Price Chopper Trolls for Traceability
Best fishes to Price Chopper Supermarkets, for admirably stepping up to commission a voluntary test of its seafood stock amid rising concerns that retailers are selling misidentified seafood. The Northeast regional grocer submitted more than 150 randomly selected samples from 15 fish product lines at its Rotterdam, N.Y., warehouse to Therion International, a commercial laboratory that provides DNA testing to identify seafood species. The report concluded that 100 percent of the fish tested was correctly labeled.

Eating Alone: Food Marketers' Hidden Opportunity
While communal meals are more the exception than the rule in many households, eating alone is fast becoming the new standard, representing 46 percent of all adult eating occasions. Over the past 50 years, the nation has become more accustomed to a fast-paced lifestyle, with many meals reduced to on-the-go snacking.

Accordingly, food retailers have greater opportunities to develop single-portion baked, prepared and refrigerated offerings that enable those shoppers assembling meals for one to mix and match new tastes and cuisines. Grocers can enhance their ability to connect with consumers on these solitary occasions – both with marketing and product innovation – by creating new forms of packaging and ingredients that encourage interactivity and a sense of personalization.
– The Hartman Group

Supermarkets' 5-star Satisfaction
In the face of unprecedented competition from supercenters, limited-assortment stores and warehouse clubs, supermarkets were found to generate high shopper satisfaction, scoring an average of 4.47 on a five-point scale, according to the Retail Feedback Group's 2012 U.S. Supermarket Experience Study.

Reasons for such high marks among shoppers include overall variety and selection of grocery items; high satisfaction ratings for perimeter departments; a friendly, helpful cashier and customer service experience; cleanliness of each store; and the retailer's openness to customer feedback and willingness to make changes accordingly.
–The Retail Feedback Group's 2012 U.S. Supermarket Experience Study

What's Trending on progressivegrocer.com....
Where Retailers Invest Their Money
Twenty-six percent of visitors responding to PG's October online poll believe that new/replacement stores and remodels will be the best use of their capital investment funds in the coming year. Here's how PG's votes on the matter added up as we went to press with this issue:

	Store Development (New/Replacement Stores, Remodels)	26.09%	(24 votes)
	Other	21.74	(20 votes)
	Pricing Initiatives	15.22	(14 votes)
	Strategic Marketing Tools/Platforms	13.04	(12 votes)
	Retail Technology	11.96	(11 votes)
	New Equipment, Store Fixtures	11.96	(11 votes)
	Total Votes: 92
	(Results of progressivegrocer.com online poll, Oct. 24, 2012)

62% of shoppers plan to spend the same or more this holiday season, compared with 2011.