Gourmet News

Thanksgiving Weekend Draws Nearly 190 Million Shoppers, Spending Up 16 Percent

Published December 3, 2019

Specialty food retailers were among those who benefited as a record 189.6 million U.S. consumers shopped from Thanksgiving day through Cyber Monday this year, an increase of 14 percent over last year’s 165.8 million, the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights & Analytics have found.

“Americans continue to start their holiday shopping earlier in the year, and Thanksgiving is still a critical weekend for millions,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. “Whether they’re looking for something unique on Main Street, making a trip to the store or searching for the best deals from their mobile device, this is when shoppers shift into high gear. With the condensed holiday season, consumers are feeling the pressure to get their shopping done in time. Even those who typically wait until the last minute to purchase gifts turned out in record numbers all weekend long.”

Shoppers spent an average $361.90 on holiday items over the five-day period, up 16 percent from $313.29 during the same period last year. Of the total, $257.33 (71 percent) was specifically spent on gifts. The biggest spenders were 25- to 34-year-olds at $440.46, closely followed by those 35-44 at $439.72.

The survey found that 124 million people shopped in stores while 142.2 million shopped on retailers’ websites; demonstrating today’s seamless shopping world, 75.7 million did both. Consumers who shopped in both channels spent an average $366.79, spending at least 25 percent more than those who shopped in only one or the other.

Black Friday was the busiest day for in-store activity, with 84.2 million shoppers, followed by Small Business Saturday (59.9 million), Thanksgiving Day (37.8 million), Sunday (29.2 million) and Cyber Monday (21.8 million). Of those shopping on Saturday, 73 percent were likely to shop specifically for Small Business Saturday.

For the first time, Black Friday topped Cyber Monday as the busiest day for online at 93.2 million shoppers compared with 83.3 million. Saturday followed at 58.2 million, Thanksgiving Day at 49.7 million and Sunday at 43.1 million.

With online and in-store shopping increasingly intermingled, free shipping was the biggest reason for shoppers to make a purchase they were otherwise hesitant about, cited by 49 percent, up from 42 percent last year. And the ability to order online and pick up in-store was cited by 20 percent, up from 15 percent last year. Other top factors included limited-time sales or promotions (36 percent) and an easy-to-use website or app (21 percent).

Thirty-nine percent of consumers looked to emails from retailers for information on deals and promotions, edging out conventional advertising circulars, which were tied with online search at 38 percent. Mobile devices played a significant role, used by 75 percent to research products, compare prices or make purchases, up from 66 percent last year.
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“The growth in online retail sales is a tide that lifts everybody,” Prosper Executive Vice President of Strategy Phil Rist said. “When consumers are buying from retailers online but picking up or making returns in-store, it is more and more difficult to distinguish between the sales retailers make in their stores and the ones they make on their websites.”

Top gift purchases over the weekend included apparel (bought by 58 percent of those surveyed), toys (33 percent), electronics (31 percent), books/music/movies/video games (28 percent) and gift cards (27 percent).

Shopping destinations included department stores (visited by 50 percent of those surveyed), clothing stores (36 percent), grocery stores (34 percent), electronics stores (32 percent) and discount stores (29 percent).

On average, consumers had completed 52 percent of their shopping, up from 44 percent during the same weekend last year, although Thanksgiving came six days earlier in 2018. The survey found only 39 percent of shoppers believe deals seen over the Thanksgiving weekend will get better throughout the rest of the season.

The popularity of Thanksgiving weekend shopping continues even as earlier NRF surveys found that 56 percent said they had already started as of the first week of November.

NRF defines the holiday season as November 1 through December 31 and has forecast that sales will total between $727.9 and $730.7 billion. Consumers expect to spend an average $1,047.83 – including purchases made earlier – for an increase of 4 percent over last year, according to NRF’s annual survey released in October.

The survey of 6,746 adult consumers was conducted last Wednesday through this Monday and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.2 percentage points.

Cheesemonger Invitational Tickets Now on Sale

Published November 20, 2019

The Cheesemonger Invitational will hold their annual winter cheese party and competition in San Francisco on Sunday, January 19 at The Midway (900 Marin Street). The invitational is an all-you-can-eat evening of the best artisan cheeses and specialty foods from around the globe, and a one-of-a-kind competition among cheesemongers from Murray’s Cheese, Whole Foods, Harmon’s, Market Hall Foods and specialty cheese stores around the country. This is the event’s seventh year in San Francisco.

Beginning at 4:00 p.m., the public is welcome to sample cheese pairing bites prepared by the competitors, using cheese and specialty products from award-winning makers including Rogue Creamery, Nettle Meadow, Firefly Farms, Smoking Goose Meats, Girl Meats Dirt Jams and many more. In addition to endless cheese and charcuterie tables, ticket holders will also enjoy amazing cheese-focused dishes like raclette and grilled cheese.

The finals of the competition kicks off at 6:00 p.m., with the cheesemongers on stage competing in several tests to show off their skills to the crowd. In total, throughout the day the cheesemongers will compete in 10 tests, and the scores are tabulated to determine the winner. Tests include:

A written test focused on the science of cheese
A blind taste test to identify various cheeses
An aroma test of both common and unique scents
A cutting test to cut a perfect quarter pound of cheese
A wrapping test to cut a perfect quarter pound in cheese paper
A wrapping test to wrap a half wheel in plastic wrap
A salesmanship test at a mock cheese counter while helping a customer
A perfect beverage pairing creation to pair cheese and a beverage together
A perfect slate with – you guessed it – an incredible presentation of cheese
A perfect bite featuring cheese and its best-ever partners

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“We are so excited to return to San Francisco and highlight the country’s best cheesemongers,” says event Founder Adam Moskowitz. “The finals party is a thrilling, whirlwind experience where the mongers showcase their love of cheese while the guests scream MOO BAA MAA and eat to their heart’s content.”

Tickets to this winter’s event at The Midway are now available for guests 21+ by visiting www.cheesemongerinvitational.com, and competitors from around the country will be announced in January. The invitational’s champion is awarded $1,000 cash and a guided trip to Europe by Columbia Cheese. Runners up also receive trips to visit cheesemakers in Vermont, Wisconsin and New York. In addition to the competition, the cheesemongers enjoy one free day of education learning at product-focused workshops from producers and importers , the generous hosts of the event.

A full list of this year’s hosts can be found online, including Cowgirl Creamery, Fromage Gruyere, Challerhocker, Vermont Creamery, Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin, The Cellars at Jasper Hill, Columbia Cheese, Essex St Cheese and Neal’s Yard Dairy.

Straus Family Creamery Announces Climate Change Mitigation Partnership with BMW

Published November 20, 2019

Straus Family Creamery, a leader in organic farming and sustainable dairy innovation, announces a collaboration between its Founder and Chief Executive Officer Albert Straus’ organic dairy farm and BMW Group. Together, they’re making low carbon charging available for BMW’s electric vehicle (EV) customers in California allowing EV drivers to “source” a cleaner charge from electricity generated at an organic dairy farm.

This collaboration between the Straus Organic Dairy Farm and BMW Group is using a new pathway that uses biogas to create electricity that can charge electric cars. It’s the first-of-its-kind in the auto industry. Through the Low Carbon Fuel Standards (LCFS) Program, they’re creating renewable energy with negative carbon intensity – one of the cleanest energy sources available in California.

“With the current climate change crisis, the relationship that we’re forging with BMW is essential,” said Albert Straus. “Not only will this help farmers in rural communities, but partnerships like these are critical to help the planet.”

“This collaboration is the first of its kind in the auto industry,” said Bernhard Kuhnt, President and CEO, BMW of North America. “It is a perfect fit for the BMW Group, which has long valued creative technologies and partnerships that can contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”

The LCFS program helps meet the urgent need to decrease greenhouse gas emissions in both the transportation and farming sectors, allowing dairy farmers access to a new revenue stream while achieving emission-reduction goals required by California law. The LCFS program allows dairy farms that install methane biodigesters, which capture methane (a greenhouse gas) from the cows’ manure and transform it into electrical power, to earn money for generating electricity that can be used to power EVs.

The LCFS program is part of California’s Global Warming Solutions Act (AB32), the LCFS was created to reduce the carbon intensity (CI) of the transportation sector by 10 percent by 2020. Under the LCFS program, producers of fossil fuels used for California transportation must trade credits from low carbon fuel makers, thereby subsidizing the cost of producing low carbon fuels and incentivizing their expansion.

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Under the LCFS program, a dairy farm can earn five to 10 times more revenue for selling their renewable energy credits compared to a standard power purchase agreement with a utility buyer. This increased revenue makes it more likely that small-scale organic dairy farmers will invest in a biodigester.

Livestock agriculture contributes 14.5 percent of total global climate emissions and 4.2 percent of the total United States emissions. Dairy manure accounts for about a quarter of California’s methane emissions. The Straus Organic Dairy Farm and BMW Group’s collaboration is a significant step forward in lowering emissions while helping family farms be viable and climate resilient. The existing operating methane digester at the Straus Organic Dairy Farm reduces methane emissions by 1,600 metric tons of CO2 annually.

“When BMW set out to make electric vehicles, we intended to make sustainability a core design element that extended beyond the vehicle itself,” said Adam Langton, BMW Energy Manager. “Now, we’re making the electricity that goes into our vehicles as clean as possible while helping support the state’s farming and food system.”

Joseph Button, Sustainability Director, Straus Family Creamery, added, “Albert Straus is creating a model where sustainable organic dairy farming is a climate-change solution. Biodigesters are the technological innovation at the crux of that model. This collaboration is helping us to support organic family farms while delivering major climate-positive impacts.”

Straus Organic Dairy Farm is actively working with BMW Group and BTR Energy to advance new small-scale digester technology and bring more bioelectric fuel to the market. BMW Group announced the partnership November 20 during the Los Angeles Auto Show’s Media Day.