Supermarket Perimeter - February 2019 - 32

Deli

BY RYAN ATKINSON

To serve or not to serve?

It's all about health and
choices for today's shopper

THE DELI DEPARTMENT IS CLEARLY ONE OF THE DRIVERS for growth
in today's perimeter-focused supermarket. According to IDDBA, the number
of shopper trips to the deli is up 3.2% from a year ago and trips to the deli
prepared section are up 5.2%.
But to parrot the words of coaches and encouraging teachers everywhere, there's always room for improvement. Instore deli has seen average
gross margin fall 4.1 % from three years ago. Shrink, meanwhile, is up 4.2%,
according to IDDBA.
Retailers are hoping the utilization of some of today's top trends can
help bolster recent success in the deli department.

Hit them with health
While there are more exciting trends to mull over, one of
the most common trends in all departments of the store
is also one of the most important for deli in 2019.
According to FMI research, healthy and nutritious
options were among the top desires that shoppers have
for retail foodservice. Nearly 75% of all shoppers and 87%
of frequent shoppers of deli/prepared said healthy items
are important.
"It's not a groundbreaking trend, but it's a really
important one for us," says Breana Jones, director of
marketing for Hissho Sushi, which supplies supermarket delis with fresh sushi and Pan Asian dishes. "A good
number of healthy, fresh, clean options is a must."
Kowalski's Markets, an innovative retailer based in
Minneapolis, has based many of its recent moves in the
deli on the dietary needs of its consumers.
"Diet plays a huge role in what we're doing," says
Terri Bennis, the company's chief merchandising officer.
"We've seen that it's important to give our customers a
lot of options. They can tailor whatever food they want
to meet their dietary preferences."

32 - FEBRUARY 2019

400%
INCREASE
in Drummie sales after
Kowalski's Markets
made them self-serve

www.supermarketperimeter.com

Check out
next month's
Supermarket
Perimeter for a full
feature on service
vs. self-service

One of Kowalski's most popular deli items are its Signature
Drummies - the drum portion of the
chicken wing, available in a variety of ﬂavors, including Buffalo, Kalbi, General Tso and more - which have
recently become even more popular than ever.
How? By simply taking them from behind the
counter and allowing consumers to choose which
drumsticks they want. Since that move, Bennis says,
Drummie sales are up 400% in some of its stores.
"That tells you it's working," she says. "I think customers like that they can get exactly what they want, and
they don't have to interact with anyone. Especially with
Drummies, people are kind of particular and they want
to pick out what they want."
The same boost in sales was experienced when the
store took its burrito bowl program out from behind the
glass. Now it's at the end of the salad bar where customers can peruse the ingredients - choice of meat, salsas,
cheese, guac, beans and more - and decide what and
how much of each item they want.
"We really elevated the sales with that program
once we put it out for self-service," Bennis says. "We're
seeing the trend kind of getting away from full-service
deli as we know it and going toward more of a salad bar
mentality. They just want to do it themselves. That's one
trend where we're seeing great results."

KOWALSKI'S MARKETS

Top trends

Supermarket Perimeter - February 2019

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