HOME COOKING CENTER

MARYELLEN LO BOSCO

Meal solutions in Center Store have hit their stride, as evidenced by retailers' increasingly sophisticated answer to the perennial consumer question, "What's for Dinner?"

Since only one-quarter of U.S. households today comprise a "traditional family" of one bread winner and one stay-at-home parent, it's no surprise to anybody that bread-bakers are harder to come by.

Stepping into the gap are savvy retailers and vendors with meal solutions for time-starved families -- who the experts say can lavish about 15 minutes on dinner preparation.

But what may be surprising is that, despite time constraints, consumers do want to cook. According to the most recent solutions-selling report published by the Grocery Manufacturers of America, Washington, and Anderson Consulting, Chicago, consumers want to eat more meals at home.

The study cited recent research, done by Pillsbury Co., Minneapolis, which indicates that consumers want to participate to some degree in the cooking process, and some even want to cook from scratch. But everyone wants the shopping experience, if not the cooking experience, to be more convenient, the report went on to say.

Pillsbury has been working with retailers in several areas to provide consumers with both convenience and participation.

For example, as reported in SN, the company has been testing with Giant Eagle, Pittsburgh, a meal-solutions center that merchandises fresh, refrigerated, shelf-stable and frozen ingredients on a multi-temperature unit.

"The One-Stop Dinner Shop" uses four different meal ideas at a time, which are rotated regularly, according to Liz Hanlin, manager of public relations for Pillsbury.

"The test began in March and is going on in 10 stores," she said.

"The unit has backlit photographs of the recipes, which can be prepared in under 20 minutes."

The retailer has a choice of combining private label and branded products with Pillsbury products on the display, Hanlin said. Location of the Dinner Shop varies, depending on the design of the store, but the ideal location is near the front, she went on to say.

Some typical dinners have been Teriyaki Stir Fry with Rice and Garlic Pasta Chicken. Pillsbury and Giant Eagle have been promoting the program in a number of ways. For example, in-store demos are used, as well as greeters, who give consumers at the door a flier that directs them to the unit.

It's both important and challenging to keep the unit continually stocked, Hanlin said, and Pillsbury hopes to work through all the logistical issues before the test is over. She declined to say how long the test would last.

"We've had some good results and good learnings. We will be evaluating that and speaking with customers to determine our next steps," she said.

One major grocery wholesaler, Spartan Stores, Grand Rapids, Mich., is working with its retailers to create cooking efficiencies for consumers. Last year Spartan put together a meal-solutions team.

"We've been doing a variety of things," said Kathy Pompliano, meal-solutions specialist. "When doing meal-solutions analysis, we take a total approach and look for opportunities throughout the store."

In some ways, Spartan has taken on the role of consultant to its retailers. Currently the wholesaler is running programs in about 75 stores. "Some are individualized programs, and some can be extended across a chain," Pompliano noted.

One of Spartan's solutions is an endcap display, which includes many grocery items as well as meat, deli, bakery and produce. Unlike the Giant Eagle program, one menu at a time is advertised, but it is changed weekly.

"We did drive-time radio advertising to bring people into the store. We gave stores instructions about how to set up [the endcap]," Pompliano explained. The Spartan merchandising unit was a coffin case that could hold perishable items, but that also had shelving above it for the dry groceries.

Another Spartan solution is to put groceries together in ethnic or otherwise themed areas. For example, Pompliano said, Italian items like pasta, sauces, olive oil, Italian dressing, shelf-stable dry bread sticks and Parmesan cheese will all be displayed together.

"Or we may have a Mexican area, or an Asian or vegetarian area that becomes a meal solution on an endcap or in a mini-department," she said.

Spartan is also experimenting with multi-temperature units, in test at two stores. Spartan's Make Mealtime Easy recipe program, which has been available to retailers on an ongoing basis, is being used as part of the new meal-solutions program. Recipes call for both Spartan and national brand ingredients.

"We will pull one of those recipes for the multi-temperature case, which has a wire rack that holds the recipe card and signage overhead, indicating it's a meal center. There's also an easel nearby to let customers know this is the place to get ingredients to make a meal," Pompliano added.

This test was running about six weeks when SN spoke with Pompliano. She also noted that it's important to keep the case full. "Someone needs to be accountable and is assigned at the store," she said. That person can be a meal-solutions coordinator or a store manager or assistant manager.

Pompliano is also working on meal solutions in the frozen department and recently created about a dozen menus using only frozen food. Currently three stores are testing this concept.

Items for the meal solution, which changes each week, are put together either in doors or a coffin case. For example, a light- meal menu includes Lean Cuisine five-cheese lasagna, reduced-fat garlic bread and green beans. The test, which will run about three months, also uses an acrylic or wire rack near the items to hold recipes or any necessary instructions.

Another partnership between vendors and retailers is the current meal-solution/time-saver concept being launched in many major chains, including Bi-Lo, Food Lion and Giant Food. Vendor partners are Reynolds Wrap, Tyson, Sargento and BestFoods, who have teamed up to create dinner ideas that call for their products. But packet cooking with aluminum foil, which saves consumers clean-up time, is the focal point of this meal solution.

The program is being promoted under different names, depending on the retailer. According to Lee Elson Jr., food solutions manager, and Barbara Slatcher, senior brand manager, at Reynolds in Richmond, Va., the program was first tested at Wegmans Food Markets, Rochester, N.Y., in the fall of last year and had "remarkable results." Reynolds is continuing to work with Wegmans on additional programs.

"There was a 30% trial rate," Elson said. The retailer executed the program through demo centers, where all ingredients for the meal were displayed. The demonstrators also passed out the four-color brochures that are an integral part of the program.

The program also uses circular advertising matched to the brochure. It usually runs about four weeks and is currently being launched "in the Tyson geography," in 19 major chains, Slatcher said.

Moreover, some of the promotions are turnkey, and some are customized by chain. Advertising also depends on a retailer's strategy and can include television, radio, direct mail, freestanding inserts and demos.

Tyson has also continued its co-branding program with Pillsbury, which offers frozen meal solutions by cross merchandising and cross promoting Pillsbury Create-a-Meal bagged dinner starters and Tyson's presliced and precooked chicken breast strips.

Bob Corscadden, vice president of retail marketing meal solutions, said that the program, which began last fall, has been extremely successful.

About 35% of retailers are displaying the two items together in the freezer case on a day-to-day basis, while about 75% of accounts do so when the items are featured.

Currently, Create-a-Meal is pictured on the Tyson packaging, and soon the Tyson packaging will be pictured on the Pillsbury bag, Corscadden said. In addition, point-of-sale material and ad copy show an equation: The Tyson package plus the Pillsbury package equals a cooked plate of food, or meal solution.

"Major accounts have merchandised them together," he said. "We have static clings on the door with the equation on them, as well as danglers for the freezer or coffin cases. The [equation] also appears in ads, when we have a meal deal."

Some retailers that have been very successful with the Tyson-Pillsbury meal solution include Publix Super Markets, Dominick's Supermarkets, Kroger Co., Albertson's and Food Lion, Corscadden noted.

Some of the promotional strategies that have been used include chainwide promotions and frequent-shopper deals; in-store sampling; and merchandising of the items together, he went on to say.

Kraft Foods, Northfield, Ill., has also been working with retailers to create meal solutions on a number of fronts.

One successful program is the No-Oven Summer promotion, which began last year and has a promotional window of more than a month, beginning Memorial Day and ending the Fourth of July.

Last year, Kraft helped Hy-Vee, West Des Moines, Iowa, tailor the summer promotion to create a highly successful Backyard Barbecue program.

The Hy-Vee program included all the components needed to make a summer meal, including meat, condiments, beverages and desserts. Hy-Vee also used its private-label items, along with Kraft brands.

Kraft is repeating the program with Hy-Vee this year, as well as with Ralphs Grocery Co., Compton, Calif., where it was called "Great Grilling" last year and is called "Family Food & Family Fun."

The program allows customers to collaborate and bring in their own items, including other national-brand and private-label products, as long as they don't compete with the Kraft brands.

Currently, Kraft is running co-marketing meal-solutions programs with 80 retailers, including Albertson's, Kroger, Publix, Winn-Dixie Stores, Stop & Shop Cos. and Vons Cos.