independent natural products retailer—may have felt a shiver down your spine. Since then, those grocery stocks have recovered most of their losses as investors thought more carefully about the challenges Amazon must meet before—and even if—it is to have any real impact on U.S. food retailing.  Read more...

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