HOLDING SWAY

JOEL ELSON

High-tech, fashion-oriented food storage containers are gaining shelf space at supermarkets.

Newly designed containers that feature flip-top styles that hermetically seal foods, and lines that have the appearance of glass without the weight and potential breakage are winning consumer acceptance. These containers also are offering food retailers opportunities to increase their sales in the plastic storage segment.

"Although food storage has been a dull category for a while, spout-type drinking containers and other storage products are breathing new life into the category. There's excitement in the department with manufacturers that have come out with new items," said Michael Ham, food storage buyer at Hannaford Bros., Scarborough, Maine.

Jan Winn, director of health and beauty care and general merchandise at Big Y Foods, Springfield, Mass., agreed with Ham's assessment. "The newer items on the market have provided the needed infusion [in the category]. They offer consumers wider choices and are drawing their interest," she said.

Last year plastic food storage sales rose 7.5% to $308 million, according to a "State of the Industry" report by Home Furnishings Network, a weekly newspaper issued by Fairchild Publications, New York.

Fairchild also publishes SN.

Warehouse clubs and mass merchants dominate category sales, according to the report. Warehouse clubs captured the greatest share of food storage revenue with 44% of sales, and mass merchants were next with 36%.

Although supermarkets accounted for just 8% of category sales, most retailers polled by SN reported 10% increases in category sales.

Retailers said these new lines have led them to expand food storage displays by several feet and increase their storage mix by 10 to 15 stockkeeping units. Hannaford Bros., a 33-store chain, is contemplating adding 10 higher-priced, $5.99 to $11.99 SKUs to its 4- to 12-foot storage department because of consumer demand for these new items.

The retailer's present storage mix includes products from Arrow Plastic Manufacturing, Elk Grove Village, Ill. It hopes to bring in products like EZ Topps by Rubbermaid, Wooster, Ohio, and Flip-N-Fresh storage products from Anchor Hocking Plastics, St. Paul, Minn. "We're looking at round clear plastic storage containers with flip-top colored lids with a gasket that provides a tight seal. These containers range in sizes from a pint up to two and a half gallons. They can be used for storing pasta and cereals," said Ham. The chain plans to expand the line with nine EZ Topps items, phasing out other Rubbermaid items to create space for the newer products, said Ham. Big Y Foods, a 30-unit chain, also is broadening the scope of its 24- to 28-foot food storage departments by 8% to 10%. It plans to offer 10 to 12 new items with flip-top lids.

The majority of those items will be clear Snap Ware food storage containers by FloTool International, Tustin, Calif.

People now use food storage containers for many different purposes, such as holding coffee beans in the refrigerator or fresh ground coffee on the countertop, said Winn of Big Y.

"When bulk foods were popular six to seven years ago, food storage was a pretty big category. But once everybody got out of bulk, the category went away as well. Now that's changing," she said. "The category is coming back."

When promoted four or five times a year at $1-, $2-, $3- or two-for-$5 price points, the category's sales do well, said Winn. Promotion items are carried in circulars and merchandised off-shelf in shippers. "We'll feature a few items each time, such as EZ Topps, and then private-label storage containers a month later," she added. Jons Markets, Los Angeles, is also targeting a wider selection of food storage and beverage containers in its 10 stores. In the past year, food storage sales have gone up 10%, due, in part, to newer styles. "Our food storage container sales have increased over the past year as people have found new uses for these containers. They fill them with flour, sugar and pasta and set them out on countertops," said Wanda Lovelace, nonfood buyer at Jons. The uses for food storage containers go well beyond storing leftovers. Consumers are choosing glass-like containers because of their aesthetic value.

"These items look nice even if you leave them out on the counter," Lovelace said. "The products that look like glass are selling better than anything else."

But economics still partly drive sales.

"People will take leftovers to work, and refrigerators are usually jammed with lunches in containers. A lot of people who are dieting also take food prepared at home to work," said Ham of Hannaford. Until this year, Family Fare Super Markets, Hudsonville, Mich., rarely ran food storage promotions at its 10 stores. But this year, it plans to feature strong campaigns each quarter.

It is also adding 15 EZ Topps SKUs -- a result of increased interest in the category, which operates on 30% to 35% margins.

"The added sizes are bringing new interest to our 8-foot departments," said Jeff Kunnen, Family Fare director of nonfood. "People are buying beverage containers for keeping juices, and the larger storage units for dry products."

Kunnen said the mix features lower-end price points from 99 cents to $2.49, which he said move well in food storage with some customers.

"Anytime you can offer a group of several items in the same price zone at a single feature price point of about 99 cents or $2, it really drives sales 50% to 100% higher," said Kunnen. Food storage has been a natural area for cross-merchandising on auxiliary displays. Retailers are merchandising items in the pasta aisle, with canned goods, at the bakery and with cookies and crackers.

"These items tie in well with these grocery items," said Larry Schimpf, supervisor of nonfood at Clemens Markets, Kulpsville, Pa., a 12-unit chain, which had a 10% sales increase in the category over the past year. Clemens' food storage section, which features price points of $1.19 to $7, "is a good margin category in the 50% profit range. It's one that responds well to promotions on floor displays two to three times a year at 35% to 50% discounts," added Schimpf. While Clemens has incorporated Rubbermaid EZ Topps and Munchettes into its food storage sets, Schimpf has been looking at other lines in the market. "There are many good lines out there, and we probably should increase our 8-foot sections to 12 feet," he said. The rising popularity of storage items for freezing rather than canning fresh foods "has exploded the category in the last year," said Charles Yahn, vice president of general merchandise for Associated Wholesalers, York, Pa. He said that sales have increased about 10% in the past year.

Yahn explained that more people are using food storage containers rather than glass jars to freeze fresh foods. This has resulted in food storage sections increasing to 16 feet, from smaller 4- to 8-foot departments at many retailers. Sherm's Thunderbird Markets, Medford, Ore., is interested in items that have a contemporary appearance. It also has doubled its food storage space to an 8-foot section to better accommodate large-size items, according to Frank Murphy, nonfood buyer.