A New Playing Field

Green is everywhere today, but in many cases buried from vast majority of consumers. As more products hit the market the vast majority of them will never reach even a small group of consumers. As more and more large CPG companies get into the green business by acquiring brands or introducing their own, the playing field changes.

Natural used to be a low cost of entry to introduce anything under the sun. Many small entrepreneurs did well in the early days of the natural movement and many think it is the same today. But, the game has changed.

Is retail the best distribution option for these brands today? What chance does any new brand have for widespread distribution in the natural or supermarket channel? Every natural or organic brand introduced today looks to the conventional supermarket channel for growth. When a category like natural household cleaning has 441 brands reporting sales in the industry; the top 10 doing 85% of the sales and any given grocery retailer only carrying 3 brands (one their Private Label), what chance does any new entry have?

This scenario plays out in every category in the natural industry today. Any new product today, if not heavily funded by a major brand, will have less time than Conan O’Brien on The Tonight Show if any at all.

What do you think? Can a small brand survive today? Can a startup company sustain itself in the new economy?

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Stewardship and Activism

There is ample discussion today of doing the right thing. Whether it is volunteering in your community, being a steward of the environment in your life or being an activist for a cause, there is no shortage of rhetoric. But when it comes to matters that impact our life to the greatest degree every day, most don’t even notice what’s happening around them.

In just over 2 weeks there will be a primary election for many of the constitutional offices of Illinois, Cook County Board President and US Senate (President Obama’s former seat) to name just some of the races. But reporters for area news organizations are saying that many people in the state are unaware of the races. For those of you reading this outside of Illinois, this is the state that has a Governor who was impeached and faces federal charges of trying to sell Barack Obama’s Senate seat. We now face the greatest fiscal crisis in the states history. And people don’t know there is a primary election!

What does this have to do with natural products or the natural industry? Nothing really but I draw a comparison to the passion that people have for natural products and the relative disdain some have for voting. Where is the activism to exercise your right to vote? Everyone has an excuse for why they don’t vote, but they are selling themselves short.

I pledge that we all become stewards of our government in 2010. We have too much as stake for what will be left to our children. We owe it to them. Our children will bear the cost tomorrow for the government mismanagement of today. If you vote for nothing else, vote for them. http://elections.chicagotribune.com/