From The Spring 2005 Issue of Natural Grocery Buyer

The Big Chill

Shoppers look to the cold case for healthy eating ideas

Lisa Everitt

Have you looked in your competitors’ cold cases lately? It’s not just milk and orange cheese anymore.

Intermingled among the loss leaders are high-margin, ready-to-eat or -drink products. Innovative packaging tempts shoppers to try a drinkable yogurt or applesauce in a tube. Beautiful artisan cheeses snuggle up to fresh pasta, Mediterranean dips like hummus and baba ghanoush, fruit pastes and cold pickles.

Around the corner are prepared foods, ranging from snacks to full meals, and spanning the globe from sushi to burritos.

As a recurring destination of most shoppers, the dairy section and its neighbors are prime real estate. And as a gateway to organic living, the perimeter of the store is unsurpassed. Whole Foods Market’s annual organic tracking survey found that produce is shoppers’ No. 1 category of organic food purchases, bought by 68 percent of respondents. Organic dairy products and nondairy beverages such as soymilk are purchased by 50 percent of shoppers, who also buy organic eggs (26 percent), organic meat (22 percent), organic frozen foods (18 percent), and prepared foods or ready meals (14 percent).

You know the world has turned upside down when sushi starts showing up at 7-Elevens. At selected 7-Elevens—in Southern California—but still. ...

Consumers are taking a new look at the cold case, and the products inside it. They’re checking labels and nutrition statements. They’re demanding that staples such as orange juice and margarine be fortified with vitamins, minerals and cholesterol-lowering plant derivatives, such as stanols. Equally strong are their demands that high fructose corn sweetener and trans fats be removed.

ACNielsen’s “What’s Hot Around the Globe” report found that of the 24 categories with the fastest-growing sales revenue in 2004, 10 were always refrigerated, four (all beverages) were often found in the cold case and three were sold frozen. According to Nielsen, soy-based drinks were the hottest sellers, with a 31 percent growth rate between 2003 and 2004. Drinkable yogurts posted 19 percent growth, eggs 16 percent and refrigerated complete meals 10 percent.

Ready-to-drink beverages are leading the parade of cool natural alternatives. Carbonated juices, vitamin- and herb-infused waters, flavored milks and soymilks in aseptic containers, and cold tea and coffee drinks appeal to young people who zoom through your store looking for quick sustenance.

Even Budweiser’s gotten into the act, spiking canned beer with guarana, ginseng and caffeine so one can concentrate while drinking.

Meanwhile, in the frozen-food aisle, desserts made from soymilk or rice milk beckon to the lactose-intolerant, while pizzas with spelt, cornmeal and rice crusts appeal to those who can’t eat wheat. Dieters pick up individually quick-frozen fruit without added sugar, while carb-counters are happy to see natural meats showing up in the freezer case. Frozen entrees to please nearly every palate are popping up, from massaman curry to macaroni and cheese.

This edition of Natural Grocery Buyer is designed to give you more information about the growing universe of natural and organic products in refrigerated and frozen categories. Customers seeking these products sometimes have different dietary needs or preferences that warrant a second look at the ingredients panel of products you stock or may be considering. For example, did you know that not all cheese is vegetarian? Or that scientific studies have shown that organic milk can be more nutritious than nonorganic?

A smart merchandiser will post signs on the dairy case doors that explain why organic dairy products cost more—and why they’re worth the money. Smart merchandisers might also produce brochures for vegetarians, vegans and people with various food allergies and intolerances, directing them to specific products they can eat.

Smart merchandising, in fact, is the key to higher sales and profits from cold categories. Cross-merchandising opens the door to incremental sales to shoppers who are health- and taste-conscious. At the height of the tomato season, add fresh mozzarella, bunches of green basil and bottles of extra-virgin olive oil to the produce display. During grilling season, stack organic marinades and spice rubs near your free-range meat case. Display organic salsa near the nongenetically modified corn chips, organic buns near the vegetarian hot dogs and organic condiments next to the frozen meatless burgers.

The educated, upscale consumers who already buy these products make their selections based on health and taste. For them, provide sampling opportunities that are frequent, enticing and staffed by an enthusiastic employee.

Other customers—who may never have tried meat substitutes, soymilk or organic frozen meatballs—are ready to be led into these high-margin categories. In survey after survey, they admit that they want to make healthier food choices but are not sure how to go about it.

An Opinion Research Corp. study done for Lightlife, a maker of refrigerated vegetarian food, found that 62 percent of respondents intend to eat foods that are “more natural” this year, and 44 percent say that nutritious, convenient and good-tasting foods are hard to find.

Point shoppers toward your perimeter departments and freezer cases, and let them know just how cool it is to eat a healthy diet.

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