The Proposition of Fresh Prepared Foods: Retail Practices and Systemwide Implications

Recent years have been witness to changes in food consumption trends. Time-hungry consumers are shifting food preparation activities from the home to food-service providers. Meanwhile, supermarket operators face an intensely competitive business environment. In this report, I discuss the retail and consumer trends that have resulted in an increased demand for fresh prepared food. These trends have resulted in an increasing number of supermarket companies offering prepared items in their retail stores. Furthermore, through a survey of senior-level executives in the supermarket industry, the way that supermarket operators implement their fresh prepared food strategies is examined. Results show that supermarket operators find fresh prepared food an attractive response to competition from restaurants and mass merchandisers. In addition, they increasingly source prepared food items from outside the retail store. Implications for the manufacturing, retail, and consumer sectors of the food industry are drawn.