By Epiphany Communications: Coaching & Consulting*
People need to eat, and they are often on the go. Retail food is an important expenditure. Most people buy retail food items every week, including meat, vegetables, fruit, milk, bread, eggs, snacks, and many other items.
As a food retailer, are you capitalizing on the prepared food market?
Grocers and convenience stores continue to look for ways to keep their edge in the grab-and-go space. If you are not already in this sector, you are behind the trends.
“Prepared foods are extremely important, even more now than ever,” said Scott Rosen, Director of Food Service at Busch’s Fresh Food Markets. “In the grocery industry, we have been developing and selling prepared foods for decades now, but only in recent years have we really seen tremendous growth in this area.”
Busch’s has seen a 7% increase in sales in this area over just last year and prepared foods contribute to grow at more than 50% of total deli sales. “So having prepared foods is very important for us to run a successful deli department and to bring new guests into our stores,” said Rosen. “Prepared foods continue to grow, and I don’t see that stopping or slowing down anytime soon. Most people have less time and less desire to prepare food at home and honestly making dinner decisions can be stressful for a lot of people. So, we are here to help our guests make easier decisions and to relieve their stress and to give them more time to enjoy life and have time with family and friends.”
Grocers have been expanding their prepared foods sections, with many turning to creative approaches since the pandemic.
Since 2020, grocery sales have fluctuated as supply chains faced bottlenecks and promotional programs have diminished. There is less variety in many product lines. However, freshly prepared food has been gaining traction over the last several years.
According to Technomic’s 2016-17 U.S./Food Industry Universe Analysis, supermarket prepared foods are among the top five fastest growing food industry channels, up 8.9%.
Consumers are increasingly visiting grocers’ ready-meal options for a restaurant-like food experience with some added benefits. Prepared food sections in food retail establishments allow consumers to mix and match mains and sides and they can choose the quantity that best meets their needs.
The consumer base for this sector is considerable. Technomic’s 2017 Retailer Meal Solutions Report finds that 80% of consumers purchase prepared meals from a grocery store or other retail store at least once a month, with 30% of consumers purchasing them five times a month or more.
The Technomic study found that 41% of consumers reported increasing their orders involving vegetables either as an entree or as an entree ingredient. Groceries started to tap into the trend by putting green beans, cauliflower, pickles, okra, and brussels sprouts in their fryers for innovative sides and mains. They are packaged and sold as an on-the-go snack.
At Busch’s there is never a lack of options; they have an elaborate prepared food section, whether it be hot and ready to eat foods, cold prepared meals that are ready to heat and eat, cold grab-and-go ready to eat meals or through their Chef’s Case display where you can create your own gourmet meal.
“In our hot and ready to eat meals we have an array of items including fresh fried Amish Miller chicken or our Amish Miller rotisserie chickens all available with an array of side dishes and accompaniments,” said Rosen. “We have multiple selections of ready to heat and eat meals including our cooked in-house baby back ribs that can be bought on their own or in a meal with corn bread and coleslaw.”
Along with that, Busch’s has many dishes that are meals in themselves such as pasta bowls, rice bowls and even family sized meals. They also offer a plethora of ready-to-eat items for grab-and-go, making guests meal choices much simpler, from our newly introduced Chicken Bacon Ranch Wrap to our classic Michigan’s Favorite House Salad and everything in between. “We assure our guest don’t get bored with their options,” said Rosen.
They also have a grand display of items in the Chef’s Case that include everything from potato salad to fresh grilled salmon. “We are constantly introducing added items that we prepare with the finest ingredients available.”
At Busch’s, the store is constantly evolving as they look to exceed guests’ expectations. “We continue to develop additional items every week and evaluate which items will be new selections for our guests,” said Rosen. “This is a large growing section of our business, and we want to make sure our guests do not get bored with our offerings so we must continue to evolve this as trends and guests’ habits change.”
*Writers with Epiphany Communications: Coaching & Consulting are content creators for Bottom Line.
