Progressive Grocer

America’s vaunted sweet tooth hasn’t disappeared in this era of health-conscious eating, but more consumers are opting to sweeten their cereal, beverages and homemade baked goods with honey rather than sugar, as research emerges to suggest a host of...

Cross-merchandising is fundamental to grabbing extra profit through increased impulse sales opportunities. Salad dressing in the produce case, stir-fry veggies in the meat case, wooden spoons for sale almost anywhere – all generate easy additional sales. The frozen food...

Manufacturers need to concentrate on broadening the market and increasing penetration among today’s upwardly mobile consumers, who are on the lookout for variety in ready-to-eat foods that are nutritious and offered to them in hygienic and convenient packaging at...

With shopper traffic and trip frequency down across most retail channels in USA, consumers are carefully evaluating how and where they shop for food to prioritise the “bare necessities,” which mercifully include many fresh produce items. But as retail produce...

Recently I spoke at a business conference in Panama City, Panama about the Best Practices of the World’s Largest Company… Wal-Mart. While I was there, I decided to visit the Panama Canal. It was just a short drive from...

The dairy aisle may be one of the most low-key but top-performing areas of the supermarket. Space is at a premium in the dairy department, with introductions of new products almost daily. The probiotic craze continues to produce an...

The Indian retail landscape remains a territory of unexplored opportunities. A huge latent consumer demand lies fallow at the ‘Bottom of the Pyramid’ and product innovation and category building have become a yardstick for exposing the Indian consumer to...

Two business drivers in food retail today stand to change the way equipment and design are conducted over the next decade. The first is the need to differentiate, as retailers look to set themselves apart in an increasingly competitive...

With shoppers of all income levels increasingly on the lookout for savings, at least one grocer is busy testing new applications of “virtual coupons,” to see if customers bite. The Kroger Co., based in Cincinnati, recently launched two separate...

In the last few months, I’ve interacted with retailers and their suppliers from a number of countries in North America, Europe and Asia and, except for a handful, the conversations have not been happy. In November-December companies in France, Belgium,...

The foods category within FMCG has been the centre of a lot of action in recent times. The kind of innovation seen in packaging (Maggi), tastes (in snacks), and even complete product categories has been mind-boggling. What is heartening is...

When consumers consider what to make for dinner these days, brown rice has gone from a infrequent novelty – the near-exclusive preserve of macrobiotic- diet followers and other “health nuts” – to a viable side-dish option or meal base....

The Delicatessen word lends itself to many definitions. While in North America, it is virtually a synonym for a fast food counter, in Europe, it embodies the hushed elegance and aesthetics of fine foods. What incarnation is the universal...

The current image of soup is that of something between a snack and a meal. And that emanates from a blend of high frequency marketing and production innovation, which have repositioned the category and added versatility to the product’s...