Dominick's "Locally Grown" Campaign: Nonsense

Dominick's has caught on to the fact that people like to buy local produce, so they've decided to capitalize. Bring on the big marketing campaign. A downtown store has signs all over the place lauding the benefits of local produce, and more signs touting specific goods that that have been sourced locally. The problem is that this is all smoke and mirrors. They're just lying. I pointed out to the manager that there were many signs that said "Locally Grown" placed in front of items that were clearly from nowhere near us. His response: Oh, that's just a campaign we started. We don't necessarily carry a lot of local stuff. It's really hard to do that. You should shop at a farmstand if you want the best produce. That's what I do." Seriously, that's what he said.

Sign #1: prominently displayed upon entrance to the store:

OK, cool. So they've described here what they mean by "Locally Grown," and listed all the farms from which they get produce.


"Locally Grown" grapes:

These grapes were from California.


WTF??????:

Bet you didn't know we grew oranges and grapefruit here. We don't.


More WTF???????:




Honestly, I could have gone around that produce section and snapped a dozen more pictures of this nonsense. This is a big campaign they're running. The signs are everywhere. Garbage. Absolute garbage.

This strikes a nerve with me. I haven't seen this new campaign, but I'm honestly not at all surprised. Their standards (and I'm speaking here of both Jewel and Dominick's) are about as low as it's possible to go. Just about every time I shop at either, I find rotten produce sitting there, ready for purchase. Not old, not dubious. Rotten. Like, it belongs in the garbage. Yet, they're charging twice what a real produce place is charging for fresh stuff. I end up yelling at some clueless employee more often than not.

What's somewhat encouraging, at least, is that the tide seems to be turning. People are getting wise, and especially with so many better options popping up, the big stores are simply not selling as much produce as they used to, I'm guessing.

Pretty surreal, though, I have to say. Gotta love those locally grown oranges and grapefruit.

Oh, and keep us posted. I want to head over there when the locally grown mangos and bananas show up.

Kenny,

That is hysterical. It looks like a complete rip-off of Whole Foods campaign, except they put the signs next to produce w/ a pic of local farmers & where they are at.

This really ticks me off.

I'll bet the city's Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection would be interested in hearing about someone selling citrus fruit as "locally grown". Perhaps a call to 311 is in order.

Well, everything is locally grown somewhere

Thanks, Kenny, for the great post and re-con work. I swore off Dominick's years ago, after they were purchased by Safeway and their produce departments were destroyed by horribly counter-intuitive policies. It was reported that they implemented a bonus system under which produce managers were rewarded not for sales but instead for lower losses. This resulted in a substantial rationalizion of inventory, since the goal wasn't to sell, it was to avoid produce perishing. They've never recovered from that, in my opinion.

It appears that the folks making the produce and marketing decisions at Dominick's (the same people as before, perhaps) still don't have a clue about integrity, product quality or respect for the consumer. This looks like just another marketing department-driven shortcut -- window dressing -- designed to boost sales at any ethical cost and create an illusion of quality and social consciousness. I wonder if anyone at Safeway will ever get it. It sure doesn't appear so. It's stuff like this that makes one realize just how important it is for consumers to educate themselves. If they don't, there will always be folks out there waiting to take advantage of them, and in some cases, depending on doing so.

=R=

The Dominick's manager wrote:You should shop at a farmstand if you want the best produce. That's what I do.

Props for his honesty, at least. Pretty sleazy other than that.

jesteinf wrote:Well, everything is locally grown somewhere

Local to Safeway headquarters in California, perhaps?

I guess it’s a stretch to call that advertising but that has to be wrong on something beyond a moral level. Seems like they are willingly and purposefully misrepresenting where their produce is coming from, unless the definition of local has been expanded to North America.

AlekH wrote:I guess it’s a stretch to call that advertising but that has to be wrong on something beyond a moral level. Seems like they are willingly and purposefully misrepresenting where their produce is coming from, unless the definition of local has been expanded to North America.

Based on my discussions there, I'd say it's more likely that they simply aren't the brightest bulbs in the deli case.

It would have been so much more enjoyable to see someone fight "local" head on by trumpeting the virtues of the Ecuadoran tomato farmer and "we're all one planet" and so on. It's your duty as a human who cares to eat produce that's circumnavigated the globe!

Misrepresentation of product happens all the time and if you accept it, you deserve it. Tell the stores (or restaurants) that it's unethical and that you're aware that they're just jumping on a bandwagon shilling for $'s from unsuspecting or uneducated consumers. Don't allow false marketing to continue w/o @ least calling them on it or as advised above, contact the proper authorities and report it.

Well done Kenny.

Kobe sliders anyone?

I am wondering what were you doing at a Dominicks in the first place Kenny?

Jazzfood wrote:Tell the stores (or restaurants) that it's unethical and that you're aware that they're just jumping on a bandwagon shilling ...

Though I used slightly different words, I did tell the store manager that I thought his signs were misleading, and bothersome enough for me to want never to shop in his store again. He said, "Next time we'll be more careful about where we put the signs for you." He seemed like a genuinely nice guy who just didn't get it.

jimswside wrote:I am wondering what were you doing at a Dominicks in the first place Kenny?

"Know your enemy." I have an office next door and stop in periodically just to see what's happening in the world of supermarket shopping. I rarely buy anything but the occasional 6 pack of beer when I'm desperate.

Kennyz wrote: I rarely buy anything but the occasional 6 pack of beer when I'm desperate.

i thought as much...

thanks for performing the due diligence on this.

Kennyz wrote:Though I used slightly different words, I did tell the store manager that I thought his signs were misleading, and bothersome enough for me to want never to shop in his store again. He said, "Next time we'll be more careful about where we put the signs for you." He seemed like a genuinely nice guy who just didn't get it.

Now I'm wondering if this is just bad employee training. The sign listing the farms seems on the up-and-up. Maybe whoever came up with the promotion didn't realize they needed to spell out to the store managers just what local means and how to arrange the signs.

LAZ wrote:The sign listing the farms seems on the up-and-up.

Sort of. I spoke to the produce manager too, and he explained that the farms on that sign are places with which Dominicks has a business relationship. That means they could source products from those places, but it does not mean that they do source products from those places. For example, though the sign lists apples, acorn squash, and celery as products from local farms, it turns out that none of those items in the store actually came from those farms.

I agree that this is not purely an ethical lapse, but also contains an implementation lapse. If you recall, there was a similar hub-bub a few years ago that Whole Foods was not as forthcoming about how "local" its produce really is.

This is from the Safeway Wikipedia entry:

"Safeway recently transitioned from regional control of their product assortments to national category management, known as the Safeway Category Optimization Process or SCOP. With all dry grocery corporate buying done from Safeway's Pleasanton offices, it is said it will increase representation of manufacturers by experienced sales professionals with extensive product and category knowledge. Corporate produce buying offices are located in Phoenix Arizona. This will mean consistency across the Safeway chain, meaning one could go into a store in Winnipeg or San Francisco and find the same products at the same price as all negotiation is now done at the corporate level."

So much for locally grown. What can you expect from company pioneered by Charles Merril? They even have joint ventures with a Saudi company that partners up with such localvore heroes as Halliburton.

Dominick's used to be my convenience store up until the WF opened across the street. Now WF is my convenience store and Dominick's is my back-up for when I want to buy something that I know is overpriced at WF and Dominick's has the exact same thing for less. I recommend doing the same if you like to save because when it comes to organics they both sell the exact same thing and everyone likes to save!

On the subject of local produce though, I've observed over the years that Dominick's carries local produce. I think asparagus was one of the first things I noticed that was local. However, the reason I knew it was local was because it was labeled as Illinois asparagus. In other words, being someone who is observant of where produce comes from I made the distinction that Illinois = local. The difference now, probably two years later, is that Dominick's realizes that there is the possibility of increasing sales and/or increased incentives to highlight the fact that their asparagus is coming from Illinois.

On the one hand you can't blame them for doing this. Why wouldn't they? It's like saying, why wouldn't they change their bulbs to CFL's? By doing so they are "saving the environment" and getting a tax credit. But are they really saving the environment? And are oranges really "local?" No and no. But local and environmental, two big "green" words, have grown beyond control. Local is being abused before it even had a chance to be taken for it really is. The growing season in the Midwest is obviously a short one but there is a nice selection of produce like asparagus, butter lettuce, apples, and so on that is sold at big grocery stores and should be showcased as local treasures that everyone should buy.

Unfortunately, the term local has been caught up in the greenwashing movement which is an offensive (as opposed to defensive) pun intended, move on the part of big corporations to bank on the term. I blame Dominick's for being irresponsible but I also blame the big foodservice providers that may sell to them. The biggest one has completely changed their logo and their image to look as if they are a green company. They are inundating their clients with literature (on non-recycled paper) highlighting their move to be a local produce provider. The joke is, that when they have accomplished their mission they will have corralled the word local and confined to it's literal meaning. Meaning, they will have turned any and all "farms" in the Midwest into factory farms that don't have to be organic or non gmo or any of the good stuff that local food is supposed to be.

Yep, interesting times indeed.

It's unfortunate that this free state program hasn't gotten more support from Illinois farmers and food manufacturers.

art wrote:DOn the subject of local produce though, I've observed over the years that Dominick's carries local produce. I think asparagus was one of the first things I noticed that was local. However, the reason I knew it was local was because it was labeled as Illinois asparagus. In other words, being someone who is observant of where produce comes from I made the distinction that Illinois = local. The difference now, probably two years later, is that Dominick's realizes that there is the possibility of increasing sales and/or increased incentives to highlight the fact that their asparagus is coming from Illinois.

if you are serious about "BUYING LOCAL" why don't you head to those stores who ACTUALLY buy LOCAL? Woodman's carries thousands of SKUs from Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota vendors. Meijer's carries a great deal of produce and other products from Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, and Ontario.

For the record, the last time I was in Whole Foods in Evanston, thet had "locally grown" on Washington apples and a couple of soft fruits that were labeled from California.

Trader Joe's brings in most of their food from the Boston area. Costco brings most of their foods in the west coast.

I think it's also disingenuous to even it call it Dominick's. It'd be more accurate to call it Safeway.

garcho wrote:I think it's also disingenuous to even it call it Dominick's. It'd be more accurate to call it Safeway.

As somebody who was annoyed by the Marshall Field's name change, I have to disagree there. I do credit Safeway for keeping the local name, even though when I shop there it's usually mainly to buy such Safeway-brand products as tonic water and organic Italian soda.

Now that none of the stores in my area are open 24 hours, I have even less reason to go to Dominick's than before.

Today's Sun-Times reports Dominick's is cutting prices.

Himself reports from recent shopping expeditions:

The Buffalo Grove Dominick's has the "locally grown" signs but they aren't actually placed near any individual produce items.

Meijer has similar "locally grown" signs, encompassing the same list of states.

That this same promotion seems to be happening at Dominick's, Meijer and Whole Foods, and that the list excludes Wisconsin, leads us to wonder whether the promotion may be a cooperative initiative of the state agriculture departments. Pure speculation, but the four states involved are all members of the MarketMaker Network, while Wisconsin is not.

LAZ wrote:Today's Sun-Times reports Dominick's is cutting prices.

That's a welcome move, I guess, though my enthusiasm for shopping there is not fired by "Banquet Spaghetti and Meatball Value Meal, $1 from $1.59 (down 37 percent)."

Overall, I find it encouraging that larger chains are feeling the competitive heat from farmers' markets, that mammoth food retailers like Wal-Mart are switching over to sustainable seafood, and that the market is responding to consumer preferences. With Dominick's, many times I feel they're laying out stuff and saying "take it or leave it" -- even the appearance of attempting to address growing interest in local food is welcome (if even, as suggested, ersatz).

I wonder if prices overall are going down, my favorite socks are normally something like $15 per pair (ouch!) and I just got some for $8.99 per pair.

The Locally Grown campaign was shut down abruptly about a week ago. The manager told me that people had been asking too many questions.