'Progressive Grocer' introduces winners of 2019 Total Meal Solution Awards

Several grocery retailers are recognized for their own brands in Progressive Grocer’s 2019 Total Meal Solutions Awards.

They include Keasbey, N.J.-based ShopRite, which operates under Wakefern Food Corp. in six Eastern states. ShopRite was honored for its cross merchandising. According to Progressive Grocer, Store Brands’ sister publication: “Wakefern’s ShopRite banner has reimagined the art of cross-selling with Meals Made Well, an innovative recipe program that offers easy, affordable and healthy meal solutions. Developed to help customers discover better-for-you meal solutions at an accessible price point, the weekly recipes, which are ‘dietitian-approved and chef-created,’ incorporate healthy foods from the retailer’s private label lines and vendor partners.”

West Des Moines, Iowa-based Hy-Vee is honored for its dine-in concept, specifically its Hy-Vee Market Grille full-service restaurants that offer breakfast, appetizers, burgers, flatbread pizzas, sushi, steaks, seafood, Asian-inspired noodle bowls and other items. Market Grille made-to-order, chef-inspired recipes are available for dine-in, carryout, curbside pickup, and delivery.

Part of the grocer’s new food-court concept, Hy-Vee’s Hickory House provides slow-smoked meats, comfort food sides and breakfast classics. The retailer escalated its Italian offerings recently with two additional in-store pizza concepts, Dia Pida, which features street-style foods including piadas, flatbread pizzas, salads and pastas, and its newest, Mia Pizza, which allows customers to choose a signature creation or select their own toppings.

De Pere, Wis.-based Skogen’s Festival Foods is honored for its meal kits. Skogen’s created a branded program, Step By Step Dinner Kits. Research and testing led to recipe cards, and photo stickers of the finished meals on each vented, handled kit box.

The program encompasses three categories: slow cooker (four varieties), skillet (nine varieties) and dinner for 2-3 (15 varieties).

Click here for more honorees in Progressive Grocer’s 2019 Total Meal Solutions Awards.