CULTIVATING TASTES 1997

MARYELLEN LO BOSCO

An increasing number of demonstrations featuring Center Store products may be evidence that a taste is worth more than its weight in promotional dollars.

All the retailers SN polled said they're running more in-store sampling/demos now than a year ago.

"We do about 60 demos a week," said Bill Hayes, demo coordinator at Central Market, Austin, Texas, the epicurean superstore operated by San Antonio-based H.E. Butt Grocery Co. "Saturday is our biggest day. We shoot for about 10 demos a day."

On a busy holiday weekend like this past Independence Day, the store conducts about 75 demos in one week.

Demonstrations have become so popular that some chains are building permanent demonstration fixtures. For instance, Star Market Co., Cambridge, Mass., has a professional area in its new Dorchester, Mass., unit. The fixture is located in a section called World Market Food Hall, a 3,600-square-foot department that carries about 3,400 products from 50 countries.

A special area of the department, called Morrissey's of Ireland, features what is said to be the largest selection of Irish products sold in the United States.

The demonstration area includes an oven, overhead lights, a sink, stove and cabinets. When SN visited the store on its opening day last month, officials from the Irish Food Board, New York, were demonstrating how to prepare Irish foods.

Like Star Market, Food Markets Northwest, Seattle, which owns three Queen Anne Thriftway stores in Seattle, West Seattle and Tacoma, Wash., has a state-of-the-art sampling operation -- launched four years ago with the help of Jacques Boiroux, a professional chef.

A fresh meal is prepared every day at one of the store's demonstration kiosks, which are fully equipped minikitchens on an aisle at the front end. Between six and nine people are on the demo staff at any given time.

"[Boiroux's] idea was to better merchandise products that consumers aren't familiar with or don't know how to prepare, and to help them plan their daily dinner," commented Ilga Westberg, corporate demonstration coordinator. "But it's our philosophy to keep it easy. Each recipe uses only six to eight items and has one to four [preparation] steps."

"Good Cuisine" recipe cards from the current and previous week are made available to customers. The stores currently use about 1,500 recipes.

At the corporate stores of Oshawa Foods, a subsidiary of Oshawa Group, Etobicoke, Ontario, demos are conducted three days each week, according to Ed Badke, manager of marketing and advertising.

Food Markets Northwest demos every day. Plumb's, Muskegon, Mich., demos each week, and one store in the Des Moines, Iowa-based Dahl's Food Markets chain demos Center Store items every other week, and deli items two or three days a week.

As part of its new corporate strategy, Weis Markets, Sunbury, Pa., is demoing more these days.

"We're becoming more aggressive in merchandising in order to drive sales. Part of that strategy is having a strong demo program," said Dennis Curtain, director of public relations.

Grocery products are usually a major component of in-store sampling, retailers told SN, and demos generally cross merchandise products from various departments. Moreover, some retailers cross merchandise private-label and branded products to create additional cost efficiencies.

At Central Market, about 90% of demos involve grocery products, according to Hayes, and demos are tied in with products from other departments, such as produce and deli.

Similarly, about 90% of demos at Food Markets Northwest use grocery items and cross merchandise items from nearly seven other departments in each recipe.

Jeff Jamail, the specialty food director at Central Market, noted that it is important to cross merchandise to get the maximum benefit from a demo.

"For example, if we are doing albacore tuna steaks, we'll use a marinade we are featuring on special or that we recommend highly," Buckner said. "When we do grocery demos, we also cross merchandise from other departments -- for example baguettes from the bakery or pasta salad with olive oil."

Shawn Buckner, category manager at Plumb's, noted that it's cost-effective to tie in more than one item.

"For example, we tie in Old El Paso tortilla stuffers with shredded cheese and flour tortillas," he explained.

Plumb's demos a lot of private label, since "it gives customers an initial trial and shows them that the quality is there for the price," Buckner said.

Badke at Oshawa ties in products from the chain's premium private-label line, Our Compliments, with branded items.

"If a hamburger vendor wants to tie in with other products, we'll use our hamburger bun or iced tea drink," Badke said.

Weis Markets also cross merchandises brand-name and private-label products during in-store sampling, according to Curtain.

At Dahl's, all demos are coordinated at store level, said Mark Sparland, a store manager. Most demos involving Center Store items are for frozen food -- like pizza, ice cream and juice -- said Sparland.

Retailers polled by SN said demos are worth the time, money and effort.

According to Westberg at Food Markets Northwest, demos are cost-effective. "We track a core group of 35 products -- for example, olive oil -- and sell 70% to 80% more of the product during a demo and the week after," she said. "Residual sales are also excellent."

Oshawa's Badke compares scan data from sampling and nonsampling weeks. He noted that Oshawa sees a big sales jump during the days and weeks following a sampling.

Plumb's Buckner noted that while it's difficult to measure the success of a demo, sales figures indicate they're cost-effective.

Central Market doesn't worry about the cost-effectiveness, said Hayes. "Our sole goal is to educate and inform customers about the fabulous product we carry," Hayes said.