Category: Supermarkets & Hypermarkets

Grocery distributors and food manufacturers have their processes down to a science. But like any good scientist, they also know it’s crucial to keep improving and make their processes even more effective. Every pallet touch point is important, as is every square foot of space in a facility and, above all, the well-being of every employee.

This is why manufacturers, distributors and retailers must evaluate their equipment choices with a critical eye. “It can be tough to make a change from your last buying cycle, or even your last two or three buying cycles,” says Kurt Spyke, director of national accounts and strategic product for Big Joe Forklifts. “But operators and managers know their day-to-day challenges, and with the right partnerships and equipment, they can meet those challenges and do their jobs even better.” 

Food industry leaders who value continuous improvement should take a closer look at Class 3 walkie equipment for their facilities. These walk-behind vehicles improve multiple business functions, and while they may not always seem like the obvious solution, what you don’t know may surprise you.

Class 3 walkies increase operational efficiency

Vehicle downtime is a significant issue for grocery distributors, food manufacturers, and any warehouse moving goods from place to place. Whether it’s a forklift, motorized cart or anything in between, vehicles need to remain in service with minimal maintenance so operations run efficiently. This is where Class 3 walk-behind vehicles have a distinct advantage over many forklifts. Class 3 models such as Big Joe’s PDSR are powered by a lithium-ion battery, which outperforms vehicles powered by combustion.

“Few things have changed the material handling industry more than lithium-ion batteries,” says Spyke. “Big Joe’s Class 3 products outperform gas powered vehicles, as they require little to no maintenance, and their cost and charging time have come down now that the technology has matured.”

Not only do battery-powered walkies stay in operation longer, they also increase the available space in a facility. “You’re literally buying back real estate because you no longer need eyewash, washdown or safety areas that are required for lead-acid battery users,” Spyke explains. Class 3 walkies operate longer, have fewer components and make better use of space, meaning they are extremely efficient in any warehouse setting.

Walk-behind vehicles save money

Those efficiencies translate to cost savings, as well. Battery-powered vehicles, of course, save on fuel, but they also have lower maintenance costs by the nature of their long-lasting batteries. “Imagine a pie chart showing the ownership cost of a vehicle — 80% of the cost is parts and labor maintenance,” says Spyke. “

These savings are particularly valuable for small and midsized locations where a Class 1 forklift is unnecessarily large and expensive. Class 3 walk-behinds provide the same picking and stacking capabilities, but with a smaller footprint. The PDSR, for example, features a pantograph mechanism for lifting and lowering products, and it can reach up to 189 inches in height. With standard power steering it’s easy to maneuver and less costly than a larger vehicle with the same functions. 

Class 3 vehicles solve labor challenges

Another crucial advantage of a Class 3 walkie is that these vehicles do not require operator certifications. Even new employees can quickly be trained to operate these vehicles safely. As labor shortages persist in the grocery and manufacturing sectors, walk-behind stackers like the PDSR or Big Joe CB 30/35 can enhance warehouse productivity, even when certified forklift operators aren’t available.

These battery-powered walk-behind vehicles also create a safe environment for workers because they move at lower speeds and have no particulate emissions from fumes or exhaust creating a cleaner environment. As midsized coffee roaster Baronet Coffee found, these vehicles provide safety and efficiency in a 50,000-square-foot facility, and since they’re easy to learn to operate, most employees can run them. 

Operable in small spaces yet able to reach high, side shift and maneuver heavy loads, Class 3 walk-behinds offer the best of both worlds — heavy-duty capability plus simple, safe operations.

Do what you do — but better than before

In an industry where margins are tight, labor is constrained and failure is not an option, operators and managers must explore all available solutions to find the right one for their business. By reducing downtime and maintenance costs while increasing facility space usage and workforce capabilities, Class 3 walk-behind vehicles tackle multiple challenges facing the food industry. “These vehicles are like a Swiss army knife for moving product,” Spyke says. They allow industry leaders to keep doing their jobs but to do them even better.
Learn more about Big Joe’s Class 3 walk-behind solutions for your operation

When it comes to technology and consumers, retail giant Albertsons Companies is focused on providing its shoppers with connected, digital experiences that align with the company’s purpose to inspire well-being and bring people together around food, according to a spokesperson.

“The company’s mobile app is one of the best examples of how we’re using technology to create a fast and easy digital shopping experience.”

Albertsons was voted the ‘People’s Voice’ winner for best shopping and retail app in the 28th annual Webby Awards earlier this year.

The app has more than 10 million active visitors each month and boasts a 4.8 rating in the app store, according to the spokesperson.

Features of the Albertsons app include:

Shoppable Meal Plans and Recipes Tool

Designed to provide customers with culinary inspiration throughout the week while saving time and money, the meal plan feature includes a budget tracker, an expanded library of more than 9,000 exclusive recipes, shoppable ingredient lists and hands-free cooking mode with step-by-step timer. The tool also boasts an artificial intelligence-powered “Scan Your Own Recipe” feature that allows customers to snap a photo with their phone of grandma’s handwritten, not-so-secret recipe, for instance, and transforms it into a digital version saved in the app. Recipes are instantly turned into shoppable ingredients and are added to shoppers’ carts for quick, convenient checkout.

In-Store Mode

This feature acts as a personalized remote control for the store, providing customers with quick access to store-specific deals, aisle locations, wayfinding and more, directly from their smartphones.

Schedule and Save

A subscription service that allows customers to automate their weekly grocery shopping, ensuring they never run out of their favorite items.

Personalization

Features like ‘Buy it again,’ ‘Don’t forget to add’ and ‘Quick start cart’ offer a tailored shopping experience, making it easier for customers to repurchase their favorites and discover new items.

Albertsons has leveraged other technologies to make shopping easier than ever, according to the spokesperson.

One of them, Flash 30-Minute Grocery Pickup and Delivery, allows customers to receive their DriveUp & Go™ and delivery orders in as little as 30 minutes.

Available at more than 2,000 Albertsons Cos. locations through its websites and mobile apps, shoppers can select up to 35 of their favorite items for either Flash pickup or for delivery.

In addition, the retailer’s Simplified for U Loyalty Program has been revamped. Albertsons’ 38 million loyalty members now enjoy a single points-based system, double the time to earn points and a new automatic cash off option for more convenient savings, among other benefits.

“The program retains all the benefits customers love with exciting enhancements to celebrate their loyalty and create customers for life,” according to the spokesperson.

Supermarket consumer insights:

• 2 in 10 shoppers purchase groceries online ‘often’ or ‘always’
• Another 25% shop online half the time
• Two-thirds of online grocery shoppers are driven by time saving and effort, 52% by convenience, and 1/3 report it’s “easier to find items I need”
• 56% of online shoppers find online offers/promotions/coupons
• 4 in 10 like to read product reviews before buying
• 46% of online shoppers are driven by the scheduled delivery feature
• 45% like the ability to track order/delivery progress online.
• More than 6 in 10 consumers prefer to select perimeter items in-store vs. purchasing online

Source: 2024 Supermarket Tech Trends and the Consumer study commissioned by Supermarket Perimeter and conducted by Cypress Research

This article is an excerpt from the August 2024 issue of Supermarket Perimeter. You can read the entire Technology and the Consumer feature and more in the digital edition here.

Dive Brief:

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service reported 47.4 million people lived in food-insecure households last year, an uptick of 3.2 million compared to the year prior, according to the department’s latest Household Food Security report. 
• There were 18 million food insecure households in 2023, an increase of 1 million households over 2022 and up more than 4 million from 2020, the USDA reported.
• Grocers have made strides to help improve food access by expanding the acceptance of SNAP and EBT amidst rollbacks and by partnering with third-party e-commerce providers to enable online access.

Dive Insight:

The USDA’s findings show that 13.5% of households were food insecure for at least some time last year, a significant uptick from the 12.8% of households that were food insecure in 2022. 

The spike in the number of food insecure individuals was likely driven by inflation and the discontinuation of COVID-19 relief efforts like SNAP emergency allotments and free school meals for all students, Crystal FitzSimons, interim president for the USDA’s Food Research & Action Center (FRAC), said in a statement about the report. 

FitzSimons, as well as Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, placed blame on Congress and other lawmakers for not prioritizing federal nutrition programs aimed at addressing poverty.

Food-secure households spent 16% more on food than the typical food-insecure household of the same size and composition, the report found, adding that food insecurity negatively impacts dietary quantity and quality. Low-income, food-insecure households purchased fewer calories overall and had lower nutritional food purchases than low-income, food-secure households. 

More than half (58%) of food-insecure households reported receiving assistance from one or more of the nation’s largest federal food and nutrition assistance programs, with 42% participating in SNAP. 

Since the end of SNAP emergency allotments in February 2023, grocers have bolstered their efforts to expand SNAP accessibility and reach food-insecure households. 

In June, Albertsons partnered with Uber to launch a white-label delivery service that donates surplus food from its banners to local nonprofits and food banks. 

The USDA made SNAP online purchasing available nationwide in June 2023 and, since then, grocers including Kroger, Albertsons and e-grocer Thrive Market have added the capability to their online ordering platforms.

CHICAGO — Circana’s annual report on “Eating Patterns in America” reveals consumers are switching up where, when and what they eat in response to changes in their daily lives.

The Chicago-based market research company said 86% of eating occasions are sourced from home. People also are eating breakfast earlier, and snacking away from home is becoming more popular, the report found.

Emerging trends in eating patterns are “really driven by the disruption of our daily routines,” said David Portalatin, senior vice president and industry adviser, food and foodservice, Circana. He said because of shifting home and work habits, lunch in the restaurant industry is permanently disrupted and has been 15% lower than it was in 2019.

“People pack their days with meetings, and then they look up and it’s 2:30 and they say, ‘What are we going to do about lunch?’ and dinner is at 6:30,” Portalatin said.

Snacks are more often filling the gaps left by foregone meals, he added, with some snacking happening in mid-morning, some in the afternoon and some at night.

“Two things that we’ve seen steadily increase over the years are the consumption of snack items during mealtimes — and sometimes in replacement of a main meal — and the increase of time between mealtimes,” he said. “It’s the ‘snackification’ of our mealtimes.”

In response, consumer packaged goods companies increasingly are developing foods and beverages offering the convenience, ingredients and value consumers want.

“For CPG companies, it’s thinking about crafting eating flexibility for consumers in three ways: price points, portion control and portability,” Portalatin said.

The trends are especially evident among younger people who have more flexibility, he said.

“They throw a collection of items in their backpack, maybe string cheese snacks, salty snacks for satiety, a bottle of water or juice for pleasure, and just have a snack and save some for later,” he said. “In any case, (the items) are packaged to go where the consumer goes.”

The 86% of eating occasions being sourced at home is up about 3 percentage points from pre-pandemic years, according to Portalatin. The eating trend is part of the overall shift in consumer behaviors that includes more people working at home and investing more time and effort in their kitchens.

“That doesn’t mean we’re all going to become Michelin Star chefs,” he said, adding, “We’re seeing more heat-and-eat options and more meals thrown into an Instant Pot.

“As a food manufacturer, if you can bring that kind of architecture to the home from items in the pantry or the refrigerator, those are the kinds of things consumers are looking for. We still want culinary exploration, and we still want to try global cuisine, so manufacturers are still developing items in response.”

As CPG companies continue to innovate, consumers continue to want to experiment by trying new products, Portalatin said. This trend is unlikely to wane, especially if new products are overlain with functional aspects and offered so that budget-conscious consumers perceive value.

“The consumer is under pressure right now,” he said. “It’s the cumulative effect of inflation and debt causing people to rationalize their spend across categories. They’re focusing in on the value equation and not just the cheapest item.” 

As the court battle continues between federal regulators and Kroger and Albertsons over their proposed merger, the divestiture plan with C&S Wholesale Grocers has proven to be a key argument topic for both sides.

Kroger and Albertsons have pointed to C&S’s strong track record and said the plan gives C&S the assets to effectively compete in the grocery space, while the Federal Trade Commission has argued that C&S is ill-equipped to quickly transform into a major supermarket operator. 

During the trial this week, C&S’s CEO Eric Winn confirmed that the wholesaler had written a letter to the FTC last fall saying that it would be able to “compete more effectively” if it could obtain the exclusive rights to one of the grocers’ well-known banners or Albertsons’ distribution centers rather than a mix of assets from both companies, the Los Angeles Times reported.

“Kroger gave us their worst chains,” Alona Florenz, C&S’s head of corporate development, said last November, according to documents shared during the trial, the publication noted.

Instead, under the current divestiture plan C&S would acquire four banners — QFC, Mariano’s, Carrs and Haggen — and get access to license the Albertsons banner in California and Wyoming and the Safeway banner in Arizona and Colorado. 

Winn declined in court to say whether C&S asked for specific banners and said Kroger selected which assets it would divest, the paper reported. Analysts have suggested that divesting a more substantial or cohesive set of assets could help satisfy regulators’ concerns — and now it seems like C&S had hoped for a better deal, too. A key question for Judge Adrienne Nelson to consider is: How strong can C&S be without controlling a well-known banner like Safeway?

In case you missed it

Grocery price trends differ by state

Prices for groceries have fallen over the past year in some states even as they have gone up in others, according to a Datasembly report cited by Philadelphia TV station WTXF. New Jersey saw the sharpest decrease, at just under 1%, followed by Connecticut and Pennsylvania, which each logged a decrease of about half a percent. Maine, New Hampshire and Illinois each saw prices go up by close to 2%, while prices in Hawaii went up 2.2% and Vermont saw an increase of nearly 3%.

Publix continues Kentucky expansion

The supermarket chain has signed a lease for a new store in Owensboro, Kentucky, adding to its growing presence in the Bluegrass state, the Louisville Courier Journal reported. The new store will join Publix locations slated for Kentucky cities including Louisville, Lexington and Walton. Publix opened its first Kentucky location in Louisville’s Terra Crossing Shopping Center in January.

Natural Grocers looks to fund regenerative organic agriculture

The specialty grocery chain is asking shoppers to help it raise $100,000 during September for Rodale Institute, a nonprofit organization that supports organic farming research and helps farmers transition to growing organic crops. Natural Grocers plans to collect the funds through donations from shoppers when they pay for purchases as well as from the sale of themed reusable shopping bags and zip pouches.

Impulse find

Calling all pumpkin lovers!

If you enjoy fall-themed food, personal finance website FinanceBuzz might have just the ticket for you. The site is hoping to find someone to test and rate all of the fall-inspired Pumpkin Palooza foods at Trader Joe’s — and will pay that person $1,000 to complete the job. FinanceBuzz will also give its “Pumpkin Spice Pundit” a $500 Trader Joe’s gift card to cover the cost of the foods they evaluate.