when mass distribution goes homemade

Arlette Sallé is a regular who comes four times a week to a Loiret hypermarket at lunchtime. Every day, the supermarket offers cooked meals, made on site, which represent an alternative to sandwiches and prepared salads. The dishes are prepared behind the stall. Michel Saulnier, in the kitchen, prepares 100 kg of rougail sausage. After more than 30 years working as a delicatessen, he chose four years ago to come and cook for the hypermarket’s customers, without regrets.

The dishes are sold for around 7 euros per portion, 40% more than the industrial version. “To pay for this investment and assume having cooks and equipment, we have to have a consistent margin”, explains Florian Borget, Hyper U partner in Baule. Turnover in the homemade section increased by 5% last year. In another supermarket, options between 7 and 11 euros attract nearby office customers. A way for the brand to compensate for the decline in the sandwich and industrial salad section, down 7% last year. This offer represents 1% of the store’s turnover which reached 15 million euros last year.