Dive Brief:
- Piggly Wiggly Food For Less, a 14-store chain in the Southeast, last week announced its Affordable Protein Initiative to help consumers save on fresh meat.
- The grocery chain, which is operated by McDaniel Family Investments, said it worked with manufacturers “willing to invest in lower prices” in order to keep protein prices low.
- The move comes as a bevy of grocers advertise savings programs for customers amid ongoing concerns about food affordability.
Dive Insight:
Piggly Wiggly Food For Less said that it passes all of manufacturers’ promotional funding to customers, allowing it to build shopper trust as it keeps prices down.
To incentivize manufacturers, Piggly Wiggly Food For Less gives participants expanded shelf space, additional advertising opportunities, increased in-store displays, featured promotions and greater exposure across its social media channels, according to the press release.
The focus on keeping fresh protein prices low helps Piggly Wiggly Food For Less spotlight its full-service meat departments, which it says give it a competitive edge and strong reputation among consumers. These departments feature experienced meat cutters who process and cut fresh beef and pork as well as fresh poultry packaged daily at each store.
“Meat is the centerpiece of almost every family meal,” said Kevin McDaniel, co-owner of Piggly Wiggly Food For Less. “If we can lower the cost of the main course, we’ve taken the biggest step toward helping families save at the dinner table.”
As consumer concerns continue over food affordability, meat has become one of the key items where shoppers have made buying shifts. Grocery shoppers bought fewer pounds of fresh and processed meat in June than they did a year ago, according to Circana sales data published by 210 Analytics. The index for meats, poultry, fish and eggs that month rose 2.6% annually, with uncooked beef roasts notching the highest increase in that category with a nearly 14% jump, according to the Consumer Price Index.
Piggly Wiggly Food For Less runs supermarket locations across Alabama, Georgia and Florida. The chain licenses the brand through Piggly Wiggly, an affiliate of C&S Wholesale Grocers.
