Compete to Win – Deli Prepared Foods & Bakery Sales with AWG

DELI

Higher volume stores typically have more space for merchandising, so take advantage of that space and display a wide variety of options for customers to choose from. Nielsen data shows that lunch combinations in the deli showed the largest growth in dollars, followed closely by snack combos. Add in snack combos with dip and they accounted for $28 million in growth across the industry in 2018. Packaged pickles, olives, snacking cheeses, sandwiches, salads, hummus, and protein snacks are all options that busy shoppers like to eat on the go. Take stock to ensure that you are filling the needs of these shoppers.

Grab-and-go options have become essential in the modern grocery world, and even stores with a small footprint can offer a winning assortment. AWG has worked to build many sizes of grab-and-go sections, including refrigerated options.

It’s important to think beyond just snacking and meal replacement, as well. Dessert can be done well in grab-and-go. Cake squares, parfaits, puddings, gelatins and cheesecakes can all be single-serve sizes for busy folks who don’t have time to wait. In a recent Nielsen Total Food View, parfaits/gelatins, pudding, and mousse/custards were the major drivers of growth in this category. AWG has all of those items available for order so adding them to your store is quite easy.

PREPARED FOODS

Think about the modern consumer and their eating habits. Convenience is a huge factor for them, which is why meal solutions have become so essential to fit the needs of many shoppers. AWG’s “Buy This, Make This” program shows retailers how to use a protein option and then combine it with various side options to offer a prepared meal selection. 

Some retailers are using pre-portioned proteins and offering them alongside existing packaged salads, chicken wings, ribs, sliced pork, veggies, or slider buns so customers can mix and match. With meal kit users up 36 percent in the last year, retailers need to grab their share of the 3.8 million households purchasing meal kits. Don’t be afraid to ask your AWG team for help in getting a program set up in your store or if you need help with a program that already exists.

BAKERY

Larger, high-volume stores who bake some of their items should try to only bake the items that get them credit with the customer. In other words, choose which items you will bake to create “theater,” or that delicious smell that no one can resist. If you’re baking brownies or cinnamon rolls at 4 a.m., chances are your customers don’t even know it.

Best-in-class retailers like H-E-B, Walmart, Target and others  have long realized the value of a thaw-and-sell donut program to give their customers quick and easy options already packaged up and ready to go. A thaw-and-sell donut program saves you production time in order to give you more time to produce the items that you can hang your hat on – while your customers are in the store to see it.

AWG has several tiers of donut programs available for retailers. In Nebraska, Sales Manager Colleen Burgett has implemented an, “Always Delicious,” low-labor donut program in several stores that requires very little labor to be in the donut business. You simply thaw the donuts and then package and label them. If you run out, it only takes an hour of thaw time to restock. 

Colleen has put together a “how-to” manual on how to execute this program, and several of her retailers have sent her notes such as, “The donut program was a great way to get into selling more at my store. With very little labor, we were able to capture those multi-pack sales that were going to our competition. They instantly became a hit with my Customers! I just ordered new bakery shelving to accommodate more and have better holding power to keep up with daily demand”. (Travis Kennedy, Sunshine Foods)

For retailers who want to offer a full donut program for your customers, there is also a, “no labor,” program that is pre-packaged and only requires an hour of thawing time. You simply add a date sticker and watch the sales roll in. This program is perfect for low volume stores with limited labor and space. One package or ten – you get to decide how big your set is.   

Prepare For More Sales: If you want to grow your sales by offering grab-and-go, snacking, meal solutions, and bakery items that are on-trend and save you time and effort, you have the tools to compete with best-in-class retailers across the country. Make sure to contact to Senior Category Manager Kim Cates for details.