Prepared foods is one of the fastest-growing retail departments, as consumers increasingly turn to their local grocery store for convenient, high-quality alternatives to traditional restaurant fare.
Creating a successful prepared foods offering, however, requires careful attention to space and labor allocation, especially at a time when labor costs are at an all-time high and qualified workers can be difficult to find and retain. Some independent natural and organic retailers are finding that a thoughtfully designed grab-and-go prepared foods assortment can go a long way toward achieving labor efficiencies and overall department profitability.
Retailers such as Grass Valley, California-based BriarPatch Food Co-op make prepared foods a centerpiece of their offerings, where these items reflect the sustainable and organic ethos of their product assortments overall…