With this year’s Super Bowl scheduled just two days before Valentine’s Day, supermarkets are filling their social media feeds with promotions for chocolate-dipped strawberries one minute and party trays of wings and sliders the next.
Research from the National Retail Federation estimates that consumers will spend $16.5 billion on food, drinks, apparel, decorations, and other purchases for the day, with 79% of that going toward food and beverages.
Food retailers’ promotions for Sunday’s game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles are touting the convenience of their catering operations — often tying in the availability of home delivery — and also showcasing how their products can be used to create game-day recipes at home.
In the Chiefs’ home market of Kansas City, Mo., the local Price Chopper chain has been touting both recipes, such as Better-for-You Pizza Mushroom Poppers, and party trays that include KC Pride Fresh Baked Iced Sugar Cookies sporting the team’s red-and-gold colors.
Meanwhile, Carlino’s Market, a specialty Italian grocer with two stores in the Philadelphia suburbs, has created an entire menu of Super Bowl party items that includes a Game Day Grazing Box filled with Italian meats, cheeses and dips, a tomato pizza topped with a football-shaped parmesan cheese stencil, and miniature football eclairs. Other items included stromboli, hot dips and a Stadium Cannoli Cake.
Preorders for the Game Day Menu filled up fast due to “unprecedented demand,” the company said on its website.
Some retailers that are seeking to score with shoppers for Super Bowl LVII have tied into the convenience of home delivery.
Norwalk, Conn.-based Stew Leonard’s, for example, has been promoting the availability of delivery of its chips and dips, pizzas, appetizers, and other products via a special Big Game Marketplace section of its website.
BJ’s Wholesale, meanwhile, is offering free game-day delivery for orders of $100 or more, promoting items such as frozen chicken wings and bites, chips and dips and beverages.
Several supermarkets are hoping to inspire home chefs to prepare game-deal meals themselves, promoting a variety of recipes that party-panners can tap into.
Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, for example, is promoting better-for-you game day recipes such as Vegan Loaded Nachos with BBQ "Pulled Pork,” as well as discounts on products such as snacks and brats and special game-day meal deals featuring wings and chili.
Minnesota-based Festival Foods spent the past week promoting football-themed recipes on social media, including a Cookies & Cream Football Dip (shaped like a football), Mini Loaded Potato Skins, a 4-Dip Sheet Pan with Pull-Apart Bread, and Brown Sugar Bacon Wrapped Lit’l Smokes.
According to the 84.51° Real Time Insights from Kroger’s data-analytics service, chips-and-dip is the most popular Super Bowl food that consumers plan to buy this year, cited by 72% of consumers. Other popular game-day food and beverage items were:
• Alcoholic beverages (47%)
• Pizza (44%)
• Homemade appetizers (42%)
• Sides (35%)
• Pre-made appetizers (33%)
• Fruits/vegetables (32%)
• Cheese/charcuterie (27%)
• Condiments (27%)
• Homemade desserts (27%)
• Non-alcoholic beverages (26%)
