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the rule if FDA moves to regulate them. By excluding supermarkets from the rule, FDA will reduce costs to the industry -- and consumers -- by tens of millions of dollars while meeting the requirements of the law. We look forward to continuing our dialogue with FDA as it proceeds with the regulatory process.” To help foodservice operators in gauging consumers’ response to calorie postings on menus, NPD conducted a survey among adults ages 18 and older as part of a recent report entitled Consumers Define Healthy Eating When They Go Out to Eat. Panelists were asked to indicate items they would order from two versions of a typical fast food hamburger restaurant menu. Their first exposure was to a typical menu board without calorie information. Their second exposure was to the same menu board, but with calorie counts shown alongside the price of each item. The before and after ordering patterns were then compared. After viewing the menu with the calories posted, consumers ordered items that amounted to fewer calories, but the difference in calories was relatively small. The average number of calories ordered when calories were posted was 901, compared to 1,021 when calories were not posted. The NPD study also found that consumers ordered about the same number of items when calories were posted. They ordered, on average, 3.3 when calories weren’t posted, versus 3.2 when they were.

“Calories aren’t the main priority for diners who are looking for healthy options when they eat out,” says Bonnie Riggs, NPD’s restaurant industry analyst and author of the report. “We found through our research that quality, as in fresh, natural, and nutritious, is the most important healthy eating attribute when they dine out.”

The New Deli Shopper
Groundbreaking research from the International Dairy-Deli-Bakery Association reveals a number of insightful trends affecting the instore deli business, which is striving to bring new ways to define value to today’s deli shopper. Delis are becoming the bridge between dining out and dining in as time-strapped shoppers shy away from steeper restaurant prices, but still desire high-quality, easy-to-assemble meals. The deli prepared food category has grown to over 50% in the last five years, while deli meat and cheese dollar shares have gradually declined to around 24% (meats) and 19% (cheeses). Versatile rotisserie meats, like chicken, have been flying off of deli shelves. These can be eaten as they are, as well as in leftovers, sandwiches, salads, and soups. Consumers are also finding convenience and value in side dishes displayed in delis as part of grab-and-go meals that consumers can take home for dinner. Forty percent of shoppers said they eat sliced-to-order deli meats once or more a week, according to IDDBA’s Consumers in the Deli 2010,

perhaps indicating that they’re packing more sandwiches for lunch to minimize food costs. Deli salads can be healthy and convenient additions to dinner, or even eaten as snacks. Mediterraneaninspired dishes, like tabouleh, as well as Asian-inspired selections, like edamame, and Middle Eastern cuisine, like couscous, are becoming more mainstream and popular with healthconscious consumers. Delis are adding such salads to olive bars, and offering them pre-packaged in the self-service deli, as well as in the service case. The bold new flavors also happen to coincide with the healthful ambitions voiced by many deli customers. With First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! campaign against childhood obesity in full swing, Americans are looking to the deli for fresh, nutritionally balanced fare. Sixty-four percent of consumers report someone in their house is overweight, IDDBA research shows. More than half of respondents have someone in their household with high cholesterol or high blood pressure. Nutritious children’s dishes, smaller portioning at a value price, and sensitive ingredient foods, such as gluten-free and food allergy conscious foods, are also a hit at delis. Eighty-eight percent of those surveyed in the National Restaurant Association’s Chef Survey: What’s Hot in 2010 noted local product sourcing as a trend. Foods grown, raised or produced nearby carry a “freshness halo” that shoppers associate with

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inStorebuyer - May 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of inStorebuyer - May 2011