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Gourmet Dining is certainly no stranger to consumer's skillets—nor to Frozen Food Age's 10 & 10 club. For several years in a row, the company has been a strong fire under the success of frozen skillet dinners (the multi-serve dinner subcategory of the frozen dinners category). The Gourmet Dining label posted a 12.1% increase in dollar sales for the past year, based on internal data, according to Robert Scully, CEO, Gourmet Express, Gridley, Ill. "Some of our largest growth occurred in the channel of mass merchandisers, as well as select retail chains," he maintains. "The category continues to grow based on the convenience and variety of the skillet meal category."
Industry data shows that the overall frozen skillet category expanded to just over $400 million, "which constitutes a growth factor of just under 10%, impacted, in part, by the entry of a national manufacturer stimulating the category with extensive advertising," according to Scully.
"In our own line, we offer good protein variety, with shrimp, seafood, chicken, beef and pork," he continues. "This is further augmented by us offering in various formula formats, including garlic-flavored, stir-fry, Alfredo sauce, and fried rice. We offer a complete meal with rice, pasta, or potatoes supplementing the vegetables."
The two leading SKUs for Gourmet Dining are Shrimp Stir Fry and Chicken Stir Fry, "but we have posted solid gain across the board on most of our 12 line items," states Scully. He adds that "overall, shrimp and seafood items have lead the way for us this past year; excellent growth was posted on our Seafood Medley and Seafood Stir Fry, which we believe are unique to our company."
The idea behind skillet meals is that they are "well-positioned to solve the dilemma for a quick, yet tasty and nutritious meal for those laboring under time poverty—and isn't that just about all of us?" reasons Scully. "What can be more convenient than having a complete meal ready—from freezer to fork—in 10 minutes? The consumer can keep a few in the freezer as a contingency, for when one is delayed at work, school, or elsewhere."
As fast food prices have increased, a quick meal at home has a lot of appeal these days, especially for value-conscious consumers. With this in mind, Gourmet Dining tries to target a price of just under $5, according to Scully, and that's with its larger (than most competing products) 32-oz. size; so four individual servings of 8 ounces each cost only $1.25. "It's very difficult to match this price with fast-food take-out burgers or pizza," Scully maintains.
Packaging appeal is also well thought-out and part of Gourmet Dining's winning equation. The company uses a packaging medium that has separate interior bags; the vegetables/pasta/rice, the protein, and the sauces are all packaged separately in an "eye-appealing" gusseted stand-up laminated bag.
"Consumers seem to like the sanitary and visual look of separate packaging, as opposed to everything just dumped in together," Scully maintains.
Gourmet Dining continues to stimulate consumer interest and movement with BOGO's and sampling programs. "Sampling has proved to be a good method of getting the consumer to try our product and experience the taste, and then once they see the convenience, the consumer is usually sold on the product," Scully explains. "We are currently reviewing and considering a coupon program, which, in a test market, fared very well. We find that we are not greatly impacted by seasonality, but do see spikes in our movement in both the early spring and late fall, with some expected fall-off over the holiday season, when consumers are looking at traditional holiday items."
The way Gourmet Dining sees it, products may come and go, but one aspect of consumer lifestyles that won't change is the time pressures so many are under. "Based on the amount of time the average consumer is willing to spend in the kitchen today, convenience products are of great interest to the consumer, and we believe this trend will only continue," states Scully. He says that Gourmet Dining products are uniquely positioned "to offer a good solution for a quick and nutritious meal at an affordable price and with great variety."
But it won't end there. The company is also looking at additional items to supplement the line—"in particular, Italian meals that can fall into the skillet line of products," relays Scully. "This would be a natural extension of our current line of products, which gives our consumers even more choices than we currently offer. We spend a lot of time on the taste profiles and the compatibility of the ingredients—in particular, the sauces—to ensure that what we have is what the consumer is looking for." The company also conducts frequent taste panels prior to launching new products.
In addition to new Italian offerings, the company is also "actively exploring a number of options" in the single-serve frozen dinner category, according to Scully. "Single-serve offers a lot of promise for our type of products."
Gourmet Express is an independent company, with its owners actively involved in the business on a daily basis. "This gives us considerable flexibility in how we react to changes in the market place," says Scully. "Additionally, we can react and respond quickly to customer needs without layers of administration that tend to delay quick decisions."
Additionally, Gourmet Dining is proud to be the recipient of the American Taste Institute Award for best products in the skillet meal category. In a widely competitive arena, Gourmet Dining products exclusively won this prestigious award. "We believe we have a winning combination of best taste, best value, and excellent packaging that continue to drive our sales," says Scully. "We strive to be the low-cost provider, and constantly review our cost structure to ensure that we have the most efficient processing and sourcing matrix possible to enable us to offer our customers the best consumer value in the category."
The road ahead for Gourmet Dining, and for the category, is a very positive one, according to Scully. "We believe that the category outlook is great, and we are thankful to retailers who continue to support our Gourmet Dining products," he says. "Thanks, also, to Frozen Food Age for the important contributions in letting the industry know who the consistent growth companies are, and the opportunities they offer to our customers' profit potential." —Renee Covino