Top Stories » Expert Columns » Profiles & Trends

Every quarter we ask members of our Retailer Advisory Board to lend us a hand identifying top selling products from around the country. This quarter, we asked them to provide those great sellers that have an environmentally friendly story to them if available. So here are their selections; perhaps these products will inspire sales in your store as well.

West
Product Organic Rolled Oats in Bulk
Manufacturer Grain Millers, Inc.
Retail Price $1.05/lb.
Comments We sold 16,000 lbs. in 90 days. This is the least expensive and healthiest breakfast food.
Product Organic Quinoa
Manufacturer Royal
Retail Price $1.49/lb.
Comments Our customers like the organic whole-grain aspect that provides a great source of protein. We sold 10,000 lbs. in 90 days.

Product Coconut Juice with Pulp
Manufacturer Amy & Brian
Retail Price $1.70
Comments This is a great low-fat product that also fits into the new raw food movement.
- Linda Trunzo, Rainbow Grocery Cooperative, San Francisco, Calif.
Product Gingerbread Holiday Clean-Up Kit
Manufacturer Mrs. Meyer's
Retail Price $14.99
Comments This kit contains smaller sizes of Mrs. Meyer's best household cleaners in a wonderful gingerbread scent. The packaging is very appealing and it's also a great gift for family, friends and work associates. These are also environmentally friendly and biodegradable. It's easy to clean and get into the holiday spirit with the smell of gingerbread spices lingering around the house.
- Suman Lawrence, United Supermarkets/Market Streets, Plano, Texas

Product "Green" Grocery Bag
Manufacturer (To Come from MM)
Retail Price Five for $5.00
Comments We just put in the "Green Bag" although ours is black. It seems everyone is now selling them around the country, from Whole Foods to Publix. It's a loss leader unless our customers switch from either paper or plastic bags to our new shopping bag. It is the politically correct thing to offer during these times with concerns over the environment and global warming. We are also selling reusable water bottles similar to the "Nalgene" bottles as an alternative to disposable 0.5-liter individual bottles. Unfortunately for the environment, 0.5-liter disposable bottles continue to grow in sales each year.
- Scott Silverman, Rice Epicurean, Houston, Texas

Product Poach Pods
Manufacturer Fusion Brands/Harold Import Company
Retail Price $9.95
Comments They are still new to consumers, fun and inexpensive, plus they look weird enough to catch people's attention.
Product 4-in-1 Griddler
Manufacturer Cuisinart
Retail Price $129
Comments We ran a successful ad campaign in our local paper, plus people just like the one-tool-does-it-all concept.

- Laura Havlek, Sign of the Bear, Sonoma, Calif.
Midwest
Product Zingerman's Vecchia Balsamic Vinegars - 6, 8 and 10 years of age
Manufacturer La Vecchia Dispensa, Modena, Italy
Retail Price $15.99 (6 year); $19.99 (8 year); $29.99 (10 year)
Comments Although our sales overall for these vinegars are a little lower than last year, they were still our best sellers. Besides being a staple part of many of our customers' pantries - and, therefore, benefiting from strong sales during the holiday season when people entertain more - I also think that they are tried-and-true, well-established and have our name on them, and for all those reasons, they make a good, fail-safe gift for the holidays.

Product Stichelton, Raw-Milk Stilton
Manufacturer Collingthwaite Farm via Neals Yard Dairy, London, England
Retail Price $29.99/lb.
Comments While Stilton is a holiday best-seller by name, we debuted Stichelton on our counter this holiday, and it did very well. Incredibly creamy and with great depth of flavor, this one might take the holiday Stilton tradition to a whole new level.

Product Zingerman's Organic Private Label Frantoio Oil
Manufacturer Olave Olive Oil, Chile
Retail Price $24.99/500 ml
Comments We debuted this in December, just in time for the holidays, and it was a great hit. Besides the fact that customers love our private-label stuff, the oil is excellent and impeccably made; and the organic certification certainly helped sales.

Product Acorn Finished Berkshire Hogs
Manufacturer Herb Eckhouse at La Quercia, Iowa
Retail Price TBD
Comments This, I truly believe, is a revolution in the making. Herb Eckhouse, who already makes truly excellent hams, finished 50 Berkshires on acorns, much like the famed Iberico pigs. His idea to sell the entire hogs to select interested takers is really quite revolutionary - starting with fresh meat immediately post-slaughter and ending with cured hams a year-and-a-half later; buyers will, over time, collect on their entire pig. It's brilliant and I am pleased to say that we purchased three. We have the fresh meat in-house and eagerly await the arrival of the cured meats from pancetta and bacon to the final hams. A never-before partnership between consumers and producers, with shared risks and benefits, this is a unique way to go green and support the producers that are willing to step out of the safe and narrow and take it to the next level.

- Gauri Thergaonkar, Zingerman's, Ann Arbor, Mich.
Product Onion Goggles
Manufacturer RSVP
Retail Price $19.99
Comments We set the box by the cash register. Customers looked at them and discussed their "solution" to the onion-crying problem, and we heard comments like, "Yeah, we've heard them all . . ." Next thing you know, they've added them to the sale.

Product AeroGarden
Manufacturer AeroGrow
Retail Price $149.99
Comments I was pleasantly surprised at the popularity of this product. Anyway you can get fresh herbs growing in the winter in our climate (dark when you get up, dark before you come home from work) is really interesting to my customers. Great sell through.
- Larry Oates, KitchenArt--The Store for Cooks, West Lafayette, Ind.

Product Pie Dishes and Bakeware
Manufacturer Chantal
Retail Price $17 to $30
Comments These products have a great new look and special pricing.
Product Dip, Soup and Bread Mixes
Manufacturer Wind & Willow
Retail Price $4 to $6
Comments It's easy to use and customers love it.

- Mike & Shelly Sackett, Kitchen Affairs, Evansville, Ind.
East
Product Biodegradable, Compostable, Renewable-Source French Lorraine Beechwood Utensils
Manufacturer BIOSYLVA (Julien Duperray biosylva@orange.fr)
Retail Price Forks 100-pack $5.99; Knives 100-pack $5.99; Soup spoons 100-pack $6.99; Spoons 100-pack $4.99; Square plate 17cm 10-pack $11.99; Square plate 24cm 10-pack $12.99
Comments A major home run, this is great-looking and as green as green gets.
- Steven Jenkins, Fairway Market, New York City, N.Y.

Product Chocolate Bars and Coffees
Manufacturer Equal Exchange & Divine Chocolate
Retail Price Varies
Comments They are organic, Fair Trade, taste great (especially the chocolate bars) and Equal Exchange is a co-op and one of the founders of the Fair Trade movement. Divine Chocolate is also very much like Equal Exchange: great-tasting products, organic, Fair Trade, and the company itself is actually owned by the producers' cooperative.

Product 32-oz. Dr. Bronner's Organic Peppermint Pure Castile Soap
Manufacturer Dr. Bronner's
Retail Price $12.99
Comments It is versatile (you can use it as a soap or a shampoo); it smells good; it's made with organic, clean and fair-traded ingredients; is environmentally friendly and biodegradable (you can take it camping); and it has a good price point.

Product Maya Gold
Manufacturer Green and Black's
Retail Price $3.29
Comments It tastes good and is organic and fair-traded.
- Claudia Tolan, Weaver Street Market, Carrboro, N.C.

Product Valor Chocoperlas
Manufacturer Valor
Retail Price $11.99 for 8.75 oz.
Comments These dark chocolate enrobed Spanish Marcona almonds combine high-quality dark chocolate with the best almonds in the world. Truly addictive.

Product Primula Tea Flowers - Green Tea With Jasmine
Manufacturer Primula
Retail Price Teapot with infuser and tea sample $29.99; Personal teamaker and tea sample $12.99; Assorted flowering teas, 36-count $9.99
Comments Made by Chinese artisans for an enhanced, soothing tea experience. Beautiful as well as delicious.

Product Greek Gigande Beans In Vinaigrette
Distributor Regional Access
Retail Price $5.99/lb.
Comments We're selling them in bulk from our deli; fabulous added to pasta, salad or on their own.
- Janet Ostrow, Premier Gourmet, Kenmore, N.Y.

Comments? mmoran@gourmetretailer.com