Supermarket Perimeter - July 2020 - 19

GREBE'S BAKERY, METCALFE"S MARKET, MOCHI FOODS

Joan Driggs, vice president of content and thought leadership at
IRI, pointed out that as bad as things may appear, "it could be worse.
Food dollars are staying at home, and 53% believe it will be more than
12 months before the economy recovers. The situation is still dire,
but consumers have adapted and are starting routines. For example,
refrigerated dough is ﬂying off the shelves because people are baking at
home. For supermarkets, there is an opportunity to step up and provide
more support."
The bakery and grocery cases that were left barren in the early days
of the COVID-19 pandemic, for the most part, are back to their preCOVID states. In the week ending May 28, 68% of US grocery shoppers
reported to The NPD Group that they had not encountered any out
of stocks of the foods and beverages they were shopping for during
the week.
This scenario wasn't the case for 32% of shoppers who did
experience out of stocks when they shopped for foods and beverages
during the week ending May 28, according to the ﬁndings of NPD's NET
COVID-19 Pantry & Food Strategy Tracker.
Although consumers have moved on from the panic grocery
shopping that they did in the early stage of COVID-19, they still maintain
the same level of foods and beverages inventory. Across all categories,
there has been only a 3% drop in the estimated number of food
and beverage packages on hand in homes compared to early April,
reports NPD.
"With the majority of households still preparing all their meals and
snacks in-home in May and the continuing supply chain challenges,
limited or out of stock situations are inevitable," said David Portalatin,
NPD food industry advisor and author of Eating Patterns in America.
"Considering the unprecedented situation that the COVID-19 pandemic
has presented over the last few months, the US food supply chain has
held up remarkably well."
As a direct result of the COVID-19 crisis, fresh produce at Metcalfe
Market stores is now "completely wrapped," and other perishable
categories may follow. "People want that because they don't want
somebody else touching their produce," Metcalfe said.
"Also, the Plexiglas is going to stay up. Personal safety is now a part
of grocery shopping because shoppers are going to go where they
feel the safest."
Grebe, who earned a degree from the American Institute of Baking,
says that packaging gets a "bad rap" in the bakery sector, but that is
changing, especially as packaging becomes more eco-friendly. People
are looking for premium quality, safe foods, which is a trend that bodes
well for longtime bakeries like Grebe's.
"We've been fresh daily since 1937," he said of his family's business.

Offering another example, Mochi Foods Hawaiian Mochi Donuts are
made with a glutinous rice ﬂour that gives an extra chewiness to each
bite. The Hawaiian Mochi Donut is made with a premixed powder that
was created through tireless efforts to ﬁnd the perfect rice ﬂour. The
ﬂour was chosen based on taste and chewy texture on the inside and
crispy exterior. The Q factor is Taiwan's version of the Italian "al dente,"
representing the proper mouth feel craved by savvy chefs and diners
alike. When bakeries join Mochi Foods, they receive support, ideas, and
collaboration with Mochi Foods owner Pei Wu.
"I really like to work with chefs to create different ideas. The most fun
part of this whole business is supporting chefs as they get the spark to
create their own donuts; the sky's the limit with our premixes," Wu said.
According to research from the National Confectioners Association,
there are a variety of food trends for 2020 that Hawaiian Mochi Donuts

A boost for mochi donuts
Gaining popularity by the minute, mochi is a popular dessert in Asia
that is made by pounding rice into paste, molding the desired shape
and baking it.
"Mochi is huge in the Asian market," said Belinda Leong, owner and
baker of b. patisserie in San Francisco. "We're trying to obtain just the
right texture - like if a glazed donut and mochi had a baby. It shouldn't
be too chewy. We want to make it our own style of donut holes and
have our style of ﬂavors."
supermarketperimeter.com

JULY 2020 - 19

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Supermarket Perimeter - July 2020

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