instore - May 2017 - com - 2

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nearly impossible to efficiently and costeffectively prepare in-store.
Thus, the rise of commissaries.
Commissaries - central kitchens, central
food production facilities, perishable food
processors and meal and sandwich assemblers - fill the need for reliable, safe
and affordable fresh food preparation.
In turn, the foodservice commissary
market in the subject product categories
and channels reached an estimated $5
billion in 2016 while c-store commissary
purchases at a compound annual growth
rate of more than 11 percent.

What's driving it
According to a 2016 study by Technomic, consumers are purchasing retailer
meal solutions (RMS) more often. Specifically, 94 percent of consumers now
purchase RMS at least once a month,
compared to just 79 percent in 2012.
The increase, Technomic says, is largely
driven by younger consumers aged 1834, who are increasingly reliant on foodservice in general.
"Further enhancing the in-store experience and innovating with differentiated, restaurant-quality menu items will
help retail-prepared food operators
continue to steal share of stomach,"
says Kelly Weikel, director of consumer
insights at Technomic. "Operators and
suppliers can appeal to consumers by
offering dishes featuring new and ethnic flavors, such as spicy Asian flavors
and regional Latin flavors."
The report found that RMS purchases are often made at the expense of
fast-food visits. In fact, 49 percent of
respondents - and 60 percent of millennials - are visiting fast-food restaurants less often as a result of their
increased RMS purchases. It also noted
that c-store RSM is gaining ground,
with nearly half of consumers aged 18-

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2 * MAY 2017

34 purchasing it at least once a week.
Nielsen Fresh data shows an increasing
number of consumers are only buying
a portion of their meals that's already
prepared and taking it home to combine it with from-scratch ingredients
from their kitchen. This offers retailers
valuable insights as the begin to consider connecting the consumer to other
areas of the store.
"Understanding the choices consumers
make in the grocery store are vital in
helping retailers drive image, reputation
and trips to the fresh prepared and deli
section," says Sarah Schmansky, director
of Nielsen Fresh. "Improvements to drive
increased fresh-prepared purchases can
be approached in many different ways,
including meal solution type, operational
improvements and aligning specific food
items and featured cuisines most closely
to the intended store audiences."
Commissaries can relieve retailers of
myriad responsibilities that come with
producing this fresh food. Labor, food
safety, distribution, packaging and more
can be farmed out to a central kitchen.
In fact, supermarkets account for more
than half of total foodservice commissary purchases, while c-stores represent one-quarter of the market. So
more than three-quarters of all foodservice commissary sales go to a retail
foodservice provider.
Some of the biggest sellers to supermarkets include chicken tenders (79 percent of
which sold at supermarkets come through
a commissary), bagels and burritos (both
69 percent) and donuts (60 percent).
C-stores rely even more heavily on
commissaries, especially when it
comes to baked goods. They get 95
percent of their donuts, 93 percent of
sweet breads, 89 percent of muffins
and 86 percent of bagels from commissaries. Buts other items see success as

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commissary INSIDER

C-STORES NEED A VARIETY OF FRESH FOODS.
PHOTO: GOOD TO GO FRESH

COMMISSARIES MAKE 92 PERCENT OF C-STORE
COLD SANDWICHES.
PHOTO: GOOD TO GO FRESH

well, like chicken tenders (94 percent),
cold sandwiches (92 percent) and burritos (87 percent).
Dips and spreads are heavily sourced
from commissaries for both supermarkets and c-stores. Nearly 90 percent of
salsa, hummus and guacamole at supermarkets come through commissaries,
while 100 percent of hummus and guacamole and 81 percent of salsa from cstores does.

Signs of success
A quick look around some of the nation's
biggest suppliers reveals indicators of
commissaries' growth.

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