Talking Fresh Foods at FMI Connect

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

Fresh prepared foods are an imperative. According to The Food Retailing Industry Speaks 2015 report, supermarkets see the department as one of the best opportunities to differentiate from the competition. Fully 100 percent of retailers emphasize fresh in their competitive strategies.

That’s why when you attend FMI Connect this year we’ve ensured you will be able to be a part of the current conversation about fresh prepared in food retail. You can ask direct questions of the experts and enjoy the benefit of listening to the questions raised by your peers.  You also have the opportunity to see, firsthand, examples of innovative concepts and designs to fuel your creative approach to your own department.

Here are just a few highlights of some of the fresh prepared insights and experiences waiting for you at FMI Connect:

• Prepared foods have proven to be a counterbalance to the declining center store sales that many have seen. This prioritization will mean intense competition in the years ahead as stores redefine their core positioning and value proposition.
• Over the past several years, consumer usage of supermarket fresh prepared foods has risen. Today, 82 percent of consumers who shop for prepared foods are making these purchases at least 4 times per month. The heaviest group of users is buying 10 or more meals per month from supermarkets.
• The vast majority of banners indicate they employ a corporate executive chef to oversee prepared foods operations. These professionally-trained chefs are being tasked to design more innovative offerings. That’s why we’re starting Supermarket Chefs this year at FMI Connect. Learn more at www.fmiconnect.net/SupermarketChefs.
• Consumers are finding that they can get chef-prepared, restaurant quality meals (often made-to-order) from their preferred supermarket. At the same time, consumers report that comparable meals are nearly always equal or lower in price in supermarkets as compared to restaurants.
• The end result is that at a time when consumers have myriad away-from-home choices, they are gravitating toward supermarket fresh prepared foods in growing numbers and with growing frequency.

“Our long-term projections suggest continued strong growth in the range of 89 percent annually for the next three years—versus 4 to 5 percent for restaurants,” reports Bob Goldin, Vice Chairman, of Technomic. “This forecast may even prove to be conservative as the headroom for prepared foods is significant.”

How will your fresh prepared foods department ride this wave?  Should you be adding culinary professionals, rethinking category management or finance personnel with an understanding of foodservice?  Do you need to apply a new level of discipline to assortment, sourcing, and expenditures?  Learn more about fresh foods at FMI Connect at www.fmiconnect.net/Fresh.