Supermarket Perimeter - March 2020 - 30

It starts
in the

Field...

Deli & prepared foods: Regional trends

discern who desires customer service and who does not. This includes
providing products in a variety of sizes to accommodate everyone from
the individual to the family and offering a selection of prepackaged and
grab-and-go options in multiple sizes to make it easy for consumers to
get in and out of the store quickly.
"Retail stores featuring instore delis will need to be more agile in
responding to burgeoning trends in the deli industry to effectively
compete on a national or global level," Carlson says. "Consumers are
constantly seeking out new and exciting products, even in more consistent product categories like the deli, which has historically relied on the
same basic meats and prepared salads to draw in customers."
Typical deli offerings do not resonate with the Millennial demographic, the oldest of whom are now in their early 40s. Millennials
account for one-fourth of CPG shoppers and make up one-third of CPG
spending. Known for being more progressive than previous generations, multicultural Millennials are open to fresh ways of approaching
systematic norms, according to a Mintel blog.
Despite having taken blame for the demise of everything from golf
to cereal over the last decade, the demographic continues to push the
envelope among manufacturers and food retailers with demands to
replicate the high-quality eating experiences of a restaurant and insistence on products featuring responsibly sourced ingredients, according
to the IDDBA report.
"Unique and differentiated ﬂavor offerings continue to become more
relevant as future generations gain purchasing power, and we need to
embrace the shift," Quinn says. "Millennials look to travel through their
food choices and while not all retailers offer a diverse assortment of cuisine types, retailers need to adapt to meet the needs of these shoppers."

Desire for personalization and differentiation also include
acknowledging ongoing demands for transparency within the food
chain among younger consumers. To address this, some retailers
are exploring how blockchain technology could improve traceability
initiatives within the grocery store. GS1 US, headquartered in Ewing,
New Jersey, offers GS1 product identiﬁers in barcodes that can
capture data as it's being transported or purchased. The not-forproﬁt organization is also working with a cross-industry blockchain
discussion group to develop new standards and create a common
language to be ﬁltered through blockchain technology.
"The consumer is absolutely driving more transparency in the supply
chain," says Kevin Otto, senior director of community engagement,
blockchain GS1 US. "While consumers used to buy products based on
availability and price, studies have shown they now prioritize the availability of information and will abandon brands or retailers that are not
perceived to be transparent. Brands and retailers have to put in the work
to earn the loyalty of conscientious shoppers."
Use of blockchain could allow participants to share standardized
information in real-time, eliminating silos and speeding up reaction
time to changes in the marketplace. This includes the potential to
improve the speed of traceability initiatives, provide information about
a manufacturer or processor or measure the temperature of food as it's
transported from one location to another. The mingling of dairy, meat,
produce and other products in the deli area mean there will be some
30 - MARCH 2020

HORMEL

Before and beyond the purchase
Supermarket Perimeter - March 2020

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