Weis Markets reins in frozen food pricing

Mid-Atlantic grocer Weis Markets is cutting prices on hundreds of top-selling frozen products via its three-year-old “Low, Low Price” program.

Sunbury, Pa.-based Weis said Thursday that the “multimillion dollar” investment brings price reductions of 13% to 33% on both store-brand and national-brand frozen groceries. Examples of price-reduced items include Birdseye Steamfresh frozen vegetables (12- to 16-ounce packages); Klondike ice cream bars, sandwiches and cones (14- to 17-ounce packages); Digiorno frozen pizzas; and Marie Callender’s frozen dinners.

Specially marked tags throughout the store indicate items with Low, Low Price savings. (Image courtesy of Weis Markets)

“We will offer customers in the markets we serve the lowest everyday prices on hundreds of our best-selling frozen items,” Bob Gleeson, senior vice president of merchandising and marketing at Weis, said in a statement. “Given recent increases in consumer costs, saving money is extremely important to our customers, and we are confident these reductions will generate significant savings for them.”

The frozen food price cuts mark an expansion of the Low, Low Price program, which launched in 2019. Weis kicked off the savings program in January 2019 across grocery categories and added fresh produced the following year. Currently, the retailer said, the program includes more than 7,000 grocery products and nearly 80 produce items.

Related:Weis Markets raises capital expenditures for 2022

“Since 2019, our LLP program has helped customers save approximately $10 million. They’ll now save millions more in our frozen department,” Gleeson added.

Overall, Weis Markets operates 196 supermarket in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, West Virginia and Virginia.

Ongoing elevated food inflation is making U.S. shoppers more price sensitive, consumer research studies show.

For instance, Emily Moquin, food and beverage analyst at data intelligence firm Morning Consult, said high prices are pushing more grocery shoppers to choose less-expensive options, such as private-label over national-brand products. In a report this week on changes in grocery shopping behavior, she noted that Morning Consult research finds that seven in 10 consumers are proactively taking steps to save money due to rising inflation in April.

Of about 2,200 U.S. adults polled, 51% said they compare prices to save on grocery bills, and roughly three in 10 use coupons, according to Morning Consult. Also, 25% often shop at multiple stores, 19% purchase fewer items in order to save and 55% said a sale swayed them to buy items they didn’t initially plan to purchase.

Related:Weis Markets hires Mike Gross to lead center store merchandising

In April, the food-at-home Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 10.8% year over year, topping the 10% gain in March, which marked the largest 12-month uptick since March 1981, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported last week. Month to month, the food-at-home index edged up 0.9% in April, less than the 1.5% gain in March.