Side Delights Steamables are the answer for busy consumers
Side Delights Steamables are the answer for busy consumers
The NPD Group just released its 29th annual Eating Patterns in America report, and it found that one of the single biggest changes in U.S. eating patterns over the last five years is an increase in meals eaten at home. Side Delights Steamables are well-positioned to take advantage of this trend to satisfy Americans who want fresh, nutritious food. 
“We are eating more meals in our homes, but not cooking more dishes,” Harry Balzer, vice president of The NPD Group and author of the report, said in a press release.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in the fresh potato category, where the microwaveable/steamable segment has seen dollar sales shooting up 31 percent for the 52-week period ending Sept. 27, according to data from Nielsen FreshFacts.
Side Delights Steamables are triple washed, fresh, whole, small potatoes in a microwave safe package that is ready to serve in just eight minutes. Steamables also use light-blocker packaging technology to keep potatoes fresher and protected from greening due to harsh store lighting.
Side Delights Steamables come in seven potato varieties: Russet, red, golden, white, purple, fingerling and sweet potatoes. The inclusion of purples, fingerlings and sweet potatoes brings together these rapidly growing specialty potatoes with the on-trend convenience of microwave cooking.
“Retailers have a tremendous opportunity with offering their shoppers more quick and convenient ways to enjoy fresh potatoes,” Kathleen Triou, president and chief executive officer of Fresh Solutions Network, said in the press release. “Side Delights Steamables gives them a complete lineup of gourmet potatoes that appeal to time-starved families as well as Millennial shoppers, all packaged using the latest technology to protect their premium quality.”
While Triou recommended merchandising Side Delights Steamables in the produce department with other fresh potatoes on an everyday basis, she noted that big volume opportunities come from displaying these high-impulse potatoes near rotisserie chicken in the service deli or adjacent to the ready-to-heat entrees in the meat department.