Growers and Grocers

You may not realize it as you grimly plow through the Saturday afternoon crowd at your local Safeway, but supermarkets are struggling. Superstores such as Wal-Mart and Target, specialty markets, Costco-style club stores and Internet shopping are attracting more and more customers. In fact, reports Kim Severson in Wednesday’s New York Times, traditional supermarkets stand to lose 7% of their market share in the next four years. “The classic supermarket is adrift, unsure of how to hold shoppers who are demanding nicer stores, organic produce, hearth-baked bread and artisanal cheeses (and the implied affluence that comes with them), all without paying too much,” writes Severson.

In her in-depth article entitled “Chains Take Inventory, Along With Some Chances,” Severson also presents innovations that traditional supermarkets are proffering in order to stay afloat. The “Shopping Buddy,” a type of caddy computer, helps guide shoppers through the store and alerts them to specials; and supermarkets are adding a myriad of services, from banking to nutrition counseling.

Food-oriented changes include grouping ingredients for a certain recipe at a kiosk so that shoppers don’t have to wander from aisle to aisle to find the ingredients, improving produce departments, and giving store brands a makeover to attract upscale, yet bargain-conscious consumers.

The article also contains a wealth of statistics about American shopping habits, and makes great reading for anyone interested in food distribution. On a similar note, you will also enjoy “ In Search of Grocery Gems” by Julia Moskin, published in the New York Times on the same day.

Finally, if you clicked on Growers and Grocers today to read the Sunday News, I’m sorry to tell you I will not be writing this feature anymore. I have decided to branch out to some of the Well Fed Network’s other great sites. You’ll be hearing from me on Paper Palate, Food Bound and Wine Sediments, but I hope to pop in to Growers and Grocers from time to time too.