How Grocery Retail Can Deliver as Consumers Closely Calculate Spending

The Reality

The rising cost of grocery staples is forcing consumers to change their weekly grocery planning. And for low income households, the impact is much greater. According to the USDA Economic Research Service, weekly household spending for food at home is now $148 compared with $113 per week pre-pandemic.^[1] Along with that, a fast food burger, fries and drink isn’t $4.99 anymore. Shopper options for getting a value, quality dinner on the table — fast — are slimmer than ever. If you’re a grocery retailer, how can you continue to deliver value and remain top-of-mind as a destination for meals?

Private Label

The current landscape sees some consumers trading down to shop at cheaper stores or seeking out cheaper items — even driving demand for fresh private label foods from grocers. This April, Leslie Sarasin, President and CEO of the Food Industry Association (FMI), shared that “many retailers are changing their product mix, providing tools to help consumers cook at home more and stepping up the assortment and quality of their private label products to help ensure shoppers can buy what they need at a price they can afford.”^[2]

At Home Experiences

Among the rise in food prices this year, it is predicted that eating out will see the highest increase. Consumers are pulling back on restaurant visits to save money and leaning into at home experiences. 42% of consumers reported they plan to cook more, and the same percentage will eat more fresh food.^[3] With this reality, we see the potential for shopper traffic to shift from restaurants and QSRs to meal solutions at grocery retail that provide chef-quality, variety, and ease of use at a lower cost.

Our North Star as a company is to bring people back to the table for mealtime. And in today’s economic environment, FreshRealm is excited to be supporting grocery retailers as they create innovative Fresh Meals destinations as a cost-effective option for consumers.

For a full view of our company efforts, visit freshrealm.com or linkedin.com/company/freshrealm

About FreshRealm                          
FreshRealm, a leading fresh meals solution provider at retail, partners with retailers to create Fresh Meals destinations that provide vibrant and convenient solutions for a busy and healthier consumer lifestyle. With a belief that we all connect through meals, FreshRealm's team of culinary experts curate a range of inspired meals using the very best ingredients so that consumers can enjoy delicious, fresh meals with little to no effort. The company is 100% focused on fresh meals to provide a complete retail solution; from product design, sourcing, implementation, meal assembly, logistics, through marketing & promotion