Trader Joe’s tradition of paying well and offering valuable benefits, combined with its “cool factor,” have helped the quirky grocer attract and retain employees even as it opens new stores in a tight labor market, news that topped this week’s list of most-read food-and-beverage stories.
Late founder Joe Coulombe stressed this strategy from the start, as detailed in a new book about his life and the lessons he learned as he started and grew the business. The Wall Street Journal’s story about the new tome called “Becoming Trader Joe” also landed on this week’s Top 10 list.
In other popular retail news, Target outlined plans to use sortation centers for faster order fulfillment, Walmart said it will offer its last-mile delivery service to other retailers and Albertsons and Walmart partnered with United Airlines on a COVID-19 testing program for airline passengers.
CPG companies also drew in readers this week, including General Mills which announced its new Renegade Creamery brand of animal-free cheeses. The line will include plant-based products as well as cheeses made using microbial fermentation to create dairy proteins without the use of animals.
A tale about the nostalgia driven rise in UK demand for popular US candy brands and other sweet treats including Pop Tarts, Tootsie Rolls and Hershey’s chocolate also caught readers’ eyes.
OpenTable’s new partnership with CLEAR’s free Health Pass service that will allow users making restaurant reservations to create and show digital proof of their COVID-19 vaccines at eateries where vaccines are required made the Top 10 list this week.
And a feature about former “Top Chef” contestant Nelson German’s UFO-inspired pupusas, which he created for the show and modified by swapping pork for crabmeat at his AlaMar Kitchen & Bar in Oakland, Calif., landed a spot on the list as well.
Read the entire Top 10:
- Trader Joe’s uses pay, benefits to overcome labor shortage
- General Mills to debut alt-dairy cheese brand
- Ala. district serves last Crispitos — for now
- Target turns to sortation centers to speed fulfillment
- Walmart drivers to deliver for other retail stores
- Lessons from the man who became Trader Joe
- Chef’s crabcake and pupusa mashup is out of this world
- Why US candy is all the rage in the UK
- Albertsons, Walmart team with airline on COVID-19 testing
- OpenTable to integrate digital vaccine feature
Related stories:
- The food retail workforce: Where the industry stands
- Looking at the future of restaurant technology
- Restaurants embrace plant-based meat alternatives tailored to their brands
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