N OVEMBER 2017
RECENT NEWS At Plated, The Future of Meal-Kit Services is Grocery Stores “By the end of 2020, any standalone meal-kit company will be dead,” said Nick Taranto, chief strategy officer and cofounder of Plated, speaking at the Fast Company Innovation Festival in New York City, “and we’re going to put them out of business.” The five-year-old Plated, which was acquired last month by the grocery giant Albertsons Companies for a reported $200 million, is the latest meal-kit company to find a safe haven within a larger partner. Campbell Soup invested $10 million in Chef’d in May, just after Unilever invested $9 million in mealsubscription service Sun Basket. Meanwhile, Blue Apron, the largest and most visible meal-kit company, has been struggling. The company laid off 6% of its staff last week, and it’s struggling to stabilize its stock price after going public in June. Still, despite persistent rumors of Amazon’s inevitable entrance into the market, Hello Fresh announced that it plans to go public this week.
After their company’s recent acquisition by grocery giant Albertsons, Plated’s cofounders are getting ready to hit stores by the end of the year.
●●● 90% of Millennials are buying Private Label to save money, while 83% will try lower priced brands to save money.
●●● Dinnerly looking to infiltrate the discount meal kit market with a $5 per serving price point and simplified recipes.
●●● Continue reading article here.
Consumers Still Turn to Private Labels in Stable Economy Economic indicators have been shaken by severe fall weather, but the economy still appears to be healthy and strengthening. However, 31% of U.S. households are struggling to afford groceries in Q3 2017, in line with the same period in 2016, but up from 28% in Q1 2016, according to Chicago-based IRI’s Consumer Connect survey.
Organic products have become more accessible, and popular, than ever, with dollar sales shifting across channel lines.
●●● Clean Label becoming increasingly important as 93% of US households have purchased a clean label product in grocery stores.
In fact, consumers are continuing to rely on private label products to help make ends meet, but the role of private label in packaged goods goes way beyond money saving, as outlined in IRI’s other study, “Private Label 2017,” which examines the latest private label trends. Results from the IRI survey revealed that younger and less-wealthy shoppers are Continue reading article here. struggling more than others. Sources: Fast Company, Refrigerated & Frozen Foods
Find out how SMART can drive sales & boost your insights. Contact sara.long@thesmarteam.com or visit www.thesmarteam.com.
Industry Trends & Insights Newsletter November 2017
MARKET PERFORMANCE
The Northeast region remains the RFG leader in terms of share but experienced the second largest share decline. In comparison, the West region has gained the largest amount in terms of share, while the Great Lakes and Southeast regions each grew share by +0.2pts.
Category Performance % Change YAG Latest 12 Wks Ending Oct 8, 2017 Dollar Sales % Chg YA
Total Refrigerated Foods sold nearly $2.6 Billion during the latest 12 weeks, growing dollars by +5.6% when compared to last year. Each RFG category experienced dollar and unit growth from YA. RFG Entrees experienced the strongest growth, up +8.9% and +5.4% in dollars and units respectively.
8.9% 5.6%
3.7% 4.8% 2.9%
Unit Sales % Chg YA
5.4% 6.7%
3.8%
4.2% 3.5%
3.5%
0.1% TOTAL RFG FOODS
OTHER RFG PRODUCTS
RFG ENTREES
RFG SIDE DISHES
RFG - SALAD DRESSING
RFG SALAD/COLESLAW
Category Performance - Dollar & Unit Sales Latest 12 Weeks Ending Oct 8, 2017 Total US Food/Drug/Mass Dollar Sales Unit Sales incl. Walmart TOTAL REFRIGERATED FOODS $ 2,573,418,752 753,811,328 OTHER RFG PRODUCTS $ 115,744,720 30,436,046 RFG ENTREES $ 405,860,992 98,995,600 RFG SIDE DISHES $ 661,943,936 157,026,032 RFG SALAD DRESSING $ 94,532,544 25,682,278 RFG SALAD/COLESLAW $ 1,295,336,576 441,671,360
Promotional Review Total RFG Foods: % Dollars Sold on Merch Period Ending October 8, 2017 Latest 12 Weeks Ending Oct 8, 2017
Latest 12 Weeks Ending Oct 8, 2017, Year Ago
28.4% 29.2% 23.3% 24.3% 13.4% 14.0% 8.7% 9.1%
8.4% 8.9%
5.4% 5.2% 0.9% 0.9% Any Merch
Disp Only
Feat Only
Feat and Disp
Prc Red Only
% Dollars Sold on % Dollars Sold on Main Ad Ad and/or Price Cut
Total Promotion levels are down slightly when compared to last year. Largest decline is seen by Price Reduction while Display support has seen a slight increase vs YA.
Sources: SMART, IRI Latest 12 weeks ending October 8, 2017 Find out how SMART can drive sales & boost your insights. Contact sara.long@thesmarteam.com or visit www.thesmarteam.com.
INSIGHTS
Industry Trends & Insights Newsletter November 2017
Dinnerly Meal Kits Take Aim at Value-Oriented Consumers Dinnerly, a discounted meal kit option from Martha & Marley Spoon, is looking to infiltrate the discount meal kit market with a $5 per serving price point and simplified recipes. The kits contain only one or two ingredients that need to be chopped, with a total of only six ingredients per package. The recipes are also designed to require 30 minutes or less of prep and cook time, are advertised as “picky-eater approved,” and are available in either two- or four-serving packages. The product, which first launched on the West Coast this summer, is now available nationwide. A leading competitor, Blue Apron, hangs its hat on upscale cooking experiences rather than financial efficiency, but that’s a route that Dinnerly plans to avoid. Founder and CEO Fabian Siegel said that he believes the average American family spends about $5 per serving when cooking meals at home on their own. Thus, $10 meal kits may be out of financial Continue reading article here. reach for a large part of the potential customer base.
Organic Products Are Showing Up in More Places and For Less Money The word “organic” has become a household term, and purchasing trends are following suit. In the last year, 88% of U.S. households have purchased organic* food and beverages—a trend that’s growing in strength as consumers increasingly turn to more healthy and clean options in food, beverages and non -food categories like personal care. And retail measurement data validates this shift. In the year ended Sept. 2, 2017, dollar sales of UPC-coded organic products grew 9.8%, and unit volume increased 11.4%. In the past, organic products were most prevalently available in premier natural and fresh grocery stores. In recent years, however, organics have become more accessible—and popular—than ever, with dollar sales shifting across channel lines. Premier natural and fresh outlets account for 26% of organic spend, but share has started to shift in the last two years. Warehouse/club stores, which gained 0.8 percentage point in the last two years, now represent 27% of all organic spend. But organic products aren’t just making headway in the channels that high-income shoppers are more likely to frequent. Continue reading article here. Sources: Supermarket News, Nielsen Insights Find out how SMART can drive sales & boost your insights. Contact sara.long@thesmarteam.com or visit www.thesmarteam.com.
OTHER NEWS
Industry Trends & Insights Newsletter November 2017
Conventional is Out, Clean Label is In Consumers are increasingly focused on transparency when it comes to products they buy, and conventional product sales are declining while those that tout simple, clean or sustainable attributes are on the rise, according to new research from Nielsen. This demand for clean also is changing the products retailers are stocking in their stores. For the milk/dairy alternative category, clean label makes up 90 percent share followed by sugar/sweeteners with clean label accounting for 83 percent share. Cooking wine and vinegar rounds out the top three with 81 percent share touting clean label. While natural and specialty retailers were the first beneficiaries of this trend, it’s important to note that it has become a mainstream movement. Nearly all, 93 percent, of U.S. households have purchased clean label product at grocery stores while 70 percent have purchased them at a mass merchandiser/supercenter. Looking at the fast-moving consumer goods, half of consumers’ shopping trips now include a clean label product purchase. Continue reading article here.
For more information on and to register for the Refrigerated Foods Association 38th Annual Conference & Exhibition visit the website at: http://www.refrigeratedfoods.org Find out how SMART can drive sales & boost your insights. Contact sara.long@thesmarteam.com or visit www.thesmarteam.com.