Supermarket food service did not get any easier in 1995.
alone fulfill, a pivotal role in the fast-moving drama called the "battle for share of stomach."
There were heroic individual performances, of course, as various hardworking retailers tweaked their food-service programs for the better. But this was not to be the year when supermarkets collectively shone upon that stage.
It can be said, however, that in 1995 more retailers than before began to realize that the meal's the thing.
And, to a large extent, they started taking cues from Boston Chicken, the Golden, Colo.-based overnight sensation at the head of an emerging market dubbed home meal replacement.
In February, that takeout food-service operator changed its banner to Boston Market, signaling a broad aggressive push for takeout food dominance in markets across the country.
"Grocery stores and supermarkets are really our biggest competition," said Saad Nadhir, vice chairman of Boston Market.
"We have realized that the home meal replacement places, such as Boston Market, are our present and future competition," said Gianfranco DiCarlo, director of deli, bakery and food service at Harris Teeter, Charlotte, N.C., summing up the way savvy executives appeared to be assessing the challenge this year.
The home meal replacement pitch, in a nutshell, is: retailer meets customer; retailer gives customer fresh, convenient, complete home-style meals; retailer gets customer.
Accordingly, deli and food-service decision-makers at supermarket chains and independents across the country vowed to put more complete meals on shoppers' tables this year.
"We're going to have a better selection of heat-and-eat foods this year, and we'll have to merchandise them better," said Ron Bourland, food-service director for 55-unit Tom Thumb Food & Drugs, Dallas.
But determining the most effective method has not been easy. In the act, operators began to question the future of the popular food court concept and to ponder questions such as service or self-service, hot or chilled, eat-in or takeout. Some retailers cut down on seating, while others added to it.
One Midwest executive warned that the concept of food courts is ready to fade to black. "I don't see it growing, not even on the East or West Coasts. I think consumers want to take their food home," he said.
Others saw the scene shifting. "The food court business is in a state of flux," said Jim Riesenburger, director of deli operations at Wegmans Food Markets, Rochester, N.Y. "We are just coming to the realization that food courts are a different business than the supermarket business."
Retailers continued to rewrite their own food-service scripts.
Kroger Co., Cincinnati, yanked out some of its own cafes in the Atlanta division and replaced them with branded chicken outlets operated by America's Favorite Chicken. By the summer, the chain announced plans to open another 35 such outlets in its stores.
Rotisserie chickens kept packing them in, earning double-digit sales gains at many chains; but the new twist was merchandising the birds as a centerpiece for a full meal with sides.
"We're promoting them more this year, and we're doing it two ways, featuring the individual product and a meal package. It's important to promote it both ways," said Paul Margarities, vice president of national deli-bakery operations at A&P, Montvale, N.J..
Price Chopper Supermarkets, Schenectady, N.Y., built a "wall of chicken" with three large rotisseries side by side. "We took the competition into account -- not just other supermarkets but restaurants, like Boston Chicken," said Tom Brewer, vice president of deli-bakery merchandising.
