June 12, 2006

Adding Impact to E-Mails

Podcasts are a new way to embellish e-mails and give them an added oomph. Suppose you're a New Orleans hotel e-mailing past guests to tell them how you're up and ready to welcome them post-Katrina. Wouldn't it be great to include a podcast of classic New Orleans jazz...perhaps with a message or two about the hotel and the destination?

And, on the subject of iPods...the other day I read that iPods are considered the coolest thing by college kids. Ranking slightly behind iPods were beer (!) and Facebook.com (which we recently wrote about). Quite amazing...when one considers that neither iPods nor Facebook.com existed five years ago.

Organic Food Wars

There's been a real rush on organic food, thanks to the success of Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, etc. and the increasing interest in our environment and natural resources. While organics are still a relatively small portion of overall food sales ($20 billion out of a trillion dollars), the trend is clear. And the biggest news is that Wal-Mart is going to be selling organic foods...and doing so at prices only 10% higher than non-organic products. Typically, organic foods cost 50% more.

This may seem like good news, and - in a way - perhaps it is. But that depends what your definition of "is" is.

The murkiness lies in the definition of organic. Most of us think that organic milk, for example, should come from farm cows that are grazing on grass that has not been treated with pesticides. The truth is that many agribusiness companies are setting up 5,000-head dairies, often in the desert. The cows stand around in a dry lot and eat organic grain that results in a milk with poor nutritional value.

This past year, the Organic Trade Association worked hard to get Congress to agree to make it easier to include synthetic ingredients in products labeled organic.

So there's a lot of funny business going on in agribusiness. Not only is the definition of organic up for grabs, but you've also got to wonder how Wal-Mart will be able to come in at those prices. For example, will their suppliers need to resort to soil depletion and pollution in order to meet Wal-Mart's cost demands?

Wal-Mart's entry into organic foods will no doubt increase interest and demand for them. But I wonder whether when consumers start to get better educated about organic food whether they will not be comfortable with the practices of Wal-Mart's suppliers and the loose definitions of the word organic. I wonder whether then consumers will turn to (or simply stick with) the grocery stores they trust and know and feel have a true commitment to them - great stores like the Piggly Wiggly stores we are so proud to represent. When lots of folks are bandying around a term like organic and giving it a lot of different meanings, one tends to turn to the people one trusts. And that's where - once again - the bond a store has with its customers transcends price cutting, "hot deals" and all the flash and dash of shallow everyday commerce.