WEGMANS A CASE STUDY
Kathleen O’Donnell
Wegmans Food Markets, Inc.
Wegmans Food Markets, a family-owned business, is headquartered in Rochester NY. It began as the Rochester Fruit & Vegetable Company in 1916 by Walter and John Wegman (Chairman Robert Wegman’s father and uncle). Wegmans retail stores are located in NY, PA, NJ and in early 2004, VA.
Wegmans has a reputation for listening and responding to our customers. In the late 1970’s, Wegmans developed its own line of general grocery items in order to meet the customer desire for great quality at a reasonable price. Today, Wegmans brand is a full and growing array of premium-quality products under its own label. ‘Food You Feel Good About’ (FYFGA) is included under the Wegmans brand umbrella.
The ‘Food You Feel Good About’ label made its debut in 1991. It is a line of great-tasting more natural products. Included in this line are FYFGA fresh meat and poultry products. One of the defined product attributes is that the animals destined for the FYFGA program do not receive antibiotics, for any reason, throughout their production period. Animals receiving antibiotics are removed from the FYFGA program. Consumers recognize this attribute and this influences some purchase decisions.
Kathleen O’Donnell
Chief Food Scientist
Wegmans Food Markets, Inc.
1500 Brooks Ave.
Rochester, New York 14603
585-429-3623
585-429-3625 (fax)