The produce department can be a real cradle of innovation. One of the newest categories to benefit from the merchandising marriage of stores and manufacturers is baby food.
Homemade Baby, a Culver City, Calif.-based maker of fresh baby food, has signed a distribution agreement that will allow the company's line of baby and toddler products to be displayed in the chilled cases in produce sections. Melissa's World Variety Produce and United Natural Foods are part of the arrangement.
“This agreement continues to say that baby food is not center of the store anymore,” said Theresa Kiene, Homemade Baby's chief executive mommy. “It's all about being fresh, and there's a premium on fresh when customers are making their store choice.”
The company already has experience with produce merchandising. According to Kiene, Whole Foods Market stores in Southern California merchandise 10 Happy Baby SKUs in two locations — dairy and produce.
