Rethink how you sell food, trend expert tells grocers

By Nanci Hellmich
USA Today

They should sell prepared takeout foods near the front of the store with a separate, fast-service checkout line.

And stores that offer specialty brewed coffees should try to make sure the prices are reasonable.

So says supermarket trendmeister Phil Lempert, who does research on grocery stores and shoppers' buying habits, which he shares in his new book, "Being the Shopper: Understanding the Buyer's Choice." He's the founder of www.supermarketguru.com.

According to his calculations, Lempert says, the average supermarket shopping trip lasts about 22 minutes, and people go to the grocery store about 2.2 times a week. With a typical supermarket stocking 34,000 or more items, it's no wonder that many shoppers are overwhelmed, so they end up buying the same things every week.

Lempert advises people to give store managers ideas for improving the store. Here are some of his suggestions for what supermarkets could do to better serve nutrition-conscious, time-pressed shoppers:

• Tempt people to eat their veggies. The average grocery store has 300 to 400 fruits and vegetables in its produce department, but people tend to buy the same things every week and never try most of those foods, Lempert says. He suggests that stores offer taste-testing samples of different produce along with recipes for preparing those foods.

• Rethink prepared-foods sections. Some stores are making good-tasting, ready-to-eat foods such as salads, soups, dips, appetizers, chicken dishes and other entrees, but those departments are often stuck at the back of the store near the meat department, he says.

  If people don't want to spend an hour cooking dinner, then they don't want to spend a lot of time parking the car, schlepping to the back of the store, waiting in line to order the food and then waiting in another line to pay for it. Prepared foods should be positioned at the front of the store near a cash register so people can rush in, grab what they want, pay at a special line and get out of the store quickly, he says.

  He also says these foods should have a full disclosure of nutrition information.

• Continue selling java. Many stores are offering brewed coffee as a convenience for shoppers, but the cost of these coffees is too high, Lempert says.

  He says growers make about 50 cents a pound on coffee; name brands like Folgers and Maxwell House sell for $7 to $9 a pound. A cup of coffee at 7-Eleven costs the equivalent of $49 a pound. The price goes up to $225 a pound when you buy a latte or other specialty coffee at Starbucks, he says.

  Starbucks and other chains are operating at some stores, but Lempert says supermarkets could sell their own brands of coffee at more reasonable prices.

• Continue to stock healthful alternatives. Many stores are offering more organic foods, and the prices of those foods have come down, Lempert says. There are also more tasty vegetarian options available, including special sections set aside for these products at some stores.

  Hormone-free meats and dairy products are becoming more common, he says. "The trend will continue to grow if we vote with our pocketbooks."

  Gary Rhodes, a spokesman for the Kroger Co., which has more than 2,400 stores in 32 states, says there are now natural-food departments in more than 1,000 Kroger stores. "That's one of the fastest-growing segments of our business. Prior to a few years ago, a shopper who wanted to buy primarily natural foods would have to visit different aisles of the grocery store," he says.