Gourmet News

Béquet Confections Hires Jeff Grossman as Chief Revenue Officer

Published August 19, 2024

Béquet Confections has chosen confectionery industry veteran Jeff Grossman to join the executive team as chief revenue officer on Aug. 1. Grossman has more than 30 years of progressive management experience in the industry, working with leading brands such as YumEarth and Ford Gum and expanding distribution within a variety of channels including club, grocery, specialty, mass, drug, convenience, value, and online. He was inducted into the NCSA Candy Hall of Fame in 2022.

The nation’s premier gourmet caramel company, Béquet Confections is known for its exceptional quality. The company sources the purest ingredients available, without added preservatives, artificial colors or artificial flavors to create the most exquisite, indulgent caramel.

“Consumers are looking for clean foods and confections, made with superior ingredients that are free from artificial components,” says Grossman. “Béquet Caramel is not only clean, it tastes incredible. I’m honored to work with this stellar team to promote the premium Béquet brand.”

Reporting to the co-presidents of Béquet, Grossman will lead the development and execution of strategic revenue generation. His primary goals are to drive revenue growth and expand market share across all business units. As CRO, Grossman will lead the product development and commercialization teams, as well as cultivate partnerships with key clients and evaluate potential business opportunities.

Prior to his new CRO role, Grossman served as chief growth officer at YumEarth, where he led sales and brand development for the organic confection brand. His background includes sales and management positions at Ford Gum and Machine Co., New Era Brands, Imaginings 3 (Flix Candy), and Ragolds.

Grossman is well respected and active in the industry, having served the National Confectioners Association on committees for the Sweets & Snacks Expo and NCA Trade Relations.

Béquet Confections is the nation’s premier gourmet caramel company, honored with 12 prestigious national awards recognizing its uncompromising commitment to quality. Based in Bozeman, Mt., Béquet Confections launched in 2001 by Robin Béquet at the encouragement of friends and family who couldn’t get enough of her gourmet caramel. In 2019, Béquet Confections joined the Life is Sweet family of brands.

Today, Béquet Gourmet Caramel is found in leading grocery and club stores, online and in thousands of specialty and gourmet shops across the country. For more information, visit www.BequetConfections.com.

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Food Industry Responds to Proposed ‘Price Gouging’ Ban

Published August 19, 2024

Vice President Kamala Harris caught the attention of the food industry with remarks she made Aug. 15 that included a proposal to ban “price gouging” by food suppliers and grocery stores.

“Under the Biden-Harris administration, grocery prices have shot up 21 percent, part of an inflation surge that has raised overall costs by about 19 percent and soured many Americans on the economy, even as unemployment fell to historic lows,” Christopher Rugaber reported for the Associated Press. “Wages have also risen sharply since the pandemic, and have outpaced prices for more than a year. Still, surveys find Americans continue to struggle with higher costs.”

“We all know that prices went up during the pandemic when the supply chains shut down and failed,” Harris said Friday in Raleigh, N.C., as reported by Rugaber. “But our supply chains have now improved and prices are still too high.”

“Grocery prices are still painfully high compared to four years ago,” Rugaber reported, “but they increased just 1.1 percent in July compared with a year earlier, according to the most recent inflation report. That is in line with pre-pandemic increases.”

Food Industry Association President and CEO Leslie G. Sarasin decried price gouging, but denied that food retailers are to blame.

“Inflation has caused the price of many consumer goods – from gasoline to apparel – to increase. But 2024 Consumer Price Index (CPI) numbers reveal that the pace of year-over-year inflation continues to moderate, and food prices actually represent a bright spot in the data,” Sarasin said in a statement. “In fact, yesterday’s July CPI placed year-over-year food-at-home inflation at 1.1 percent, which remains below the 2.9 percent increase in overall inflation.

“Food retailers’ profit margins are, and always have been, extremely tight – just 1.6 percent last year. The entire food industry works tirelessly – amidst fierce competition – to address inflation and keep prices as low as possible to meet the needs of shoppers. However, the food industry continues to face significant economic headwinds – including increases in labor costs, volatile energy prices, an uptick in climate change-related severe weather events, supply chain challenges, and an unprecedented level of regulatory burden – that increase the costs to produce food and get it to store shelves,” Sarasin said.

“It is both inaccurate and irresponsible to conflate an illegal activity like price gouging – a defined legal term in which specific violations of trade practices law occur − with inflation, which is a broad, macroeconomic measure of increases in consumer prices over time due to supply chain cost pressures. In the context of food, inflation impacts how far the dollar goes when buying groceries.

“Americans should feel confident that the food industry has zero tolerance for deceptive practices like price gouging, an illegal activity that has no place in our stores and is inconsistent with the way the food industry conducts its business of feeding American families.

“When discussing food prices, it is imperative that our conversations remain grounded in reality and data, rather than rhetoric.”

National Grocers Association President and CEO Greg Ferrara said price gouging is not the problem.

“The proposal calling for a ban on grocery price gouging is a solution in search of a problem,” he said.

“Our independent grocers, already operating on extremely thin margins, are hurting from the same inflationary pressure points as their customers. Labor, rent, swipe fees, utilities; you name it, the price has increased. But what’s really hurting our local, independent grocers, is the lack of fair competition with big box retailers, who leverage their influence in ways that your independent grocer down the street can’t, leading to increased prices for everyone else.

“We’re hoping the next Administration (and the current one) will look closely at anticompetitive behaviors, including price discrimination, that are increasing prices for independent grocers and the community members they serve,” Ferrara said.

“We firmly believe that rather than proposing new legislation far-off in the future, the government should be enforcing the Robinson-Patman Act, a key antitrust law that already exists, but has been ignored for decades as big chains unfairly wield their influence.

“If Washington is serious about helping lower prices for consumers, it can help in three important ways: lower skyrocketing swipe fees, rein in excessive and burdensome regulations, and enforce antitrust laws like the Robinson-Patman Act that enhance price competition amongst retailers, regardless of size or location,” Ferrara said.

Meat Institute President and CEO Julie Anna Potts also said Harris’s proposed price gouging ban misses the mark.

“Consumers have been impacted by high prices due to inflation on everything from services to rent to automobiles, not just at the grocery store. A federal ban on price gouging does not address the real causes of inflation,” Potts said.

“The Harris campaign rhetoric unfairly targets the meat and poultry industry and does not match the facts. Food prices continue to come down from the highs of the pandemic. Prices for meat are based on supply and demand. Avian Influenza, a shortage of beef cattle and high input prices like energy and labor are all factors that determine prices at the meat case.

“Prices that livestock producers receive for their animals are also heavily influenced by supply and demand. Prices for cattle producers especially are at record highs, surpassing the 2014-2015 previous record highs. Today, well into 2024, cattle prices remain at record levels because the US has the lowest cattle inventory since Harry Truman was president,” she said.

“Major meat companies have reported losses during the Biden-Harris Administration, with some closing facilities and laying off workers.”

National Chicken Council Interim President Gary Kushner also responded to Harris’s comments.

“Americans are seeing inflation in nearly every part of their livelihoods – rent, gas, automobiles, furniture – not just in the meat case,” he said.

“Chicken prices are largely affected by supply and demand, by major input costs like corn, soybeans, energy, packaging, transportation, and by fiscal policy and burdensome government regulations. Not price gouging.

“It’s time for this administration to stop using the meat and poultry industry as a scapegoat and a distraction for the root causes of inflation and the significant challenges facing our economy.”

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Food Retailers Respond to Proposed ‘Price Gouging’ Ban