MODESTO, Calif. -- Several California chains, including Raley's and Ralphs, are building meat department programs around a new line of fresh prepared entrees.
Supplied by a restaurant and food products company based here, each product includes one pouch of seasoned, boneless strips of fresh meat, one pouch of sauce and one pouch of egg fettuccine, all packaged on a black tray with a blue and gold seal that says "Award winning restaurant recipes." Each entree is designed to feed two to three people, with three servings per package and an average retail price of $5.99.
There are currently four varieties available, including lemon garlic chicken with fettuccine, pork dijonnaise with fettuccine, roasted garlic and mushroom chicken with fettuccine, and pepper steak with fettuccine. Each has a 21-day shelf life and takes 10 to 15 minutes to prepare. On the back of each package consumers will find easy-to-follow cooking instructions, serving suggestions and all nutritional information. Preparation consists of cooking the meat, heating the sauce, boiling the pasta and serving.
The supplier, Mallard's, expects to add new products such as beef pot roast and vegetable medley, beef enchiladas, and vegetable and seafood entrees, by September.
Raley's, West Sacramento, Calif., was so enthusiastic about the product that the chain sponsored a television and radio commercial, entitled "It's Dinner Tonight," to let consumers know about it. The commercial featured a young man arriving home with a shopping bag and preparing the entree in a matter of minutes, just before his date arrives. Toward the end of the commercial, she takes a bite and looks at him in disbelief, saying, "YOU made this?" Raley's could not be reached for comment.
Dan Costa, chairman and chief executive officer of Mallard's, said it's important to make a big splash with the product in this way "because it's a new category, not just a new item."
Mallard's debuted the product exclusively with Raley's for several months, before expanding to Ralphs and Safeway, which Costa said will roll out the product in September under its private "Safeway Select" label. Safeway, Oakland, Calif., could not be reached for comment, and Ralphs, Compton, Calif., declined to contribute to this article.
Costa said that Ralphs is using its private-label "Private Selection" as well as a label that says "Pastas and sauces made by Mallard," while other chains are using only the supplier's label. Mallard's is willing to accommodate a private-label product only in certain situations, Costa said.
"Ralphs has over 600 stores, Safeway has over 800 -- there can't be a 40-store chain that says we'd like to do a private label," he said.
Mallard's plans certainly extend beyond the West Coast, Costa told SN. "Hopefully, by the [FMI] Meal Solutions conference, it will be nationally distributed in most areas where we want to go."
Costa, who also operates a restaurant and food-service business, conceived the idea as a way to use his restaurant knowledge to serve retail customers. "We're in the restaurant business, so we thought, why don't we make it so the consumer is the 'fry cook,' and take out all the steps not necessary for quality. In the restaurant business, sauces are made ahead of time, then you add to them."
