ROANOKE, VA - The increasing emphasis on convenience for American consumers is leading to the obsolescence of salad bars at supermarkets nationwide, The Roanoke Times reports.

The do-it-yourself veggie fixins are being replaced by prepackaged meals as consumers seek food convenience at a value price.

Grocers are increasingly eliminating salad bars and expanding their produce departments with more vegetable and fruit offerings while also strengthening their olive and cheese offerings. They maintain they cannot keep up labor-intense salad bars, especially as their sales generally offer weak returns.

At least one foodservice expert has questioned whether the supermarket salad bar ever really gained traction in the first place.

"[Salad bars were a] first generation home meal replacement," said Frank Dell, president of Dellmart & Co., a supermarket consulting firm. He said they were never extremely profitable and that they carried a high potential for sanitary and health issues.

Not all grocery chains are eliminating salad bars, though. Some are expanding the concept by adding wing or soup bars, and others have added them to remodeled stores that offer indoor seating.

It??s been more than six months since a Roanoke Kroger last offered a salad bar, and all are being replaced with Kroger??s new Wholesome@Home products, a test program for the chain that includes packaged salads-to-go for $3.69.

The grab-and-go concept is a small but growing segment of grocery sales. According to Technomic, last year, supermarkets realized a 6 percent to 8 percent increase in prepared food sales.