No longer hunter-gatherers, or self-sustaining farmers, or even
city folk dependent on local harvests for fresh food, Americans are
comfortable, even blase, about their grocery stores.
No longer hunter-gatherers, or self-sustaining farmers, or even city folk dependent on local harvests for fresh food, Americans are comfortable, even blase, about their grocery stores.
A recent consumer satisfaction survey shows a positive rating of more than 80 percent.
So why aren’t many grocers smiling these days? Because the path to growth and increased profits is nearly as pock-marked as an expressway in winter.
“The only thing I am absolutely sure of is that people will not be cooking more in the future than they are today,” says supermarket consultant Howard Solganik of Dayton, Ohio. Add to that a population-growth rate that is virtually zero, and you have what consultant Glen Terbeek calls a “saturation phase.”
Being clean, brightly lighted and devoid of personality is no longer sufficient, industry analysts say. Increasingly, markets are being forced to differentiate themselves by means other than price.
Product selection is becoming more distinctive and increasingly will include high-profit non-food merchandise. Services ranging from child care to massages are being offered.
Chains are exploring ways to make shopping more exciting and less time-consuming. They also are wrestling with the challenge of feeding non-cooks with flair as well as provisioning traditional families.
To cook or not to cook
An immediate challenge is to provide those non-cooks with prepared or semi-prepared foods to take home or eat in the market.
An eye-catcher in many stores has been the introduction of a real kitchen with real cooks turning out food for customers to eat on the premises or take home. Dubbed “home meal replacement,” the fresh food program is designed to compete with restaurants doing carryout food preparation and fast-food chains.
Although launched with great expectations, HMR programs are now out of favor, considered by analysts as being too expensive to build, too labor-intensive to be profitable and lacking consumer appeal.
Some chains appear to be more comfortable with central kitchens. Jeff Geitzen, president of D&W Food Centers in Michigan, is bullish on his company’s program. Others are pushing a European-style approach where chains would partner with manufacturers to produce private-label prepared foods.
“It’s a fact of life,” Solganik said. “People want food ready to eat or ready to reheat and eat.”
As for other areas in the supermarket, a spirit of innovation seems prevalent, best reflected in the produce department. Many markets have made colorful, high-profit produce displays the first department a shopper encounters.
Beverages of all sorts – bottled water, tea, wine (especially red wine) – are in demand. Jo Natale, of the Wegmans supermarket chain in upstate New York and Pennsylvania, considers health-related items, both food and non-food, as a crucial area for supermarkets in the new century.
Another trend indicates that more shoppers are trying pre-cooked, ready-to-eat beef products. The meat (plus poultry and fish) counter remains the largest income producer, but grew only $7 billion (to $48 billion) in the same decade, according to Supermarket Business magazine.
Tinkering with success
As for the store itself, the familiar formats will remain. But experiments are being conducted with the hope of providing hand-held scanners for shoppers to use in the store as well as electronic ordering by online scanners at home.
Consultant Terbeek dreams of small stores in high-rent or high-traffic areas with limited on-site inventories and a wider selection available on the Internet, of office workers placing grocery orders on personal computers that will be delivered at the end of the working day.
Others tout refrigerated safes placed in cellars or garages to receive food deliveries during working hours when no one is home. Inside the store, merchandisers are looking at more sophisticated video technology and interactive kiosks to charm and inform tomorrow’s information-hungry consumer.
In his Trend/Wire newsletter, industry observer Art Siemering foresees supermarkets as “indulgence centers,” with showroomlike displays of food and flowers as well as ongoing “culinary entertainment” in the form of cooking classes, demonstrations and tastings.
Elephant garlic spreads its flavor via the grill
Big fans of garlic should check out the big garlic available in stores. We’re talking cloves as big as shallots. Bulbs the size of grapefruit.
The majestic bulbs, once sold only in gourmet grocery stores, are showing up in regular supermarkets.
The gourmet stores still carry the biggest bulbs – about 5 inches in diameter, compared to the 3-inch bulbs the supermarkets sell. But either size will yield some pretty good eating, despite what the critics say.
Some food experts claim elephant garlic is too mild for their tastes. In their book, “Garlic, Garlic, Garlic,” Fred and Linda Griffith, write: “Most garlic enthusiasts dismiss it contemptuously – and we must confess we are among them. This is wimp garlic – contributing no real presence to a dish.”
But there’s a way to bring out the best in the gentle giants – roasted.
Most recipes calls for roasting the garlic in the oven, but grilling it over indirect heat on a charcoal or gas grill gives it lovely, smoky flavor. When roasted, elephant garlic becomes mellow and caramel-flavored, and makes a wonderful spread for crusty bread. The giant cloves fall from the paper husks, and spread as easily as butter.
Grilled garlic is a great appetizer for an upscale picnic. Those who own both a gas and a charcoal grill can cook the garlic on the gas grill, and save the charcoal briquettes for the main course.
A giant head of elephant garlic cooks in about 40 minutes on a grill. The coals or lava rocks should be restricted to one side of the grill, and the garlic placed on the other side. The lid is closed to allow the heat to circulate all around the bulb, softening it to pastelike texture. If the garlic acquires a few charred edges, all the better.
The garlic bulb is roasted whole, with just the outer loose, papery layers removed. Care should be taken that enough skin is left on the bulb to hold the cloves together.
Before roasting, the top fourth of the bulb is sliced off and discarded, exposing the tops of the cloves.
After grilling, the soft cloves must be squeezed from the papery skin when using smaller bulbs. With elephant garlic, the skin usually falls away. While still warm, the soft, sweet garlic is spread on thin slices of French bread.
Grilled Elephant Garlic
(Serves 4 to 6)
1 giant (5-inch) or 2 large (3-inch) bulbs of elephant garlic
4 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
Step 1: Remove any loose outer skin on the bulbs, leaving enough skin to hold the cloves together in a head. With a sharp serrated knife, slice off the top fourth of the bulb (the pointed end) and discard.
Step 2: In a custard cup or other small container, combine the olive oil, thyme, salt and pepper. Drizzle the oil over the cut surfaces of the bulbs, allowing it to soak into the interior. Coat the outer surface of the bulbs lightly.
Step 3: Heat one side of a gas or charcoal grill. When hot, place garlic bulbs cut-side down on the grill opposite the hot coals. Cover and roast for about 40 minutes, turning occasionally, until garlic is very soft. Squeeze garlic from the skin or peel off the skin. Spread the warm garlic on thin slices of French bread.
Rice is the salt of the Earth
Enough of hamburger helper. Let’s look at the big picture. Rice is a small, unassuming, inexpensive grain, but one that feeds more than half the world.
Scientists have identified several thousand types of rice, but it is sufficient for home cooks to know that some are long and thin (long grain) and others short and tubby (short grain). Most admired among long-grain rices are Indian basmati and jasmine from several nations. Short-grain rices are used to make Italy’s risottos, Spain’s paellas and Japan’s sushi. Short-grain rice that contains only small amounts of the starch amylose is waxy, sticky and glutinous and is popular in Asia.
Indian Rice Pudding
with Cardamom
(Serves 4)
2 cups whole milk
3 cups light cream
1/4 cup basmati rice
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
2 tablespoons sweetened coconut flakes
2 tablespoons golden raisins
2 tablespoons sliced almonds
Step 1: Combine the milk and light cream in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil over very low heat.
Step 2: Add the rice and simmer for 1 hour, or until the rice is cooked and the milk has reduced and thickened.
Step 3: Stir in the sugar, cardamom and coconut. The pudding will keep, covered, for up to five days in the refrigerator.
Step 4: Serve warm or chilled, garnished with raisins and almonds.
