Eye on the Market
Some 31% of men nationwide were the primary household grocery shoppers in 2011, up from 14% in 1985, according to consumer-research firm GfK MRI and an ESPN report. Manufacturers are taking notice, attempting to market products and adjust store layouts to cater to men. (Chicago Tribune)
Weis Markets updated its loyalty card program to reward its highest-spending shoppers. The Weis Gold Card provides personalized offers, available to the 20% of shoppers who spend at least $67 a week. (Supermarket News)
On Jan. 2, McDonald’s launched a multichannel campaign to give consumers more information about where the origin of their food. The campaign focuses on four farmers who produce meat, potatoes and lettuce used in some of the chain's restaurants. (Advertising Age)
 USDA estimates that the 2011 U.S. per capita beef consumption declined 13% from 10 years ago and about 25 percent from 1980. In 2012, USDA predicts, Americans will eat 54.1 lbs of beef on average. The beef industry is coping by developing new, lower-priced cuts. (International Business Times)
 The National Restaurant Association’s “What’s Hot in 2012” survey named locally sourced meats and seafood as the top trend to expect this year. The study surveyed nearly 1,800 chefs across all categories. In the center of the plate category, “newly fabricated cuts of meats” were named as the third hottest trend. (National Restaurant Association)
 Wegmans announced a freeze on prices, effective January 8 through April 28, for a list of more than 50 of its private label products, 223 SKUs in all. This move follows the expiration of a list of 40 items, which cost the company $8 million. (Wegmans)
|
The Fresh Perspective
Total-Store View Opens Door to New Retail Insights and Implications
January 2012
View as PDF
You probably heard the Perishables Group’s big news in recent weeks: we were acquired by Nielsen, a leading global provider of information and analytics around what consumers watch and buy. This evolution of the Perishables Group (now the Nielsen Perishables Group) has tremendous implications for retailers and suppliers in an increasingly complex food industry.
In a growing, shifting market, it is often challenging for food retailers, suppliers and manufacturers to understand the full value of a product group when it is merchandised in multiple departments within one store. The addition of the Perishables Group to Nielsen provides a unique opportunity to gain knowledge via total-store reporting on CPG and fresh food – both fixed-weight and random-weight – items alike.
A prime example of this lies in cheese. Cheese is a large, complex and high-value group of items. The traditional view of cheese often considers only cheese sold in the dairy department, which grew 6.1% in 2011. Yet this limited view does not necessarily reflect the performance dynamics occurring in cheeses across the store, including deli service, pre-sliced and specialty cheese.
When looking into specialty cheese, for example, more of these items have entered the dairy aisle from manufacturers such as Sargento and Cabot, driving sales of specialty/imported cheeses in the dairy up 7.2% in 2011. This growth outpaced overall dairy cheese growth by 1.1 percentage point. But specialty cheese growth is not secluded to the dairy aisle. Specialty cheese sales from the in-store deli experienced substantial growth in recent years, as consumers’ desire for global and artisanal flavors developed. Deli specialty cheese sales in the grocery channel alone grew 18.5% between 2006 and 2010, and another 7.3% during 2011 (through Nov. 26).
Deeper insight and implications can be added by looking at consumer behaviors that may be driving this cross-department growth. FreshFacts® Shopper Insights, powered by Spire, shows that many consumers buy cheese in both the deli and dairy departments. Nearly 60% of dairy department cheese consumers also buy deli department specialty cheese during the year, and nearly all deli cheese consumers (97%) buy dairy cheese as well. This supports the sales data showing consistent growth across departments.
Looking at the complete picture of performance for a product group, combined with deeper analysis, lends insight into consumer behaviors that drive performance across a product group; this in turn creates a more complete view of the retail landscape and improves ability for store-level business planning. This new knowledge can be used to drive production planning for suppliers and manufacturers, while fueling cross-department strategies for retailers.
|
Sign up to receive The Fresh Perspective monthly.
Please e-mail the Perishables Group with "Subscribe" in the subject line.
Have an idea for a Fresh Perspective topic?
We'd love to hear from you! E-mail us.
|
|
|