Fresh Foods

By: Rick Stein, Vice President, Fresh Foods, Food Marketing Institute

As grocery stores continue to evolve to meet consumer desires, we see the focus shifting to fresh prepared food selections. Many stores already have begun to move their fresh prepared product departments into high-grossing programs that provide the tastes shoppers crave, deliver it to them in new shapes and forms, and keep the customers in the store.

Other stores are just beginning to experiment with new varieties of fresh prepared options and everybody is looking for ways to make sure those fresh prepared sales increase gross sales and, more importantly, enhance bottom lines.

FMI Connect this year will have ideas you can turn into action immediately, especially around fresh prepared, both in its conference program and at the Expo. Here’s how:

Thought Leaders You Can Talk To…

A full conference track, Focus on Fresh, will provide you with actionable ideas on everything from how to create a perimeter program that has fresh prepared products as its most important element to the revelations of a recent research report on how shoppers really perceive the produce department.

One session sure to draw a huge crowd will be “Five Top Trends in Fresh Foods You Can Use to Accelerate Growth,” in which Chris Dubois of IRI will give an update on his recent study that outlines the trends transforming perimeter departments and allowing early adopters of new ideas to see as much as 25 percent annual growth.

“Attendees will understand how these top trends will impact their sales and profits,” Dubois said, “and also understand which additional trends are emerging in the near future.”

…And Thought Leaders You Can Visit

New ideas for fresh produced foods will be on display in the Expo as well.

Wayne Farms (Booth 3235), which has been delivering poultry products to consumers since 1961, is one of many companies at the Expo that is finding new ways to package and display its products that will supply the demand grocers are seeing in their perimeter departments.

Nation Pizza and Foods (Booth 410) is working every day on innovative ways to deliver its line of pizzas, sandwiches, appetizers and desserts to shoppers eager for fresh prepared foods.

Cafection (Booth 1012) is another company that, in its own way, is finding new innovations that help you satisfy ever more discriminating shoppers with its coffee machines guaranteed to help you provide stiff competition to stand-alone gourmet coffee retailers.

And Something New!

Since announcing our redesigned experience for Supermarket Chefs at FMI Connect we’ve heard from a number of retailers how excited they are for the opportunity for their culinary experts and fresh prepared executives to better connect, collaborate and strategize on fresh prepared. See the full program at www.fmiconnect.net/SupermarketChefs.

All of these innovators in fresh produced products aren’t just to be found in the Expo either. Make your plans to meet some of these thought leaders face to face in the Connect Business Exchange (CBX) even before the Expo opens.