Supermarket Perimeter - May 2022 - 3

Editor's note
Editorial
JOHN UNREIN
Editor
ANDY NELSON
Managing Editor
Publishing
TROY ASHBY
Publisher
GRETCHEN WAGNER
National Account Executive
LILY ALVAREZ
National Account Executive
WHITNEY HARTMAN
Sales Enablement Specialist
MICHAEL BARBEE
Audience Development Director
DUSTIN PICKMAN
Audience Development Analyst
HANNAH CARNEY
Audience Database Specialist
LAUREN JULIANA
Audience Development
Coordinator
JON HALL
Director of Digital Media
CARRIE FLUEGGE
Digital Advertising Manager
NORA WAGES
Advertising Manager
ANNIE FOURNIER
Advertising Coordinator
ELISABETH SPILLMAN
Design Services Manager
MARJ POTTS
Production Specialist
BECKY WHITE
Senior Design Consultant
FIONA DANKER
Senior Graphic Designer
KATELYN BETZ
Graphic Designer
JIM WHITE
Promotions Manager
ABBY CHRONISTER
Promotions Media Designer
Corporate
CHARLES S. SOSLAND
Chairman and CEO
L. JOSHUA SOSLAND
President
STACI GRECO
Chief Financial and
Administrative Officer
MEYER SOSLAND
Chief Operating Officer
and Executive Editor
JIM SALADIN
Chief Marketing Officer
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supermarketperimeter.com
MAY 2022 - 3
ANDY NELSON
anelson@sosland.com
Destination
Atlanta
The older we get, the faster time goes. When I'm
trying to guess how long it's been since this or
that happened, I make my estimate, then double
it. Even then, I often miss the mark on the short end.
But there are exceptions to this rule, and COVID has been among the most glaring
of them.
When the International Dairy, Deli and Bakery Association holds its annual show in early
June in Atlanta, it will have been three years since the last show, and it feels like three years
- if not four or five.
Ditto for many of the retail instore delis and bakeries that IDDBA exists to help serve. The
last two-plus years, for many of them, have seemed like an eternity.
Delis and bakeries were the areas of the grocery store hit hardest by the pandemic. Hot
bars, salad bars and other deli staples were either scaled back sharply or shut down entirely.
Self-serve donut cases and other " hands-on " regions of the bakery often fared even worse.
But things started to come back in 2021, and as the industry gears up for IDDBA, 2022 is
looking really good.
For instance, IDDBA Covid-19 Impact Report data from December showed that dollar
sales in the instore deli were up 11% from 2020 - even outpacing 2019 levels by more
than 13%.
And even when " normal " is out of reach, with some pandemic patterns likely to be
permanent, the past two years have made operators and their supplier partners dig deep
and innovate out of necessity. That hard work will pay off.
Retail foodservice is one area that's primed for huge growth. Four in ten consumers view
retail foodservice as a substitute for a both a home-cooked meal and a restaurant meal,
according to FMI data.
Here's to a great second half of the year for instore delis and bakeries and the rest of the
fresh perimeter.
IDDBA '22 is a great place to start - and long overdue.

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