Super Bowl Sunday is just around the corner with its flurry of game-watching parties -- and supermarket delis could score big sales with party trays and related trappings, industry sources told SN.
Opportunities for cross merchandising, eye-catching displays and big rings pile up but most retailers have yet to grab the ball and run with it, sources said. While many supermarkets have printed up beautiful brochures, there's little in-store promotion and readiness, they said.
They did note, however, that there are some exceptions. Wegmans Food Markets, Rochester, N.Y., is one of them.
"For example, two weeks before Super Bowl Sunday, you can walk into any of Wegmans' larger stores and the first thing you'll see is a party center. They'll have two people at a table, sometimes with headsets on, ready to take orders. They'll have some trays made up and one of their 6-foot sub sandwiches there, and of course, nice-looking brochures. It's like a concierge desk," said Mark Leenhouts, a managing partner in Riesenburger, Leenhouts & Associates, a Rochester-based consulting firm that works with supermarkets.
But that's not the norm. Indeed, that fact was brought home when SN dispatched its secret shopper to call supermarket delis about party tray availability. Deli associates often fumbled when it came to offering basic information, and two even asked, "When is Super Bowl Sunday?" That indicated to SN that the frontline staff, three weeks out, hadn't even been alerted that Super Bowl weekend would -- or could -- bring extra business into the store, especially into the deli. (Some retailers have told SN, in earlier interviews, that Super Bowl weekend is the best two-day deli sales period of the year for them.)
SN's secret shopper called the deli in randomly selected units of some of the major supermarket chains in the United States. They included Albertson's, Boise, Idaho; Publix Super Markets, Lakeland, Fla.; Marsh's Supermarkets, Indianapolis; Kroger Co., Cincinnati; King's Super Markets, West Caldwell, N.J.; Winn-Dixie Stores, Jacksonville, Fla.; and Acme Markets, Malvern, Pa.
All were asked if they had party trays for 20 to 30 people, and if they offered any that had hot food. They were asked to give examples of what they offered and the price range. They were also asked if fresh-baked bread and a decorated cake could be ordered at the same time. Then, they were asked the length of time required prior to customer pick-up.
Deli associates at an Acme store in King of Prussia, Pa.; a Marsh in Indianapolis; and a King's Super Market in Fort Lee, N.J., were the most helpful. All the associates were acceptably polite, and pretty patient. And our shopper was never disconnected or forced to wait very long for a response.
But only one, a woman at Marsh's, did any suggestive selling, and most offered no additional information that wasn't an answer to a direct question. They did give examples, but usually only when asked.
The associate at King's, Linwood Plaza, in Fort Lee, said, "Your best bet would be to come in and pick up a catering menu because we have a lot to choose from, and if it's for Super Bowl Sunday, you still have some time."
Then he went on to say their 6-foot hero sandwich is very popular. He offered the information that it serves 20 to 25 people and costs $80. When asked about hot food he suggested that rather than a party tray, that the shopper order pans or half pans of lasagna. He said doing it that way would be less pricey, that $10 for a half pan feeds six people.
At Marsh's on Crawfordville Road in Indianapolis, a very polite woman suggested a barbecued meatball tray and a drummette tray as soon as she was asked about hot food. She said they both serve roughly 25 people -- the meatball tray at $26.99 and the drummette tray at $26.29.
She then voluntarily went on to say Marsh's most popular cold tray is the Classic Club Tray which has roast beef, turkey, ham, swiss, and cheddar and serves 20 to 25 people. It's $50.99, she said. No pickles, no garnish, but she suggested a "toppings tray" to go with it.
"It's $16.99 and has leaf lettuce, onions and pickles and we can give you packets of mustard and mayonnaise."
At a Publix unit on South Dale Mabry Boulevard in Tampa, a clerk had to leave the phone three times to get additional information, but she apologized for putting our shopper on hold and said she would return with the information needed. She did -- pretty much. Having been asked about a cold tray, she returned with this information: "We have a sandwich tray, the Ring Leader, for $12.99; with garnish, it's $19.99."
When asked what the garnish is she said it was "green stuff" and quickly went on to another tray description. She was enthusiastic about a Cubanito tray, which she said had little sandwiches on Cuban bread. It's $35 and serves 26 to 30, she said. She thanked the SN's shopper for calling Publix and said, "Have a nice day."
At Acme on DeKalb Pike in King of Prussia, Pa., a deli clerk quickly described their hot trays and pointed out that our shopper could choose two hot foods on each tray. For example, she said you can get turkey and gravy and roast beef and gravy. She knew that the trays had two pounds of each and that a dozen and a half rolls come with them. The price: $49.99. And they serve eight to 10 people.
She also offered the information that the food was packed in aluminum foil trays and would be cold when picked up but she said the trays come with a can of Sterno and a warming rack, "so you heat them when you get them home."
She also described in detail a "deluxe meat and cheese tray." It comes with two pounds of roast beef and one pound each of turkey, Virginia ham, corned beef, salami, American cheese and Swiss cheese, three pounds of potato salad, three pounds of coleslaw and two pounds of macaroni, two pounds of rye bread, two dozen rolls and eight "jumbo pickles," she said. The price: $89.99.
She added quickly that a smaller version was $55.99 and proceeded to tell our shopper how much of each item would be on it. She then offered to transfer our shopper to the bakery so she could ask about cakes. And she suggested coming into the store for a brochure "that shows what else we have."
Some of the other associates contacted were understandably hesitant on the phone because they had practically no information to offer.
For example, a deli associate at a Winn-Dixie on South Broadway in Lexington, Ky., when asked if they had party trays, said, "Well, we have to make them." When asked to give an example of what's offered, she said, "There's a meat and cheese tray for $45." When asked what kind of meat and cheese and how much of it is on the tray, she said, "I don't really know." Prodded further by our secret shopper, who said she was trying to get information so she could decide what she wanted to buy, the clerk said she would look it up in their "book." The answer: three kinds of meat and three kinds of cheese. Our shopper asked what kind of meat and cheese. The clerk put her on hold and then came back to say, "turkey, ham and roast beef." But she didn't how many pounds, only that "it's enough for 24 to 30 people."
SN's shopper then said, "I'm going to need a cake." That was met with heavy silence. Then, asked if we could get a cake from her department, she said that would come from the store's bakery.
Failing to supply store-level personnel with basic instruction in interacting with phone customers is throwing away significant sales, because party trays in particular represent big rings and big profits, said Jim Frackenpohl, vice president, Riesenburger, Leenhouts & Associates. He estimated that net profit on a meat and cheese party tray is 15% above what it would be on the same meats and cheeses, sold by the pound.
"There is easy profit on a party tray. It's just not that labor intensive to do them," said Frackenpohl, who has done many such trays. His resume includes years at Wegmans in the deli, and as a chef in the trend-setting chain's prepared foods departments.
The worst thing is that an unresponsive associate brings things to a stop, he said.
"Word of mouth is tremendous in catering. If you get a person on the phone who doesn't say much or give you any help, you are not going to recommend that store. The dollar investment in just a little training would quickly come back to you in sales."
Howard Solganik, president, Solganik & Associates, a Dayton, Ohio, consulting firm, agreed. He said he sees the uninformed associate dragging down the deli's image.
"You've not just lost a party tray customer. You may have destroyed the customer's confidence in the deli, even in the store, and they're not going to recommend you to their friends," said Solganik.
He conceded, however, that there's no easy solution.
"It's all about training. Getting good execution at store level is just very tough. It's a constant struggle to figure out how much to invest in that."
Deli associates at Albertson's in Spokane and a unit of Kroger at North Bend and Hamilton in Cincinnati, were polite enough but they seemed to want to get off the phone.
After describing a fruit and cheese tray, for $34.99 that feeds 18 to 24 people, the Albertson's associate said there was a large meat and cheese tray that serves 24 for $39.99, but didn't describe it. She suggested our shopper come into the store.
"We're out of brochures, but we do have some pictures of a couple of them."
And she said the cake and fresh baked bread would have to come from the bakery.
The Kroger deli associate that answered quickly passed our shopper on to another associate when she was asked about party trays. The second associate said they did have party trays but she put our shopper on hold to find out how much they are. Then she came back and said, "They're $18.99 to $49.99." Questioned about hot trays, she said, "No, ma'am."
Then, questioned about cold trays, she said, "They have a Super Sub, a Giant Sub and a Classic Sub," but didn't offer any description. When asked to describe them, she began to describe what was apparently two different ones, "a traditional and a gourmet," for $22.95 and $26.95, that serve eight people.
When asked if they had salads, she said, "No ma'am."
"Not even potato or macaroni salad?" our shopper asked. "Oh, yes, we do," was the answer.
Such confusion and often a real lack of information at store level will block a whole lot of Super Bowl party food sales this year, SN's secret shopper and industry sources concluded.
