Lessons Learned — Share Experiences and Advice with “Newbies” in our Industry
Many of us are constantly learning new things every day, and if you are like me, you become a lifelong learner looking to better yourself with each day. Since this is American Education Week, I started to think about our industry and how we have a great amount of experienced professionals that install, service, troubleshoot and maintain equipment on a daily basis. They have stories to tell, experiences to share and great advice to impart — and who better to teach the “newbies” entering the field than those individuals. The tales that can been told are both valuable and sometimes, [...]
Produce for the Win!
Pricing may get shoppers in the door, but the entire produce experience is what makes the sale. As the perimeter grows fresher and greener, understanding your customers’ wants and needs is paramount to staying the top pick for where they spend their dollars. Because produce consumption often is tied to health and wellness, shoppers are recognizing they need to add more vegetables across meals each day. Targeting the heart-healthy and waistline-friendly produce speaks to the consciousness of your customers. Wellness-focused signage and samples encourage your shoppers to try new varieties, increasing awareness and demand. Time-pinched customers are seeking easy-to-access fruit [...]
Shine the Right Light on Your Offerings to Stand Out in the Marketplace
It should come as no surprise that LED lighting continues to rise in popularity to save cost and improve efficiency. An overlooked detail is that improper use can actually reduce sales, too. By using incorrect color temperatures and not protecting product integrity, customer satisfaction is at risk. Let’s look at color. Opting to use warm or cool tones appropriately around your produce, meats, and even packaged frozen products makes all the difference in the world to how your shoppers view your offerings. Vibrant colors naturally exist in fresh fruits and vegetables. If your LEDs aren’t dialed in to bring out [...]
Best Practices for Dairy Case Merchandising
It all begins at the farm. Quality dairy products come from happy, healthy animals and plant-based products whose milk has been safely processed to ensure a flavorful, fresh consumer experience. However, we can’t put all the responsibility on the farm or the processor. To keep shoppers coming back week after week for fresh, flavorful dairy products, follow these display case best practices. Temperature - From the moment a dairy product hits the grocery store dock, it is critical to keep the product cold. As soon as dairy products are removed from the walk-in cooler they should be put into a refrigerated [...]
Milk Flavor Profile Influenced by Retail Lighting and Packaging
If you’ve ever tasted fresh milk with its creamy, slightly sweet flavor, you know how delicious good milk can be. You probably also noted the brand and the grocery store from which it came. Likewise, you may have experienced milk that tasted off or gone bad — perhaps with hints of burnt, plastic or cardboard flavors. These off-flavor notes are caused by oxidation in the milk which is caused by light exposure. As part of its ongoing commitment to fresh marketing, Hillphoenix sponsored two studies, conducted by researchers at the Virginia Tech Food Science Department, Chemours Packaging, and the Dairy [...]
Lighting Affects Consumer Perception of Vacuum-Packaged Meats
In late 2016, Hillphoenix and Sealed Air co-sponsored a study that compared consumer assessments of its new proprietary Clearvoyant® LED lighting technology to existing “cool” and “warm” levels of fluorescent lighting. This research supports efforts to encourage the adoption of vacuum packaging for fresh proteins. As a percentage of packages in the refrigerated meat case, vacuum packaging grew from 10% in 2002 to 24% in 2015 as PVC packing decreased from 51% to 33%. For retailers, the benefits include extended shelf life, less handling within the store, less shrink, and more time for employees to help shoppers and keep cases [...]
Supermarket Food Service Operations Require a Customer-Focused Business Plan
Orlando Espinosa is the Founder, Orlando Espinosa + Associates LLC. Orlando Espinosa recently presented “Enhancing the Customer Experience Through Engaging Kitchen Design” at Supermarket Sense 2016 in Conyers, Ga. Supermarket food service operations offer tremendous potential for business owners, which is why a carefully considered plan is essential to success. This is not a case of “if you build it, they will come.” Developing a successful grocerant requires homework on specific customer trends and habits and a business plan for meeting those needs. Some successful supermarket owners have treated food service operations as an add-on or even a loss leader. [...]
Meal-centered “Occasions” Drive Prepared Food Sales
Getting customers to purchase your freshly prepared food instead of that of the restaurant down the street is the name of the game. Tailoring your food offerings to your customers’ needs is key to making that happen. Why are your customers eating what they do? What time of the day and days of the week are they coming in? Hint: They’re not just buying ready-to-eat lunches and family dinners anymore. A study from Datassential identified a few lesser known “occasions” for customers buying ready-to-eat or semi-prepared meals. Up-and-coming urban areas may be saturated with young couples and singles looking for [...]
Grocerants — Take a Page from “Digital Marketing 101 for Restaurants”
Is your grocerant showing up when people search for “food near me” or a speciality item such as pizza? When you’re hungry and sitting at a stoplight, does your smartphone search engine, TripAdvisor or Zagat app help you find your next meal? Restaurants have the competitive advantage of showing up in almost all search engines, on maps and review sites simply because they exist. In a study by the National Restaurant Association, 90 percent of millennials and 60 percent of baby boomers own or use a smartphone or tablet. A presence on Facebook, Instagram and online review sites can make [...]
Off-Grid Energy Soothes the Sting of Peak Demand Charges
Electricity consumption during certain times of day comes at a high price. To prevent brownouts during demand spikes, utility companies maintain a lot of very expensive equipment on standby and they pass that expense on to commercial (industrial) ratepayers in the form of demand charges — a portion of the electric bill, in addition to actual consumption, that customers pay to ensure utilities can supply “extra” energy, if and when needed. For commercial customers, demand charges account for about 30 percent of the electric bill. The demand charge is typically based on time of use – the time of day [...]