NEW YORK ? Supermarket News highlighted earlier this week the practice of bundling meals as a foodservice strategy that is cutting into sales at restaurants.
The idea is to bundle meal deals with varying food combinations and sizes, providing a range of options for consumers who might otherwise visit a QSR or casual-dining restaurant.
?Bundling is a great way to reinforce that [Retailer Meal Solutions] can be a complete meal solution, not just a component,? said Jenny Anderson, director of the RMS monitor program for Technomic, a foodservice consulting firm in Chicago.
?And retailers are in such a better position to do it now than they were in the past, because so many have enhanced their overall variety and can offer a few different choices for sides in addition to the entr�e.?
Schenectady, N.Y.-based Price Chopper Supermarkets, for instance rotates 25 or so different dishes for its weekly Wednesday meal deal.
?The best combination bundle that we have ? it?s pretty much changed our life here ? is the Wednesday meal deal. That is the bundle. I put different meal combinations together for four people and that?s around $10,? said John Mazzacco, foodservice manager at Price Chopper.
?Now we?re looking at that whether we should raise the retail because we?ve been $10 for two years now,? Mazzacco said.
Darren Tristano, executive vice president at Technomic, said restaurants, too, are getting in on the family bundling strategy, citing Burger King?s family meal campaign that includes sandwiches, fries, drinks, and pies.
Tristano said that whereas checks average $12 to $13 at casual-dining locations, a $10 bundled meal is what resonates strongly among consumers.
?In the last couple years, several of the upscale retailers have focused on bundled meals with an entr�e and sides from their chef case areas to reinforce value,? Anderson explained. ?Establishing and promoting a set price (often lower than a comparable restaurant alternative) is such a clear message for reinforcing that.?
Rochester, NY-based Wegmans Food Markets prices its entr�e-and-two-sides bundled meals at $6, $8 and $10, depending on which items are selected. The company allows its consumers to plan ahead, with its website showing different meal combinations with cost, calories, and contents.
Comfort food, too, plays a role in bundled combinations, according to Supervalu?s Jewel-Osco communications manager Karen May.
?Customers can purchase eight-piece fried and grilled chicken meals with rolls and two sides. Their side dish options include potato salad, macaroni salad and coleslaw,? she said. ?We also offer rotisserie chicken meals and rotisserie turkey breast meals with these same side dish options and rolls.?
The supermarket chain launched its ?Pick 3 Express Meal? program last November, allowing customers to choose chicken cuts and side dishes.
Supermarket News stressed the importance of focusing on product quality and cost for a successful bundling strategy, while also advertising the offerings aggressively.
?If you don?t draw attention to it and they don?t know about it, it?s like a best kept secret in town that you can get a deal for that [price],? said Mazzacco.
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