#272 Retailer Spotlight: Plum Market with Marc Jonna
In this episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, host Daniel Scharff sits down with Marc Jonna, Co-Founder and President of Plum Market, for a deep dive into the grocer’s founding story, its ethos, how it sources brands, and how emerging brands can get on its radar.
Marc is a third-generation grocer who started working in his family’s wine and gourmet store at 14 and left college at 19 to run operations when his father got sick. After the family’s business was acquired by Whole Foods in 1998, Marc worked with John Mackey, joined the leadership team, and later left with his brother Matt to launch Plum Market in 2007 in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Today Plum Market operates in Michigan and Florida and has over 40 outlets, including airports, offices, private schools, and the Detroit Pistons Performance Center.
Daniel and Marc dig into how the Plum Market name and icon came to be, where Marc sees grocery heading, why Plum carries virtually no private label, how the team helps emerging brands launch, how airport locations work, and what founders should do if they want to get in front of Plum Market’s buyers.
Listen in as they discuss:
- The three-generation grocery story behind Plum Market, from a family wine store to a sale to Whole Foods and a fresh start
- How the Plum Market name and plum-and-swish icon were created
- Where Marc sees grocery heading, from preventative health and traceability to shoppers wanting fewer, higher-quality ingredients
- Why Plum Market treats grocery as an experience, with brands as the “true stars”
- Why Plum carries essentially no private label, outside of food cooked in house from scratch, and why Marc thinks consumers will increasingly want to know who makes their food
- How Plum sources natural, organic, local, and gourmet brands, and why logistics decide whether a startup can get in
- How Plum helps emerging brands launch, starting with the “magic wand” merchandising question, and why a win with an independent grocer can create FOMO among larger retailers
- How Marc finds new products, from trade shows and travel to competitor stores and founders who DM him directly
- Why airports, offices, and schools are growth channels, and why authorized wholesalers like UNFI and KeHE are essential for airport placement
- Where large-format and small-format stores fit into Plum Market’s growth plans
Brands and names mentioned in this episode:
- Hot Girl Pickles - Leah Marcus and Yasaman Bakhtiar
- Clean Dough Cookies - Jake Bagnall
- Gato Dates - Gabriella Gains and Tonya Reznikovich
- Loonen water - Clara Sieg and David Kimmell
- Miracle Noodle
- Zingerman's
- Bell & Evans
- Snake River Farms
- Diamond Ranch
- Sea Smoke
- Merchant of Vino
- Trade Winds
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Episode Links:
- Marc Jonna LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/marc-jonna-3a9b4649
- Plum Market LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/plummarket
- Plum Market Website: www.plummarket.com
- Plum Market Instagram: @plummarket
- Contact Marc directly: marc.jonna@plummarket.com
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Show Links:
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- Episode music by Super Fantastics
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