Convenience propels prepared food sales in Grocery stores, Supermarkets and Grocerants.

Legacy retailers call the prepared food section of the store the Deli; contemporized food retailers label it ready-meals or meal solutions, but industry leaders are now clearly Grocerants.

Trader Joe’s, Wegmans, Whole Foods, Central Market and Fresh & Easy are gaining market share while increasing customer frequency within the grocerant niche.

In the NPD Group’s “DeliTrack” study they found “easy at home meals to be the top-ranked reason that consumers buy supermarket prepared foods.” In addition they found that nearly half of the purchasing decisions were made in the store. Make your offers viscerally compelling.

With the report stating that one in five adults buys a prepared ready-to-eat or ready-to-heat item from retail in a typical week. One key too success of a grocerant fresh prepared ready-to-eat and ready-to-heat section that the retailer must understand that differentiation does not mean different it means familiar.

Without doubt Trader Joes does and excellent job of providing fresh, portable familiar contemporized ready-to-eat and ready-to-heat meal options. Whole Foods is another that routinely out performs other retailers at this as well. Safeway lifestyle stores offerings of legacy products are a step forward but lacking the consumer focus to drive top line sales to new levels.

Outside eyes can deliver top line insights and bottom line profits. Invite Foodservice Solutions to provide brand and product positioning assistance or a grocerant program assessment. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche for more on Steven A. Johnson and Foodservice Solutions visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant or on Facebook at Steven Johnson