CONSUMERS MARKETS SETS 'SIGNATURES'

ROSEANNE HARPER

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Consumers Markets here is about to launch two products it has earmarked for "signature" status.

"Signature" products either quietly evolve as such because of their popularity, or they are deliberately developed and promoted to provide a competitive edge, retailers have told SN. Consumers Markets has taken the latter tack. Store-made shrimp salad and store-baked cheesecake are the items the chain has developed with a view to setting its deli and bakery departments apart from the competition. After their debut this month, the products will be aggressively sampled and advertised on an ongoing basis, said Judy Williams, director of deli-bakery operations for the 23-unit chain.

"Nobody in this market has a product that's really different -- including us, until now. We looked around at what was out there, and figured we could increase our sales by offering something nobody else has," Williams said. "For instance, everybody has imitation crab meat salad, so we decided to develop a fresh shrimp salad, because nobody has that. For the bakery, we chose to develop our own cheesecake formulation. Cheesecake is a popular product, and this one is much better than the thaw-and-sell variety that everybody has," Williams said.

Top quality is the first priority, but other factors figure into the development of a signature product, including selling your staff on it and constantly reminding customers of it, Williams said. "And it also should be quick and easy to prepare," she added.

"You have to have superior quality for customers to want to come back for the product, but price and consistency also figure in. For that reason, we aimed to keep things simple so the directions are easy to follow," Williams said.

Precooked shrimp will be used for the shrimp salad, for example, but a custom-formulated dressing and fresh ingredients such as fresh dill and green onions will add the signature touch, Williams explained. The dressing will be made up in large batches and portioned into smaller containers for easy use by staffers mixing the salad.

The cheesecake batter will be made up in 20-cake batches and frozen. "The associate then only needs to thaw it and put it in the mixer to re-incorporate the ingredients, which may have separated in the freezing process, and add flavoring such as chocolate, fruit or peanut butter," Williams said. The cheesecakes will then be baked in 8-inch, square foil pans, which can be easily capped with a dome lid when they're cool, she added. They'll immediately distinguish themselves visually with their square shape, because the ubiquitous thaw-and-sell variety is round, Williams said. The cheesecakes will retail for approximately the same as the prebaked variety that Consumers Markets previously carried. The shrimp salad and the cheesecake will be launched at the same time with a major spot in the chain's ad circular. "But what's particularly important is that we'll mention the items every week from then on in our ads, even if it's just a single line," Williams said.

The line will say something like, "Don't forget to ask for our famous, home-made shrimp salad," or "Have you tried our signature cheesecake, baked in-store?" Williams said.

In her opinion, constant advertising, sampling and chatting up the products are necessary ingredients for signature-status success.