Supermarket Perimeter - October 2021 - 68

SPOTLIGHT
ENTREES
by Emily Park
AS RETAILERS FIND MORE
FLEXIBILITY to relaunch a
full-service deli that includes
made-to-order foods and salad
and hot bars, grocers shouldn't
forego grab-and-go items that
are ready-to-eat or ready to
heat-and-eat.
" The deli and most of the
perimeter of the store has been in
transition for years and really see
COVID as being an accelerator
to those changes, " said Michael
Lippold, founder and chief
executive officer of Ventura,
Calif.-based FreshRealm. " What
we're really starting to see in the
perimeter of the store is a move
to a meal destination. Grocery
stores are moving to a shop-bymeal
experience from what has
been a shop by ingredient. "
With that shift, consumers are
looking for meals they can put
together quickly in the home.
According to Lippold, shoppers
are looking for a variety of low
effort meals, which retailers can
offer with grab-and-go meal
options and kits - and that's
where commissaries, central
kitchens and third-party meal
producers come in.
Tal Shoshan, CEO of Ontario,
Calif.-based FiveStar Gourmet
Foods, echoes that.
" During the last year of the
pandemic, consumers have
developed new shopping
behaviors and are exploring areas
of the supermarket, like deli, to
find delicious and convenient
meals that can add to their
enjoyment and not their busy
schedule, " Shoshan said. " During
a pandemic, there is no more
critical time to have items in
stock when consumers need
them the most. "
Managing a full-service deli
along with a robust selection of
grab-and-go meals demands
quite a bit of labor that retailers
don't always have -especially as
worker shortages continue across
the United States.
Staying on-trend is
important and we help our
retail partners provide graband-go
convenient meals
during a natural shift of
labor, from producing madeto-order
to simply filling
shelves and improving the
overall consumer experience. "
Tal Shoshan, FiveStar Gourmet Foods
" Using a third party instantly
solves that issue by increasing
the in-stock position, " said
Shoshan. " Consumers want
choices and expanded variety
even during a time when options
may become limited. Staying
on-trend is important and we
help our retail partners provide
grab-and-go convenient meals
during a natural shift of labor,
from producing made-to-order
to simply filling shelves and
improving the overall consumer
experience. "
By using a third-party
producer, retailers only need
to fill and face the shelves and
don't have to worry about all the
preparation.
Lippold pointed out that using
companies like FreshRealm can
help grocers gain speed and
agility in launching complex
programs and growing and
expanding the category.
" Retailers get to grow those
categories with confidence that
they're partnering with people
that you know essentially do
this for a living, " Lippold said.
" All we do is fresh meals, we're
100% focused on it and it really
allows them to optimally capture
the opportunity that's in front
of them. "
Variety, variety, variety
Today's consumers want a little
bit of everything, all of the time,
leading to interest in a wide
assortment of flavors and trends.
" We have seen consumers
FiveStar offers single-serve entrees that range from 13- to 14-ounces and are ready within five minutes.
68 - OCTOBER 2021
supermarketperimeter.com
gravitating to comfort foods,
FIVESTAR, FRESHREALM

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Supermarket Perimeter - October 2021

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