Maximize Holiday Sales with Prepared Seasonal Offerings

Autumn and winter are just around the corner and there’s no better time of year for seasonal items and LTOs. In addition to cold-weather flavors and formats making their comeback, the approaching holiday season affords an opportunity to feature traditional dishes for both shoppers hosting a gathering as well as those simply craving a seasonal spin on their weeknight meal.

Technomic’s Dec. 2020 Holiday Foodservice Trends to Watch report found consumers celebrating amid the pandemic were seeking convenience. Nearly one in four consumers said they’d be sourcing at least part of their meal from a foodservice provider. About half of these consumers said they’d be purchasing a prepared dessert, 41% planned to buy an entree, 38% anticipated purchasing a side dish and 22% said they’d be purchasing their entire meal.

This year, as restrictions on travel and gatherings have relaxed, consumers may be even more likely to seek prepared options from supermarket foodservice. Hosting more guests means serving more food, and prepared foods from the grocerant can help lighten the load. What’s more, grocers have a competitive advantage for holiday shoppers: Whereas purchasing from a restaurant would likely require consumers to make a special trip just to pick up their food, supermarket foodservice is the perfect solution for shoppers who are doing their weekly shopping at the same time.

Smart strategies to maximize profits

Adding limited-time offerings to the grocerant menu requires some planning, however. If a retailer overbuys on ingredients, they run the risk of wasting food; if they underbuy, they might miss out on sales.

In addition, new offerings on the menu can mean more work and stress for kitchen staffs that are already stretched thin. Not only does preparing new dishes require training, but increased foot traffic leading up to holidays can increase employees’ workloads, too.

So how can retailers leverage the sales-boosting potential of seasonal offerings without shouldering extra costs or labor? By providing consumers with a variety of flavorful seasonal options that come prepared and ready to serve.

Pre-made offerings can boost efficiency, save labor and reduce food waste—all while delivering on the seasonal flavors and formats shoppers crave. And turning to prepared foods doesn’t mean sacrificing quality—Sandridge Food Corporation offers from-scratch flavor alongside convenience.

With dishes featuring consumers’ favorite autumn and winter flavors—such as Pumpkin & Roasted Apple Soup, Pumpkin Mousse, Beef Chili with Beans and Harvest Vegetable Medley—as well as fresh takes on holiday traditions—such as Cranberry Orange Relish, Homestyle Celery Stuffing and Whipped Sweet Potatoes—Sandridge is retailers’ one-stop shop for making the grocerant a holiday season hotspot.

To learn more, visit sandridge.com.