Prepared Foods:
Fast & Easy for the Consumer,
but Prepared Safely?
It is obvious that many retailers are struggling dur- ing the economic downturn and are trying to find ways to maintain or grow food sales. Many food re- tailers have cut their gross profit margins or re-
duced prices of staple items in order to be more
competitive in today’s marketplace. Labor has been
hit the hardest because it is a direct ex-
labor costs, the
pense. By reducing
bottom line is
directly im-
pacted in a
positive direc-
tion. Many
companies have
avoided hiring; in-
stead, they are giving addi-
tional tasks to current employees. Other companies
have laid off employees, cut back on hours or are
only hiring part-time workers.
Over the last few years, there has
been a significant increase in the
number of families in which both
parents work outside the home,
leaving little time to cook dinner
and making sitting down for a family meal an ever-more-rare occurrence. The Food Marketing
Institute’s (FMI) U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends 2009 report states, “The financially pinched consumer does
not replace the time-starved consumer. Retailers have a great opportunity to win back mealtime.” This
observation has given retailers a
marketing strategy to pursue. Retail
grocers’ ability to offer an array of
prepared foods opens the door to
additional center-of-the-plate sales,
tie-in sales of complementary items
and, ultimately, an increase in gross
profits.
When looking at the two trends
and their relationship to each other,
we can surmise that retailers are
looking for opportunities to maintain and grow their customer base,
and parents are searching for ways
to achieve a balance between making time for a home-cooked meal
and finding someone else to provide a similar meal that fits within
the family budget.
While dealing with reduced labor
and, simultaneously, the expecta-
