In the dynamic world of retail, two seasoned experts, Glynn Davis and Matthew Valentine, go head-to-head each month. With sharply contrasting opinions, they dissect the hottest retail topics.

This month, they spar over food counters!

Get ready for Glynn Davis and Matthew Valentine’s clash of perspectives in this edition of “Retail Face-Off.”

The cons by Glynn Davis.

Visiting food markets is one of the reasons I enjoy travelling. From the famous La Boqueria in Barcelona to the lesser-known indoor produce market at my home town of Doncaster it is a joy to see a wide variety of fresh foods displayed with eye-catching appeal. I find it irresistible and cannot walk away without purchasing an armful of tasty goods.

It’s therefore always been a major surprise, and disappointment, that the UK’s major supermarkets have failed miserably at delivering successful food counters in their outlets that mirror in even the slightest way the fresh food markets that can be found elsewhere. 

Such has been their poor effort in this area in recent years that it is probably sensible that they have largely jettisoned food counters. They have argued that a lack of demand and the high costs of operating them have prompted their demise.

The problem has been that their efforts have, to me at least, seemed somewhat half-hearted. The expertise of the personnel behind the counters have not necessarily added to the experience and it never felt like the butcher or fishmonger could answer the questions to anything like the level that you can find at your local specialist.

The main issue for me has been that the produce has invariably been exactly the same as can be found in the chilled cabinets pre-packaged. I just didn’t see the point in having to request a 200g cut of mature Cheddar or 18-month old Comte when I could just grab a pre-packed portion a few feet behind me in the chiller.

There was a time when Morrison’s had a focus on its Market Street area that to some extent sought to replicate the food markets – with a butcher, deli counter, baker, and fishmonger – with much of the goods supplied from its own production facilities. But over time the offer has been gradually watered down as price has become the primary focus. It is certainly not the only major supermarket to have lost interest in such counters as Sainsbury’s and Tesco have followed the same strategy. They have ripped out all their various counters.

Even though it pains me to say it, I feel it is the sensible approach for the major grocers to pursue because unless they take food counters seriously then they are simply a waste of time and resources. To date shoppers have not been fooled by the lack of commitment to the proposition and have chosen to simply buy the pre-packaged goods instead.

But I also cannot fail to feel it is a short-sighted approach because the real excitement in great food stores comes from them having impressive visuals, enabling customers to try samples and to learn about the produce from the servers – and the perfect way to deliver this is via food counters. 

So for now in these tough economic times, and where two of the major supermarket are under financial pressure from private equity owners, it is definitely best that they keep away from food counters. There is no point in delivering some half-hearted, sub-standard offer that is a pale imitation of what could really be presented if their hearts were truly in it. 

Until there is a full commitment by the supermarkets to providing counters that reflect in even a modest way the offers in real food markets around the world then they are best served by sticking to what they do best – solely focusing on price.

The pros by Matthew Valentine.

Supermarkets are missing a trick when it comes to in-store counters for specialist foods.

Back when grocery chains were expanding fast, no self-respecting large store was without its own butcher and baker. If shoppers were lucky they got a cheese counter and a fishmonger too.

But in recent years, the big grocers have increasingly moved away from this kind of offer. Back in 2020 Tesco cited changing consumer tastes for a decision to close down its larger in-store bakeries, for example. In the same year, Sainsbury’s closed all if its meat, fish and deli counters, saying it expected to save £60m in operating costs.

I would question that kind of logic. True, the specialist counters may not have been meeting the expectations of customers, but that provided an opportunity to offer new products and services that did meet their expectations. Simply closing the counters down was surely a tactic to find some quick cost savings, not to meet customer demand.

The upshot was that customers could no longer buy fresh breads and cakes in-store at many supermarkets, and had to go elsewhere for them. The same is true of some meat and fish ranges too.

Why should that be a problem for the mainstream supermarkets? Because if a shopper has to go to multiple stores for their shopping, the mainsteam supermarkets might not be one of them.

If you have to go to specialist stores for your fancy breads and fresh salmon, where will you go for your store cupboard essentials, your washing powder and cornflakes? For many people, the answer is that they will go to Aldi or Lidl. Why spend more to visit a large mainstream store which no longer offers its core benefit of providing everything under one roof?

Big, hypermarket format store were rightly criticised in their prime for leading to the closure of small independent stores. Now, their ranges or toys and kitchenwares have been hollowed out by Amazon, their specialist counters have been closed to save money, and the prices of their key grocery ranges have been undercut by discounters. You have to question the point of going to them.

The stores have sought to fill up some of the leftover space with phone shops and opticians – useful features but ones that most customers will visit once a year at best.

It doesn’t take a footfall survey to see the result. Lots of unopened checkouts, lots of excess space, half-empty cafés and car parks that never fill up.

If you are lucky enough to live near to a good independent bakery you will know that it is necessary to factor in queueing time if you want a sourdough loaf on a Saturday morning. If you arrive after 11.00am there will be no bloomers left. Popular butchers keep their customers warm at Christmas by taking them glasses of sherry  while they queue along the street to collect their turkeys. There is no lack of demand for high quality, fresh food.

Yet large supermarkets which have closed their specialist counters have essentially discouraged their ‘foodiest’ customers, the ones who are least impacted by cost of living issues, from visiting their stores.

In a price war, only one retailer can ever be the cheapest. As the supermarkets try to match discounters – which have a smaller, more focused product range – on price, they risk ignoring other parts of the market.

The real genius of a big supermarket is that it is the only store that most shoppers will ever need. Except, of course, when it isn’t.