A16 eZ re THE WASHINGTON POST.MONDAy, MARCH 2 , 2020
COMPANIES
Hitachi Vantara Federal of
Reston appointed Tim Angelos
and Troy Grubbs sales
directors.
LAW AND LOBBYING
Alston & Bird of the District
appointed Brian Johnson
partner.
Bradley Arant Boult
Cummings of the District
appointed Michael Gordon
partner in the firm’s banking
and financial services practice
group.
Brunswick of the District
appointed Terry Calvani senior
adviser.
Latham & Watkins of the
District appointed Alan Devlin,
Daniel Dominguez, Susan
Engel and Jonathan Strang
partners.
Ropes & Gray of the District
appointed J. Harold Richards,
Michael McDougall and Alex
Talley counsel.
Sheppard, Mullin, Richter &
Hampton of the District
appointed Claudia Hinsch
partner in the firm’s tax,
employee benefits, and trusts
and estates practice group.
Steptoe & Johnson of the
District appointed Donna
Byrne and John Perkins
members of the firm’s energy
group.send information about promotions,
appointments and personnel moves
in the Washington region to
[email protected].BY THOMAS HEATHWashington entrepreneur
Seth Goldman took on the bever-
age industry with Honest Te a, a
low-sugar drink he created out of
his home in 1998. Honest Te a put
him on the food map, was pur-
chased by Coca-Cola and made
the Chevy Chase, Md., resident a
millionaire.
Then he helped shake up the
beef industry with Beyond Meat,
the plant-based meat substitute
that has upended taste buds and
Americans’ food habits.
Beyond Meat’s success has
made Goldman a food mogul.
His family owns more than 1 mil-
lion shares of the company,
which as of Friday’s stock market
close is worth about $100 mil-
lion.
Now he is taking on the food
service industry.
Goldman has teamed up with
Washington restaurateur Spike
Mendelsohn and others to
launch a quick-serve concept at a
Whole Foods Market in Mary-
land that offers food that is free
of animal products. (Whole
Foods is owned by Amazon,
whose founder and chief execu-
tive Jeff Bezos also owns The
Washington Post.)
The start-up, known as PLNT
Burger, “is a bit of a blend of
Honest Te a and Beyond Meat,”
Goldman said. “We are incorpo-
rating organic ingredients, such
as our mushrooms and drinks,
along w ith Beyond Meat, into our
recipes.”
The menu includes the Crispy
Chik N ’ Funguy sandwich, “made
from the fruiting body of an
organic oyster mushroom.” The
sandwich was inspired by a visit
to a mushroom farm, where
Goldman noticed that parts of
the mushroom were being
thrown away.
“Instead of waste, we are turn-
ing it into food that people can
consume,” he said.
Goldman is the lead investor
in PLNT Burger along with his
wife, Julie Farkas, and son Jonah
Goldman. They have created a
holding company called Eat the
Change t hat will p roduce a broad
line of similar, plant-based food
that they hope to sell across the
country.
PLNT Burger opened its first
location at the Whole Foods in
downtown Silver Spring in Au-
gust. Goldman said the restau-
rant has been successful enough
that he and his partners are
planning to open more locations.
On a good day, “we are making
as much as the previous concept
was making in a week,” said
Goldman, who kept the menu
items below $10 to reach a wide
audience. “We have our sights set
on at least four more locations
around Washington this year.”
Sales of plant-based foods
have surged as more Americans
move to reduce their meat intake
on health and environmental
grounds. Piper Sandler reported
plant-based meat could be a
$6 billion to $8 billion market by
2025, while Goldman Sachs esti-
mates t he plant-based category
will grow to $15 billion in the
United States and $47 billion
globally by 2029.
Driving Goldman’s business
plan, in part, is an American
Psychological Association study
that cited a condition known as
“ecoanxiety.”
“People are scared and unsure
whether their choices are con-
tributing to climate change,” he
said. Beyond Meat and PLNT
Burger are businesses designed
to assuage that guilt by having
minimal impact on the environ-
ment while also serving popular
products.
“The climate crisis has broken
through to people’s conscious-
ness,” he said. “It is no longer a
problem we will have to worry
about 10 years f rom now, or when
our kids grow up. This is more
than ‘good business.’ It is urgent-
ly needed business.”
[email protected]PLNT Burger
builds on success
of Beyond Meat
Entrepreneur Goldman,
D.C. chef Mendelsohn
respond to ‘ecoanxiety’capital business
APPOINTMENTS Company Insider Title Date Action Shares Price Now holds
Capital One Financial Richard Scott Blackley Chief financial officer Feb. 21 Sold 14,817 102.51 39,
Kleber Santos Officer Feb. 20 Sold 2,206 101.25 22,
Danaher William H. King Officer Feb. 20 Sold 26,370 160.06 to 161.14 19,
Fortive James A. Lico Chief executive Feb. 19 Sold 125,000 76.94 to 77.90 414,
Charles E. McLaughlin Chief financial officer Feb. 21 Sold 14,224 76.07 48,
Christopher M. Mulhall Officer Feb. 24 to Feb. 26 Sold 957 70.96 to 73.77 13,
Stacey A. Walker Officer Feb. 24, Feb. 25 Sold 3,567 72.88 to 73.77 23,
Gladstone Commercial Robert G. Cutlip President Feb. 21 Bought 500 21.44 51,
Michael J. Sodo Chief financial officer Feb. 20 Bought 1,000 21.18 6,
Graham Holdings Jacob Maas Officer Feb. 27 Bought 210 473.01 1,
Jack A. Markell Director Feb. 27 Bought 55 470 55
Liquidity Services William P. Angrick III Chief executive Feb. 21 to Feb. 25 Bought 58,358 4.52 to 4.87 5,374,
John Daunt Officer Feb. 19 Bought 5,000 4.62 54,
Edward J. Kolodzieski Director Feb. 18 Bought 5,000 4.52 58,
MacroGenics Eric Risser Officer Feb. 20 Sold 500 10.84 32,
ManTech International Judith L. Bjornaas Chief financial officer Feb. 21 Sold 15,000 87.49 to 88.42 8,
Northrop Grumman Mark A. Caylor Officer Feb. 25 Sold 4,805 361.07 17,
Sheila C. Cheston General counsel Feb. 18 to Feb. 20 Sold 10,144 365.28 to 367.26 31,
Lesley A. Kalan Officer Feb. 19, Feb. 20 Sold 1,588 365.28 to 373.22 10,
Janis G. Pamiljans Officer Feb. 18 to Feb. 20 Sold 5,849 365.28 to 367.26 14,
David T. Perry Officer Feb. 20 Sold 2,606 365.28 15,
Mary D. Petryszyn Officer Feb. 18 Sold 1,200 370.95 7,
NVR Eugene James Bredow Officer Feb. 20 Sold 1,000 4,030 979
Jeffrey D. Martchek Officer Feb. 20, Feb. 21 Sold 1,000 4,018.17 to 4,036.98 5,
Paul C. Saville Chief executive Feb. 18 to Feb. 21 Sold 10,444 3,976.02 to 4,026.22 120,
Sandy Spring Bancorp Aaron Michael Kaslow General counsel Feb. 26 Bought 1,000 33.91 9,
Strategic Education Andrew E. Watt Chief operating officer Feb. 24 Sold 1,316 161.04 13,
Walker & Dunlop Dana L. Schmaltz Director Feb. 25 Bought 1,000 69.25 54,
Thomson Financialtr ading as reported by companies’ directors, presidents, chief financial officers, general counsel, chief executives, chairmen and other officers, or by
beneficial owners of more than 10 percent of a company’s stock.TRANSACTIONSBY AARON GREGG
AND ABHA BHATTARAIThe union representing more
than 10,000 Safeway grocery
store workers is moving closer to
a strike that could disrupt opera-
tions at 116 D.C.-area locations,
union representatives said Fri-
day, as a disagreement with the
company’s private-equity-owned
management over pensions re-
mains unresolved.
United Food and Commercial
Workers Local 400, which repre-
sents workers at Safeway and
Giant stores in Washington,
Maryland and Virginia, has been
negotiating with Albertsons, a
management company owned
by the private equity firm Cer-
berus Capital Management,
since September. A temporary
extension has been i n place since
the contract expired in October.
A meeting between union and
company representatives Friday
did not resolve the dispute, and
negotiations were expected to
resume Monday, the union said.
To trigger a strike, a majority
of Local 400 members would
have to reject the company’s
offer, and then two-thirds would
have to vote to strike. The vote is
scheduled for Thursday, and a
strike could begin the next day.
The pension dispute at Safe-
way is in many ways a micro-
cosm of the broader retail indus-
try, w here automation, outsourc-
ing and thinning profit margins
have weakened the hand of orga-
nized labor. Pensions have been
phased out across the business
world as financial managers fa-
vor employee-managed 401(k)
plans that entail fewer long-
term liabilities for managers.Grocery stores face additional
competition as gas stations,
drugstores and delivery services
enter the market. Amazon re-
cently opened its first no-cashier
Amazon Go grocery store, mark-
ing the latest major foray into
the industry by the online giant,
which bought Whole Foods Mar-
ket for $13.7 billion in 2017.
(Amazon founder a nd chief exec-
utive Jeff Bezos also owns The
Washington Post.)
European discounters Aldi
and Lidl also have expanded
rapidly in the United States,
increasing pressure on tradi-
tional supermarket chains.
Private equity firms and
hedge funds have been buying
up grocery chains since the mid-
2000s, when a strong economy
and low interest rates made
leveraged buyouts attractive.
They often used large chunks of
debt to finance the deals, putting
pressure on grocers as increased
competition was cutting into
sales.
Local 400 officials say Cer-
berus, which bought Safeway in
2015, is offloading its financial
responsibilities to take the com-
pany public.
“Since Cerberus has taken
over Safeway, thousands of jobs
have been lost at these stores,”
said Jonathan Williams, com-
munications director for the lo-
cal.
“We think that has everythingto do with the company’s brutal
efforts to reduce its costs as it
pursues this [initial public offer-
ing],” Williams said. “That’s why
when you walk into Safeway
these days you see emptier
shelves, y ou see poorer customer
service, and that’s the fault of the
owner.”
Christine Wilcox, group vice
president f or communications at
Albertsons, said any job losses at
Safeway are because of “busi-
ness decisions” to close under-
performing stores to invest in
new ones.
“It’s completely inaccurate to
say that the reduction in the
number of employees in Safe-
way’s eastern division is related
to anything other than business
decisions to close underper-
forming locations,” Wilcox said.
“Doing so has allowed us to
invest in remodels and new
stores in the Washington, D.C.,
area.”
Such arrangements often have
resulted in tremendous job loss-
es followed by bankruptcy: At
least nine private-equity-owned
grocery chains have filed for
bankruptcy since 2015, includ-
ing A&P, To ps Markets and
Southeastern Grocers. Fairway
Market and Earth Fare filed for
bankruptcy last month.
Albertsons and the union are
at odds over whether the compa-
ny should be required to fully
support about 50,000 retirees
and employees who draw o r plan
to draw their benefits from the
fund. The fund took a hit after
the 2008 financial crisis and is
short $1.7 billion. It is expected
to become insolvent next year.
Union representatives say the
contract requires Safeway to in-crease its contributions to the
pension plan when and if it is
depleted to ensure its retirees
receive the same level of benefits
they’ve been getting. The com-
pany disagrees.
“We’re just not even in agree-
ment about the basic facts,”
Williams said. “Our demand is
that they fulfill their obligation
to our pension, which means
fully funding it to ensure the
benefits continue.”
Wilcox said Safeway has been
“thoughtful and reasonable”
throughout its negotiations with
the union and hopes to arrive at
an agreement soon.
An Albertsons representative
said earlier to the New York Post
that the company would keep
contributing to the p ension at i ts
current rate but would not cover
the additional u nfunded amount
of the pension plan. Fully fund-
ing the pension plan “is neither
required by law nor by any
agreement we have with the
union,” the representative said.
A copy of the union’s collec-
tive-bargaining agreement re-
viewed by The Post includes a
provision that “if and when the
[pension fund] becomes insol-
vent and benefits are reduced...
a benefit will b e effective... that
is equal to the amount of the
benefit that would have been
provided by the [pension] ab-
sent any reduction.”
The agreement also states
that “when the benefit protec-
tion provision is effective the
cost of this new benefit will be
incorporated into the Mid-At-
lantic Fund hourly contribution
rate.”
[email protected]
[email protected]Safeway workers edge toward pension-tied strike
Union’s dispute with
management could affect
D.C.-area operationsJason lee/reutersA staff member displays a Beyond Meat plant-based burger during
the VeggieWorld fair in Beijing in November.
marK WIlson/agence France-Presse/getty Images
Giant and Safeway grocery store workers protest in front of a Safeway in Southwest Washington over union contract negotiations on
Feb. 19. Thousands of employees of stores in the region could go on strike if workers vote to authorize such action.Stay one step ahead of the weather with the Capital Weather Gangwashingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang • @capitalweatherumbrella or sunscreen?S0141 6x