Party People

Associate training is a critical part of a profitable catering and event-planning operation for the deli/prepared food department.

Sales of prepared and ready-to-eat foods were up 7 percent in 2012, according to Bridgeton, Mo.-based foodservice equipment manufacturer Hussmann Corp., and while figures aren't yet available, the growth in supermarket catering/party-planning sales doubtless played a role in this increase.

"As the economy has continued to recover, we've noticed a particular increase in corporate sales," says Jerry Cedrone, kitchen director at Wellesley, Mass.-based Roche Bros. "Consumers have also shown some increased spending for catered milestone events. We've been pleased to see steady sales increases across our Creative Entertaining business year-to-date, ending the year with a strong holiday season."

Cedrone's observations echo those of other retailers, and Eric LeBlanc, VP of marketing for deli and convenience foodservice at Tyson Foods Inc. in Springdale, Ark., points out that, in regard to catering, while "differentiation in product is always difficult to achieve and sustain, differentiation in the quality of service is much harder to attain and duplicate, and provides a much greater competitive advantage, and the only way to deliver that higher level of performance is through consistent, effective store associate training sustained over time."

In sports, it's axiomatic that a game plan is only as good as the players who execute it, and this certainly carries over into supermarket catering, where associates must be both foodies and "people persons." This combination must be overlaid with the above-mentioned "effective training sustained over time" for a catering program to achieve maximum profitability.

Nonetheless, Cedrone issues the reminder that "the single most important driver is the quality of food offered as part of our catering services. In addition, we offer flexibility, exceptional service and convenience that our customers greatly value and appreciate."

To achieve these goals, Cedrone explains, each catering associate is trained by members of the Roche Bros. management team and the company's catering coordinator. "We provide approximately 40 hours of training to each of our associates," who staff the retailer's 16 stores that offer catering in greater Boston and southern Massachusetts, he notes.

Lakeland, Fla.-based Publix Super Markets offers event planning in more than 35 store locations, and the grocer's event planners will help plan and gather all of the essentials for a memorable gathering, including food, wine, flowers and paper goods. "Event planners can make recommendations on quantities, pairings and finishing touches," says Maria Brous, Publix director of media and community relations.

"We understand that our customers are often time-starved and looking to make occasions memorable and special," Brous continues. "In addition, our event planners can assist brides-to-be with cake tastings, another great service. We offer the convenience of one-stop shopping from the grocer they trust."

To achieve this trust, Publix event planners and catering staff are trained in new product rollouts and attend department rotation training. By working in each fresh department, an associate becomes well versed in product selection, serving size, pairings and attention to detail. Publix also has a mentoring program at each new store that rolls out event planning.

"Our event planning is offered through our Aprons Program, which also offers Publix Aprons Simple Meals and Publix Aprons Cooking School," Brous explains. "For customers who would like assistance in planning that special occasion, but whose store doesn't offer event planning, we offer them assistance at www.publix.com/entertaining , which offers menu and event-planning checklists and party basics, along with other essential information."

Indeed, many supermarkets use their websites to inform and educate shoppers about the finer points of catering and event planning, in a sense training their customers. Quincy, Mass.-based Stop & Shop, for instance, has a catering tips site that offers food safety guidance and a portion-planning primer that allows customers to see recommended serving sizes for everything from appetizers to desserts and beverages, making store associates' tasks easier in the actual planning process, because of more knowledgeable clients.

"Supermarkets today provide another element of convenience, unlike in years past, where shoppers could basically do their own in-home catering with the help of the nearest supermarket," says Gary M. O'Brien, VP of retail perishable operations at Reading, Pa.-based Redner's Markets Inc. "Today, people do not want the hassle. Fast-paced lifestyles have created the need for this service, and the supermarket industry fits in very nicely."

At Redner's, deli managers provide the catering training based on the experience levels of the associates, how long they've been in the deli environment and how much training they need, O'Brien notes. "Every associate must know how to take an order, how to calculate the portions and the total order," he says. "They must have excellent communications skills along with unprecedented customer service skills."

Game On

Melinda Race, director of catering and café for Carson, Calif.-based Bristol Farms, says that catering "is becoming an easy trade-off to many of today's working families. The product is good, companies deliver, and you can enjoy the guests that you are entertaining much more than if you were in the kitchen."

Bristol Farms' catering growth has been in the sports segment, through partnerships with USC, UCLA and the Rose Bowl. "The beauty of this type of catering is the new relationships that bloom, and our goal is to become the personal caterer to all of our new clients," Race says. "We don't want to be just the caterer for the game — we want to be producing the holiday parties, birthday parties, summer picnics and more."

Race characterizes Bristol Farms' catering training as "hands-on," matching new associates up with whom she calls "the best in the field" to enable intimate training in all segments. "Training takes months for the associates to actually grasp all that is entailed in the event-planning business, and, frankly, some people do not have it in them to take on these challenging jobs," she admits.

The subjects covered at Bristol Farms include customer service, sales techniques, phone etiquette, portion planning, floral, décor, rental setup, food knowledge, food handling, cooking, packaging, loading, delivery services, serving, bartending and time management. "Each location has a catering manager, a production manager, and — depending on the size of the store — additional catering coordinators, drivers and chefs," Race says.

At Henry's Foods in North Beverly, Mass., President/Owner John Keohane says training for a planning associate is usually a six-month process, covering areas like menu development, location coordination, staffing and customer service. Henry's currently has five planning associates, with two additional staffers in training, and local colleges have given some staff members the basics before they joined the Henry's catering team.

"We have longtime employees with a true interest in hospitality who have worked in our operation and understand the capabilities of the various departments," Keohane says.

DIY Network

Kate Stille, marketing director at Woodland, Calif.-based Nugget Markets, accounts for the growth of supermarket catering and event planning in great part by what she calls "a real trend in DIY (do-it-yourself) entertaining, which has provided supermarkets with a great opportunity to service their shoppers by sharing their product knowledge, including food and drink pairings."

Nugget's chefs work closely with kitchen floor captains and kitchen managers on portion recommendations and food pairings for all prepared sides, salads and entrées, "ensuring that our guests receive the most professional recommendations possible," Stille says.

Service training at Nugget begins as an extension of the company's orientation program, and is integrated throughout the year, Stille explains. "For example, our wine stewards meet monthly to personally taste and evaluate every wine that is brought into our stores," she says. "Quite often, food-pairing suggestions are discussed so that all team members can make educated recommendations to our guests. All of our buyers do extensive research on their products, and in turn share what they have learned with all associates."

Nugget's suppliers quite often provide the company's associates with extensive product training. "Premium suppliers such as Boar's Head and Ettore's European Bakery provide training for our associates regarding the history, quality, benefits and often the appropriate pairing of their products," Stille says. "Our associates couple their product knowledge with that of different departments, and with our extensive service expectations, to offer entertaining tips and suggestions for any guest who may be looking for assistance."

Richard Draeger, CEO at Draeger's in South San Francisco, Calif., says his company's catering business is "very good and improving," which he attributes to the Bay Area's relative economic vitality.

With catering offered in all four of its stores, Draeger's has a specialist to whom catering calls are routed. "We've found it crucial to have an individual in that position who is well versed in products and understands the overall customer needs like dishware and table-and-chair rentals," Draeger says.

In the stores, he explains, each manager and another highly trained individual handle walk-in catering requests, and nuances like whether a product should be hot or cold, or if there are any allergy issues, are addressed through follow-up phone calls.

Draeger says that his catering operation doesn't want to get "too involved off-site at this time, because that can spread us pretty thin around the holidays." As such, Draeger's hands off details like bartending and serving to local contractors that will take over after the Draeger's drop-off of product. "Given the size of the event, we'll recommend the adequate number of bartenders and servers," he says.

Profitable opportunities certainly abound for grocers that add catering and party planning to the deli/prepared food departments. Critical to success, as evidenced here, is extensive, in-depth training in this high-margin department.

"The single most important driver is the quality of food offered as part of our catering services."

—Jerry Cedrone, Roche Bros.

"Today, people do not want the hassle. Fast-paced lifestyles have created the need for this service, and the supermarket industry fits in very nicely."

—Gary M. O'Brien, Redner's Markets Inc.

Mom's the Word

Moms as Food Shoppers: Grocery Store and Supercenter Patterns and Trends, a just-released study from market research firm Packaged Facts, notes that the growing desire to experiment with new food has given tremendous influence to the Internet and social media when it comes to household food purchases, something supermarket deli/prepared food managers would do well to bear in mind for their catering and event-planning endeavors.

So great is the technological and new media influence, the study says, that it often supersedes much of the purchasing sway traditionally believed to be held by children in the home. Modern moms are turning to blogs for information before visiting the store, and using mobile apps to make sure they're getting the best in-store deals.

The study emphasizes that the modern mom is less June Cleaver and more tech-immersed foodie, and is at the epicenter of the new home-based food culture and in the vanguard of the movement toward healthy eating. Modern moms want grocery stores to step up and help them plan and prepare healthy meals, and, besides enhancing what they offer moms on their websites, grocers can build relationships with moms, extending into catering and event planning by strengthening their in-store cooking and meal-planning programs.

Compared with food shoppers on average, moms are 33 percent more likely to choose grocery stores offering cooking classes or cooking videos, and 23 percent more likely to pick stores providing meal-planning and recipe information, according to Rockville, Md.-based Packaged Facts.

Freshness and Training Examined

By Eric LeBlanc

We know that "freshness" is one of the most important attributes for a deli shopper, but what's less obvious is what "fresh" means.

Except in the case of dried-out rotisserie birds or crusty mac 'n cheese, freshness isn't easy to determine visually, so consumers use surrogate measures for freshness — freshness cues, if you will.

Here are the big three: Are your store associates well groomed and clean? Is the store environment clean? Do your store associates appear to know what they're doing?

The last may be the least obvious. If your store associates appear to be well trained and knowledgeable, the shopper is prepared to believe that they're following good food practices, like rotation and hold-time procedures. All three of these critical freshness cues not only can be, but will only be, addressed by effective store training.

The deli shopper recognizes two distinct performance areas for store associates: friendliness and knowledge.

Remember that the deli is often a service point, so the quality of the interaction (friendliness) is highly important. The importance of the knowledge factor is the impact on confidence in the product. The industry varies widely in the ratings a retailer's shoppers give in these two areas.

Not surprisingly, you'll find that retailers that do an excellent job on these attributes are the same retailers who score high on overall satisfaction and exceed their fair share of sales in prepared food categories.

"We don't want to be just the caterer for the game — we want to be producing the holiday parties, birthday parties, summer picnics and more."

—Melinda Race, Bristol Farms