By By Grocery Store Hello Grocerant

Dollar stores have cherry picked the “center of the store” (grocery aisle shelf stable goods) for 15 years.  Consumers have responded with frequent trips to Dollar stores buying shelf stable products for less.  Even more important consumers can get in and out of Dollar stores fast. While legacy grocery stores continue focusing on legacy metric’s the ilk of “basket size”.  Consumers have wondered on, looking for fresh prepared ready-2-eat and or fresh prepared heat-N-eat food aka grocerant food.

Food industry analysts have not been surprised by the volume of sales declines over the last two quarters of many “center of the store” items. “Heinz reported a drop of 2.4 percent in its second quarter. Kraft unit sales were down 2.8 percent in its first quarter, and at Kellogg, its North American volumes were down 1.7 percent in its second quarter.” These analysts continually report on the success of the fresh food stations at Whole Foods, the sales per square foot at Trader Joe’s filled with ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat fresh prepared food.  Is your company doing what is has always done?  Are you waiting for consumers to come back?  Consumers move forward.

Consumers talk about cooking from scratch but when probed it’s clear a “home cooked” meal for a family of four with the parents under 40 is typically a bagged salad, rotisserie chicken, and vegetable or desert bought from a store.  Bundling meal mix and match components from fresh prepared ready-2-eat or heat-N-eat food into a customized family meal is fast replacing cooking from scratch.

Legacy food retailers must evolve with the consumer.  It they do not they risk becoming the next Tower Records, Blockbuster Video or Burger Chef.  Is your company ready to move forward?

Invite Foodservice Solutions® to complete a grocerant program assessment, brand, product placement or positioning assistance.  Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant.