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By Michael Hartnett
Balloting for our 8th Annual Best Buyer Awards in frozen foods produced a list of 10 buyers representing most regions of the country, with some familiar names of past winners and several whose accomplishments are being recognized for the first time.
Two retail companies had multiple winners, Steve O'Hara and Sue Quillen are from Publix, and Margie Judd, Gene Orman and Miriam Welch represent Supervalu companies that now include Albertsons and Cub Foods. It's also worth noting that four award winners are women, unlike past years when just one or two ladies took top honors.
Best Buyers voted to this year's top 10 list also represent a genuine cross-section of the frozen food industry, with Publix in Florida, Supervalu companies in Minnesota and Los Angeles, Miner's Inc. and Coborn's, also in Minnesota, Meijer in Michigan, Giant Eagle in Pittsburgh and Harris Teeter in North Carolina.
Consistent with past practice, we posed five Q&A-type talking points to this year's winners to gain their insights to important industry and category issues.
Several brands and products are mentioned by name as bringing true innovation and driving category growth, including Stouffer's new panini sandwiches, Birds Eye's steamed vegetables, and Jimmy Dean breakfast products. Two huge categories, frozen pizza and ice cream, are delivering mixed results for buyers, with some citing them for outstanding results and others less enthusiastic. Two buyers pointed to the frozen juice category as being in need of innovation to bring a halt to sales declines.
To our question about the importance of responding to consumer demand for frozen foods that offer health & wellness benefits, two buyers caution that product convenience is still a key consumer requirement and that "healthy" products that fail to deliver on taste, variety and value will have limited success.
When asked about ways to reduce the impact of higher energy costs on price points and operating expenses, several buyers noted specific steps their companies have taken to reduce the pain of higher energy prices. Some noted closer coordination with vendors to consolidate and reduce product shipments. One buyer noted that more energy efficient door cases have replaced five-deck cases and coffin-style cases. Another pointed to the elimination of unnecessary and inefficient product packaging as a means to reduce costs. And several suggested that higher energy costs could inhibit investment in new cases to expand the frozen food department.
Steve O'Hara — Publix
Which frozen categories have been most successful in driving sales growth through product innovations over the past 12 months? And are there some frozen categories that are lagging behind others in product innovations?
A: The dinner/entree and vegetable categories have provided significant innovation over the past 12 months. Several new items have helped to bring new users to these segments over the last year. The pizza category is having a tough time keeping pace with overall frozen sales recently. This is primarily due to the fact that they are cycling through a significant amount of new items and innovation from the previous year.
Generally speaking, how effective are the marketing and promotional programs sponsored by your vendor partners in driving retail sales of their individual brands, encouraging trial, and spurring growth in their respective categories?
A: It depends upon the promotion. We evaluate programs that are brought to us and we carefully select the ones that we believe will have the most value to our consumers.
Two of the strongest trends in consumer purchasing patterns seem to support products that offer greater convenience and more recently, a growing interest in products that are part of a healthier family menu. How important is it that retail assortments reflect these priorities, while also addressing ongoing demands for great taste, variety and value?
A: The convenience and healthier product trends should continue to increase as we move forward. We always want to offer the products that our customers are looking for. However we also do this by striving to maintain the proper balance of great taste, variety and value for our customers.
With so many demands being made on your time, how do you stay up to date on overall trends in frozen foods and key categories? Are there resources beyond syndicated data and meetings with vendors that help you in your short-term and long-term planning?
A: Our buyers focus on data analysis which is critical to staying up to date on trends for any category. We also prioritize our time to make sure we are working on optimizing value for our consumer.
Are there ways that retailers and manufacturers can take some of the bite out of high energy costs, without passing along the increases to shoppers? And will higher energy costs have any impact on the potential for adding more doors to frozen departments?
A: Every retailer and manufacturer could probably figure out some way to reduce energy costs. We constantly monitor our energy expenses and as a retailer we make every effort to keep these costs as low as possible. Rising energy costs could very possibly have an impact for all retailers on the amount of space they dedicate to frozen departments.
Mike Gaetz — Coborn's
Which frozen categories have been most successful in driving sales growth through product innovations over the past 12 months? And are there some frozen categories that are lagging behind others in product innovations?
A: Stouffers/Lean Cuisine Panini sandwiches have been one of the best new product innovations this year. Not far behind have been the steam fresh vegetables from Birds Eye. Other winners have been the new ultra thin pizzas from Kraft and also Jimmy Dean breakfast items which has shown great sales. The categories that have not performed well with new product innovations are juice, ice cream, potatoes, and pancakes and waffles.
Generally speaking, how effective are the marketing and promotional programs sponsored by your vendor partners in driving retail sales of their individual brands, encouraging trial, and spurring growth in their respective categories?
A: The effectiveness of all of the various promotional activity boils down to how good the execution is at store level. I can write the best ads but if there is no follow through at store level, the sales don't materialize. Those vendors that have the best store presence have had the most success. The DSD pizza vendors have been the best in driving category sales with promotional activity because they are able to assist store personnel build displays and provide point of sale material. Our main dairy company has also had very good sales due to execution of promotions at store level. Vendor help has proven to be a great asset in driving sales.
Two of the strongest trends in consumer purchasing patterns seem to support products that offer greater convenience and more recently, a growing interest in products that are part of a healthier family menu. How important is it that retail assortments reflect these priorities, while also addressing ongoing demands for great taste, variety and value?
A: I feel it is extremely important to try to offer as many of these new items to our customers as possible. Unfortunately our stores are at a point where for every new item that comes in something else must go. Hard decisions have to be made to discontinue items and brands that are borderline performers to make room for these new items that will get heavily advertised. However, overall the new products that boast health benefits have only been moderately successful in the mainstream frozen aisle. Conversely products that can claim to be "natural or organic" have had fairly good success in our natural foods departments.
With so many demands being made on your time, how do you stay up to date on overall trends in frozen foods and key categories? Are there resources beyond syndicated data and meetings with vendors that help you in your short-term and long-term planning?
A: I primarily use our own internal sales data to evaluate categories. Also of great help is the information provided by our vendor partners to keep me up to date on category trends. I also utilize planogram information provided by our primary wholesaler.
Are there ways that retailers and manufacturers can take some of the bite out of high energy costs, without passing along the increases to shoppers? And will higher energy costs have any impact on the potential for adding more doors to frozen departments?
A: Many of our vendor partners have tried to increase efficiencies by partnering with other distributors to get their products to our stores. We have also seen in a few instances a reduction in the numbers of deliveries of some products or a minimum case amount per delivery has been set. At the retail end we have been replacing inefficient five-deck cases and coffin-style cases with more efficient door cases. We are also experimenting with cycling the door heaters during low humidity times. So far energy costs have not been a factor in determining how large our frozen departments are. Our store layouts are dictated more by consumer buying trends and competition in the market than current energy costs.
Sue Quillen — Publix
Which frozen categories have been most successful in driving sales growth through product innovations over the past 12 months? And are there some frozen categories that are lagging behind others in product innovations?
A: The ice cream category has provided new technology and product innovation. The breakfast category is keeping pace with a growing item selection. We believe these changes have helped to bring in new users to both segments. The juice category seems to be slowing down due to the convenience of the refrigerated juices which have value-added items.
Generally speaking, how effective are the marketing and promotional programs sponsored by your vendor partners in driving retail sales of their individual brands, encouraging trial, and spurring growth in their respective categories?
A: We look at each program and try to select only those that will bring value to our consumers and growth to the category.
Two of the strongest trends in consumer purchasing patterns seem to support products that offer greater convenience and more recently, a growing interest in products that are part of a healthier family menu. How important is it that retail assortments reflect these priorities, while also addressing ongoing demands for great taste, variety and value?
A: We review trends and purchasing patterns to help determine the retail assortment our consumers are looking for. We review new items diligently. We look for items that provide great taste, add variety, and value for our consumers.
With so many demands being made on your time, how do you stay up to date on overall trends in frozen foods and key categories? Are there resources beyond syndicated data and meetings with vendors that help you in your short-term and long-term planning?
A: We review both industry and internal data to stay up to date on overall trends. We use several in-house tools for both short and long-term planning. We are constantly striving to improve our key categories.
Are there ways that retailers and manufacturers can take some of the bite out of high energy costs, without passing along the increases to shoppers? And will higher energy costs have any impact on the potential for adding more doors to frozen departments?
A: We review and monitor our energy expenses. As a retailer we make every effort to keep these costs as low as possible. The number of doors is relevant to the success of a frozen food department. However, rising energy costs could play a powerful role in the amount of space that retailers dedicate to frozen.
Diane Roberts — Giant Eagle
Which frozen categories have been most successful in driving sales growth through product innovations over the past 12 months? And are there some frozen categories that are lagging behind others in product innovations?
A: There have been a few true innovations over the past 12 - 18 months that have been successful in driving sales growth. There have also been some innovations that are good for the category in the long run but aren't driving sales growth either because they are such niche items or because they're ahead of their time. Some examples of each type of innovative product include:
- Microwave crisping technology in the entree category with Stouffer's Panini sandwiches.
- Steaming in the microwave right in the retail bag with Bird's Eye Steamables.
- Restaurant-quality, good for you meals you prepare from components with Grace's Kitchen.
- The "reintroduction" of yogurt into frozen by introducing the Yoplait name on frozen novelties. This capitalizes on the amazing growth of yogurt in the dairy department.
- The addition of whole wheat crust to mainstream pizza by DiGiorno.
- The "churn" technology that allows ice cream manufacturers to offer excellent tasting products with half the fat.
Generally speaking, how effective are the marketing and promotional programs sponsored by your vendor partners in driving retail sales of their individual brands, encouraging trial, and spurring growth in their respective categories?
A: Generally speaking, most of our major manufacturer partners are in tune with our strategic initiatives and develop programs in partnership with the category teams that are both effective in driving the sales of their individual brands and are consistent with our corporate initiatives.
Two of the strongest trends in consumer purchasing patterns seem to support products that offer greater convenience and more recently, a growing interest in products that are part of a healthier family menu. How important is it that retail assortments reflect these priorities, while also addressing ongoing demands for great taste, variety and value?
A: With so much press focused on the growing obesity problem in the U.S., I believe that healthier frozen products will have to make their way into our retail assortments. That said, consumers are not willing to give up on convenience—they have precious little time for meal planning and preparation—so these products must continue the gains we've made on convenience. They also do not want to give up on taste.
With so many demands being made on your time, how do you stay up to date on overall trends in frozen foods and key categories? Are there resources beyond syndicated data and meetings with vendors that help you in your short-term and long-term planning?
A: It is difficult to stay on top of all of the information available. I find I read several daily internet food news services, I continue to read several daily newspapers, scan weekly news and industry magazines and subscribe to several consumer food magazines (e.g. Gourmet, Cooking Light, etc.) to enable me to pick up on trends that are incorporated into business planning.
Are there ways that retailers and manufacturers can take some of the bite out of high energy costs, without passing along the increases to shoppers? And will higher energy costs have any impact on the potential for adding more doors to frozen departments?
A: We work hard to maintain open lines of communication with our suppliers, jointly monitoring product cost components so we can continue to offer our customers the best everyday value. One example of a joint effort with manufacturers has been our use of consolidated warehouse facilities so vendors can ship larger quantities to a central facility, we can pull as needed thereby reducing our owned inventory and consolidating the items with other goods to more efficiently bring the items to our warehouse and stores.
We also offer our popular fuelperks! rewards program which has helped reduce the pain at the pump for many customers. With the fuleperks! rewards program, customers meeting the necessary purchase requirements earn a discount of $.10 on each gallon of gas at our Getgo fuel and convenience stores for every $50 spent with the Giant Eagle Advantage Card inside Giant Eagle supermarkets and GetGo locations. In addition to earning these rewards for the majority of everyday grocery purchases, customers can earn fuelperks! on many other Giant Eagle offerings including dry cleaning services, video rental and sales, other retailer gift cards such as The Home Depot and Sears, and non state and federally funded pharmacy prescriptions.
As for decisions about department size, I believe we will continue to invest where it makes sense economically. We still have some stores that we are converting from coffin cases to more efficient (and spacious) doors.
Miriam Welch — Albertsons
Which frozen categories have been most successful in driving sales growth through product innovations over the past 12 months? And are there some frozen categories that are lagging behind others in product innovations?
A: A great example of innovation driving sales is in the novelties category. Dreyer's came out with Dibs last year and now that segment has a significant portion of the category. Other innovations have been in the prepared foods category, such as the introduction of Stouffer's and Lean Cuisine Panini. This opened up additional eating occasions for customers. Finally, frozen breakfast has been innovative in moving to more protein-based items, such as Jimmy Dean sandwiches and bowls, to better compete with fast and quick serve.
Frozen juice is a category that is definitely in need of some innovation. We have seen almost a decade of yearly double-digit declines in sales.
Generally speaking, how effective are the marketing and promotional programs sponsored by your vendor partners in driving retail sales of their individual brands, encouraging trial, and spurring growth in their respective categories?
A: Overall, most frozen vendor partners develop effective plans. At the end of the day, feature, correct promotional pricing/timing, and display are still the best drivers of sales and growth in most frozen categories. Vendors that devote proper time to planning these aspects of the overall plan are usually effective. Unfortunately, this tends to be considered somewhat routine and "boring." Sometimes, too much time is devoted to "building the brand" through the consumer without any corresponding trade spending. Very rarely will this in itself drive sales and trial.
Two of the strongest trends in consumer purchasing patterns seem to support products that offer greater convenience and more recently, a growing interest in products that are part of a healthier family menu. How important is it that retail assortments reflect these priorities, while also addressing ongoing demands for great taste, variety and value?
A: Frozen food is the ultimate convenience food for most customers so the trend, which is new for most categories, had, in most cases, already been addressed by frozen vendors. I think that manufacturers just need to continue to innovate, like refining packaging or portions, as customers change.
As far as the trend towards healthier fare, I think anything manufacturers can do to reformulate or reposition items as healthier is great for brands and the overall image of frozen food. Nestle has done a great job in taking out preservatives and marketing this information. However, for mainstream stores, trying to sell a new line because it is "healthier" is not enough to override concerns on taste, variety and value. Those three needs must also be addressed.
With so many demands being made on your time, how do you stay up to date on overall trends in frozen foods and key categories? Are there resources beyond syndicated data and meetings with vendors that help you in your short-term and long-term planning?
A: The best sources for information and trends are the vendors that sit in your office every week. This helps pinpoint where in internal and syndicated data to focus on and saves time. Trade magazines are also a good source, as well as the daily newspaper and business publications, both of which are great for general market and consumer trends.
Are there ways that retailers and manufacturers can take some of the bite out of high energy costs, without passing along the increases to shoppers? And will higher energy costs have any impact on the potential for adding more doors to frozen departments?
A: Frozen food is a competitive advantage for traditional supermarket chains and as our customers look for convenient meal ideas, frozen is an ideal area to push. This will be the biggest deciding factor in adding doors, not necessarily higher energy costs.
Manufacturers can look at packaging and logistics to make sure they are as efficient as they can be plus look at items that might be "over packaged" and redesign to lower costs.
Margie A. Judd — Cub Foods
Which frozen categories have been most successful in driving sales growth through product innovations over the past 12 months? And are there some frozen categories that are lagging behind others in product innovations?
A: In the frozen prepared food category there were some new items that helped bring the category back after dismal sales during the low carb craze. Nestle introduced the Panini sandwich. The Lean Cuisine Panini was a hit right from the start. The panini met a need the consumer was looking for, ease of preparation and great taste. Nestle also introduced a line of prepared foods called Corner Bistro. The variety and taste of the products were a hit with the time deprived consumer Nestle was targeting. These types of products bring consumers who are eating out so much back to the grocery store to buy a meal they feel fits their needs of great taste in a hurry.
The ice cream and novelty categories also were innovative this year. The slow churned product from Edy's/Dryer's has been a hit with our consumers. Other companies came out with their version of creamier light ice cream and all have been pretty successful. Häagen-Dazs added a light ice cream to their line up which has added growth to the category. Again, the products taste outstanding. Our consumers are not willing to give up taste for less calories but when they can get great taste in a healthier version they "eat" it up!
In the frozen vegetable category, Birds Eye's Steamfresh vegetables are bringing consumers to the category. Again the ease of preparation and the fresh taste of the vegetables have made it a great new item.
Generally speaking, how effective are the marketing and promotional programs sponsored by your vendor partners in driving retail sales of their individual brands, encouraging trial, and spurring growth in their respective categories?
A: My vendor partners are very good at putting together marketing programs to drive sales. The most successful launches have a very focused advertising campaign which includes television, print and local advertising.
Two of the strongest trends in consumer purchasing patterns seem to support products that offer greater convenience and more recently, a growing interest in products that are part of a healthier family menu. How important is it that retail assortments reflect these priorities, while also addressing ongoing demands for great taste, variety and value?
A: If you want to grow your category sales, offering these assortments are crucial in today's environment. With the growth of natural and organic products, you have to make decisions every day on what items to carry in order to grow sales. Natural and organic products are very popular because of their great taste and the health attributes they bring to the consumer. In our retail environment we carry a large assortment of natural and organic products but still have the mainstream items priced at value prices so the consumer has many choices to fit the occasion they are shopping for.
With so many demands being made on your time, how do you stay up to date on overall trends in frozen foods and key categories? Are there resources beyond syndicated data and meetings with vendors that help you in your short-term and long-term planning?
A: I rely heavily on my vendor partners and internal data to stay on top of trends in frozen food. Category reviews comparing my stores' performance with my competitors and best in class retailers help to make directional decisions to keep growth trends in the positive direction.
Are there ways that retailers and manufacturers can take some of the bite out of high energy costs, without passing along the increases to shoppers? And will higher energy costs have any impact on the potential for adding more doors to frozen departments?
A: We are working with our vendors to have them deliver on the SBT (Scan Based Trading) program. Getting more vendors to be Scan Based Trading vendors gives the vendor a lot more flexibility in delivery schedules. They can make more stops with fuller trucks reducing costs. We also have our stores reduce costs by making sure they are ordering product to fill trucks. Having trucks deliver less often with fuller loads will decrease our fuel costs.
I don't believe the cost of fuel will impact the amount of space given to frozen in our stores. Our customers want to have a wide variety of frozen foods to choose from and we intend to continue to give them that choice.
And the Winners Are...| Steve O'Hara | Publix |
| Margie Judd | Cub Foods |
| Gene Orman | Supervalu |
| Jim Miner | Miner's Inc. |
| Mike Gaetz | Coborn's |
| Sue Quillen | Publix |
| Diane Roberts | Giant Eagle |
| Miriam Welch | Albertsons |
| Travis Hubbard | Harris Teeter |
| Shawn Buckner | Meijer |