What is the customer craving in fresh? It's a top consideration for Giant Food, where the deli and prepared foods area is laser focused on delivering what shoppers want most.
“We're constantly looking to curate offerings to meet our customers' assortment demands,” Cynthia Volk, director of deli and bakery merchandising, told The Packer. “That includes fresh with nutritious ingredients, which is what they're looking for most of the time.”
As to retail foodservice growth drivers, what “comes to life within the deli department specifically, is local and meal solutions,” Volk adds.
Giant Food has recently forged several Washington, D.C.-area foodservice partnerships to meet the demand, including in-store Ben's Chili Bowl outposts and two Ledo Pizza Corner Shoppes.
In June 2023, when Ben's Chili Bowl's chili and half-smokes became available in the prepared food sections and hot bars in Giant stores throughout Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia and Delaware, it marked the first chili retail distribution partnership for Ben's Chili Bowl, a beloved brand in the Washington, D.C., community.
“The story with Ben's Chili Bowl is pretty amazing,” said Volk, who recalls the first time Giant met with the family members and co-founders Ben and Virginia Ali.
“They began 65 years ago when they put $5,000 down to renovate their Aldephi, Md., location that started with a homemade chili recipe, banana pudding and their half-smokes,” Volk said. “For me personally, hearing their story and how their products were not only made with fresher ingredients, but made with love, was very heartwarming.
“I think that's what resonates most with our customers,” Volk continued. “They're a local icon to the D.C. community, and their involvement in the community runs very deep. That was something that attracted Giant Food to them as well — our values are so closely aligned that we knew it was a great partnership that we were forming.”
Ledo Pizza has been a Maryland and surrounding-area institution since 1955.
It's a “Maryland family pizza tradition,” Volk said. The iconic purveyor of square-cut, flakey-crust pizza with the tongue-and-cheek motto: “We don't cut corners,” holds a special place at the table.
“Knowing that local really amplifies Giant Food within our community — within Maryland, D.C., Virginia and Delaware — also gives us the opportunity to partner with vendors who have the same customers and tend to be partners who share our values,” Volk said.
It's made for a winning combination.
“Our customers love both local brands,” Volk said. “For both Ben's and Ledo, our initial launch forecasts were exceeded. Our customers wanted more, and so we quickly pivoted to meet the increased demand. We received a fantastic reaction.”
(Photo courtesy of Giant Food)
Both Ben's Chili Bowl and Ledo Pizza are currently exclusive to Giant. The Ben's Chili Bowl assortment is available in all 165 giant food stores in refrigerated retail packaging. Additionally, Giant has 124 stores selling Ben's Chili offerings in what was previously its hot soup kettles.
In-store eating areas are also part of the experience.
“In most Giant locations, we offer café seating to give our customers the full experience, because if we're going to put a focus on hot, ready-to-eat food, customers need a place to eat it,” said Volk, who adds that both stores with Ledo Pizza venues have larger seating areas.
While customers can purchase both a hot, ready-to-eat pizza and a take-and-bake pizza to heat and eat at home, most of Giant's Ledo Pizza business is in the latter format.
“Customers are looking for both occasions, but the majority are purchasing to take home and enjoy later,” Volk said.
Though Ledo is still in a “build” mode, Giant is looking to expand the concept to more stores through the end of this year and into 2024, she added.
Destination fresh
The local in-store restaurants also play an important role in establishing an authentic community feel around food at Giant.
“It's about offering a destination and attraction for our customers that they can't find at another retailer,” Volk said.
The local foodservice offerings complement Giant's other fresh fare, such as fresh sandwiches and salads that are merchandised adjacent to the Ledo Pizza Corner and the Ben's Chili Bowl displays.
And in Giant's newer format and remodeled stores, the prepared food and produce departments are adjacent to each other, “which really welcomes customers into our stores with that fresh perspective,” Volk said.
As Giant's community and the world continues to emerge from the pandemic, the Maryland-based grocer with its finger on the pulse of local continues to analyze consumer trends.
“Being able to identify what's next for our customers and leaning into local has been greatly successful for us,” Volk said. “We will look to continue to find those opportunities as we evolve our prepared food departments — keeping local and fresh in mind.”