On the coattails of the eat-at-home trend, “other refrigerated products” have become a reliable growth category for perishables departments. Refrigerated sauces, gravies and marinade mixes constitute the bulk of the category, with more than $250 million in supermarket channel sales during the 52-week period ending June 13.
The subcategory enjoyed a 6.7% dollar sales increase off an 8.1% increase in unit sales, indicating that promotional activity may have played a role in its success during the past year. While other subcategories within other refrigerated products have not fared as well, premium sauces, gravies and marinades have established a firm foothold in meat departments and elsewhere, posting 8.7% dollar sales growth in the supermarket channel in 2007, 5.7% growth in 2008, and 6.9% in calendar 2009.