Zestier Sales

Grocers that take spices and condiments with a grain of salt could be missing out on a big selling opportunity.

What's the best way to boost sales and condiments of spices at retail? A recent online poll conducted by Progressive Grocer found that cross-merchandising and promotions were by a wide margin the most popular methods of drumming up interest, according to 30.64 percent of respondents. See the box on page 96 for additional survey results.

Yet not all grocers are getting every dollar they could out of spices, seasonings and extracts, which, according to Nielsen, have seen a 3.6 percent increase in food stores with $2 million and over in dollar sales, as of the 52 weeks ending Sept. 4, 2010 (see Shelf Stoppers on page 8 for more detail), or condiments, gravies and sauces, whose dollar sales nudged up 1.8 percent during the same time period. "It's interesting, too, because spices, especially, seem like a category that's so vital to food preparation on a daily (and even meal-to-meal) basis," noted a Midwestern industry observer who asked not to be identified. "To a certain extent, perhaps that's what it is, the lack of need to market the products — because they always sell consistently. That's what causes the 'laissez faire' attitude toward their marketing among a number of retailers."

More creative operators are carving out their own approaches to selling spices and condiments, with promising results. Take PCC Natural Markets, the Seattle-area natural foods co-op with nine locations, at which, according to grocery merchandiser Stephanie Steiner, "there are some notable differences in what we offer spice and condiment shoppers in comparison to mainstream grocery retailers."

Items at PCC include products from local companies, among them "Rub with Love" products from Seattle-based Douglas Cross Enterprises and the Napoleon Co., a Bellevue, Wash.-based company (and longtime PCC partner) that imports condiments, olive oil, vinegars and other offerings.

"We offer variations of popular condiments in response to our more health-conscious customers," notes Steiner. "A great example is our line of catsup; we offer unsweetened, fruit-sweetened and agave-sweetened catsup and, consistent with our no high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) policy, none of our catsups contain HFCS, as do most conventional brands. Another example is our offering of vegan, as well as traditional, mayonnaise."

The grocer finds providing items in bulk to be an effective way to spotlight the category. "We offer a variety of spices in bulk that give shoppers flexibility in the quantity they buy and encourage trial of new recipes and flavors at minimal expense," says Steiner, adding, "More than 60 percent of our bulk spices are certified organic."

This particular trend at natural and organic retailers hasn't gone unnoticed by manufacturers, either. "Consumers are more practical as the economic realities require more penny-pinching, but they're also more product-savvy as they understand and try to incorporate more sustainable purchasing habits," notes Ellen Bouchard, brand manager for Frontier brand bulk herbs, spices and teas at Norway, Iowa-based Frontier Natural Co-op.

As in other areas of PCC's stores, education is an important ingredient in marketing spices and condiments. According to Steiner: "We give shoppers as much information as possible about the bulk spices they purchase. We note country of origin where possible and provide heat units for spices such as cayenne pepper and chili peppers on bulk spice labels."

Making its shoppers aware of what's available also figures prominently in PCC's spice and condiment game plan. "We promote our spices and condiments through end cap displays in-store and through our exhaustive online database (at www.pccnaturalmarkets.com) of bulk culinary herbs and spices that includes everything from allspice to xanthan gum," says Steiner, who points out that sales of spices and condiments at the grocer's stores have remained steady over the past year.

As noted earlier in PG's survey, cross-merchandising is the main way to go for many retailers, and McCormick &Co. is there to provide inspiration — quite literally — as well as actual displays. "The best example for this is with our new Recipe Inspirations," says Laurie Harrsen, director, consumer communications at the Hunt Valley, Md.-based spice giant. "Many retailers are also placing them in the meat department for secondary placement. This makes a lot of sense — [they] want to inspire shoppers when they are selecting their meats and thinking about dinner ideas. Another example would be at the holiday time …. It's important to have secondary placement of key holiday spices, herbs, extracts and food colors along with other holiday ingredients such as chocolate chips, stuffing, canned pumpkin, etc., to make it easier for the shopper to get everything at once without searching it out — and have enough supply for that busy time where spice section can't hold enough to meet needs. Same goes for the grilling season."

To help with these major selling occasions, McCormick launched two merchandising displays this year: one for grilling that looks like a stainless grill, and one for holidays that resembles a stove and kitchen cabinets.

Available in Apple &Sage Pork Chops, Rosemary Roasted Chicken with Potatoes, Quesadilla Casserole, Spanish Chicken Skillet, Shrimp &Pasta Primavera and Garlic Lime Chicken Fajitas varieties, the Recipe Inspirations line provides shoppers with pre-measured amounts of all of the seasonings they need to create an entire dish, with the addition of a few simple fresh ingredients. A recipe card is also included.

Listening to Shoppers

When it comes to developing new offerings, Frontier Natural Co-op pays close attention to what consumers want. "We're seeing an increased craving for intense flavors," says Brett Kaminski, brand manager for Frontier packaged spices and seasonings. "With the current economic situation, people are cooking more at home and are more adventurous than in the past. We've seen survey results that folks cooking at home are increasing the number of ethnic dishes, and decreasing on the meat-and-potatoes standard fare. Just look at the soaring popularity of cooking shows that, in part, are a reflection of the increasing diversity of the U.S. population."

Besides the current popularity of bulk items, other major trends tracked by the Frontier folks are the rise in gluten-free products, which is spurring the company to reformulate its offerings so that its production facility will contain no gluten, and a greater desire for convenient, affordable meal solutions.

To address this latter need, Frontier's Simply Organic brand has created an iphone application featuring more than 1,200 inexpensive, easy-to-prepare organic recipes, which has so far been downloaded by more than 57,000 users, with an average session time of 10-plus minutes, and offers retailers MealSolutions, a new display that allows for the merchandising of up to 24 seasoning mix packets that enable consumers to make economical meals with just 10 to 15 minutes of prep time. Says Simply Organic senior brand manager Kory Kazimour, "By collectively displaying packets in one area, retailers are seeing triple-digit sales increases."

New products developed in response to consumer trends include three additions to Simply Organic's popular Southwest Seasoning mixes — Enchilada Sauce, Mole Sauce and Salsa Verde Sauce Mix — to capitalize on higher consumption of ethnic foods at home, and the rollout of 10 spices in the company's mini-spice lineup, which includes cayenne pepper, curry powder, lemon peel, marjoram, nutmeg and tarragon, along with such pre-blended seasonings as herbes de Provence, garam masala and pumpkin pie spice. "The new spices in our mini-spice containers offer other advantages over larger spice bottles," notes Kazimour. "The smaller size is a less expensive way to try out new or unfamiliar spices, and is more likely to get used up before the spice loses its freshness and robust flavor."

Promotions are also given a lot of thought at Frontier. "Far and away, our best promotions involve end cap displays or free-standing display units with a seasonal emphasis," says the company's director of public relations, Steve Krusie. "Other in-store ideas that have worked well for us include point of purchase and shelf talkers, since our focus is on new users of organic herbs and spices and, secondarily, repeat customers."

Additional promotions include the joint Organic Valley-Simply Organic "Simple Ways to Celebrate Organics" initiative this holiday season, which features a series of more than 30 recipes and an online Thanksgiving Meal Planner designed to help home cooks transform a few ingredients from both companies into satisfying holiday meals.

The company's strategy of shopper engagement appears to be working well: Frontier and Simply Organic packaged spices are up by 21 percent, while Frontier bulk herbs and spices have increased by 9 percent, according to Krusie, who attributes much of this growth to both increased demand by consumers and greater penetration of organic items in mainstream grocers.

Seasoned Marketing Techniques

In addition to cross-merchandising and promotions, the recent Progressive Grocer survey on how grocers were boosting sales of spices and condiments revealed other popular strategies employed by respondents. On-ad specials such as BOGOs and five for $5 were also big, scoring with 24.68 percent of respondents. Other strategies that resonated were sampling and demos highlighting ingredient-based usage (22.98 percent), aggressive end cap displays (12.77 percent), and consumer outreach through signage, brochures, recipes, websites and social media (8.94 percent).

"We offer a variety of spices in bulk that give shoppers flexibility in the quantity they buy and encourage trial of new recipes and flavors at minimal expense."

—Stephanie Steiner, PCC Natural Markets

McCormick's Recipe Inspirations provides shoppers with pre-measured amounts of all of the seasonings they need to create an entire dish, with the addition of a few simple fresh ingredients.

"By collectively displaying packets in one area, retailers are seeing triple-digit sales increases in sales."

—Kory Kazimour, Simply Organic