Grocery Guys

In a scathing new study , dollar discount stores like Dollar Tree and Dollar General are accused of being harmful to the local environment. Titled the Dollar Store Invasion, which was released by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR), the study shows how dollar establishments (more than 34,000 in the U.S.) are levying a heavy toll on local communities, especially those of race. The negative...

What does the omnichannel customer look like? Well, according to a recent report : This person is more likely to be a Millennial, they have children, and they’re very interested in natural and organic offerings. And that’s just to start. Why should you care about the omnichannel shopper? You should care because these consumers, shoppers who buy groceries both online and in-store, are on the rise a...

The annual National Grocers Association show just ran from Feb. 26-March 1 in Las Vegas, and the show was the best attended since 2017, according to NGA CEO and President Greg Ferrera. There were plenty of vendors, plenty of retailers, and a buzzy energy throughout the whole show.  Hot topics included Inflation, what retailers can be doing to recapture stomach share from restaurants, and rete...

Deloitte released its 2023 consumer products industry outlook, which looks at labor, supply chain, inflation — and how all of the above are affecting consumer perception of retail value.  SN sat down with Nick Handrinos, vice chairman and leader of Deloitte LLP’s retail and consumer products, to break down the data: what it means, and how retailers should be thinking about and approaching con...

Amazon recently announced that it’s halting the rollout of its Amazon Fresh retail stores while it re-evaluates the concept’s economics. In a recent fourth-quarter conference call with analysts, Amazon president and CEO Andrew Jassy said:  “We’re doing a fair bit of experimentation today in those stores to try to find a format that we think resonates with customers.”  It remains to be se...

Ongoing challenges in a tight labor market have been forcing supermarket retailers to rethink their strategies around recruiting and retention, as well as their overall standard operating procedures, in an effort to keep rising labor costs in check. So what’s a grocer to do? Mike Cook, aka “Grocery Store Mike,” has some thoughts.   “I think it’s going to continue being a challenge,” he said o...

Retail deli prepared seafood, and to-go meals made with seafood are both potential areas of growth for 2023 — so says a new report from market research firm 210 Analytics.  Last year saw an 11.9% sales  increase in deli and prepared foods vs. 2021. Consumers are hungry for protein variety and seafood is a great, higher-margin way to service that need, according to the report, &ldqu...

The supermarket sector’s growth leaders in 2022 were Aldi, H-E-B, Publix, and Grocery Outlet, according to a new report from professional services firm JLL. Last year, Aldi added 49 stores, totaling nearly 804,000 square feet of new space, while San Antonio-based H-E-B, added 12 new stores last year for a total of 1.2 million square feet. Publix and Grocery Outlet also saw significant growth...

The past few months have seen grocery foodservice endeavors ramping up. Hy-Vee, for example, first had a partnership with Wahlburgers in 2017 to open dozens of locations of that burger brand, including freestanding units.  Now this week, the company said that any Wahlburgers restaurant locations it opens moving forward would be inside its stores exclusively , saying, quote: “With the changing...

It was a mixed bag in 2022, but overall, the stock prices of publicly traded food retailers outperformed the market . Many grocery stocks started the year strong, but as inflation ramped up quickly in the first half of the year — and the economic outlook became gloomier amid rising interest rates and the fear of a possible recession — several companies’ stock prices faltered.&nbs...

Deloitte just released its 2023 consumer outlook , and the report kicks off with a great question:  Was this a good year or bad year for the industry?  In many ways, it’s been both, depending on how you’re holding the glass, and your definition of full. Inflation has meant high prices, but it’s also meant consumers trading down to private label and a loss of brand loyal...

Stomach share. It’s on everyone’s minds right now as inflationary prices affect both restaurants, and increasingly grocery, with consumers trading down to private label and brand loyalty being sacrificed for cost savings.  One of those hot spaces of competition between both restaurants and grocery? Catering. An area which represents one of the highest margin categories for grocers...

We’re talking inflation. Consumer Price Index data was just released for November , and we’re seeing food-at-home price increases really, largely driven by increases in four of the six major grocery store food group indexes: fruits and vegetables (up 1.4%); cereals and bakery products (up 1.1%); dairy and related products (up 1%), and nonalcoholic beverages (up 0.7%) Even though the in...

It’s that time of the year: there’s been a flurry of Q3 results and some interesting ones in particular. Supply chain challenges are pressuring profitability for Dollar General , and have caused the company to reduce its earnings outlook for the full fiscal year. Meanwhile, inflation has become a two-edged sword for Dollar Tree , as consumers seeking bargains are driving sales and prof...

Members of several locals of the United Food and Commercial Workers union said the proposed Kroger-Albertsons merger could cost thousands of supermarket workers their jobs. In a press conference ahead of a Senate hearing about the merger, several store-level workers detailed their past experiences with industry consolidation—including the impact of the 2015 Albertsons-Safeway merger—an...

People gotta eat. And for some time now, since pandemic days, that need has been trending towards at home eating—via cooking, meal kits, and grab and go items.  According to recent research from FMI, deli prepared foods sales are up 9.3% year over year and 19.2% from the pre-pandemic 2019 period. That same research also indicates that 21% of polled shoppers say they prepare seven or mor...

Online grocery expanded at a 4% rate in Q3, and grocery / meal kit delivery service Hungryroot saw growth almost 12 times as fast, with 45% year-over-year growth for its most recent quarter. Since launching in 2015, the personalized online grocery service has since seen great success via leaning into AI-powered personalization. SN sat down with Hungryroot Chief Digital Officer Alex Weinstein to ta...

The recently announced Kroger-Albertsons merger deal reflects the ongoing drive for scale in the grocery industry. But when it comes to retailer relationships with consumer packaged goods (CPG) suppliers, scale doesn’t mean everything, especially in the small- and midsize-business (SMB) arena.   That’s where mid-tier grocers are particularly important. According to Andrew Criezis,...

It’s been just over ten days since Kroger and Albertsons announced they would merge in a $24.6 billion dollar deal, and the grocery industry has been reeling ever since.  A brief rundown of the numbers: If it goes through, the deal will join the first-and second-largest U.S. supermarket retailers, creating a national company with almost 5,000 stores, 66 distribution centers, 52 manufact...

The quality of fresh food, especially produce, plays a big role in consumer decision-making on where to shop for groceries. Retailers that consistently serve up a strong offering of fruit and vegetables at a high level of freshness will consistently draw customers and earn their loyalty.   United Natural Foods Inc. (UNFI) knows this as well as anyone in the industry and, to that end, launched...

FreshDirect, one of the trailblazers in the online grocery space, has begun a new chapter as part of Ahold Delhaize USA.   Though retaining its strong reputation for delivery of high-quality fresh foods and other groceries — and marking its 20th year in business this year — FreshDirect has sharpened its focus on its hometown metropolitan New York market, including not just the gre...

Wellness. It’s a much-used buzzword these days, but with good reason, according to Leslie Waller, vice president of marketing at Campbell Soup Company. Supermarket News met up with Waller at the recent Groceryshop convention to talk with her about how Campbell’s strategy around wellness has evolved, in addition to what consumers are searching for online in this category.  In this...

This week on SN Off the Shelf, a Supermarket News podcast, SN editors Chloe Riley and Russell Redman discuss two top stories from the week: 1. Grocery pricing was still high in August , even despite relaxed inflation and 2. Instacart’s making a lot of moves as it gears up for an anticipated IPO — including partnering with the musician Lizzo. Here’s why it matters to grocery . In...

In driving its “lead with fresh, accelerate with digital” strategy, The Kroger Co. — the Supermarket News 2022 Retailer of the Year — aims to build a seamless ecosystem in which customers can move easily between channels and get the same high-quality experience. That includes shifting between brick-and-mortar stores and digital, and among in-store shopping, pickup and deliv...

Inflation is a major concern for Americans, according to recent survey data, and it’s starting to affect their grocery shopping habits.   Some 76% of U.S. consumers say their food buying habits have shifted , and nearly half (45%) feel like they can’t afford their previous lifestyle, according to data from advertising technology company NCSolutions. We sat down with the CEO o...