Convenience Stores Turn to Commissaries

Technomic study says that commissaries account for a quarter of all supermarket and convenience store prepared food purchases.

June 15, 2011

CHICAGO - In a first-of-its-kind study, Technomic found that commissaries are the source of a large percentage of all foodservice purchases in both supermarkets and convenience stores. Commissaries have recently become more popular as these channels look to increase their overall foodservice sales and meet consumer demand for fresh, prepared foods.

"Commissaries are a great option for c-stores and supermarkets largely because they can outsource the food preparation function to someone else," said Tim Powell, a director of research and consulting at Technomic. "As these channels have explored new avenues of growth, foodservice has shown that margins can sometimes be three times as high as other in-store categories."

In recent years, supermarkets and convenience stores have looked to foodservice for expansion and have been growing faster than the overall foodservice industry rate, making them attractive targets for suppliers to the industry. The study also found that commissary growth over the next three years would exceed both convenience store and supermarket growth.

Cold deli sandwiches, burritos and pizza account for the largest shipments from commissaries to convenience stores, according to the study, and that the largest volume categories going to supermarkets are fully cooked meats, prepared salads, pizza and cold deli sandwiches.

Check out how commissaries could work for your store in "Expanded Distribution" found in the October 2010 issue of NACS Magazine.

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