Through a special arrangement, presented here for discussion is a summary of a current article from Frozen & Refrigerated Buyer magazine.
Giant Eagle is creating a "healthy aisle" at the start of the frozen department.
Leading it off, under "Fresh Frozen Produce" signage, will be frozen fruits and vegetables. Next, six to 12 doors of natural and organic items, organized by day part, and then a couple of doors of gluten-free frozen. When you add in a selection of frozen vegetarian items, you've got a destination set of 30 to 35 doors of better-for-you frozens.
Some might shrug this off as nothing new, but there are subtleties here with far-reaching implications. And the timing — considering today's boom in fresh produce and better-for-you foods — is perfect.
So let's start with the "Fresh Frozen Produce" signage. It is still all-too-rare to see the words "fresh" and "frozen" juxtaposed. It imparts an important message to the consumer: frozen can be fresh.
That point was underscored for years by the "5-A-Day for Better Health" program, urging people to eat five servings of fruits and veggies daily. Yes, the program put most of its efforts against fresh produce, but eventually word got out to a critical mass of shoppers that frozen veggies are indeed "fresher" than fresh.
Photos: Frozen & Refrigerated Buyer
With that level of acceptance already there, it makes perfect sense to put fresh frozen produce first in line to draw shoppers down the aisle. Hopefully, the halo effect of the segment can slowly spread to the rest of the frozen food department.
That will depend, of course, on whether manufacturers produce the truly healthy frozen foods that meet what consumers want. Or, more precisely, whether retailers will choose to stock them. There are plenty of good, healthy frozens being marketed, most often by small and mid-size manufacturers. But there's also plenty of slotting and street money from the big boys who still dominate the shelves.
Frozen foods still carry the stigma of "unhealthy." Yes, we've done it to ourselves over the years with freezer burn from inadequate cases and slow product rotation, too much processing, BOGOs and the race to the bottom. So we need to get distrustful shoppers down the aisle again. We've got better freezer cases, arguably better rotation, and better foods now at least available from manufacturers. And for my money, Giant Eagle has it right.