Whether it?s from a traditional grocery or a health-food chain, the most popular item this holiday season is prepared meals that take a couple of hours to reheat.
Ten years ago, Wegmans Food Market, which has one Maryland store in Hunt Valley, began offering prepared traditional turkey meals that include a fully cooked and seasoned turkey, herb stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, buttered corn with red peppers, fresh cranberry relish and dinner rolls. It?s enough to feed 10 people. Sales of prepared holiday meals are up 30 percent this year from last year at Wegmans.
“It was so popular, and we got so many requests for kosher meals, ham meals and others that we now have a dozen prepared meals,” said Jo Natale, director of media relations for Wegmans.
Grocery stores see the holiday season as big business, with stores packed and customers spending much more on food than the rest of the year.
Wendy Webster, store manager at the Wegmans in Hunt Valley, said her store also has a chef demonstrating how to prepare and cook holiday side dishes.
At the corporate Web site www.wegmans.com, visitors can watch up to 20 videos about everything from frying and grilling different meats and cooking side dishes to carving a turkey or rib roast.
At Whole Foods Market, a natural and organic grocery store chain, prepared meals are also popular, said Maria Gruzynski, marketing specialist with the Fleet Street store in Baltimore.
She said that another popular holiday feature is the preorder table in front of the store. Customers place their orders and pick up the merchandise with little waiting.
“People can come in and out real quickly,” Gruzynski said.
Like other grocery chains, Whole Foods? Web site, www.wholefoodsmarket.com, has a long list of holiday food suggestions. Beyond the list of products, it features food preparation ideas, recipes and entertainment suggestions.
Recipes, prepared food and Web sites for food chains have proven popular with customers who sometimes don?t have the time to deal with lengthy holiday food preparing, said Natale, of Wegmans.
“Customers have become so busy. They don?t have the day before Thanksgiving to prepare a meal.”
