SN TO EXAMINE WHOLE HEALTH DRIVERS AT ECRM CONFERENCE

FORT WORTH, Texas - Supermarket News will present an overview of the top issues affecting sales of health and wellness products and services in conventional supermarkets during ECRM's Natural & Organic Foods Efficient Program Planning Session Nov. 7-11 at the Doral Tesoro Hotel & Golf Club here.

ing, private label and pricing/merchandising. Each plays a critical role in the success of health and wellness sales in mainstream formats, and has a direct impact on the way consumers see a particular retailer as they add products and educational components to stores.

The SN session kicks off three days of meetings between vendors and retailers, during which they review new items, promotions, marketing initiatives and strategic direction. There are several venues used to facilitate the discussions. While suppliers choose one of the three, supermarket executives are free to visit any and all of the manufacturers represented at the event.

Most vendors opt for a private suite, where retailers are able to review new products or marketing plans during prescheduled, 20-minute meetings. Upon arrival at the conference, retailers are given an information packet that contains their specific meeting schedule with suppliers they're interesting in visiting.

The health and wellness conference also includes a Power Hall format, set up in the hotel resort's main ballroom, where each manufacturer has a private area with room for displays and materials. The Power Hall is scheduled in guaranteed 10-minute appointments with interested retailers.

A third alternative is the Expo Hall, which is set up much like a traditional trade exposition. Here, 10-by-10 booths holding product samples and marketing materials are erected in another area of the ballroom. Vendors do not schedule retailer meetings; rather, retailers are free to walk the area and choose which manufacturers to meet.

All of ECRM's technology is fully utilized at all meetings and facilitates presentation of programs in an abbreviated time frame as well as provide Web-based tools to improve execution of programs. During each meeting session, any items of interest are scanned into ECRM's MarketGate system. Both the products and a record of meeting notes are then made available online in a secure area of the ECRM website known as Marketing Activity.

The three-day event focuses on the full spectrum of healthy foods and beverages, from natural and organic to fortified and functional. Among the categories represented at the show are grocery, snacks, frozens and dairy. Running concurrently with the planning sessions will be other presentations from leading industry experts:

Steve Kapinus, director, Wal-Mart Analytics for Manufacturers, Spectra Marketing, ACNielsen, speaking on the topic, "Organic Consumers Living in a Wal-Mart World."

Ryan Landtroop, client services manager, The Hartman Group, "Future of the Organic Marketplace: A Consumer Focus."

Virginia Lee, senior research analyst, Euromonitor International, "Global Trends in Functional Foods - Key Markets, Ingredients and Products."

Maryellen Molyneaux, president, The Natural Marketing Institute, "Why It's Important for Retailers to be Authentic in the Natural/Organic Marketplace."

Jim Riddle, organic outreach coordinator, University of Minnesota, "What Does 'Organic' Really Mean?"

ECRM, based in Solon, Ohio, stands for Efficient Collaborative Retail Marketing. The firm was created to streamline the sales and marketing supply chain. It produces and hosts category-, season- or theme-specific Efficient Program Planning Sessions; administers a business-to-business website; and distributes eFusion, a software package.

EPPS events cover multiple CPG categories, with more than 180 events conducted since 1994. More than 700 buyers, including most U.S. food, drug and mass chains and a growing number of multinationals, participate each year, as do more than 1,800 CPG suppliers.