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Fast, Healthy Foods: Challenge to grocers

We're buying groceries more often and spreading our money among more stores.

We're spending more on food and paying a premium for healthy items and convenience.

Microwaveable Indian curries, soup that's ready in 45 seconds and a shopping cart that carries recipes and your shopping list on its computer screen handle.

Healthy convenience foods and new technologies are just some of the trends identified at the Grocery Innovations Canada conference yesterday.

We want our meals to be healthier.

But we want them on the table fast.

Welcome to the challenges facing modern grocers as they struggle to keep up with the whims of an increasingly picky clientele.

"Consumers are changing, they have a repertoire of stores they choose from ... we're getting older and from a more ethnically-diverse population," said Rob Persiko, of Unilever Canada, which makes various products from ice cream to soap and tea.

"We're all time-starved. Ninety-three per cent of us are shopping in three or four different (kinds of stores)," he said.

The annual conference hosted by the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers looks at the shifting retail landscape. It examines trends centered around the changing habits of grocery store shoppers, mostly women, who are frazzled by juggling work, soccer schedules and concerned about feeding their families something healthy.

A U.S. study commissioned last year by Unilever says the way people shop is changing: supermarket trips declined to 69 trips per household in 2004, from 78 in 2000.

At the same time, the number of trips to super centres rose to 27 from 17, dollar-store trips climbed to 13 from 10, warehouse club visits to 11 from 10 and convenience stores visits to 15 from 14.

The study uncovered other consumer habits: namely quick trips are the norm, as they drive 62 per cent of store visits for groceries - and we spend about $20.

We also have fill-in trips to pick up a few things, spending about $50. Then it's the weekly stockup, where we spend $100 - or more.

Hundreds of food industry reps rolled out new products to showcase what we might buy on those trips.
There were meals on the run, such as Patel's Indian curries in two minutes.

For waist-watchers who want smaller portions, Cadbury had its Thins, just 100 calories. Then there's the Do-It-Yourself doctoring food like Naturelle Plus Ice Cream, made with natural ingredients and OMEGA-3 fatty acids.
There were the organics, fair-trade (for the ethically-motivated), soy-based or vegetable-infused juices, chocolate, coffee and breads we eat every day.

Heidi Hartmann, communications specialist with Campbell's, said it launched its Soup At Hand in the U.S. a couple years ago, but now it's offered in Canada. The soup retails for about $2 and can be zapped in 45 seconds for commuters.

Dana McCauley, a Toronto consultant speaking about consumer trends, gave the soup top marks for a healthy, convenient snack. Low marks went to other products that had little nutritional value, poor taste or were too complicated to make.

"Canadians want foods that are healthy and one-third say they don't want to have to use utensils," she said. 
James Miller, president and CEO of Concierge, didn't offer retailers anything new to tempt shoppers. He did, however, offer a smart grocery cart that can download your grocery list and help "manage" your trip to the market.

"The whole idea is to enhance the shopping experience," he said of the cart that will be unveiled in June.

"There are 17 functions on the cart, such as recipes, the in-store flyer, and more.

The objective for the retailer is to increase basket size - how much is sold.

The cart will remind the shopper to pick up cream with coffee, or can use a flashing ad to remind you that the kind of coffee brand you prefer is on sale.

While that kind of technology may prove helpful, Barry Schwartz, a speaker added a cautionary note about the need for stores to consider offering fewer, not more, items on the shelf.

"There are lots of choices, which do us better but we feel worse," he said. "I went to my local supermarket and counted up some items: 285 kinds of cookies, 75 iced teas, 230 soaps, 275 cereals, 40 toothpastes and 175 salad dressings."

An online grocer he studied reduced the number of items offered by 20 to 80 per cent and increased sales 11 per cent.

He argued that consumers are plagued with too much choice and can easily become overwhelmed. Evidence suggests if that happens, they spend less and feel less satisfied about their shopping trip.
lmarr@thepsec.com 905-526-3992

Groceries at a glance

* The average Canadian makes over 228 trips per year to all stores spending on average $38 per trip.
* Percentage of income spent on groceries: 9.1 per cent (one of the lowest in the world).
* Fastest growing consumer product categories include pie crust mixes, bird seed and bruschetta toppings
* Quick trips for just a few items drive 62 per cent of store visits for groceries.

Stats Canada 2003; ACNielsen