Supermarket Perimeter - May 2024 - 3

Editor's note
Editorial
JOHN UNREIN
Editor
ANDY NELSON
Managing Editor
HAYLEY HYER
Digital Media Associate Editor
Publishing
TROY ASHBY
Publisher
GRETCHEN WAGNER
National Account Executive
LAUREN JULIANA
Inside Sales Specialist
KATHI D. GILLELAND
Senior Director of Marketing
and Promotions
WHITNEY HARTMAN
Sales Enablement Specialist
DUSTIN PICKMAN
Audience Development Director
CARLEA CHANCE
Audience Development Specialist
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
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
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MAY 2024 - 3
ANDY NELSON
anelson@sosland.com
Meal
momentum
Inflation fatigue/fury has impacted even the youngest member of my household, in the
form of whining about fast-food prices.
" 12 dollars for a burger, fries and drink. 12 dollars! "
I could point out to this person that this grave injustice seems, to me, to be more than
counterbalanced by the fact that he doesn't pay rent and drives one of our cars.
Or - radical concept - that he could eat the meal prepared by one of his loving parents...
for free!
Wasting my breath, obviously. But, in his defense, the higher prices of even what are
traditionally among the cheapest of foods have clearly struck a nerve with consumers.
Witness the outrage over Wendy's experiment with flexible pricing.
And it's on the mind of even some food industry leaders.
" There's nothing like eating out to realize the efficiency of eating at home, " said Rick Stein,
vice president of fresh foods for FMI - The Food Industry Association. " You order French fries
and a milkshake, it costs 10 bucks and you say 'Wow.' Consumers are shocked by pricing. "
Fortunately, there are options, and it's not just home cooked meals from scratch.
Retail foodservice continues to enjoy huge opportunities among consumers who are
looking for an alternative to dining out - even fast-food dining out.
The percentage of Americans searching for hybrid and other meal solutions from their
local grocery fresh departments are some of the highest FMI has ever seen.
But there's still a big awareness gap - to too many consumers, retail foodservice is just
not on their meal radar.
Those surveyed say that deli-prepared foods rival restaurant food in quality and taste.
But many of them also say they just don't think about the grocery store when it comes to
finding an alternative to eating out.
Fortunately, the continued big growth that retail foodservice seems destined for will be
aided by the overall success of the instore deli. While many perimeter departments saw flat
sales and lower units in 2023, deli was up in both.
People are coming to the deli. Now it's just a matter of convincing more of them to think
" dinner " when they're there.

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Supermarket Perimeter - May 2024

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