Spotlight on Frozen Foods

Although much has been said about U.S. shoppers’ increasing preference for fresh foods, frozen foods appear to be holding their own. In fact, in its January 2014 “Frozen Processed Food in the U.S.” report, Euromonitor International, London, forecasts 8 percent growth for the segment from 2013 through 2018 in constant value terms, and 1 percent in volume terms for the forecast period as a whole.

With numerous brands and product options on offer in today’s freezer cases, however, store brand items need a way to stand out. A little creativity on the packaging, promotion and merchandising front could help retailers grab their fair share of that growth on the store brands side.

To see what retailers are doing well and not so well here, we visited three supermarkets in Raleigh, N.C.: a Lowes Foods store operated by Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Lowes Foods LLC; a Food Lion store operated by Salisbury, N.C.-based Delhaize America; and a Harris Teeter store operated by The Kroger Co., Cincinnati. Our visits took place on the Friday afternoon preceding the long Labor Day weekend.

Lowes Foods

General observations: The two frozen food aisles in the Lowes Foods store we visited are located on the far left-hand side of the store (looking into the store from the front entrance). A few open coffin freezer cases also are situated in back of the store, in front of the meat department and in front of the dairy department.

The store offers a good selection of frozen food items under the Lowes Foods brand (with the “Good for you” tagline). It also carries some organic frozen items under the Full Circle brand from Elk Grove Village, Ill-based Topco Associates LLC.

The store was very clean and well-stocked during our early afternoon visit. Foot traffic was extremely light, despite the fact that our visit took place the day before a holiday weekend associated with cookouts and get-togethers.

The upside:

• ■ On one side of a large open coffin freezer in the back of the store, in front of the dairy section, the store placed some Lowes Foods garlic bread (next to Stouffer’s meal items) with a shelf tag touting a “2 for $4” promotion.
• ■ The store completely filled the other side of the same open coffin freezer with multiple SKUs of Lowes Foods potato products and hung signage publicizing the products’ “Everyday Value” price.
• ■ In many locations within the frozen foods aisles, the store posted large shelf tags promoting its store brand products’ “Daily Value” prices.
• ■ In some cases, the store opted to shadow national brand promotions. For example, Cole’s garlic bread was on promotion — two boxes for $5. But the Lowes Foods equivalent was on promotion as well — two boxes for $4.
• ■ The store offers more SKUs of frozen vegetables under the Lowes Foods brand than it does under any national brand. The items are situated between the Green Giant and Birds Eye items, in a brand-blocking format that covers the space of four freezer doors.
• ■ The Lowes Foods items feature a packaging design with a look and color scheme that is consistent from product to product and department to department, making it easy for shoppers to spot the brand on the shelf.

The downside:

• ■ In some cases, the store did not shadow a national brand promotion. For example, Cool Whip whipped topping was on promotion for 99 cents, but the Lowes Foods equivalent was $1.69.
• ■ Some Lowes Foods items in the pizza section did not match what was called out on the shelf tag.
• ■ We noticed no store brand items within the frozen aisle end caps.

Harris Teeter

General observations: The two frozen food aisles in the Harris Teeter store we visited are located on the far left-hand side of the store (looking into the store from the front entrance). They are broken by an aisle running perpendicular to the aisles, which allows for additional end caps. We noticed no additional frozen food cases outside of the frozen foods department.

All of the private brand items we saw in the section were branded under the Harris Teeter, Harris Teeter Organics and HT Traders brands.

The store was very clean and well-stocked during our mid-afternoon visit. Foot traffic was extremely heavy in the store, and we noticed at least three employees stocking the freezer shelves.

The upside:

• ■ In one end-cap display, the store placed a number of Harris Teeter’s own-brand products, including Harris Teeter Italian-style garlic bread, Harris Teeter whipped topping, bagged HT Traders multi-serving entrées, and bagged Harris Teeter Organics shelled edamame. Large signage touted promotional pricing.
• ■ In most cases, the store shadowed national brand promotions. For example, Ore-Ida potato products were on promotion at a two-for-$5 price. But the Harris Teeter equivalents were on promotion at a two-for-$4 price.
• ■ The store placed a very large solid sign in front of the new HT Traders Home Made Simple multi-serve entrées, which were on promotion for $4.99, as a way of introducing them to shoppers.
• ■ The store placed a very large solid sign in front of the HT Traders flatbread pizzas, touting their low price — $3.67.
• ■ In front of the frozen fruit, the store hung a shelf tag publicizing its new low price on Harris Teeter Organics fruit.
• ■ The store has quite a large assortment of Harris Teeter regular and Harris Teeter all-natural ice cream, creating a brand-blocking effect that makes the assortment hard to miss. Large shelf tags touted promotional pricing.

The downside:

• ■ Harris Teeter value-oriented pizzas are situated on the bottom shelf of the freezer case, making them easy to miss.

Food Lion

General observations: The two frozen food aisles in the Food Lion store we visited are located on the far left-hand side of the store (looking into the store from the front entrance). The store also boasts a couple of open coffin freezers in the back left-hand side of the store.

We noticed frozen items under the retailers’ Food Lion, Nature’s Place and My Essentials brands.

The store was clean and well-stocked during our late afternoon visit. Foot traffic was moderate.

The upside:

• ■ One open coffin freezer case held Eggo waffles that were on promotion. But next to that freezer, the store placed a display fixture that showcased My Essentials buttermilk pancake mix and Aunt Jemima pancake syrup. Large signage called out the pancake mix’s low price.
• ■ The other open coffin freezer was completely dedicated to Food Lion’s own-brand products, including large Food Lion deli-style pizzas and several varieties of Food Lion Texas toast. Again, large signage touted the products’ low prices.
• ■ In the frozen foods department, one end cap included Food Lion biscuits among the mix of primarily name-brand items.
• ■ We saw shelf tags scattered throughout the frozen aisles that said “Our brands for less.” We also saw large signage that said “My Essentials, Double Your Money Back Guarantee” and “Low Price” in front of many store brand items.
• ■ In most cases, the prices of My Essentials items beat the prices of equivalent national brands on promotion — even when the store brand items were at their regular price.
• ■ The store offers frozen vegetables under both the Food Lion and My Essentials brands. Together, they occupy the space of four freezer doors, creating an attention-grabbing brand-blocking effect.
• ■ A front end-cap display held ice cream and frozen novelties. All of the novelties were under the Food Lion brand.
• ■ The store features a very nice display for national brand and store brand whipped topping that allowed the tops of the tubs to face out.

The downside:

• ■ Although the store offers quite a few private brand frozen novelties, most of the products are placed on the bottom shelves.
• ■ On one of the end caps, the shelf tags showing pricing were obscured by the opaque black portion where the two freezer doors meet.

Time to shine

These days, frozen foods have a lot going for them. With the introduction of better-for-you items and freezing technology innovations, U.S. consumers are beginning to associate words such as “natural,” “fresh” and “healthy” with frozen processed foods, the Euromonitor report states.

But to convince shoppers to give a store brand frozen food item a try, retailers will still need to pull out all the stops when it comes to packaging and merchandising.

“Packaging continues to be a powerful tool in communicating to consumers,” says Teri Valentine, president and CEO of The Perfect Bite Co. Inc., Glendale, Calif. “Retailers need to consider using the packaging to communicate their value proposition so it takes the guesswork out of the purchasing decision.”

They also should consider using trend violators to support their social media strategy and complement their marketing strategy, she says, and creating “a premium look” according to category.