Study Reviews Accelerating Sophistication of Supermarket Fresh Prepared Foods

FMI and Technomic Report Evaluates Business Strategies for Grocery Success in Fresh Meals

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Feb 02, 2016, 09:00 ET

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ARLINGTON, Va., Feb. 2, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Food Marketing Institute (FMI) and Technomic today released results of a survey detailing the sophistication of supermarket fresh prepared foods among 28 banners, representing 8,000 stores, and substantiated the $15 billion growth of supermarket foodservice over the last eight years. The study suggests that most stores (64%) witnessed 2014 prepared foods category growth of 9 percent or higher.

FMI Vice President, Fresh Foods, Rick Stein, observed, "It's clear that food retailers are differentiating their businesses by leveraging fresh food selections to meet shopper demands for convenience, all while counterbalancing declining center store sales. The trends in consumers eating away from home are being fought among restaurants, supermarkets and even convenience stores. This work aims to offer insights that will help understand the issues as retailers try to gain share of the consumer's stomach."

Stein continued, "Our work with Technomic on The Sophistication of Supermarket Fresh Prepared Foods supports how food retailers are actively evolving. The data delineate investments food retailers are making in their stores and what they're gaining in terms of operational efficiencies. For instance, survey respondents said they are breaking out deli sales and prepared food sales as separate profit and loss line-items in their respective income portfolios."

Technomic's Principal Wade Hanson explained, "Sixty-two percent of supermarkets participating in this research now offer customers made-to-order stations along the store perimeter, but select supermarkets have incorporated limited service or full-service restaurants into their physical footprint. Importantly, and as FMI has defined in its consumer research, supermarkets are catering to the changing preferences of shoppers and their demands for customization."

Some of the report highlights include:

In-store supermarket offerings related to foodservice
Dayparts served
Consumer price perceptions and preferences
Prepared foods as a percent of deli sales
Shrink
Sales growth compared to total store

For Media:

Media may contact FMI for a gratis copy of The Sophistication of Supermarket Fresh Prepared Foods and interviews with the Wade Hanson and Rick Stein are available upon request
Join FMI's Rick Stein, Vice President of fresh foods and Technomic's Wade Hanson as they present the study's key findings on a webinar Thursday, February 4, 2016 at 2:00 pm EST

About FMI
Food Marketing Institute proudly advocates on behalf of the food retail industry. FMI's U.S. members operate nearly 40,000 retail food stores and 25,000 pharmacies, representing a combined annual sales volume of almost $770 billion. Through programs in public affairs, food safety, research, education and industry relations, FMI offers resources and provides valuable benefits to more than 1,225 food retail and wholesale member companies in the United States and around the world. FMI membership covers the spectrum of diverse venues where food is sold, including single owner grocery stores, large multi-store supermarket chains and mixed retail stores. For more information, visit www.fmi.org and for information regarding the FMI foundation, visit www.fmifoundation.org.

About Technomic

Only Technomic, A Winsight Company, delivers a 360-degree view of the food industry. We impact growth and profitability for our clients by providing consumer-grounded vision and channel-relevant strategic insights. Our services range from major research studies and management consulting solutions to online databases and simple fact-finding assignments. Our clients include food manufacturers and distributors, restaurants and retailers, or other foodservice organizations, and various institutions aligned with the food industry. Visit us at www.technomic.com.

About Winsight, LLC

Winsight, LLC is a business-to-business media and information services company specializing in the convenience-retailing, restaurant and noncommercial foodservice industries. Winsight has an extensive media portfolio including four publications, CSP, Restaurant Business, FoodService Director and Convenience Store Products, a suite of digital products including websites, e-newsletters (Restaurant Business Daily and CSP Daily News) and webinars, plus video products, mobile and tablet apps, custom marketing solutions and the convenience-retailer intelligence tool, CSPedia. The Winsight Events group produces six exclusive, large-scale executive-level conferences—Restaurant Leadership Conference, FARE Conference, Outlook Leadership, Convenience Retailing University, FSTEC and MenuDirections—in addition to more than 12 major EduNetworking conferences and advisory meetings. Winsight recently acquired Technomic, Inc., a food industry provider of primary and secondary market information and advisory services.