instore - May 2018 - 46

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include classic favorites like coleslaw, as well as new, healthy salads
that are packed with superfoods. We even offer vegetarian and vegan
salads."
Freshway Foods' grab-and-go salad kits each make eight complete
entrée salads. "Unlike pre-packaged salads, our grab-and-go salads are
assembled in-store for a more premium appearance and fresher taste,"
Eastman says.
Freshway Foods' newest salad kits released this year are its:
*
creamy corn and cauliflower salad -a take on elote
(Mexican street corn);
*
lemon pasta salad;
*
buffalo cauliflower salad with chicken;
*
carrot apple salad;
*
tangy broccoli fruit salad; and
*
Santa Fe grab-and-go salad.
Deli salads, grab-and-go salads, and salad bars can be promoted as part
of a complete meal, Eastman says. "For example, adding deli chicken
and bakery bread to a fresh deli salad makes a complete meal solution," she adds.

She recommends accompanying promotional signage that says the
salads are assembled in-store for freshness.
The company's grab-and-go salads can be assembled into individual
clamshells or bowls and sold as entrée salads. "Each kit can also be
assembled into two to four large family-size salads in a deli bowl with
lid," Eastman says. "These salads should also be promoted as healthy
meal options that are assembled instore for freshness."
Freshway Foods' fresh salad bar components include products that
consumers perceive as more upscale, such as baby kale, matchstick
rainbow carrots and diced mango, all of which can add value,
Eastman says.
"Operators can promote their salad bars as premium when
they contain these ingredients, and this will appeal to
discerning consumers, while adding variety and color to
their salads," she says.

Freshway Foods' Creamy Corn Cauliflower Salad is one of six
new salads introduced by the company this year.
46 * MAY 2018 * instore

Blount Fine Foods, Fall River, Massachusetts, offers products featuring
produce ingredients including its Asian-inspired noodle and rice bowls
that launched last October. The line has four current options: chicken
ramen bowl, hibachi chicken and rice bowl, Thai-inspired coconut
chicken and noodle bowl, and Asian-inspired vegetable and rice bowl.
Bob Sewall, executive vice president of sales and marketing for Blount
Fine Foods, says a fifth flavor will be introduced in September. "These
Asian bowls are great for millennials, who want all their nutrients and
protein in one meal, and these have antibiotic-free chicken as well,"
he says.
Sewall also says stores need to adapt to trends like "you pick two"
that was popularized at Panera Bread Co. - Blount Fine Foods offers
Panera's soup line for retailers as well. "Fresh soup-buying customers
spends on average two-and-a-half times more than non-soup buying
customers," Sewall says, citing IRI data. "That's the customer that
you want."
Del Monte Fresh Produce, Coral Gables, Florida, supplies a range of
fresh-cut/value-added fruit and vegetable items for store delis, as well
as hummus, protein snacks and protein, says Dionysios Christou, vice
president of marketing for the company.
"As time-starved consumers become more health and wellness
oriented, sales of fresh, nutritious products continue to surge," he
says. "Del Monte Fresh Produce is committed to meeting these
needs with an expanded product assortment that fit the needs of

BLOUNT FINE FOODS , DEL MONTE , FRESHWAY FOODS

Freshway Foods' deli salad kits can be promoted in the deli case with
other salads sold by the pound. "They can also be portioned out into
entrée or side-salad-size containers and sold as the perfect accompaniment to a healthy meal," Eastman says.

Eastman recommends adding
Freshway Foods' seasonal salads to
bring excitement to an existing deli or
service case. "Add variety by switching out a few items every season,
so that your deli or service case is always on trend," she adds.

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