PUBLIX PROGRAM WARMS BREAD SALES

ROSEANNE HARPER

ATLANTA -- Publix Super Markets is looking to get a rise in bread sales with a new program that underscores freshness.

The Lakeland, Fla.-based chain, which has more than 400 units in the Southeast, tells customers up front, at the beginning of the traffic pattern, that its in-store bakery bakes breads several times a day for "just-in-time freshness."

SN saw an example of the program in action at a Duluth, Ga., Publix store that was included on store tours arranged by the Food Marketing Institute and National-American Wholesale Grocers' Association, in conjunction with their food-service conference held here last month.

Just inside the door, a display of breads in wicker baskets was almost smack in front of the customer as the traffic pattern started. Loaves of rye and Italian bread were displayed in wicker baskets and a smaller basket held thick slices of rainbow-colored bread.

A large sign touted the breads' freshness, and the message was reinforced by a tape loop playing on a video monitor.

The sign, which looked hand-drawn, featured an illustration of a loaf of bread. It read, "Attention bread lovers! In order to keep the eggshell crust on our crusty breads, we use a perforated bag to prevent condensation of moisture. However, since air passes through the bag, staling occurs rapidly in an open area. Therefore, a regular poly bag is provided by the sales clerk or cashier."

Another sign read, "Rye bread, fresh-baked, plain or seeded, $1.09 a loaf, 16 ounces."

The repeating videotape showed a staffer forming bread loaves, and another taking a loaf from a shelf. A narrator in voice-over said, "Just-in-time freshness. That's what's special in our bakery. Our associates mix and bake small batches several times a day so you can get a fresh, warm loaf when you come in." Twenty-four types of bread were offered in the program, but Italian sandwich bread is the most popular, a Publix store-level bakery associate told SN.

The bakery department employee also said the department takes special orders, and that some customers have a standing order for what they want every day.

The thrust of the new program, which Publix has taken chainwide, is that bread is baked several times a day, instead of once or twice a day, as it had been in the past. The breads are made from mixes, sourced from the chain's central plant in Lakeland.

Asked if the program had helped sales, a manager at the store said yes, but declined to say how much volume is up since the new promotional effort was started. He said, however, that on a typical weekend day the bakery sells 80 to 100 loaves.