Retail & food-to-go fusion formats: 2018 favourites

Date : 20 July 2018
IGD

As we move firmly into the second half of the year, we round up the best retail/food-to-go fusion formats we’ve seen so far this year, and highlight a couple we are looking forward to seeing in H2.

Fresh the Good Food Market, Camden St, Dublin

This store lives and breathes food-to-go. The run of counters down one side of the store is a common feature in Fresh stores, and helps demonstrate the quality, breadth of range, the freshness and the customer service that underpin this model. In-store production is a key feature of the format, which majors on food-for-today missions, supported by an impressive off licence area. Rotating daily specials, themed around particular cuisines, are a great way to encourage repeat missions, while we’ve also been impressed at how they’ve brought local donut specialist Offbeat into this store, and fitted the offer neatly alongside their own barista and bakery offer.

Source: IGD research

Jumbo Foodmarkt, Leidsche Rijn, Utrecht

Marriages between retail and fooodservice concepts don’t always work, but this one, between Jumbo and the La Place business it recently acquired, feels one that is designed to go on to great things. The concept fuses foodservice and retail brilliantly, with an abundance of food-for-now counters covering burritos, burgers and poke, as well as many traditional favourites. The seating area sits nicely alongside the foodservice area, and contains within it a demonstration kitchen, helping Jumbo take their customers’ love of and appreciation for food a step further.

Source: IGD research

Loblaws, Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto

Despite opening almost seven years ago, this remains one of the freshest and most relevant stores in Canada. The food hall remains the hub of the concept, offering an extensive range of prepared foods, developed in-house by executive chef, Mark Russell. Located on a mezzanine floor, its open to view kitchen is a hive of activity, crafting a range of unique products, including its own gelato. A new President’s Choice demonstration kitchen is a recent addition, enabling the retailer to showcase the latest recipes and its private label credentials. We recently went back to the store and were impressed at how relevant and forward thinking it still looks. A must-see on any visit to Toronto.

Source: IGD research

Roche Bros, Boston

This is one of the best urban-focused supermarkets in the US. Incorporating a street-level food-to-go area, which brings to life time-of-day merchandising, the basement level supermarket has developed a range of prepared food options to capitalise on the high traffic its central location and direct transit links. This includes a custom salad bar and extensive grab-and-go ranges, alongside evening meal solutions. A new wine bar is a recent addition to this store, which like the Loblaws store, is well-established but retains its appeal as a source of inspiration for anyone interested in future formats.

Source: IGD research

Deli de Luca, Oslo

Operated as a division of Norway’s leading retailer Norgesgruppen, the Deli de Luca concept has long been a favourite of ours, thorough its focus on delivering a range of quality food-for-now solutions in high footfall locations. It’s been on a journey recently – literally – as the format has been rolled out to Esso forecourts across the country. Now the core format is getting a rebirth, with the central Oslo store on  Karl Johans Gata, among the first to get the new look and feel. This is high on our hit list for H2.

Source: Deli de Luca

Woolworths Metro, Pitt Street, Sydney

This store is another that has recently opened and looks to be significantly furthering the Australian retailer’s credentials in food-to-go. It’s an urban supermarket format, but led by coffee, with a barista counter complemented by a range of food options on entry to the store. There’s an extensive hot food offer, as well as sushi and poke bars. Woolworths sees this store as potentially being used by customers up to three times per day, given the breadth of missions it serves.

Meinhardt Fine Foods, North Vancouver

First and foremost, these are great stores that do a fantastic job at showcasing fresh, whether it be in produce or in the extensive array of bakery and prepared food solutions. Its latest North Vancouver store promises to take this on a step further. A definite premium skew to the offer, with the retailer for example priding itself on its range of olive oils, and one to add to a collection of great retail / food to go fusion concepts on the West Coast of North America.

Want to find out more about how our retail safaris can help you to unlock innovation and drive growth in your business? Get in touch with gavin.rothwell@igd.com or stewart.samuel@igd.com for more about what the solutions we can provide across Europe and North America.