CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Retailers seeking to offer a nonmeat, between-the-bread selection in their deli/fresh meals departments may profit from a natural food retailer's No. 1-selling sandwich -- portobello.
Let's just say sales are mushrooming.
Michael Cianciarulo, president and chief executive officer of Earth Fare, a chain of five "healthy" supermarkets in North and South Carolina, and Georgia, said the crowd-pleasing portobello sandwich, which sells for $4.99, is straightforward: store-baked focaccia is spread with a thin layer of dip that is made on-site. The chef adds about three or four ounces of marinated, grilled and sliced mushrooms, followed by lettuce, tomato and bermuda onion.
All the stores are able to make the sandwiches, since each has on-site chefs, who are encouraged to give free range to their creativity in addressing the needs of their specific store's customer base.
Following that agenda led to the chain's flagship store in Asheville, N.C. -- which went from a humble 2,000 square feet more than 25 years ago to a full-service supermarket eight times that size today -- to introduce its famous sandwich.
"We go through 60 pounds of organic portobellos from Pennsylvania a week," said Jeff Ballard, the store's executive chef and a 25-year food-service veteran, who joined Earth Fare shortly after the new supermarket was built. "I came on board at a point when their menu was too much like a restaurant's and inappropriate for a deli. I felt we should find our niche and be the best at that."
Ballard considered the Asheville community's preferences, which he said tended towards vegetarian, vegan and even Ayurvedic cuisine. It was "a strong granola crowd," in Cianciarulo's words.
"I thought a portobello sandwich would be a nice crossover between meat and vegetables," Ballard told SN, adding that even meateaters enjoy the "texture and taste" of the mushroom, while vegetarians enjoy it because, among other things, "it's not meat." Although this wasn't the first time Ballard created a portobello sandwich, the response to the simple recipe he created for Earth Fare was massive. "Sales snowballed," he said.
"If the food is too complex, people who eat it won't be motivated to prepare it on their own," he noted. "It's a great combination of flavors."
Customers can also buy the same marinated, grilled and sliced portobellos by the pound in the deli section.
Cianciarulo realized that, despite the ease with which Earth Fare turns out these sandwiches and other healthy foods, mainstream retailers -- including one who recently told Cianciarulo how awful tofu tasted -- are having a tougher time adapting.
"Tofu is terrific stuff," said Cianciarulo. "I'm amazed how some retailers have blocked out these products from their line of vision."
His advice to traditional retailers still mystified by less conventional food items is, "Go back to the suppliers," because they have the expertise.
"Natural foods suppliers give much more information and support to retailers than conventional food vendors," Cianciarulo said. "Natural foods vendors also realize that consumers are unaware of their brands, so they're big on providing samples. Rather than spending their budget on media, they spend it on training by sending one of their people to your store."
Cianciarulo practices what he preaches, making education a hallmark of his chain. Each store has access to a nutritional software program that helps employees address customer questions related to certain foods. In-store cooking workshops are also a staple.
"Often the cooking classes are free, but if someone is brought in to teach it, there's a nominal fee to attendees," Ballard said. "In that case, participants get a store gift certificate for the amount they paid for the course. They may want to buy some of the items related to that night's presentation."
Most recently, the Asheville store held a workshop on how to cook tamales to celebrate Cinco de Mayo.
Earth Fare sales from food service total between 15% and 20% of total revenues, Cianciarulo said. The Asheville store's combined sandwich, sushi, hot buffet, salad bar, deli and bakery area occupy about 25% of the store's total 17,000 square feet. All five stores have seating for 100 people and retain a core group of menu items, all prepared exactly the same way, for product consistency.
Although food-service operations are expensive and labor intensive, the products, like the portobello sandwich, help "sell the inner store."
"Our customer wants knowledge and wants to be healthy," Cianciarulo said. "And natural supermarkets have built their businesses on sharing knowledge and information."
