BAR MAGNETS

MINA WILLIAMS

CHICAGO (FNS) -- Nothing says fresh more than crisp green lettuce, bright red tomatoes and juicy fruits. Fresh products and bright colors simply have that magnetic attraction to lure customers into the produce department.

To capitalize on this magnetic attraction, retailers continue to invest in salad-bar merchandising presentations to bring that freshness hallmark out of the package and into ready-to-eat, home-meal replacement guises.

"Salad bars are such an attraction to the produce department," said Darell Pozzi, produce manager at Draeger's, San Mateo, Calif. "Produce is usually the No. 1 reason people pick a store. We want to give them many, many reasons to pick our produce department as the place to shop."

Many operators, running into the healthy-eating trend earlier this decade, installed self-service salad and food bars in an effort to give their units a good-for-you image. After just a few weeks of operation many discovered that these fixtures are high-maintenance and labor-intensive. For most, sales slumped, profits dipped and the salad bar was replaced with fixtures that could turn better dollars for the square-footage investment.

"What makes me happy is that we pioneered salad bars," said Pozzi. "We watched chains put in salad bars and take them out. That tells me we are doing something right."

Despite the maintenance and labor issues, some retailers have hung in there with the concept, saying that nothing says "fresh today" like a well-stocked salad bar. Indeed, as stores are being built or remodeled, the fixture is part of the floor plan being used to convey the fresh image of the store, often anchoring the produce or food-service department.

"Nothing maintains the freshness image like fresh produce," said Shana Pritchett, registered dietitian and public relations associate at Dominick's Finer Foods, Northlake, Ill. "They have to be well maintained to be accepted by the customers. Our customers demand the salad bar, they love it for quick lunches and quick meals."

Dominick's has been on a rapid expansion program, opening several new stores either through new construction or remodels over the past year. Many of these units are being opened under the Dominick's Fresh Store banner.

These stores use a floor plan where produce, food service and bakery departments are grouped together into a European-style marche environment. Many of these units have a cafe that serves hot entrees, rotisserie items, pizza, ribs and Caesar salads tossed to order.

Salad bars at Dominick's Fresh Stores are situated mid-produce department. A refrigerated 50-item bar containing a variety of fruit, vegetables, greens, pickles, peppers and pastas has each well-labeled. A clever reach-in refrigerated area located below the bar allows for easy access to single-serve beverages and juices. Two hot soups are also kept on the salad bar. The chain operates the bars through the produce department.

"Our produce managers have the selection and the freshest product at all times," said Pritchett. "They know when items are coming in and when they are at their peak of flavor." In-store staff maintains the high quality of the salad bar, said Pritchett.

Copps Corp., Stevens Point, Wis., is another retailer entering, rather than leaving, the bar business. The chain installed salad bars in units beginning late last spring. Until then the Green Bay, Wis., area had not had salad bars in the size and scope the operator mounted. On the day SN visited one unit, more than 75 varieties of fresh fruit and vegetables along with some specialty dessert and snack items were offered at $3.99 per pound.

This salad bar, situated within the produce department, is of a circular design with a support post in the center. This post has been decorated as a tree trunk with the branches and leaves appearing on the ceiling. An audio track within the department plays song bird calls and chirps, giving consumers a restful area to spend some time. A work station is positioned in the center of the circular bar so that staff can be always attentive to maintenance and customer questions.

While the salad bar occupies approximately half of the circular design, the operator uses the additional refrigerated space to merchandise precut grab-and-go fruits and vegetables along with the unit's organic offerings, including melons, citrus, grapes and bananas.

With the full complement of Iceberg, Romaine and leaf lettuces, cabbage, spinach, mushrooms, squash, cauliflower, carrots, celery and broccoli rounded out the vegetable options on the salad bar. Boiled eggs, cottage cheese, marinated mushrooms, green and black olives, garbanzo beans and imitation crab were offered, with lemon slices and shrimp sauce available as toppings.

Watermelon, cantaloupe, pineapple, honeydew, mango and a wide assortment of berries were available with gelatin blocks, dessert topping and Angel food cake pieces. Sliced bananas and Macintosh and Granny Smith apples were merchandised along side chocolate and caramel dips.

Here it is the attention to detail that creates a positive customer image. A dedicated produce staff maintains the salad bar.

At Draeger's newest unit, in San Mateo, the salad bar and adjacent 75-item olive bar were one of the first fixtures positioned on the floor plan. The independent has had sterling success in two other units offering a salad bar over a dozen years, so the decision to include one in the new store was easy.

"Our customers are taken with the idea of being able to make a salad the way they want it. We have no premade salads, just 60 items, all fresh," said Pozzi. The operator sets up lettuce mixes, baby spinach and spring salad mix along with sliced tomatoes mixed with chopped basil, blanched peas, marinated artichoke hearts, baby corn, garbanzo and kidney beans, and cooked asparagus. Additionally, tofu, golden raisins, sunflower seeds and cashew nuts are offered. Two special items Draeger's offers is a bowl of tricolored rotini pasta lightly dressed with olive oil and a fresh fruit bowl with the freshest fruits, melons and tropicals.

The key to Draeger's success is not only offering the fresh variety and selection customers have come to expect in a well-maintained fixture but in the operator's commitment to preparation. Items for the bar are prepared in-unit. Hard-boiled eggs, for example, are made in-store fresh daily for the salad bar. Pozzi estimates that in the San Mateo store more than one dozen dozen eggs are prepared and selected by customers daily.

This salad bar varies from those at many operators in that it is an ice bar, rather than a refrigerated merchandiser. The 10-foot by 8-foot fixture also includes nine dressings, which are also made in-house. Estimates are that the salad bars generate 15% of produce department sales. "The salad bar is a big part of our yearly numbers," said Pozzi.

"I love ice," said Pozzi. "It really displays things and gives a fresh look. It does have to be maintained every day but the look makes up for the maintenance. It is not just a counter with holes in it, it presents well and gives customers confidence that the items are fresh.

"We put a lot into these bars," said Pozzi. "We have put labor, freshness and quality into them. Our customers want it to be fresh, they want it to be right." Approximately 160 hours per week are assigned to the salad bar and olive bar, with two full-time people scheduled, he said.

These stellar salad-bar successes are generally not experienced chain-wide, retailers report.

"We don't have a bar in each of our stores," said one operator, who asked not to be identified. "We evaluate the demographics of the neighborhood to determine if a bar will be installed."

Another operator that has taken care to determine that salad bars are matched up with units to best serve the customers is Grand Rapids, Mich.-based D&W Food Centers. Within this operation variety and freshness are the key to success.

"We continue to put them in," said Tom DeVries, director of food service. "Operators may have a love-hate relationship with salad bars. They may have never put them in or had a bad experience. We include them but are careful that we size them to the demographics of the store's area. We look for business clientele, areas where there are office complexes."

D&W's largest presentation of salad bars comes in a 40-foot linear version. This size allows the chain to offer a large assortment, since variety is the key to success. The merchandiser is a refrigerated unit with cut-outs. Smaller units showcase a refrigerated unit with a pan layout so that the same stockkeeping unit could be offered within a tighter space. Not all D&W units have salad bars.

Retailers report that, aside from simply great-quality products, the hottest items continue to be the leafy greens with fruits, with grain-based items such as couscous making strong inroads.

At Dominick's, grain-based salads such as Casablanca couscous, orzo and California rice medley are earning regular placement as consumers seek new flavors.

At D&W, it is the fresh fruit that is making a hit with customers.

The biggest advantage of the self-service format is that customers can have their salad anyway they want it, retailers told SN.

This hand-built feature is being expanded to include sandwich stations and pizza shops.

"Customers just want things put together using the items and flavors they prefer," said one retailer. "Not everybody likes red onions on their salad, not everybody likes tomatoes. Offering a wide variety gives customers a chance to put together any sort of meal or side they can dream of."

Most retailers who operate salad and food bars through the produce department are fully entrenched in fresh fruits and vegetables along with some toppings, including seeds, beans and dried fruits. Others who operate the fixture through the food-service department also offer ready-to-eat hot foods and chilled main course-style salads.

"The produce department is the best place for the salad bar," said Pozzi. "But only if you can put into it."

At D&W, the salad bar is operated through the food-service department. "Traditionally, the produce department has not been set up with the appropriate equipment to handle prepared foods in a safe manner," said DeVries.

Food-safety concerns have kept Draeger's from including meats and other prepared items on its produce department-operated salad bar, according to Pozzi.

No matter which department claims the merchandiser, retailers agree that the key to success is starting with fresh products.

"If you do it the right way, with a good presentation of product, the salad bar will turn a profit. If allowed to become a dumping ground, there will be a negative spiral," said DeVries. "Salad bars are not a shrink reducer. They need dedicated staff for production."