2022 Retailer of the Year: Southeastern Grocers
For Southeastern Grocers (SEG), the past three years required the company and its 37,000 associates to be nimble and respond quickly to the ever-changing needs of its shoppers.
From concerns about health issues related to the pandemic, to supply chain challenges and this year shoppers facing inflationary pressures not seen in decades, consumer shopping habits have been something akin to a roller coaster at a major theme park. While not easy to deal with, having strong connections to the communities it serves has been a major advantage for SEG, which has been named Store Brands’ 2022 Retailer of the Year.
“We are devoted to listening to our customers throughout the communities we serve,” said Dewayne Rabon, chief merchandising officer with Southeastern Grocers, the parent company of Winn-Dixie, Fresco y Más and Harveys Supermarket. “Our people – customers and associates alike – are our No. 1 priority and we rely on those who live and work in the areas we serve to help us to consistently deliver a shopping experience that meets the needs of each unique community.”
Just prior to press time, a report in the Wall Street Journal indicated that Southeastern Grocers may be up for sale. An SEG spokesperson told Store Brands, “We do not comment on market rumors. With that said, we are always reviewing ways to enhance shareholder value, and to the extent that credible strategic or other shareholder value enhancing transactions emerge, we have an
obligation to consider them. While the potential for any such transaction remains ever present in our industry, we will remain focused upon advancing our transformational strategy, supporting our associates and delivering a world-class shopping experience for our customers.”
Noting the unique set of challenges presented by the pandemic, the global health crisis also provided a unique opportunity for shoppers to test new methods of shopping and also sample new products.
For example, SEG launched an online shopping and delivery service in more than 375 Winn-Dixie stores and Harveys Supermarket locations throughout Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana and Mississippi. Using an app or the website for either supermarket, customers today are able to shop for their groceries online while still having access to the weekly deals and promotions offered in stores. Orders are ready in as little as two hours.
While safety and convenience were top of mind for shoppers in 2020 and 2021, the focus this year shifted to price as inflation led to significant increases in the cost of groceries. Again, SEG was prepared to handle another challenge and provide its customers an expanded assortment of money-saving private label products. In 2021, SEG introduced more than 400 new store brand products, and followed that effort this year with an additional 500 new private label products on its shelves.
“Our award-winning own brand products have quickly excelled as household favorites over the past two years as customers have had to reduce discretionary spending in order to pay for core consumables in the face of inflationary pressures,” Rabon said. “Our increased penetration in own brand products shows us customers have found Southeastern Grocers products offer quality as good as or better than national brands with a significantly lower everyday price guarantee.”
Across its three retail brands, Southeastern Grocers’ private label assortment consists of a host of brands including SE Grocers, SE Grocers Prestige, SE Grocers Naturally Better, and SE Grocers Essentials. It also carries private label items such as Fisherman’s Wharf, Lip Lickin Chicken, Chek Soda, Hickory Sweet and Whiskers & Tails.
Private Label Growth
As with other retailers, SEG, across its three retail banners, has seen an increase in customers choosing products in its SE Grocers line over comparable national brand products. Most notably, categories such as cheese, eggs, frozen potatoes, water, shortening and oil, salty snacks, coffee, bleach and toilet tissue have seen the greatest activity. Additionally, SEG has met the demand increase for basic pantry necessities by offering more products to provide shoppers with additional savings.
“Over the past year, we have seen an increase in own brand shopping preference among our customers as they discover they can save an average of 20% compared to national brands without compromising quality,” Rabon said. “With thousands of quality own brand products in all of our stores our customers are constantly finding value within our SE Grocers line of products.”
The jump in demand for private label products has seen some retailers take a second look at their product development processes to identify new opportunities in an effort to grow their selection of store branded products. SEG, Rabon noted, has also reviewed its internal processes and revamped its product development process as part of an effort to get items to the shelves faster.
“We constantly look for ways to offer customers the best products at great value,” he said.” We often do this through line extensions of established products and categories, such as by expanding our own brand charcoal offering during summer grilling months, or by offering completely new and unique products that are not found in our stores today. We are also looking at ways we can offer better value through our package sizes, for instance by offering value packs.”
SEG also takes several steps to highlight the quality of its private label products, which includes offering a money-back guarantee on its assortment that numbers more than 6,000 items. The grocer enters its store brand products in national competitions to be judged against items from national brands, and those results are shared with shoppers through its social media accounts and in-store signage. Rabon sees opportunities for future growth with SEG’s private label assortment.
“We are constantly looking for ways to improve our assortment and on-shelf availability as the preferred neighborhood grocer in the communities we serve,” he said. “We are also in a very unique time in the retail space where shopper preferences are evolving like never before. Today’s shoppers are more educated in product selections and value, which makes it a really exciting time for own brand products.”
Sustainability Efforts
Despite the challenges faced over the past three years, sustainability has maintained its spot as a significant point of action across the retail world. SEG has also stepped up its efforts in a multitude of ways and private label products are playing an important role in the effort.
SEG was recognized by Store Brands for its commitment to innovating sustainable products and received multiple 2022 Game Changer Awards for its SE Grocers Prestige 100% Ground Single Origin Coffee, SE Grocers Naturally Better Cage-Free Eggs, SE Grocers Prestige Chocolate Bars, SE Grocers Naturally Better Paper Products and SE Grocers BAP Certified Seafood.
The grocer also responsibly sources 100% of its tuna and increased sustainability in its own brand line of products through its support of fair labor practices, responsible cocoa sourcing and creation of fiber compostable and biodegradable single-use products.
To enhance sustainability efforts, SEG is currently partnering with How2Recycle to update its own brand packaging to communicate recycling instructions to customers and working to make its own brand packaging reusable, recyclable or industrially compostable. This year, all of SEG’s stores also implemented the ability for customers to select paperless receipts to reduce the use of paper throughout its footprint.
The sustainability effort also includes packaging. Rabon noted that in response to feedback from its customers, associates, and community members, SEG has pledged to increase the sustainability of its own brand packaging by the end of 2028.
Community Support
Southeastern Grocers is also heavily involved in a host of charitable endeavors. The company works in partnership with its charitable arm, the SEG Gives Foundation, to actively support the communities it serves across the Southeast.
To date this year, SEG has donated more than 12 million meals to alleviate hunger, funded more than 250 educational scholarships to the legacies of fallen and disabled service members through its partnership with Folds of Honor and awarded $300,000 to 30 recipients of its Romay Davis Belonging, Inclusion and Diversity Grant to help address racial disparities in education, health care and food insecurity and much more.
“As a preferred neighborhood grocer, it is important to us to give back to our associates and customers who support us and better the lives of our associates, customers and neighbors because we know we are stronger together,” Rabon said. “Our charitable pillars are vital to the strength of our communities.”