Why your grocery store wants to be like a startup

Amazon’s Whole Foods acquisition lit a fire under America’s grocery businesses to think harder about improving the shopping experience, especially with the use of technology. Kroger, for example, expanded a pilot test of its Scan, Bag, Go program that lets shoppers use hand-held scanners as they shop to make checkout times faster. It’s also reportedly planning to install more digital shelves that will display a variety of information, ads and offers to customers. Walmart and Target have taken the acquisition approach, with Walmart buying delivery service Parcel and Target acquiring Shipt. Read more at Boston Globe…

How I overcame the unglamorous side of starting a seven-figure natural beauty company

Joining a network of small business mentors helped Jacquelyn Foster Quattro, founder of Jersey Shore Cosmetics, connect with formulators, manufacturers and herbalists who could meet her standards for clean ingredient lip balms and sunscreens. She also reached out to groups like EWG to review her products to develop credibility. Then she turned to subscription boxes to get her products into the hands of millions of consumers. Read more at Forbes…

$40 million later, a pioneering plan to boost wild fish stocks shows little success

Back in 1983, marine biologists launched a project to restore populations of California white seabass by raising them in a hatchery and then releasing them into the sea. Thirty-five years later, a formal scientific evaluation of the Ocean Resources Enhancement and Hatchery Program has concluded that the program has improved populations by a measly 1 percent; by comparison, a similar hatchery program in Alaska accounts for one-third of the state’s harvest. Read more at NPR…

CEO behind $820M sale of Annie’s Homegrown talks Jennifer Garner food venture

Natural products industry veteran John Foraker credits making business decisions guided by mission and core values as the best thing Annie’s ever did. And, he expects a big wave of growth in organic food sales to come. “There has been more disruption in the last five years in the food business than in the prior 30 all combined,” he told attendees of the North Coast Specialty Food & Beverage Industry Conference. “The next five years will be way more disruptive than that.” Read more at North Bay Business Journal…

The new, healthier chocolate

The next generation of chocolate treats are made with raw, minimally heated cocoa beans, in order to preserve antioxidants, and mixed with functional ingredients like ashwagandha, maca, herbal mushrooms and more. Read more at The New York Times Style Magazine…