Posts Tagged “fresh food”
Specialized carts designed to keep employees out on the floor culling produce and reducing wastage, is being implemented by Wal Mart Stores Inc., the latest step in a push to improve its fresh food offerings and revive sales growth, according to a recent news story by Reuters.
“Quality carts”, as they are being called by the world’s largest retailer, are being deloyed at 500 stores. There are plans to have them in all of its nearly 5,000 U.S. outlets by the end of the third quarter, Vice President for Central Operations Shana DeSmit told Reuters in an interview.
Equipped with weighing scales and a box to collect the discarded produce, the carts are being equipped weighing scales and a box to help employees carry out tasks that were typically carried out in the back room. With the carts, employees can sort fresh produce by removing items nearing expiration and weighing them to manage inventory counts and help with replenishment.
Wal-Mart’s service levels have suffered due to fewer employees in store interacting with consumers.
The retailer is introducing one such cart per store and will eventually add more, said DeSmit. The produce collected through the carts is either donated or sold through markdowns.
A renewed emphasis on fresh food, which includes produce, deli items, meat and baked goods, has been a crucial turnaround strategy under U.S Chief Executive Officer Greg Foran. Wal-Mart is the largest grocer in the United States, with nationwide sales of $167 billion in 2015.
Wal-Mart has started revamping the layout of the food section at 3,000 stores, in recent months, including supercenters and its smaller Neighborhood Market stores. It has taken steps such as lowering display cases and opening up floor space so that shoppers can see more clearly across the food area. It has replaced black plastic crates with ones that look like wood to give the store more of a farmer’s market feel.
In February, the retailer said it would hire hundreds of fresh food managers to improve its offerings. The company is on schedule to have such managers in a third of its stores nationwide by the end of the year, Wal-Mart spokesman Lorenzo Lopez said.
Fresh food is the fastest growing department at the supermarket,despite Americans are facing rising food prices, plus they are eating more sweets, according to Nielsen Perishables Group. With consumers continuing to lose their taste for frozen and canned goods in 2013, fresh food sales grew 5.4 percent from a year earlier, to $134 billion. They now represent about 30 percent of supermarket sales.
Contributing to the growth of fresh foods is the fact grocers are stocking an ever-greater selection fresh fruits and vegetables, says Jonna Parker, director of Nielsen. Another factor: Mass merchants, such as Wal-Mart Stores, and club stores are selling more fresh foods; these retailers are projected to account for one-quarter of fresh-food sales by 2016.
Nielson reports meat and produce make up the majority of fresh food sales, with 39 percent and 32 percent, respectively, followed by deli, baked goods, and seafood. The mix is different for online orders, however, where meat is a smaller share of sales—consumers prefer to see and touch beef, chicken, and pork before purchasing.