inStorebuyer - February 2011 - 49

Vice President of Consumer & Shopper Insights for The Nielsen Co. “Consumers are placing more attention on at-home meals and in-home entertainment options as evidenced by more time spent surfing cooking-related websites, watching food-related TV programming and reading cookbooks,” Hale wrote in a November 2010 report “Food: The Social Network of the Ages.” Certainly with this trend in mind, Bristol Farms has bolted out of the gates with some of the most innovative strategies in the retail industry, aiming to appeal to shoppers who increasingly seek out sage advice on what foods to make and serve at home. Bristol Farms recently upgraded its website (bristolfarms. com) to include “The Bristol Blog” to highlight their latest news, a weekly specials page, and a bonus page devoted to “The Cooking School at Bristol Farms” where shoppers of all ages can peruse upcoming classes on creative topics such as Weekend Entertaining (there’s an Academy Awards Party class set for Feb. 19) and Kids Kitchen & Teen Cuisine (including a Be My Valentine! class set for Feb. 12). Classes are conducted at GraceMarie’s Kitchen on the second floor of the Bristol Farms store in Manhattan Beach, CA. Classes, which range in cost from $25 to $35 per person, last about 2 hours and are demonstration style for adults and participation style for kids and teens. Class recipes are designed for the home cook (beginner

through advanced). Menus are not published in advance because they feature “mystery menus.” Recipe packets are distributed at each class. “Another way for grocers to drive more sales of groceries and cookware is to teach shoppers how to cook,” says Hale of Nielsen. “Since cooking schools won’t work in all banners or locations, retailers should explore options for online cooking lessons. And don’t forget about the kids…or dads. With more men out of work than women and with some families opting to have the husband stay at home with the kids, online cooking tips and online cooking videos gets the whole family involved in the process.” Hale adds that “smart manufacturers are also providing consumers with cooking solutions that include items that go well beyond the products they sell by enabling consumes to purchase kitchen and cooking solutions online. And providing cooking solutions via

Bristol’s new store in Palm Desert, CA, is fueling growth.

online established cookbooks using recommended ingredients is a great idea too.” Nielsen reports that each month, food and cooking websites are visited by an average of 70 million unique online visitors, taking into account home and work online activity from year ending September 2010. The number of households tuned to the Food Network during prime time reached over 1.1 million viewers in the first quarter of 2010 — an increase of 9% versus year ago. And as total book sales saw a year-to-date decline of 4%, cookbook sales rose 5 percent.

A History of Accolades
Bristol Farms has collected a long string of accolades since its first store opened in 1982. In Zagat’s most recent Marketplace Survey,

| inStorebuyer | February 2011 | 49 |

inStorebuyer - February 2011

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