September 4, 2008
New Supervalu Line Looks to Keep Consumers Eating at Home
The high price of gas and fewer dollars in their pockets has consumers eating at home more often while eating out at restaurants less frequently. Now, Supervalu is looking to give consumers 150 new reasons to eat at home more often with a line of restaurant-quality foods under the Culinary Circle brand.
The line will include products from across the store, with bakery, center store, deli and frozen selections. Items include everything from on-the-go meals to artisan breads and high-end desserts. Products within the line will be priced at 20 to 25 percent below comparable foods found in fast casual restaurants.
“Our line-up of chef-inspired Culinary Circle products is designed to bring affordable, quality meals to the dining room, and help meet the needs of consumers who love to eat out and sample different kinds of foods or indulge in the kinds of meals they simply don’t have the time to make at home.” said Chad Terrell, Culinary Circle brand manager, in a press release.
Discussion Questions: Is it a good time to reinvigorate meal solutions programs in supermarkets? Are supermarkets capable of delivering restaurant-quality meals? Are there grocers that represent the “best in class” in this regard?
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The supermarket competition for selling private label restaurant quality food is definitely heating up.
Just think, Great A&P started this nearly 15 years ago when it launched its Master Choice line of high quality gourmet foods.
Today, that line is constantly expanding. Their prepared ribs are awesome, so are their frozen entrees.
This is great food at prices much lower than restaurant food and branded lines.
As this trend continues, it can only be a win/win situation for consumers.
“Meeting restaurant quality” is in the eyes of the consumer of course. Casual dining can cover a broad range of quality. But in general, any prepared food that requires either hold time or reheating has a hard time matching fresh, hot meals–regardless of whether we are comparing burgers or beef roasts.
A better question might be, “can these meals deliver enough quality to offset the inherent handicap of not being ‘restaurant fresh’ for a large group of consumers?” The answer to that one is almost certainly “yes.” This is a smart play for Supervalu at this time.
“Restaurant quality?” It depends on the restaurant, of course. That gets down to consumer expectations. I’ve never been comfortable with that term, since it raises such different expectation levels for different people. But, for the most part, the answer is “no,” they won’t be able to produce “restaurant quality” expectations. That’s because supers have always tried to do it on the cheap. Having said that, right now there is a rare window of opportunity to try yet again. We have time-starved, budget-conscious consumers, like never before. They’re staying away from restaurants in droves. So, Supervalu’s timing is absolutely perfect. But it better be good; with the typical shopper, they’ll have one or two shots at it. If a shopper gets a problem item in deli, or in frozen or dairy, or wherever, that shopper is going to condemn the entire line, and tell friends, and pretty soon it’s all over. So it’s risky business.
I truly hope Supervalu does it well. If they do, it’ll help the entire industry. If they don’t, it’ll hurt everybody’s efforts. Supervalu certainly has the capability. They’re smart, with a smart and ethical leader. It’ll take serious bucks and serious commitment. My fingers are crossed.
The idea of home meal replacement is reinvigorated and reinvented on an ongoing basis. The problem in the past was that supermarkets were not able to pull it off. I’ve seen supermarkets expand on, and then abandon the idea.
Let’s be honest, food under a heat lamp or heating up a glorified TV dinner just isn’t the same as restaurant quality. Price at that point is meaningless. It reminds me of online grocery shopping. The idea is compelling but no retailer has really been able to turn on the light switch to change consumer’s behavior.
What I do like are retailers who have developed a small line of signature items. Roundy’s is moving in this direction. A few clients of mine have focused on one item–fried chicken. They feel that if they can have the best fried chicken recipe in their market, they have won the war on HMR.
If the Culinary Circle brand delivers consistent quality, taste, and value, it will be a successful endeavor for Supervalu. Consumers are definitely trending toward eat-at-home habits, not only because of gasoline prices, but also because eating at home is becoming increasingly more convenient with offerings beyond traditional unhealthy take-home fast food. However, if the take-home meals become too pricey vs. perception of value, then after a while there will be a slow-down of the trend.
The timing is right for a well executed meal program. The combination of high energy prices (recent phenomena) and time-starved consumers (long standing trend) provides an opportunity to capture the “away from home” share of stomach. HMR failed because the strategy was flawed and the quality and variety were inconsistent and improperly priced.
The key to this new window is to deliver restaurant or even better home cooked meals to a very demanding audience. However, in addition to the meal preparation, issues like convenience of pick-up (e.g., drive through windows, special parking and check out lines, bundled meals, meal of the week end-caps, etc.) and cleanup need to be addressed. The latter is something that may seem foreign to most male consumers, namely there is something after the meal called “cleanup.” Packaging innovation is an opportunity to guarantee hot meals and easy cleanup.
No doubt the meal must be good but don’t forget the rest of the meal selection and disposal process.
The restaurants in the “fast casual” niche seem to be suffering the most from their target customers’ reduced discretionary spending. You can see it in these chains’ increasing emphasis on “deals” in their national TV campaigns (Applebees comes to mind). But the explosion of these mid-tier restaurants over the years has as much to do with dual-income families’ need for convenience as for the quality of the food they offer.
Bottom line: Supervalu does have an opportunity to step into this market, but it needs to execute well. If its venture into ready-to-eat meals doesn’t provide convenient solutions as well as value, the premise isn’t going to work.
The quality of most chain restaurant meals isn’t the epitome of culinary grace. Matching such quality level and offering it for less should be achievable. And money is tighter now so grocery chains must fight the restaurants if they are to maintain or gain a greater share of today’s available “meal” dollar. Culinary Circle and such offerings are appropriate today. So supermarkets such as Supervalu HAVE TO DO WHAT THEY HAVE TO DO.
Perhaps it is because of the political clamor going on today that this topic reminds me of the time I listened to a private monologue by the late Hubert Humphrey at an opening. After he finished telling me all about his life’s story and how he ran his family’s business and his other entrepreneurial endeavors, I said, “Senator Humphrey, if I didn’t know better, after listening to you I’d have guessed you to be a Republican.”
The Senator looked around to see if anyone else was listening and then said, “Gene, you HAVE TO DO WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO.”
And so do supermarkets.
It’s a great time to reinvigorate meal solutions, if they can provide a wide selection of healthy food at a reasonable price. Consumers are looking for ways to feed their families a variety of meals that take little time to prepare and are healthy.
This is a no brainer for grocers. Offering high quality, pre-made meals offers the ultimate in convienience to the customer. Sobey’s has done an outstanding job of offering pre-made meals. Packages are available as a single serve all the way up to a family of 6 and it goes beyond rotisserie chicken and macaroni salad. There is a true premium feel to what is available. Customers pick their own mains and sides and there are many choices. Everything is boxed up and cutlery and napkins are even included.
What I like about Sobey’s setup is they even merchandise drinks and dessert in and around the ‘hot area’. Pricing is much cheaper than restaurants and provides value to the customer. Publix offers a similar setup but goes to the next step by offering curbside pickup. I’m not a big fan of that as the whole point is to get customers into the store, not keep them out!
From a long-term perspective, traditional supermarkets face considerable competitive pressure from Walmart Supercenters that can offer lower prices due to their economy of scale and efficient distribution systems. It is very difficult for traditional supermarkets to compete on price. Supermarket chains need to differentiate their offering and compete with Supercenters by offering unique products and services and superior customer service. Supervalu’s Culinary Circle offering reflects this trend among supermarket chains to compete on quality and service. Wegmans and HEB are examples of regional supermarket chains that have been very effective in pursuing this strategic direction.
The quality of restaurant food ranges from quick service to haute cuisine restaurants. Based on the meal solutions offerings by Wegmans and HEB, Supervalu’s offering should be at least equivalent to the offering of causal dining restaurant chains. The price of these meal solutions from Supervalu is less than eating a meal at a casual dining restaurant, however, consumers have to do some preparation of the food and clean the dishes afterward. In these difficult economic times, meal solutions offered by Supervalu should be an attractive solution compared to dining out for some consumers, but not as attractive to the very price conscious consumers who will and can spend the time preparing meals from basic ingredients. Reinvigorating a meal solution program at this time might be very effective for introducing consumers who dine out frequently to a lower cost alternative.
Absolutely! The time is perfect. Not only because of the cost of gasoline but also because of the many outbreaks of E. coli and other bacteria causing illnesses and deaths.
The keys are convenience, quality and price. Some supermarkets will succeed because of the focus and quality they will put into the program.
I applaud Supervalu for this move. Many parents would rather feed their families at home, especially when their children are under the age of 12. The key to success will be to make the meals easy, nutritious (organic) and tasty. Grocers should advertise ‘meal solutions’ together to bundle purchases and make it easy for shoppers to purchase an entire meal.
Also, research reflects that childless couples, when compared to couples with kids, spend a much greater amount of their income on food and dining. Meal solutions could present a real opportunity to capture dollars typically spent dining out.
Supervalu is striking while the iron is hot. This retailer is clearly innovating and aligned with meeting consumer expectations. Provided the stores can logistically deliver on quality, consistency and value, they’ll have a home run on their hands.
Yes, this is definitely great timing. Now, like everything else it’s about execution. Pricing, quality, relevance, variety. I’m getting hungry just thinking about it.
Culinary Circle from Supervalu doesn’t sound like innovation. It sounds like another name for takeout. Every supermarket has takeout. Every supermarket has carried takeout for 20? 30? years. Just because it has a new name doesn’t mean it’s new. If Supervalu renamed the private label canned fruit Gourmet Delight would it be an innovation? Would it be new? Or would it be a bore?
Here comes a rant. This is pandering to people who are perfectly capable of buying a selection of ingredients and cooking their own meals. The notion of busy lifestyles always makes me see red–people have had busy lives since the world began. Only 21st century people have lifestyles–which to me means they make choices.
Grocers and manufacturers have the ability, opportunity (and perhaps responsibility?) to encourage people to cook. Taking an example from Aldi in the UK (although I expect some American supermarkets are already doing this), the technology that people love so much can be harnessed to make podcasts with demonstrations of economic, easy, delicious and nutritious meals. The stores will still make lots of money when customers fill their store cupboards and then buy the extra ingredients they need. And come back for more because they have enjoyed what they’re doing, and eating. It’s also an opportunity to teach kids to cook and eat well (think obesity epidemic gradually disappearing) so that they remain loyal customers as they grow up. And…parents will be happy and grateful. How much more good will this do than selling a whole buncha so-called restaurant quality, chef inspired dishes?
Any facility with a kitchen can produce restaurant quality meals. The key is in doing all the other things on par with restaurants. Sounds like Supervalu has addressed most of them, including a celebrity chef. Now it comes down to execution. One example of a gold standard here, in my opinion, is AJ’s in the Phoenix area. Top notch.
One thing that stores cannot emulate from restaurants is atmosphere–the experience of dining. I think the industry did itself a huge disservice by coining the “meal solutions” phrase. That’s insider jargon and it implies there’s a problem somewhere. I still hear consumers calling any prepared meal that they bring home (office, etc) “take-out.” That’s what it is for them. It’s an active phrase that communicates the desired behavior, for crying out loud. It’s time to put “meal solutions” thinking behind us.
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The supermarket competition for selling private label restaurant quality food is definitely heating up.
Just think, Great A&P started this nearly 15 years ago when it launched its Master Choice line of high quality gourmet foods.
Today, that line is constantly expanding. Their prepared ribs are awesome, so are their frozen entrees.
This is great food at prices much lower than restaurant food and branded lines.
As this trend continues, it can only be a win/win situation for consumers.
“Meeting restaurant quality” is in the eyes of the consumer of course. Casual dining can cover a broad range of quality. But in general, any prepared food that requires either hold time or reheating has a hard time matching fresh, hot meals–regardless of whether we are comparing burgers or beef roasts.
A better question might be, “can these meals deliver enough quality to offset the inherent handicap of not being ‘restaurant fresh’ for a large group of consumers?” The answer to that one is almost certainly “yes.” This is a smart play for Supervalu at this time.
“Restaurant quality?” It depends on the restaurant, of course. That gets down to consumer expectations. I’ve never been comfortable with that term, since it raises such different expectation levels for different people. But, for the most part, the answer is “no,” they won’t be able to produce “restaurant quality” expectations. That’s because supers have always tried to do it on the cheap. Having said that, right now there is a rare window of opportunity to try yet again. We have time-starved, budget-conscious consumers, like never before. They’re staying away from restaurants in droves. So, Supervalu’s timing is absolutely perfect. But it better be good; with the typical shopper, they’ll have one or two shots at it. If a shopper gets a problem item in deli, or in frozen or dairy, or wherever, that shopper is going to condemn the entire line, and tell friends, and pretty soon it’s all over. So it’s risky business.
I truly hope Supervalu does it well. If they do, it’ll help the entire industry. If they don’t, it’ll hurt everybody’s efforts. Supervalu certainly has the capability. They’re smart, with a smart and ethical leader. It’ll take serious bucks and serious commitment. My fingers are crossed.
The idea of home meal replacement is reinvigorated and reinvented on an ongoing basis. The problem in the past was that supermarkets were not able to pull it off. I’ve seen supermarkets expand on, and then abandon the idea.
Let’s be honest, food under a heat lamp or heating up a glorified TV dinner just isn’t the same as restaurant quality. Price at that point is meaningless. It reminds me of online grocery shopping. The idea is compelling but no retailer has really been able to turn on the light switch to change consumer’s behavior.
What I do like are retailers who have developed a small line of signature items. Roundy’s is moving in this direction. A few clients of mine have focused on one item–fried chicken. They feel that if they can have the best fried chicken recipe in their market, they have won the war on HMR.
If the Culinary Circle brand delivers consistent quality, taste, and value, it will be a successful endeavor for Supervalu. Consumers are definitely trending toward eat-at-home habits, not only because of gasoline prices, but also because eating at home is becoming increasingly more convenient with offerings beyond traditional unhealthy take-home fast food. However, if the take-home meals become too pricey vs. perception of value, then after a while there will be a slow-down of the trend.
The timing is right for a well executed meal program. The combination of high energy prices (recent phenomena) and time-starved consumers (long standing trend) provides an opportunity to capture the “away from home” share of stomach. HMR failed because the strategy was flawed and the quality and variety were inconsistent and improperly priced.
The key to this new window is to deliver restaurant or even better home cooked meals to a very demanding audience. However, in addition to the meal preparation, issues like convenience of pick-up (e.g., drive through windows, special parking and check out lines, bundled meals, meal of the week end-caps, etc.) and cleanup need to be addressed. The latter is something that may seem foreign to most male consumers, namely there is something after the meal called “cleanup.” Packaging innovation is an opportunity to guarantee hot meals and easy cleanup.
No doubt the meal must be good but don’t forget the rest of the meal selection and disposal process.
The restaurants in the “fast casual” niche seem to be suffering the most from their target customers’ reduced discretionary spending. You can see it in these chains’ increasing emphasis on “deals” in their national TV campaigns (Applebees comes to mind). But the explosion of these mid-tier restaurants over the years has as much to do with dual-income families’ need for convenience as for the quality of the food they offer.
Bottom line: Supervalu does have an opportunity to step into this market, but it needs to execute well. If its venture into ready-to-eat meals doesn’t provide convenient solutions as well as value, the premise isn’t going to work.
The quality of most chain restaurant meals isn’t the epitome of culinary grace. Matching such quality level and offering it for less should be achievable. And money is tighter now so grocery chains must fight the restaurants if they are to maintain or gain a greater share of today’s available “meal” dollar. Culinary Circle and such offerings are appropriate today. So supermarkets such as Supervalu HAVE TO DO WHAT THEY HAVE TO DO.
Perhaps it is because of the political clamor going on today that this topic reminds me of the time I listened to a private monologue by the late Hubert Humphrey at an opening. After he finished telling me all about his life’s story and how he ran his family’s business and his other entrepreneurial endeavors, I said, “Senator Humphrey, if I didn’t know better, after listening to you I’d have guessed you to be a Republican.”
The Senator looked around to see if anyone else was listening and then said, “Gene, you HAVE TO DO WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO.”
And so do supermarkets.
It’s a great time to reinvigorate meal solutions, if they can provide a wide selection of healthy food at a reasonable price. Consumers are looking for ways to feed their families a variety of meals that take little time to prepare and are healthy.
This is a no brainer for grocers. Offering high quality, pre-made meals offers the ultimate in convienience to the customer. Sobey’s has done an outstanding job of offering pre-made meals. Packages are available as a single serve all the way up to a family of 6 and it goes beyond rotisserie chicken and macaroni salad. There is a true premium feel to what is available. Customers pick their own mains and sides and there are many choices. Everything is boxed up and cutlery and napkins are even included.
What I like about Sobey’s setup is they even merchandise drinks and dessert in and around the ‘hot area’. Pricing is much cheaper than restaurants and provides value to the customer. Publix offers a similar setup but goes to the next step by offering curbside pickup. I’m not a big fan of that as the whole point is to get customers into the store, not keep them out!
From a long-term perspective, traditional supermarkets face considerable competitive pressure from Walmart Supercenters that can offer lower prices due to their economy of scale and efficient distribution systems. It is very difficult for traditional supermarkets to compete on price. Supermarket chains need to differentiate their offering and compete with Supercenters by offering unique products and services and superior customer service. Supervalu’s Culinary Circle offering reflects this trend among supermarket chains to compete on quality and service. Wegmans and HEB are examples of regional supermarket chains that have been very effective in pursuing this strategic direction.
The quality of restaurant food ranges from quick service to haute cuisine restaurants. Based on the meal solutions offerings by Wegmans and HEB, Supervalu’s offering should be at least equivalent to the offering of causal dining restaurant chains. The price of these meal solutions from Supervalu is less than eating a meal at a casual dining restaurant, however, consumers have to do some preparation of the food and clean the dishes afterward. In these difficult economic times, meal solutions offered by Supervalu should be an attractive solution compared to dining out for some consumers, but not as attractive to the very price conscious consumers who will and can spend the time preparing meals from basic ingredients. Reinvigorating a meal solution program at this time might be very effective for introducing consumers who dine out frequently to a lower cost alternative.
Absolutely! The time is perfect. Not only because of the cost of gasoline but also because of the many outbreaks of E. coli and other bacteria causing illnesses and deaths.
The keys are convenience, quality and price. Some supermarkets will succeed because of the focus and quality they will put into the program.
I applaud Supervalu for this move. Many parents would rather feed their families at home, especially when their children are under the age of 12. The key to success will be to make the meals easy, nutritious (organic) and tasty. Grocers should advertise ‘meal solutions’ together to bundle purchases and make it easy for shoppers to purchase an entire meal.
Also, research reflects that childless couples, when compared to couples with kids, spend a much greater amount of their income on food and dining. Meal solutions could present a real opportunity to capture dollars typically spent dining out.
Supervalu is striking while the iron is hot. This retailer is clearly innovating and aligned with meeting consumer expectations. Provided the stores can logistically deliver on quality, consistency and value, they’ll have a home run on their hands.
Yes, this is definitely great timing. Now, like everything else it’s about execution. Pricing, quality, relevance, variety. I’m getting hungry just thinking about it.
Culinary Circle from Supervalu doesn’t sound like innovation. It sounds like another name for takeout. Every supermarket has takeout. Every supermarket has carried takeout for 20? 30? years. Just because it has a new name doesn’t mean it’s new. If Supervalu renamed the private label canned fruit Gourmet Delight would it be an innovation? Would it be new? Or would it be a bore?
Here comes a rant. This is pandering to people who are perfectly capable of buying a selection of ingredients and cooking their own meals. The notion of busy lifestyles always makes me see red–people have had busy lives since the world began. Only 21st century people have lifestyles–which to me means they make choices.
Grocers and manufacturers have the ability, opportunity (and perhaps responsibility?) to encourage people to cook. Taking an example from Aldi in the UK (although I expect some American supermarkets are already doing this), the technology that people love so much can be harnessed to make podcasts with demonstrations of economic, easy, delicious and nutritious meals. The stores will still make lots of money when customers fill their store cupboards and then buy the extra ingredients they need. And come back for more because they have enjoyed what they’re doing, and eating. It’s also an opportunity to teach kids to cook and eat well (think obesity epidemic gradually disappearing) so that they remain loyal customers as they grow up. And…parents will be happy and grateful. How much more good will this do than selling a whole buncha so-called restaurant quality, chef inspired dishes?
Any facility with a kitchen can produce restaurant quality meals. The key is in doing all the other things on par with restaurants. Sounds like Supervalu has addressed most of them, including a celebrity chef. Now it comes down to execution. One example of a gold standard here, in my opinion, is AJ’s in the Phoenix area. Top notch.
One thing that stores cannot emulate from restaurants is atmosphere–the experience of dining. I think the industry did itself a huge disservice by coining the “meal solutions” phrase. That’s insider jargon and it implies there’s a problem somewhere. I still hear consumers calling any prepared meal that they bring home (office, etc) “take-out.” That’s what it is for them. It’s an active phrase that communicates the desired behavior, for crying out loud. It’s time to put “meal solutions” thinking behind us.