Rotisserie Chicken Salad Recipe

Today's Supermarkets Offer More Than Food

From green education to wine selection, supermarkets are filling an important role as recipe developers, meal planners, kitchen tool providers and quick in-and- out meal solutions.

From green education to wine selection, supermarkets are filling an important role as recipe developers, meal planners, kitchen tool providers and quick in-and- out meal solutions. Chains not only provide the raw ingredients, but work hard to show time-challenged customers how to prepare nutritious home-cooked meals in a hurry, dispense education for healthy lifestyles, and provide high quality take out.

Today, supermarkets devote the second largest amount of their space to prepared foods, and the market is growing. One of the most interesting aspects of this is the increasing ethnic diversity of the offerings. No longer just rotisserie chickens and sandwiches, many are parking Indian naan and Jamaican curried chicken beside the potato salad. Unique wines are offered right alongside to complement each meal.

Prepared foods also are lauded as being a healthful substitute to fast food. Whole Foods proudly claims that their take out is a: tasty and healthy alternative with no artificial sweeteners, colors, flavors, or synthetic preservatives. Deli prepared food is just one way that stores help customers gain a better lifestyle. Wegmans, a Northeast regional chain, touts eat well live well a healthy lifestyle initiative that begins with its Web site and continues into the store. From a vegetarian guide complete with Q and A to articles on food allergies and intolerances with resources and links, this Web site offers a wealth of guidance about how to create wholesome, nutritious meals.

Taking the concept of simple recipe cards further, Publix, a regional Southeastern chain, offers Aprons Simple Meals in many of their larger stores. This program offers a complete meal in one spot, from an in-store cooking demonstration to the ingredients and not just the ingredients, but all the kitchen utensils necessary as well. They join many other regional and national chains in providing help to home cooks with a cooking school, as well.

As consumers turn to more local food options and farmers markets, grocery stores are responding. Stores like Texas-based Central Market proclaim that they, select the finest food offerings based on many factors, but first and foremost, we seek the freshest options available. With concerns about food sources, markets also are labeling fresh produce with attributions of origin, and heralding items from local areas.

Another way the supermarkets help busy consumers is by providing convenience and customer service. Trader Joes and Fresh Market are two of the best examples of customer-centric supermarkets. Fresh Market, with Southeast to Midwest locations, claims to convey the atmosphere of a European market by being inviting, comfortable and convenient. Smaller in size than many chains, they strive to have a neighborhood grocery feel with high-quality perishable products and a high level of customer service. Trader Joes also claims to be a neighborhood grocery that offers unique products and service setting them apart from others. Their mantra shopping should be fun shows from their crew wearing Hawaiian shirts to their wacky and offbeat newsletter, the Fearless Flyer.

As educators, supermarket Web sites offer a wealth of knowledge. Kroger has Fresh Foods Web pages that cover everything from meat selection to how to choose organics and produce. A special section called Learn with Laura offers videos of produce recipes. Super Targets Web site features adventurous eater Andrew Zimmern videos, Meal Adventures. Safeways Online Foodflex program offers custom nutrition reports based on purchases made with their Club card.

The learning doesnt stop at Web sites. Along with standard recipe demos and tastings, there are a myriad of other in-store offerings. Californias Gelsons chain offers tours of their stores conducted by a Rabbi to point out Kosher products available and explain important facts about them. And West Coast Henrys Farmers Market offers Dr. Nirvana who gives 10-minute consultations on stress and fatigue and offers vitamin B12 shots.

Green education both on Web sites and in-store is an emerging consumer service trend. Whole Foods has led the way nationally with the use of paper bags, biodegradable packaging and publications outlining the companys policy on hormones, genetically modified food and energy savings. Other national and regional chains have joined in the movement by encouraging everything from the use of reusable shopping bags to providing customers more organic and green product alternatives. The greening doesnt stop there. Even giant retailer Wal-mart has specific environmental commitments to cut the corporation's greenhouse-gas emissions, increase the fuel efficiency of its truck fleet, reduce solid waste from U.S. stores, and double offerings of organic foods and to sell them at prices more affordable to the masses.

Todays supermarkets offer much more than food. They play an important role in helping consumers make the best choices for better lifestyles. As work and home grow more hectic, grocery stores have responded with more tools, tips and resources to help the busy customer. All signs show this trend should continue and expand in the future to complement the latest health and organic information as it unfolds.