George Anderson

It wasn't a complete surprise, but it still caught our attention when Steven Presley, CEO of Nestlé North America, admitted recently that the company hasn't focused on innovating in frozen foods for the past three years. The answer to why is simple. Nestlé, like many other national brand and private label producers, had all it could handle just keeping store shelves stocked with its most in-demand items. COVID-19 did that to many companies.

Americans spend billions of dollars each year on plant-based foods and beverages across grocery store aisles, including frozen, refrigerated and the center store. However, consumer enthusiasm for plant-based food and drinks has wavered somewhat of late, and the answer as to why keeps returning to one primary factor: taste.

Dollar sales of frozen Hispanic foods fell 3.5% during the 12 weeks ended Aug. 11 to $351.08 million, reports Chicago-based market research firm SPINS. Unit sales declined 2.7% during the period, with softness across most subcategories. Notable exceptions were frozen entrees; fruits and vegetables; and meat, poultry, and seafood.

Dollar sales of frozen and refrigerated plant-based meat, poultry, and fish substitutes fell 6.5% during the 12 weeks ended Aug. 11 to $242.05 million, reports. Chicago-based market research firm Circana. Unit sales dropped 10.6% during the period, even as prices for plant-based alternatives have become more comparable to animal proteins.

Cold storage is at the heart of the grocery industry's efforts to safeguard the nation's food supply, but it's clear that market demands and labor challenges make increased material handling automation a business imperative.

H-E-B promises to deliver orders placed through its Favor app in as little as 45 minutes. The service, called H-E-B Now, offers no delivery or service fees on orders over $25 placed through the end of 2024.

After an extended period of inflationary pressure, discussions about consumer demand for value have become almost like white noise. However, new research finds that the most valuable food-at-home shoppers — millennials with children between the ages of four and 12 — have an expanded definition of value that, if properly addressed on store shelves, could lead to significant market basket gains for responsive grocers.

Americans are increasingly looking to purchase healthier and tastier foods while running up against the reality that some items may stretch their limited household budgets. In recent years that has led to a decrease in unit sales as inflation pushed the cost of what consumers were buying upward.

Egg sales are on an extended winning streak as consumers continue to reward grocers for delivering the nutrition, product choices and value they seek. Category dollar sales jumped 43.3% during the 12 weeks ended Sept. 8 (compared with the same period a year ago), while units were up 4.3%, according to Chicago-based market research firm Circana.

More and more consumers are signing up to have groceries delivered to their homes. But new research suggests many want their orders delivered even more quickly than they are now. This has led some to speculate that we are nearing a tipping point for ultra-fast drone deliveries to become commonplace.