Supermarket Perimeter - December 2019 - 52

SPOTLIGHT

by Andy Nelson

WITH CONVENIENCE STILL AT
THE VERY TOP of most consumers' wish lists, demand for
ready-to-eat entrees continues
to surge.
And more and more, timestarved shoppers are turning
to their retail grocery perimeter departments for meals that
deliver not only convenience but
also ﬂavor, quality and value.
Dallas-based FreshOne's entrée
lineup can include as many as
30 SKUs at any given time, but
the core of the company's offer
is about 12 items, says Bill Ford,
FreshOne's director of sales and
marketing.
FreshOne entrees come in
two sizes: 12- or 13-oz single
servings; and family size, usually
about 40 oz. Top sellers year after
year include spaghetti and meatballs, fettucine alfredo, chicken
parmesan and General Tso's
chicken. All meals have a protein,
carb and vegetable.

Beyond the core 12 items,
FreshOne's culinary team creates
items for speciﬁc regions of
the country, Ford says. These
might include Asian, Mexican or
ﬁsh dishes.
Grocery perimeter demand for
fresh heat-and-eat entrees like
those produced by FreshOne is
deﬁnitely surging, Ford says.
"Families want to get back
to the dinner table," he says.
"They're tired of fast food, and
they're tired of spending money
for quality food in restaurants."
What FreshOne is aiming for,
Ford says, is "a restaurant quality
meal you can take home, sit at
the table and spend time with
their family."
More and more families, he
adds, want to do just that. Yes,
they're busier, but Ford says
they realize and understand that
family time around the table is
something that they value and
want to protect.

FiveStar Gourmet foods ships more than 200 items under its Simply Fresh Kitchen brand.
52 - DECEMBER 2019

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did a workshop with families a
few years ago. A mom raised
her hand and said, 'I just want to
know what's going on in our kids'
heads.' I understand what they're
thinking. So we created all this
content to help families understand what their kids are learning.
They're learning values. Moms
and dads really want the values to
come from them."

Merchandising options
Ontario, California-based FiveStar
Gourmet Foods has more than
200 unique product options
shipping under its Simply Fresh
Kitchen brand, says Tal Shoshan,
the company's CEO.
All items can be merchandised
either packaged or in hot cases in
prepared foods sections.
"For us it isn't all about quantity
but also quality," Shoshan says
of FiveStar's entrée options for
the retail perimeter, which range
from Truffle Mac 'n Cheese to
Chicken Parmesan. "We are
regularly adding new and unique
recipes to our innovation pipeline, which is in constant motion,
while not deviating too far from
the time-honored and proven
classics."
Reinventing and reimagining
old favorites - while also staying
on-trend with timely and relevant
ﬂavors - is FiveStar's specialty,
he adds.
Many of the culinary trends
with retail consumers start
in restaurants, Shoshan says.
Currently, Mexican and Italian
cuisine is very popular and has
a high level of acceptance by
consumers, he says. Spicy, ethnic,
and plant-based are three of the
buzz words resonating with consumers today, he adds.
"Consumers are seeking variety and want many options. The
growth in interest for plant-based
entrees is a newer phenomenon, and we offer both many

fFIVESTAR GOURMET FOODS, FRESHONE

ENTREES

FreshOne believes its products
are well-qualiﬁed to meet the
need of time-starved people who
nevertheless want to preserve
some of the old- fashioned family values.
"We did a lot of consumer
focus groups around this, and we
think we understand what families have asked for, and we're trying to accomplish that in terms of
the products, sizes and even the
values they're trying to instill at
home around the table."
FreshOne has come up with a
unique way to helping to make
this happen. All FreshOne entrees
have a sticker on the package
that contains a question for a
family member to ask at the dinner table to spark conversation.
One example: "If you could be a
superhero for a day, who would
you be and why?"
The company also has a dedicated website, freshtakefamily.
com, that features about 300 of
those questions, plus advice for
parents on how to better relate to
their kids. A lot of people become
FreshOne customers through the
site, Ford says.
"We want to help them,
encourage them," he says. "We

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