Ready-to-eat & Ready-to-heat prepared foods are rocking!

Progressive grocer a division The Nielsen Company reports in: Nielsen Fresh Food Insights: Bakery, Meat, Seafood Shine In Tough Times and I quote ”While consumers tend to favor traditional grocery stores’ fresh food departments, alternative channels continue to angle mightily for a bigger piece of the perishables pie. Supercenters in particular are advancing their perishables formats, growing both the purchase size and frequency of purchases, particularly in the meat and seafood departments.

While supermarkets currently account for 50 percent of the deli business, smaller formats (c-stores, delicatessens, etc.) that offer “in and out” convenience are posing the biggest threat to traditional supermarkets.

Further, after years of languishing as a “necessary evil” for many grocers, in-store bakery departments are posting the most significant growth of any perishable department. Supercenters, which account for almost 16 percent of the market, are seeing especially strong fresh bakery sales vs. any other perimeter department.

For deluxe deli sales, continue exploring ways to differentiate your store’s brand and image via a department where service counts and personality shines. The deli department, incidentally, is generally considered to be the most underdeveloped driver of brand equity across the whole store.”

We have spoken here many times about the brand building opportunity in Grocerant ready-to-eat & ready-to-heat prepared foods. Margins in this area tend to be higher and customer frequency is increasing all the time. This is just one contributing reason that the foodservice price value equilibrium is being reset. Interested in a Grocerant program assessment? Contact me for more at: http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant or leave a comment below.