Living On The Wedge: Taking Specialty Cheese To The Next Level
In the first of a two-part series, leading deli executives share their insights about the fast-growing specialty cheese category, and what it takes to keep the wheels spinning.
As consumers’ awareness of specialty foods grows alongside heightened expectations for quality and increased interest in connecting a foodmaker’s “face and place” with purchase decisions, specialty cheeses are cruising into a new realm with more and more grocers.
A number of the industry’s leading players — including those profiled on the following pages — are dramatically enhancing their commitment to specialty cheeses as an increasingly important signature category to help impart differentiation, reaffirm their fresh food excellence, and enhance their stores’ specialty appeal with a medley of cheeses at various price points with relevance to multiple customer segments.
To help gain additional insights into these and other related issues, Progressive Grocer assembled a group of leading grocery industry executives the day before the kickoff of the International Dairy-Deli-Bakery Association’s (IDDBA) annual confab in Houston for a free-flowing discussion about specialty cheese sales and merchandising trends, critical considerations that can “make or break” specialty cheese programs, promotions, training, and much more.
Moderated by PG Editor-in-Chief Meg Major and sponsored by the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board (WMMB), the roundtable panel featured Jim Saufl, senior director of deli/bakery for Montvale, N.J.-based A&P; Cindy Schmidt, deli director for Green Bay, Wis.-based Festival Foods; West Des Moines, Iowa-based Hy-Vee, Inc.’s assistant VP meat operations, Kenen Judge; Bill Sales, SVP for Hy-Vee’s specialty foods subsidiary, Lomar Distributing, Inc.; and James Robson, CEO of Madison-based WMMB.
PG : Please discuss what you consider to be the most significant developments relating to specialty cheese sales in the past 12 to 18 months, from your company’s perspective.
CINDY SCHMIDT: Approximately 18 to 24 months ago, we began a significant expansion of our specialty cheese offerings, and we still have a ways to go, but we’ve been very pleased with results thus far. We began by concentrating on displays using the “80-20 rule,” around five pillars of cheeses that are most familiar to consumers, to help make a statement and capture the guests’ attention quickly. People are in a hurry, and if you have an attractive display that catches their eye, they will stop and possibly make a purchase.
JIM SAUFL: The specialty cheese business is one of the most fascinating areas of the store today — it’s just absolutely on fire right now. But if I didn’t do anything different last year and just did the same thing as the year before, my sales would be down, without a doubt.
So, while our specialty cheese sales are doing very well for us right now, we are really striving to be as innovative as possible by doing new things all the time, because shoppers’ expectations are higher, and so are ours. WMMB has been absolutely amazing in helping us really get to the next level in cheese. We’ve been able to find some unbelievable world-class cheeses from Wisconsin for our Hartford Reserve private label program that have done tremendously well.
KENEN JUDGE: Our specialty cheese sales are also going very well, and I agree with Cindy, when she used the word “focus” — that is given to a particular department. I will also throw another important word out there, which is “attitude.” I think you can do anything that you want to do, once you put your mind to it, as far as sales are concerned.
When it comes to specialty cheese, it’s more about selling than it is about buying, and the education part is the probably our best strength right now. It really does take a lot effort and work, but I think there is a lot of education that comes with specialty cheeses, not only for customers, but for myself, my co-workers and the people that we work with in our stores.
BILL SALES: All of us here in this room have taken a lot of products that used to be specialty and turned many of them into everyday staples, which begs the question: Where do we go from here? And I extend an awful lot of compliments to WMMB and the IDDBA, who have been very instrumental in helping people out in the field with training and education.
Looking back on where we’ve been, years ago, we started out with the cut-and-wrap program in the store, and when we did this, we trained specific individuals, and as the years went by, the individuals retired or moved on, and we’d be stuck. So we turned to the next thing, when we took the labels off the products and went back to cut-and-wrap and ready-to-go.
But we’ve since found a whole new world here, and we’re now seeing it return to where it’s “special” again. But the specialty part of it is more than dressing up a case. It should be cut in front of the customer, fresh before their eyes; they want to see it, smell it, taste it and ask questions about it. We have a great opportunity to cut a quarter-pound of blue cheese for someone, and ultimately sell a whole lot more of it in the process. Our customers expect a lot out of our stores, including friendly service, and a certain level of pride and passion from people who are interested in their jobs.
PG : Given the geographic diversity of the experts around the table today, is there anything that strikes you most about specialty cheeses on a regional basis?
JAMES ROBSON: Customer preferences are always changing, so from that standpoint, I’m not seeing a lot difference from Florida to California to New York to the Midwest. But there are some retailers that are true leaders, and there is a huge difference with what they do with cheese and their overall prepared foods programs, such as here in Texas, with HEB, which is just amazing. They’ve got several different concepts for different markets, such as the different parts of Houston or San Antonio. Kroger also does an excellent job with different concepts that are also tailored to match the preferences of different areas.
From our perspective, as well as based on what I’m hearing here today, education is everything, especially when it comes to managing the discovery of new cheeses, especially those from Wisconsin. As few as five to 10 years ago, we were focusing on promotions, but a lot of times, many of the featured cheeses weren’t yet in the mainstream, so the consumer couldn’t buy it if they wanted to.
But we’ve since changed our approach, with more mutually beneficial promotions that have a strong educational component, which leads to a big thing I have noticed among different supermarket operators: When the people working in the cheese or deli departments have received some type of special cheese training from us or elsewhere, they have a lot more confidence and, in turn, become better salespeople. Their education and knowledge of the products are immediately apparent.
PG : Indeed, there’s simply no substitute for well-trained, engaged front-line teams. Please elaborate on the role cheese department personnel play in building a successful in-store specialty cheese shop.
SAUFL: We have flight groups of stores that have lead stores, and those are stores that have very well-trained people that have received training not only internally, but also from our 11 field team members that go from store to store to train and work with our associates. We’ve been focusing on cutting and wrapping cheese vs. pre-wrapped, and we have a full-time cheese expert in roughly 70 percent of our stores. In my opinion, a very good specialty cheese program requires a full-time person that is dedicated only to cheese, and that you cut at least 28 percent of cheese at store level.
PG : No doubt about it: cheese is hot. What are the most influential issues in play that are keeping the interest so strong?
SAUFL: The media has been unbelievable in bringing attention to specialty cheese, especially the Food Network. We can showcase recipes on top of the cheese case with a featured cheese that, for example, traditionally could be found only in Hispanic stores, but that now sells in some of some of our more upscale stores, because we are showing recipes of what to do with it and how to work it.
It’s also the same for some of the domestic blue varieties that we at one time kind of shied away from, but that are now at the forefront, because they are much more affordable and every bit as good as the imports. Wisconsin has really been influential in bringing quality and availability of many of the best-selling varieties of the cheese, and it’s now like a treasure hunt when I’m looking at Wisconsin cheeses. I’m always finding guys who are doing such great stuff, and it’s really just a matter of finding them. And when you shake the hand of the person — whose hand might still be crusty from being in the water and the salt during the cheese-making process — you can really get his passion. And that’s what gets me excited, because it’s what I can take to the stores.
SCHMIDT: I have a 23-year-old daughter who happens to be addicted to the Food Network, and she and her friends and co-workers constantly talk about recipes and different ideas all the time. She e-mails me about a recipe or to tell me something new she picked up. And I am relaying this because I think food experiences are a big part of her age group’s entertainment. They love to have get-togethers with wine and appetizers and good meals, and I think that it’s an indication about the food and cooking education needs of younger consumers, and what we can do for them in our stores.
PG: Along these lines, what are some other observations about the economy and at-home eating trends?
JUDGE: It’s now cool to eat home, and it’s also cool to save money, and that goes for all demographic groups. I think people know there’s a real value to be had in going to a supermarket and preparing a good meal at home. But people still like to reward themselves with a thick-cut steak and a specialty cheese and wine that they can enjoy, instead of going to an expensive restaurant. Rewarding ourselves with really good food and realizing that it’s cool to save money is definitely en vogue right now.
PG : Cheese has great crossover with many products throughout the store. What are you doing to heighten interest and demand with other categories?
ROBSON: There is hardly a category that does not work well with cheese. Some of our promotions have been specifically designed to use other categories. We’ve recently launched several micro-sites — Cheesecupid.com for wine and cheese pairing ideas and recipes; Grilledcheeseacademy. com, which features chef-developed recipes for grilled cheese; and even one for kids. We’re trying to get people to think more past traditional cheese varieties and uses, to help to sell more than just the cheese. The sites also offer the flexibility to help retailers offer a variety of different promotions
Editor’s Note: Stay tuned for Part 2 of “Living on the Wedge” coverage, which will break down winning promotional strategies, building blocks for successful cheese sampling, special event planning, and more.
“The specialty cheese business is one of the most fascinating areas of the store today — it’s just absolutely on fire right now.”
-Jim Saufl, A&P
“It’s now cool to eat home, and it’s also cool to save money, and that goes for all demographic groups.”
-Kenen Judge, Hy-Vee