Survey: Foodservice is primary strategy for food retailers to grow, succeed
Likewise, consumers continue to look for convenient ways to get all – or part – of their meals away from home, and supermarkets play a pivotal role in this decision making.
The Food Marketing Institute (FMI), Arlington, Va., released its annual assessment of the state of the foodservice at retail, demonstrating the opportunities for retailers to leverage a $13 billion category. Growing annually at 8.2%, foodservice is presented as a primary strategy for food retailers to differentiate and appeal to convenience-seeking consumers.
The study, “FMI’s 2019 Power of Foodservice at Retail,” finds that 63% of consumers continue to incorporate time-saving solutions in the form of semi- and fully-prepared items for dinner, but opportunities exist for grocers to garner greater visibility as the primary dinner solution. Survey participants offered feedback for their stores to focus on faster service, more cuisine variety, healthier dishes as well as healthier alternatives to current options, competitive prices, more information, freshness, knowledgeable and available staff and various operational improvements such as cleanliness and in-stock performance.