Melodie Beal, head of Culinary Development at Amazon Fresh, said the retailer begins its product development process by researching what dips, sauces and condiments people are eating and figuring out how those dishes or flavors can be placed within the company’s product menu.
“We think about how we can create a unique experience for the customer and have several ‘cuttings’, which is where we taste all of the chefs’ creations,” said Beal. “Once we have the perfect recipe, our private brands team works to figure out how we can make that recipe at scale and what the packaging of the food item will look like for our customers on shelves. Once it hits shelves, we’re constantly refining and evolving our menu based on customer feedback, industry trends and hearing what our customers are looking for in a product.”
At discount retailer Save A Lot, customers have shifted toward private label as inflation remained very high for the past year, despite some recent cooling. The grocer says it has seen private label sales of core condiments such as mayonnaise rise 35% year-over-year. While staple items are performing well, Alicia Cook, category director of Center Store at Save A Lot, said the retailer is always looking for ways to expand the collection.
“While we keep our core everyday flavor profiles set fairly consistent with only the top selling flavors per item, we like to add variety to our total assortment through limited time offerings in weekly ads and seasonal programs,” said Cook. “We have been successful in being able to offer additional flavor profiles through these programs and continue to see growth in bold flavors, particularly within ranch dressings, BBQ sauces and marinades. We’re also exploring other new items, including the launch of a private label chicken dipping sauce later this year. We continue to see this category grow and have tested this item in private label previously as an in-and-out rotational item.”
During the summer months, as shoppers look for bargains on products for vacations, road trips and barbecues, Save A Lot makes sure its private label condiments are front-and-center, with stores cross-promoting items through in-store displays, with a focus on merchandising condiments in the meat section.
“We have a strong fresh meat program, cut fresh daily in every store, and take advantage of the traffic through that department to build customer basket size through cross-merchandising,” Cook said. “Specifically, during the summer months, we also focus on pre-built pallet displays for key condiment items in store to make it easy for operators to build displays with the least amount of labor possible. Occasionally our private label items feature recipes on the packaging and we use that opportunity to cross-promote other items throughout the store by incorporating our private label items in those recipes.”
As retailers take steps to meet the ever-evolving needs of their shoppers, product suppliers are also working to develop unique flavor profiles to help consumers enhance their home cooking experience.
“People who love good food, but who have no time to cook... they have sophisticated palettes, but they want to make things easy,” said Nancy Wekselbaum, owner of The Gracious Gourmet, a Connecticut-based company that offers a variety of savory tapenades, spreads and pestos, as well as sweet jams, jellies and fruit spreads.
She cited products such as sun dried tomato pesto with Calabrian chili peppers, Hatch Chile pesto and the company’s various fruit spreads as Gracious Gourmet items that bring unique flavors to everyday meals. The company works with retailers of all sizes to bring new private label items to shelves.
Wekselbaum said that her love of food and cooking at a young age is what drives her when creating new products.