Page 26 - Deli Business June/July 2020

MERCHANDISING REVIEW
tion. Pine River also recently introduced its first clean label Cheddar-based, cold pack cheese food to the market in five variet- ies: Sharp Cheddar, Port Wine, Garlic & Herb, Hot Habanero and Spicy Beer.
Cheese and cracker cross merchandis- ing has also proved a win for the Venus Wafer Co., in Hingham, MA, manufac- turers of over 20 types of crackers and flatbreads.
“In the past when we demo our crack- ers and/or flatbreads and cheese or hummus or dips that are on promotion together, we have noticed increased sales,” says James Anderko, vice president of sales and marketing.
Mariner-brand Stoned Wheat Bite Size crackers and Mariner Lavasch are the com- pany’s two best-selling products and both complement a variety of deli products such as cheese, meats, dips, soups and salads. Recently, Venus has introduced offerings under its classic Mariner brand. These include Organic Saltines, Organic Thin Wheat and Organic Clubhouse crackers.
4. PROVIDE READY RECIPE SUGGESTIONS. Recipes, conveyed via grouped product displays, signage or even recipe cards, are a great way to show customers other ways to use cheese spread that they may not have thought
about, suggests Pine River’s Requejo. “For example, an easy recipe would be cheese spread on a slice of ham or salami and then rolled up. Or, serving our Sharp Cheddar with Elbow Macaroni for an easy mac ‘n cheese dish or mixing our Jalapeño Cheese Spread with salsa and serving with tortilla chips.”
Similarly, bagels and cream cheese are often thought of breakfast bakery staples. But there’s opportunities for lunch and din- ners from the deli, too.
“One of our newest flavors is Horseradish & Cheddar,” says Carl Cappelli, senior vice president of sales and business development for Don’s Prepared Foods, in Schwenksville, PA, which makes and markets its 17-item line of Melanie’s Medleys brand flavored cream cheeses. “The supermarket deli can use this as a dip or market it as a premade sandwich or as fixings for a hot roast beef sandwich on Lavash or a tortilla.”
5. KEEP IT FRESH WITH THEMES.
Seasons and holidays are all good hooks for a cross merchandising theme.
“My tip for spurring creativity is to take all of the seasonal inputs into account. What I define as seasonal is what sport- ing events are taking place. Think wings during March Madness with Beano’s Honey Mustard or Buffalo sauce. For
calendar holiday pairings, think after Thanksgiving turkey sandwiches with Beano’s Cranberry Honey Mustard, or weather-related seasonal fruits paired with a Beano’s Balsamic vinegar dressing. Know when the graduations occur at the local level and be in touch with your shoppers’ reality,” says Orlando.
For football season, Litehouse created a cross merchandising promotion with its blue cheese dressing and deli chicken wings to call out the dressing as the per- fect condiment for dunking, says Turnbull. “We created strong in-store signage to support the promotion and tied the two items together as a must-have for watch- ing football.”
Cheeseboards and charcuterie platters are on-trend right now and ideal for holiday and entertaining in general.
“A ‘Make-Your-Own Cheeseboard’ dis- play featuring our cheese spreads, as well as a few other cheeses and meats from the deli, and even a cutting board and napkins, would be a great way to incorporate many brands into one promo display and draw the attention of a shopper,” suggests Pine River’s Requejo.
DeLallo’s newest product, an all-natu- ral Italian Tomato Bruschetta available in a 9.8-ouncejar,pairsupperfectlywithfresh Mozzarella, specialty cheeses, focaccia toasts and other charcuterie complements, according to Pozzuto. “We are also launch- ing it in a bulk format, as well, so that retailers can sell it on olive bars and for repack programs.”
6. GO STORE WIDE. Consider cross merchandising across different depart- ments, which can be an effective way to grow consumer basket size across the store, says Litehouse’s Turnbull. “For example, during our summer barbecue pro- motion, we featured new and fun burger recipes incorporating our delicious line of Simply Artisan Cheese Crumbles. Cross merchandising, our product next to the meat department wasn’t an option, but we strategically placed similar signage in the meat and deli departments, which helped consumers make the connection between products while navigating through the store. If consumers were picking up meat in the meat department, a sign with a juicy burger and blue cheese crumbles would tap into their desire for our Cheese Crumbles and direct them to the deli department to find our product.” DB
26 DELI BUSINESS JUN/JUL 2020