Dive Brief:
- The Global Market Development Center's latest white paper, “Food Storage: Aligning Consumer Health and Retail Profits,” presents the category as an important source of sales and profit growth for retailers, according to Grocery Headquarters.
- The average storage shopper spends 21% more than the typical supermarket customer — a percentage that is expected to increase in the years ahead.
- Food storage containers are projected to increase by $2 billion in incremental sales by 2020, reaching $3.7 billion.
Dive Insight:
Consumer demand for better food storage containers has transformed a niche market into a multi-billion dollar industry.
Recent Nielsen data shows sales of food storage items rose 3.1% in the food channel and 8.4% in the drug channel. Analysts project that the total industry will increase to $3.7 billion in 2020.
Retailers can cash in on this growing consumer need by cross-merchandising storage containers with the foods that are often stored in them — such as nuts, deli items and cereals. Grocers can also offer specials on storage containers that correspond with food sale items.
It seems many retailers are just beginning to realize the importance of these food storage items, as most still have them in a separate section of the store. Some niche and smaller grocery markets are experimenting with keeping them by the registers in the front of the store so they are top-of-mind and easy to grab.
GMDC recommends that retailers create secondary locations that tie in food storage items with related food categories, offer seasonal promotional opportunities and expand food storage inventory.