Dollar General Garners Customers as Food Migration Continues

In every channel of food retail today the fastest growing sector is Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food.  That is one reason that Publix for one as expanded its fresh prepared food section beyond just the traditional deli section.  Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru™ Steven Johnson has been asking “will expanding grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food be enough to save the legacy grocery store model?” It didn’t seem to work for Safeway did it? Here is one reason why: 

CSNews reported “Dollar General once again took the top spot in Kantar Retails' opening price point (OPP) survey.”  Regular readers of this blog know that this is the second consecutive year Dollar General was in the No. 1 spot. In addition we have expressed concern for the legacy grocery model as the Dollar store sector has been as the Grocerant Guru would say been “Cherry Picking” CPG products from the grocery sector.

The Kantor OPP survey, determines how each retailer meets the grocery and consumable needs of shoppers looking for the lowest shelf prices to fulfill their basket requirements. According to the Kantar Retail, Dollar General's total basket was the least expensive among retailers surveyed, including edging out Walmart Supercenter's basket by 12 cents.

What the real concern is within the retail food space is more and more food is now purchased in meal component from and is Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food.  What happens to the grocery model as the Dollar sector and C-store begin to enter the Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food space?  Restaurants, drug stores (Walgreens) have entered the Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food space and show signs of growing demand.

This is a battle for share of stomach and it appears that from Amazon to Zoe’s Kitchen everyone is trying to win share.  Is your model working today? Are your customer counts and sales up? If not it just might be time for a strategic review or a grocerant assessment?

Outside Eyes for Inside Results Foodservice Solutions® specializes in outsourced business development. We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities or a brand leveraging integration strategy. Visit: www.FoodserviceSolutions.us Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant