Annie's, a giant of the natural and organic food aisles in U.S. supermarkets, sees growth opportunities in moving to other sections of the store.
Dive Summary:
- The Berkeley, Calif.-based company is making product placement a priority in its growth strategy.
- Annie's best-known product -- Macaroni and Cheese -- shows the advantages of mainline placement. Growth for that product line was more than twice as high in mainline aisles than elsewhere in the store.
- Although few natural/organics companies have become as successful as Annie's, the company's CEO says Annie's is "in the early innings" of the move to mainstream.
Dive Insight:
Perhaps the most convincing proof that Annie's and the natural/organics segment is ready for the mainstream can be found by looking at the numbers. Annie's got its start as a tiny company in Connecticut, selling to natural foods stores in New England. Today Annie's is the second-largest mac and cheese brand in the United States. And in 2011 Annie's registered with the SEC for an initial public offering that would value the company at $100 million.
From the article: "Of the company’s top 54 grocery accounts, macaroni and cheese was offered in 27 mainline aisles, 11 natural food sections and 16 in dual placement (both mainline and natural). Based on Nielsen Co. data for the 52 weeks ended Jan. 19, 2013, year-over-year sales for Annie’s macaroni and cheese increased 39% in mainline aisles, 12% in natural food sections and 15% in dual placement."