FAIRWAY SETS NEW HMR LINE FOR DELI, MEAT CASE

LIZA B. ZIMMERMAN

NORTHFIELD, Minn. -- Chef's Promise, a new line of home-meal replacement options for the meat case and deli created by wholesaler/retailer Fairway Foods, is slated to hit retail shelves in select Minnesota locations by mid-February.

"We'll have in the neighborhood of 20 to 25 entrees, not so much seafood, [but] more meat-based," said John Story, senior director of meat and deli at Fairway Foods here. The company has been testing this past year. (See SN, Jan. 13, 1997.)

Story said that for the rollout, the Chef's Promise line would include items that are marinated and that are ready-to-heat, as well as those that would need further preparation at home.

Story said the Chef's Promise line was "aimed at solving the 4:30 dilemma."

He explained the less-expensive selections would cost between $2 and $3, while the more-expensive choices would be in the range of $6 to $7. "We are trying to do both high and low end," said Story.

Although Story said his long-range ideal is to "end up with a perishables department" devoted exclusively to meals-oriented items, in the short-term the Chef's Promise meals solutions are slated to be divided between the deli and meat departments.

"In the deli there might be more takeout-style items that we wouldn't be doing in the meat department."

Story expected the Chef's Promise line to be available in all Fairway territories within a year. "I would say the larger contingent of stores will carry it by the end of 1998," he said.