Supermarket Perimeter - July 2019 - 3

Editor's note

Editorial
JOHN UNREIN
Editor
ANDY NELSON
Managing Editor
RYAN ATKINSON
Senior Editor
Publishing
TROY ASHBY
Publisher
JAMES BODDICKER
National Sales Manager
LILY O'KANE
Sales Manager Classiﬁed Ads
MICHAEL BARBEE
Audience Development Director
DUSTIN PICKMAN
Audience Development Analyst
LINDSEY SHERIDAN
Audience Database Specialist
AMY MOSER
Audience Development Coordinator
JON HALL
Director of Digital Media
CARRIE FLUEGGE
Digital Advertising Manager
NORA WAGES
Advertising Manager
ANNIE KOPPES
Advertising Coordinator
SADOWNA CONARROE
Design Services Manager
RYAN ALCANTARA
Design Services
Assistant Manager
MARJ POTTS
Production Specialist
BECKY WHITE
Senior Design Consultant
FIONA DANKER
Graphic Designer
JIM WHITE
Promotions Manager
ABBY CHRONISTER
Promotions Media Designer
WHITNEY HARTMAN
Sales Coordinator
Corporate

Easy does it

It's impossible to reduce a big industry
trade show to a single word or concept.
But the word that kept popping up again
and again as I walked the ﬂoor and listened
to speakers at IDDBA '19 in Orlando was "convenience."
Hardly an earth-shaker, I know. Maybe a better way of stating it would be:
"Oh, convenience again. Yawn."
But just because a trend isn't new doesn't mean it isn't noteworthy. In fact,
convenience's staying power gets more and more interesting every year, as
suppliers continue to develop new products that acknowledge the fact that
people are willing to pay more money to reduce the time and effort it takes to
get the foods they love on their plates, ready to eat.
At IDDBA '19, one of the most interesting variations on the convenience
theme was the surge in ready-to-serve charcuterie boards and other high-end
items (e.g. antipasto trays) that make providing a fancy cocktail party-worthy
spread as easy as peeling off a plastic ﬁlm.
To promote its new charcuterie convenience products, Hormel Deli
Solutions created a charcuterie board in its booth that would have earned a
"huzzah!" from Henry VIII himself.
"Board" doesn't really do it justice. It was more like a charcuterie training table.
The charcuterie trend is one example of the red-hot snacking trend in food.
And snacks of all kinds were huge at IDDBA '19.
As were meal solutions. Younger people may not eat as many meals as older
people. But when they do eat their three squares (or at least one or two), they
want them to be as easy as possible to make.
The good news for the industry is that all of these trends scream "value
added." And if suppliers can add value, that means they can also add price -
consumers keep proving that they're willing to pay it.
The companies that come up with the most innovative convenience solutions can count on higher margins and an edge in an ever-more-competitive

CHARLES S. SOSL AND
Chairman and CEO
L. JOSHUA SOSL AND
President
STACI GRECO
Chief Financial and
Administrative Officer
MEYER SOSL AND
Chief Operating Officer
and Executive Editor

world.ANDY NELSON
anelson@sosland.com

JULY 2019 - 3

Supermarket Perimeter - July 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Supermarket Perimeter - July 2019