When natural and organic foods made their appearance in the grocery market over 20 years ago, most conventional grocery stores dabbled with selling them in their product lines.  Fast forward to today, and now big box retailers, convenience stores and conventional grocers have taken a massive chunk of business from the natural food retailer market.  In a market where Seven-Eleven sells seven times more bananas than Snickers bars, and 43 percent of natural foods are now sold at conventional grocers, this video demonstrates it is even more important for food co-ops to reach out.  Terry Appleby, general manager at Hanover Consumer Cooperative Society, a food co-op in Hanover, New Hampshire, said, “A lot of people moving through those stores could be shoppers at our stores.”

The video is chock-full of eye-opening statistics about the average consumer.  For example, 50 percent of meals are consumed as snacks, and 19 percent of them are eaten in the car.  Appleby challenges retailers to meet mainstream consumer demands for fresh, healthy, convenient on-the-go foods.  “If 50 percent of people are eating snack meals, are you prepared with the kinds of foods that they can grab and go?”