Retailer roundtable: What grab-and-go items move most at your store today?

"We are fortunate to have full-service kitchens at our locations, enabling us to prepare the majority of items in-house for both the full-service deli salad case as well as packaged for grab and go. Top-moving items are our signature raw sprouted living hummus wraps, easy-to-manage, on-the-go wraps and sandwiches. We also have some great partnerships with outside vendors who make amazing raw collard wraps and raw pizzas. Hummus along with spreadable nut cheeses have become staple grab-and-go items with some type of gluten-free cracker or veggies to dip."
Mo George-Payette, CEO of Mother's Market and Kitchen based in Costa Mesa, Calif.

"Our best-selling grab-and-go deli items are our Chicken Caesar Salad Wrap and our Curried Chicken Salad Sandwich on Nan. We recently launched a line of grab-and-go paninis, with a self-serve panini press located in the stores next to the microwave and utensil station. We are excited to see how these do."
Summer Auerback, owner of Rainbow Blossom in Louisville, Ky. 

"Grab and go can be a real driver for the store. We focus on local made elsewhere, with premade salads and sandwiches from a local café, and Asian and Mediterranean dishes prepared by someone who specializes in grab-and-go for the state. It allows us to support two other businesses and many other employees outside of our store. Plus, you don’t have to get licensing for prepared foods. Yet it’s important to compete. The more things you have that customers can’t get online, the more valuable you make your shelf space."
Mark Schoninger, owner, Bath Natural Market in Bath, Maine 

This piece originally appeared on New Hope Network, a Supermarket News sister website. Visit the site for more Natural Products Expo West session recordings.