AUGUST 2008: BIZLIFE, TACTICS
NEW SEASON, SAME FOCUS
NEW SEASONS MARKET
Newseasonsmarket.com
FOUNDED: 1999, Portland
STORES: nine, with two planned in 2009
EMPLOYEES: 1,800
TOP EXECUTIVES: Brian Rohter, CEO; Lisa Sedlar,
president
WEB BONUS: READ
FULL CONVERSATION WITH BRIAN ROHTER
 New Seasons CEO Brian Rohter
embraced sustainability before it was trendy.
PHOTO BY ADAM BACHER
|
|
THIRTY YEARS AGO, Brian Rohter and his colleagues in the
organic food business were widely considered a fringe group.
“Now you can buy organic food everywhere,” says
Rohter, CEO of privately held, Portland-based New Seasons
Market. “Some people who have been in organics a long
time complain about that, but the way I look at it, hey, we
won. It’s a victory.”
Few business leaders are claiming victory in today’s
economy, but Rohter has reason to be confident. New Seasons
recently announced leases for two new stores to open in 2009,
on Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard in Portland and at Progress
Ridge near Washington Square. That will build the chain to 11
stores with more than 2,000 employees.
New Seasons has pursued a consistent strategy from its debut
in 2000 — in Rohter’s words, “create a
progressive work environment, focus on customer service, buy
local food and give it back to the community.”
If that sounds a tad idealistic, that’s because it is.
Rohter and his partners stress a message of pragmatic idealism
that sells well in Portland. With “absolutely no
plans” to expand outside of Portland or go public, Rohter
is free to follow his ideals because his customers tend to
agree with them. That support enables him to do things like
pull out of trade groups over philosophical differences
regarding the minimum wage and country-of-origin labeling, and
underwrite farmer’s markets even though they’re
competitors. “Putting a face on the farmer is one of the
most important contributions we can make,” he says.
“Creating that interest and the awareness that there are
people behind this food will help develop demand.”
New Seasons is not immune to rising fuel and food prices. But
because the company chose to invest early in local farmers,
it’s saving money on transport. Its pork comes from 100
rather than 2,000 miles away and its local produce and dairy
products are competing better with out-of-state goods because
the distribution systems of conventional agriculture are hard
hit by diesel prices. This strengthens New Seasons’
position against much larger chains such as Kroger, Safeway and
Whole Foods, which recently purchased Wild Oats.
Consumer confidence has taken a hit in recent months, but as
Rohter points out, “people still have to eat. Instead of
going out to dinner a few times a week they’re making
nicer meals at home. We’re benefiting from that.”
He’s taking that trend into account in planning the new
stores, along with a surge in Internet orders for home delivery
among shoppers eager to leave their cars in the driveway, and a
general rise in demand for local food.
“We’ve been singing the buy local mantra from Day
One, and some people thought that it was quaint or that it was
a marketing position or that it was alarmist,” Rohter
says. “But what we’ve seen is this is a food
security issue… There is a new awareness of the
importance of our regional food
system.”
BEN JACKLET
Have an opinion?
E-mail feedback@oregonbusiness.com
