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Recession is Boon for Prepared Food
AUGUST 12, 2009 --
As recession-squeezed consumers are eating out in restaurants less often, supermarkets are realizing sales increases from an expanding menu of prepared foods.
According to Wade Hanson, of Technomic, a food and restaurant industry consulting firm based in Chicago, some stores have realized as much as 10 percent increase in prepared food items during the course of the recession.
“This is something that is becoming a viable alternative to restaurants in the eyes of most consumers,” Hanson told The San Diego Union-Tribune.
Many supermarket operators have sought to capitalize on this trend in the face of declining sales in other categories, forcing many chains to reduce prices on many items.
For example, early this spring Albertsons launched “Simply Good Meals,” which groups together prepared foods to make it easy for shoppers to quickly assemble a meal. The areas where these items are found are called “4:15” sections, because, a spokesperson said, “That is the time of the day when most moms are thinking, ‘What’s for dinner’”.
At Southern California’s Stater Bros., its prepared food section was expanded to include rotisserie turkey breast and two kinds of meatloaf.
“We’re saying, ‘We’re cooking so you don’t have to,’” Mickey Gold, vice president of delis and bakeries, commented. “Sales have been good.”
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