Retailers want to tell consumers that sauces are the spice of life.
Well, if not life, then at least dinner.
Supermarkets are embracing the many specials and discounts manufacturers are offering on pasta and sauce by merchandising both categories on endcaps, walls of value, and other high-profile displays.
Indeed, the high-protein/low-carb craze may have temporarily smothered excitement in the pasta and sauce aisle, but that hasn't stopped executives from pouring their creative energies elsewhere, such as secondary displays in the meat department, retailers told SN.
"This is the first year we've cross merchandised sauce in the winter," said Bill Young, president and general manager of Marketplace Stores, Seattle.
Sales data from Information Resources Inc., Chicago, show that barbecue sauces are performing well at food stores. The top 20 brands generated $376 million in dollar sales for the 52 weeks ending Dec. 28, 2003, a 6.2% increase. Pasta and sauce, however, could use added retailer support. Dollar sales of the top 20 spaghetti/Italian sauce brands generated $1.4 billion in food stores for the 52 weeks ending Dec. 28, 2003, a 1.7% drop from the same period in 2002. Also, pasta sales were flat, reaching $1.2 billion in food stores for the same period, a 0.8% increase.
While cross merchandising sauce near displays of meat or seafood is nothing new, it's usually limited to certain times of the year or specific promotions. Now, some chains have begun carrying these products near the fresh cases day-in and day-out in a effort to maintain volume that has been influenced by diet trends.
That's the case at Marketplace, which has begun cross merchandising barbecue sauce near pork and poultry. Until now, the 44-unit retailer reserved such promotions for the summertime grilling season, according to Young.
Several different barbecue sauce brands -- including Kraft and the Western Family private label -- are being carried adjacent to pork and poultry coffin cases. Young said the new merchandising strategy provides shoppers with an easy meal solution during the colder months of the year.
"Some people are locked into doing things in a seasonal mode, but there are lots of things you can do with sauce in the oven," Young said.
Young attributed the merchandising change, in part, to the low-carb craze, which has consumers seeking out more protein-rich foods like pork and poultry. Yet, he said it's also due to changing culinary patterns.
"People are looking for variations of ways to prepare meat," he noted.
The cross-merchandising program at Marketplace will continue until product sells through. Barbecue sauces will then reappear in the meat department in May. Young said programs like this breathe new life into the sauce category, which is typically limited to in-line merchandising.
Meanwhile, manufacturer promotions are substantially reducing the price of pasta and sauce. Such specials often bring the cost of a 26-ounce jar to 99 cents and, occasionally, four for $5. Marketplace has had particular success with promotions from the Hunt's brand, in which it is able offer a 26-ounce can of Hunt's spaghetti sauce for 99 cents.
"When on special, spaghetti and sauce do very well," Young said.
Dahl's Food Markets, Des Moines, Iowa, recently had success with an endcap display featuring Barilla sauce and pasta, according to Ross Nixon, executive vice president and chief operating officer.
"The displays definitely help to increase sales," Nixon said.
Associated Grocers, a Seattle-based wholesaler, recommends that its member retailers promote pasta and sauce at least monthly, said Karen Cononetz, the wholesaler's grocery director.
"Pasta and sauce are great items to promote because they offer shoppers an easy meal solution," Cononetz said.
Martin's Super Markets, South Bend, Ind., features pasta and sauce on endcaps or on a front wall about once a month, according to Ken Bruce, director of grocery and nonfoods. The 20-store retailer embraces manufacturer promotions so that its consumers can stock up on a variety of low-priced pasta and sauces. For instance, during Super Bowl week, Prego sauce was featured at 88 cents a jar.
Bruce said both pasta and sauce sales are performing well at Martin's. He attributes this to the fact that "there are a lot of people in the world who are still eating carbs."
However, the retailer still looks for new sales outlets within the store. For example, Martin's stocks selections of barbecue sauce on a shelf that runs along the meat case, according to Bruce.
Sauce sales spike in the summer, but they can perform well during the entire year if smartly merchandised, according to Bruce.
"A lot of people want to enhance their meat with spices and sauces year-round," he noted.
While Martin's has carried barbecue sauce in the meat department for years, Bruce said the low-carb diet craze has added more product variety to the assortment.
For instance, Martin's has begun cross merchandising several items in the Carb Options low-carb line from Unilever Bestfoods North America in the meat department. All Carb Options products, which include steak sauce, barbecue sauce and pasta sauce, contain 6 or less grams of net carbs per serving.
Clements' Marketplace, a single-unit operator in Portsmouth, R.I., isn't cross merchandising sauces yet, but hasn't ruled out doing so in the future to tap the low-carb trend, said Mark Clements, grocery manager.
"It's definitely a good idea," said Clements, citing the opportunities to offer low-carb meat marinades near beef and low-carb pasta sauces next to boneless chicken.
