CUSTOMIZED SHRIMP KIOSKS ENLARGE VOLUME

LIZA B. ZIMMERMAN

Customized sales kiosks where retailers devein, display and cook shrimp on the sales floor are helping supermarkets sell more fresh shrimp, according to retailers using the equipment.

The retailers said the kiosks -- currently in use in 16 stores in the Midwest and East operated by companies such as Kroger Co., Cincinnati; Stew Leonard's, Norwalk, Conn.; Giant Eagle, Pittsburgh; and Wakefern Food Corp., Elizabeth, N.J. -- are an innovative way to promote shrimp and boost seafood department profit.

Although the seafood department at one Kroger location in Fishers, Ind., had used a shrimp peeler behind the counter for years, according to Sande Dashiell, the store's seafood manager, "When we got the kiosk we could put the machine out on the floor. That really made the deveiner take off. It probably boosted my sales by $500 a week."

The equipment is called the Shrimperfect Kiosk System, and is made by Hopkins & Associates in Scottsburg, Ind. It is a workstation that comes with a shrimp deveiner, microwave oven, and display space for the finished product.

Users said deveining the shrimp right on the sales floor adds a theatrical touch to the seafood department, which can help pump up shrimp sales.

"People are reluctant to buy shrimp because it's raw and they have to take it home and devein and peel it," said Dashiell of Kroger.

But if such preparation is done quickly at the store, "It encourages sales," said Mark Inglese, an assistant meat manager at a Giant Eagle unit in Meadville, Pa., explaining the sales appeal of the system.

Giant's Inglese said that at his operation, the kiosk "has increased raw shrimp sales at least 30% in five months."

Three weeks into a program at a ShopRite in Monroe, N.Y., the kiosk has been positively received by shoppers, according to Barbara Crowe, seafood manager. However, she said although customers seemed to like the peeled shrimp, it was still too early to tell what effect the kiosk is having on sales.

The kiosk's cooking equipment also serves as a multipurpose promotional device, retailers said.

"We are always sampling. We start at 10:30 or 11 a.m. and go until 8 p.m.," said Kroger's Dashiell. "We show them how fast and easy it is, by putting the shrimp in these [individual steamer] trays and they can nuke them in their own microwave."

Dashiell said that she displays at least 10 pounds of shrimp in the kiosk, where "we pack six or 12 individual shrimp in steamer trays and pound packages."

She stores the steamer trays and a line of spices for shrimp, such as Cajun and mesquite, which are also produced by Hopkins & Associates, "on top of a freestanding piece that sits beside the kiosk."

Kroger also sells shrimp skewers and cross markets all the cocktail sauces with the shrimp, she said. "At first it was like having a holiday sale. Cocktail sauce sales are up 50% to 60%. We used to be lucky if we'd sell two or three bottles a week."

Dashiell said she also puts out a weekly shrimp recipe on a plastic card, leaves copies of it on the microwave and demos it all week long.

Giant Eagle's Inglese said his regular shrimp samplings, usually held once or twice a week, were often enhanced by the addition of breaded items.

Inglese said Giant Eagle uses the kiosk to offer its customers a different type of fresh meal-solutions idea. "We can steam and season them while customers are shopping so they can go home and enjoy them," he said.

Seafood managers interviewed by SN said they used various ways to publicize their kiosks. Giant Eagle makes announcements in the store telling shoppers about the kiosk, said Inglese.

The promotional activity also extends beyond the store. "We go outside with a selection of seafood and the [deveining] machine and it's like a sidewalk event. We do that every three months or so." That promotion usually increases shrimp sales by 40%, Ingles estimated.

At Kroger, "We have huge day-glo signs that say 'Shrimp: peeled and deveined,' "said Dashiell. Shrimp specials, like $5 coupons on party trays and $2 to $3 discounts per pound on raw shrimp, are also used to promote the Kroger kiosk.

The Shrimperfect kiosk was the first in a line of merchandising devices aimed for use in perishables departments produced by Hopkins & Associates.

Tony First, the produce manager at the Meadville, Pa., Giant Eagle store, said he was the first to put to use another Hopkins invention, called Pineapple Perfect, which skins, cores and displays pineapples.

"I have had Pineapple Perfect about five weeks and I have had an increase of at least 70% [on pineapple sales]," said First. "I saw the shrimp and said, 'If they can do this with shrimp, why not pineapple? It has a high gross.' "

First said the Pineapple Perfect system gives the impression theater is being created at Giant Eagle. "This machine is just incredible," he said.

Gary Hopkins, the president of Hopkins & Associates, said his company's plans include a bread cart. Also in the works is a steamer for fish, "that would hold fillets, offer portion control and nice presentation. It's going to be great for home-meal replacement."