Home | Business News | Browse by Publication | M | Meat Retailer

Focused on tradition: Wild Oats Markets Inc.''s full service meat and deli departments focus on superior product quality and consistency--and grooming knowledgeable, courteous employees.

Article Excerpt
Two decades ago, the words natural food store conjured up images among many people in mainstream America of tiny stores stocking unusual health foods with unfamiliar brands that frankly didn't taste very good. And the notion of these stores carrying and poultry was laughable because all natural food-store patrons had to be vegetarians, right?

Well, nothing could be further from the truth today--especially when it comes to describing the products and patrons of Boulder; CO-based Wild Oats Markets Inc., the second-largest nationwide chain of natural and organic food markets in the United States and Canada. With approximately $920 million in annual sales, the company operates 101 natural foods stores in 25 states and British Columbia, Canada. Its markets include Wild Oats Natural Marketplace, Henry's Marketplace, Sun Harvest, and Capers Community Markets. It offers two basic store formats: a standard Wild Oats format and a farmer's market format--the latter of which features a strong produce emphasis.

Natural and organic meat

Wild Oats stocks its fresh meat cases, refrigerated island cases, dells, and freezers with a wide range of upscale, natural, and certified-organic meat and poultry products. The company features only meat and poultry that are certified free of artificial hormones, antibiotics, or preservatives. All animals raised for these products are raised the "old fashioned" way--vegetarian and grain fed, the company relays.

Twenty years ago, meat products were secondary to natural grocery stores because there was a perception that most people into natural foods were vegetarian, says Paul Gingerich, vice president of meat, seafood, and foodservice for Wild Oats.

"For years, I would meet people on an airplane who have never been inside a Wild Oats store, and they were surprised when I told them we carried meat," says Gingerich. He has been employed in the natural foods industry for 20 years--and employed by Wild Oats since it bought Alfalfa's Markets seven years ago. "These people thought health food didn't include meat. But this new consciousness on obesity and how you must manage carbohydrates and proteins more intelligently than we did in the past reinforces that good, lean meat protein is a healthy product."

Some...

View this article FREE - Now for a Limited Time, try Goliath Business News
Free for 3 Days!