Supermarket Chefs’ Prepared Desserts Take the Cake with Consumers

By: Dagmar Farr, Senior Vice President, Member Services, Food Marketing Institute 

Health and wellness experts like FMI’s very own Cathy Polley, RPh know that healthy diets leave room for dessert. Sustainable weight management hinges in large part on dietary moderation; deprivation diets that restrict entire categories of food simply don’t work. As the moderation message spreads from health experts to consumers, health conscious shoppers are leaving space in their baskets and diets for sweet treats prepared by supermarket chefs at their local groceries. We asked our three dessert category finalists in the 2015 FMI Supermarket Chef Showdown about the dessert trends they’re seeing in store and how they’re helping retailers satisfy customers’ cravings. 

Chef Glenn Terrell of Brookshire Grocery Company points to smaller portions, cleaner ingredient labels and locally sourced ingredients as current trends for desserts and meal solutions alike. He adds, “We’ll never get away from traditional desserts, but more people are asking for healthier options.” Though classic desserts like cakes and pies remain popular, Chef Dayton Carroll of Hy-Vee sees customers gravitating toward “mash-ups” that create novel, new desserts by combing classics. Chef Carroll says, “Customers are looking for unique desserts that will complement a meal, similar to how they would pair a wine with dinner.” Chef Bryan Williams of Hy-Vee agrees with both Chef Terrell and Chef Carroll, adding that more of his customers are allowing the seasons to dictate their selections—opting for in-season ingredients while at the peak of flavor.

Gluten-free, sugar-free and/or reduced sugar desserts are frequent requests of all three chefs. Chef Carroll explains, “[At Hy-Vee] we have these items on-hand, take special orders, and if a customer asks we will even make a dessert recipe they provide to us.” Chef Williams finds great satisfaction in the ability to translate favorite recipes, trends or ingredients to suit his Hy-Vee customers’ specific needs in flavorful ways. At Brookshire Grocery Company, customers looking for natural and organic dessert options can select from a variety of prepared offerings. Or if it’s inspiration they’re after, Chef Terrell adds, “We highlight dessert recipes in our publication Celebrate Cooking and often depict healthier options.”

Supermarket Chefs Glenn Terrell, Brookshire Grocery Company; Dayton Carroll, Hy-Vee and Bryan Williams, Hy-Vee will whip up their own on-trend dessert recipes on June 10^th in Chicago, Illinois as they compete in a live cook-off on the FMI Connect expo floor. To learn more about FMI’s Supermarket Chef Showdown, please visit us at www.supermarketchefshowdown.com and join FMI’s growing culinary community of supermarket chefs.

The three competing recipes each highlight products sold by 2015 FMI Supermarket Chef Showdown sponsors. Chef Carroll’s recipe for Spicy Peanut Butter Truffles calls for McCormick Cayenne, Smucker’s All Natural Peanut Butter, Mondelez Nutter Butters and Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Chips. Chef Williams created his recipe for Red Curry and Coconut Bread Pudding using Thai Kitchen Coconut Milk and Red Curry Paste, Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk, Sara Lee Sweet Hawaiian Rolls and Hershey’s White Chocolate Chips. He credits Sahale Snacks Cashews and Smucker’s Hot Caramel Topping, as the finishing flavors for his entry. Chef Terrell’s Texas Buttermilk Panna Cotta recipe features Vanilla Beans from McCormick Gourmet, V8 Splash Tropical Blend, and his favorite locally produced buttermilk.

The FMI Supermarket Chef Showdown is made possible by sponsors, including McCormick & Company, Campbell Soup Company, The Hershey Company, Hillshire Brands Company, The J.M. Smucker Company, Mondelez International, and The Pictsweet Company. Kitchenware products for this year’s cook off are being donated by Good Cook. Ingredients for this year’s cook off are being donated by Roundy’s Supermarkets, Inc.