Drive Holiday Sales with Convenient Cooking Solutions

From experienced chefs to novice home cooks, aromatics (such as garlic and onions) and herbs (such as basil, parsley and cilantro) are indispensable parts of the kitchen arsenal. Such is especially the case around the holidays, when many consumers will be entertaining and cooking in larger quantities.

The busyness of the holidays also ushers in increased demand for solutions that save time without sacrificing quality in shoppers’ favorite recipes. Precut and pre-portioned garlic, onions and herbs offer an easy way for consumers to streamline cooking processes—and a great opportunity for retailers to boost holiday sales.

Consumers demanding convenience

Statista forecasts that revenue of culinary spices and herbs will increase by more than $1.3 billion over the next five years, and it’s safe to assume that value-added varieties (e.g. precut and/or pre-portioned) will account for a notable portion of these sales. According to IRI, value-added produce saw a 12% increase in dollar sales YOY compared to 1.1% growth for the produce category in general. Similarly, FMI’s 2022 Power of Produce report found that 27% of consumers anticipate purchasing more value-added produce in the future—opposed to only 5% who anticipate purchasing less.

Given that convenient produce options are outpacing category growth in general, it’s safe to assume that demand will be even greater around the holidays: Last year, 47% of consumers expected to host family and friends during the holidays, according to NPD Group, and consumers’ plans will likely look similar in 2023.

Fresher than fresh

While holiday hosts are likely to be keen on convenience, they won’t want to cut corners on the taste and quality of their food. Dorot Gardens’ pre-portioned garlic, onions and herbs offer a solution for uncompromising home cooks: Chopped garlic, onions and herbs are flash-frozen in trays within 90 minutes of harvest so that consumers can pop out frozen cubes as needed.

The frozen format means a two-year shelf life so that shoppers can stock up for holiday cooking in advance—and that retailers can avoid the risk of waste associated with fresh alternatives. For in-store merchandising, grocers can highlight the opportunity to buy in advance or timesaving the benefits as a “kitchen hack” for busy shoppers.

Dorot Gardens offers eight varieties of chopped and measured aromatics and herbs, including garlic, sauteed glazed onions, ginger, basil, cilantro, turmeric, parsley and dill, giving consumers the opportunity to streamline prep for their go-to recipes or try something new, such as Mashed Ginger Sweet Potatoes.

The holiday season offers retailers a great opportunity to introduce shoppers to products they’ll come back for year-round—and convenience never goes out of season. Learn more about products from Dorot Gardens here.