STORES SEE PREPACKS AS SCHOOL LUNCH HIT

AMY I. STICKEL

Prepackaged lunches and single-serve desserts are expected to be strong sellers for the back-to-school crowd this fall.

Several retailers interviewed by SN said individual cups of gelatin will be the hottest new items that parents buy for their children's sack lunches.

Retailers cited the convenience and nutrition of prepacked lunches and dessert cups as reasons why busy parents with young children snatch up the items when they have to pack school lunches.

Jim Leccisotti, a buyer/merchandiser for Riser Foods, Bedford Heights, Ohio, said he expects individual cups of gelatin to sell very well.

"It's a convenient way of getting it without having to make it," said Leccisotti. Leccisotti said he expects the gelatin cups to do better than pudding cups, since gelatin has always been a bigger seller than pudding.

A buyer for a large Southeast chain said he thinks that individual cups of sugar-free gelatin will sell well. He said he expects the usual surge in sales for back-to-school items, about a one-third increase over the next month.

Pat Brooks, the director of frozen foods, dairy and deli at Save Mart Supermarkets, Mo-desto, Calif., agreed that the gelatin and pudding cups will be big this year.

"I expect those are going to grow," he said.

Sales of individual pudding and gelatin cups are on the rise. According to Information Resources Inc., Chicago, individual-serving-size container sales for the year ending in June reached $347.4 million, a 13.5% increase over the previous year.

Rod Boni, a grocery merchandiser

for Pay Less Supermarkets, Anderson, Ind., said he expects approximately a 20% increase in sales for items like individual pudding and gelatin cups and combination cheese and cracker snacks around this time of year.

Pay Less has a supermarket in a college town, and Boni said yogurt sells very well to the college students who are returning to school.

"These are items we always have," he said. "They're just a little more timely now."

Sales of prepacked lunches are also on the increase, according to Information Resources. In the year ending this June, sales of prepacked lunches totaled $292.3 million, a 35% increase over the previous year.

"They're great," Jamie Cristi, prepackaged coordinator for Acme Markets, Malvern, Pa. "They contain the basic four food groups, and some even come with dessert and beverage included."

The prepacked lunches, which contain cold cuts, cheese, crackers and condiments, have a lot of appeal for parents trying to find a balance of convenience, good taste and nutrition for their youngsters, she said.

"The more customers try them, the more we seem to sell," she said.

Richard Attardi, director of dairy and deli at Twin County Grocers, Edison, N.J., said he expects sales for prepacked lunches and pudding and gelatin cups to be as strong this season as they were last year.

He does not see any hot new items coming on the market now, but more variations on what have been out for the last year or two.

He said he believes most people are aware of the products.

Tom Hughes, director of advertising at Clemens Markets, Kulpsville, Pa., said it is too early to tell what items will be really big this season.

"I can't specifically say anything is blowing the doors off now," he said.

An executive at a major East Coast wholesaler said the demand for prepackaged meats and lunches "goes crazy" at this time of year.

"We see a lot of activity with the grab-and-go items," he said.

However, another East Coast wholesaler who deals with dairy said the demand for pudding and gelatin cups is not as great as it should be this time of year.

"I don't see any real big push now," said the wholesaler. "There's a lack of support from the manufacturers. "They should have been banging on our doors."

He said he doesn't know why manufacturers haven't been pushing the product more.

Retailers said they will begin promoting back-to-school items within the next several weeks. Most said they plan to use circulars and in-store promotions, although at least one retailer plans to run sales.

Hughes of Clemens Markets said his stores will do a "typical" type of promotion, using space in circulars.

"A huge amount is done at the store level," said Hughes. He said individual stores are allowed a great deal of leeway in deciding their own promotions.

Although Hughes said there will be a big promotion within the next month, this category of groceries is not limited to children's lunch boxes.

"A lot of people pack lunches every day," he said.

Leccisotti of Riser Foods and Twin County's Attardi both said their stores will run sales on prepacked lunches and pudding cups as the manufacturers offer promotional dollars. Acme's Cristi said the chain's advertising focus will shift from lunch meats like hot dogs to prepackaged meals as kids go back to school.

Brooks of Save Mart said the company will run ads for pudding cups in its weekly circulars. "It's a growing category," he said.

Brooks said Save Mart, which has stores throughout central California, is facing an increasing problem with back-to-school promotions, now that several schools are experimenting with year-round classes.

"We're still doing the traditional back-to-school," he said. "But it's something we're trying to understand."

Scott Rzesa, director of dairy for D'Agostino Supermarkets, Larchmont, N.Y., said his stores will be promoting sack-lunch items, but not for back-to-school.

While this is the time children go back to school, it is also when people return home from their summer cottages. Since most D'Agostino stores are in New York City, Rzesa said, the chain targets working adults more than it does children. The promotions for prepacked lunches and dessert cups will be targeted towards adults who pack their lunches for work, he said.

"We'll run promotions geared toward stocking up," he said.