What’s for Dinner? Publix Fresh Deli Meals Delivered

Grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh food continues to garner customer attention, retailer attention, and restaurateur attention according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

The consumer is dynamic not static as regular readers of this blog know and the scrappy delivery company Instacart is now focusing on Meals.  That is a new niche for the once grocery (CPG) only delivery company

Instacart partnered with Publix to test the new service that they are calling Instacart Meals, which provides grocery stores a turnkey solution for online ordering, delivery and pickup of made-to-order food. That’s right service deli meals.  Meals that can be mixed & matched and bundled into the perfect family dinner without having to cook.

Instacart Meals allows supermarket customers to grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat or Heat & Eat fresh prepared food online from a retailer’s “digital deli counter” and then pick up their meal from the store or have it delivered to their home.

Customization is a Key feature that enables consumers to “build your own” functionality so customers can order food the way they want it, and integration with a store’s order management system to coordinate timing of food preparation and pickup.

Plans call for Instacart and Publix to pilot Instacart Meals in Orlando, Fla., in the retailer’s deli department, focusing on its made-to-order sub sandwiches. The service then is slated to be rolled out to Publix stores across Florida in the following weeks and to all of the Southeastern chain’s stores in the coming months.

San Francisco-based Instacart noted that Instacart Meals can help supermarkets better compete with restaurants as purveyors of convenient — and less costly — meal solutions for today’s on-the-go, digitally savvy consumers.

“We’re excited to introduce Instacart Meals to customers nationwide. At less than half the price of an average fast-casual food order, made-to-order grocery meals offer busy people and families access to a fresh and more affordable option when life is hectic and dinner is now,”

 Instacart President Nilam Ganenthiran stated “Made-to-order food counters are among the fastest-growing aisles in the grocery store. These items represent up to 15% of sales for our grocery partners and have among the highest margins of anything sold in-store,” “It’s critical that our grocery partners are able to capture these sales online with delivery and pickup. It’s a boost to their business and a key part of the shopping experience for customers.”

 Maria Brous, director of communications at Publix explained “Our expanded collaboration also means that our customers will not have to wait in-line for our popular Publix sub sandwiches” according to Brous. “From delivery and pickup in as fast as two hours, to alcohol delivery and now, the deli and subs, we’ve brought our store online with Instacart and made it even easier for our customers to enjoy the food they love with friends and family — just in time for the big game.”

Instacart Meals plugs directly into a retailer’s ordering system, so store staff can receive orders through an existing infrastructure and start preparing orders immediately. Instacart shoppers then simply swing by the counter and pick up any items. The company noted that Instacart Meals works with order management systems to generate precise preparation and counter pickup windows at the end of the personal shopper’s grocery fulfillment route — ensuring “store to the door” service.

In addition, Instacart Meals automatically offers all of a store’s applicable combo options and discounts The test with Publix marks Instacart’s foray into supermarket meal delivery and builds on recent expansions of its service beyond grocery delivery. This puts Publix in direct competition with restaurants for takeout and delivery of meals. 

Foodservice Solutions®, Grocerant ScoreCards revealed that 81.6% of consumers believe that grocery store grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food is restaurant quality. 78,9% of consumer consumers believe that meals from the ‘deli’ / service deli are ‘better for you’ than a restaurant meal.  With 67.1 % of consumers believing that cost less as well. Do you know who your competitors are today or who they will be tomorrow?

Interested in learning how Foodservice Solutions 5P’s of Food Marketing can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization? Email us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or visit:  www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information.