When the world shut down in 2020, one remaining essential business stayed open the entire time and played a pivotal role in many people's lives: the grocery stores and supermarkets across the globe. Whether you were regularly stalking their inventory on the hunt for toilet paper and Clorox wipes or trying to find the best yeast to start your own sourdough from scratch, the world shifted and brought supermarkets and grocery retailers into the spotlight.
How supermarkets changed in 2020:
If you think back to your local supermarket pre-pandemic, they may have included things like a salad bar, a large prepared foods variety, or maybe even a sushi chef or chef in the back stocking the displays with fresh menu items. While some of those things have slowly returned in 2021, it really changed how foodservice was viewed within the grocery segment. Many restaurants were closed, and people turned to grab-and-go options within the grocery store to feed their families at home when their own sourdough bread recipe flopped, or they're simply craving healthier options that don't involve a drive-thru.
While the plexiglass dividers, partitions, and one-way aisle stickers are leaving and things are returning to "normal," the idea that grocery operators using a show-and-sell method is here to stay. Guests want transparency, ready-made healthy options, and convenience.
It's all about the design:
We recently worked with Tom Leonard's Farmers Market. Collaborating with them directly helped our team at High Sabatino gain more insight into the grocery and retail market segment. We worked with Tom Leonard's to develop solutions to fit their unique challenges.
As an example, their chef utilizes fresh, in-season produce to prepare menu items that are desired by guests. Specially-prepared items are made in the back-of-the-house and are then displayed upfront with other items. These food types range from bakery to seafood, meats, produce, deli, pizza, and even dairy. Each present its own set of challenges that can including heating, refrigeration, prep, and storage, and our team of experts can help review each type of challenge and match it up with a merchandising solution.
Whether you're looking to begin offering new foods at your supermarket, or simply exploring a possible re-design to better suit your guest's needs, we'd love to work together, come up with some solutions, put you in contact with our team to design some menu items, and lots more.
Simply click the photo below to start optimizing your kitchen. From convenience stores to large supermarket chains, our experience and knowledge is sure to help you.
