WESTERN FAMILY ADDS ORGANICS

LUCIA MOSES

TIGARD, Ore. - Western Family Foods here is rolling out a major expansion of organic offerings in an effort to help independent trade customers better compete with chain retailers.

The private-label supplier has added 30 items under the Western Family label, which is distributed to West Coast customers. The East Coast label, Surefine, added 20 products, which are expected to arrive on store shelves starting in mid-March. Twenty more products are in development for each line.

New products include canned beans, tomato sauce, milk, butter and yogurt, although because of supply shortages, the organic dairy products won't be available to East Coast customers, said Dave Hayden, senior vice president at Western Family.

Hayden said available supply was a factor in choosing the new items as well as what competitors were carrying. "Organics are very popular right now, and the packers can pick and choose who they work for," he said.

Private-label organics have been gaining critical mass, with many leading national retailers having introduced or developing such lines; Safeway's O Organics line is a recent prominent example. "What really helped us was Safeway," Hayden said. "All of a sudden, organics are important to our customers."

Western Family is offering retailers shelf talkers and ceiling danglers to promote the new items. It's also providing store owners with brochures explaining the new products, and suggests a price of 20%-25% below the leading national-brand counterpart.

Retailers without dedicated natural/organics sections are encouraged to integrate the new organics in-line to convert customers who aren't already die-hard organics consumers. "Folks who are natural and organics shoppers have already found where they're going to buy natural and organic products," Hayden said. "We want the customer who didn't know we had them to discover them."

Western Family is looking at developing organic versions of yet another 25 or so items. After having to discontinue organic pasta and breakfast cereal in the 1990s for lack of demand, it's reluctant to enter a category too aggressively, though. "We're not going to jump into pasta - yet. Space is at a premium on our pasta shelf. We had it on our shelf and it failed. We're not sure it's the right item yet."