My, how the Frozen Food Aisle has Changed

It's about time for another frozen food revolution

About ten years ago the frozen food aisle in most supermarkets was a wasteland, and sales were declining. A recharge was needed and companies like ConAgra took the lead in revolutionizing the offerings with ingredient and recipe updates along with more healthier options as well as educating shoppers about what frozens were, and were not. The effort paved the way for a deluge of new brands, many with a focus on healthier offerings and it changed the face of the aisle and brought shoppers back to frozens.

Now, we are about to see another frozen revolution. Arsen Avakian former CEO of Argo Tea, has launched Cooler Screens — a company that wants to replace the glass doors in the frozen foods aisle with large digital doors that are, basically “big giant iPads” programmed to display relevant information and offers to consumers when they stop to look at them.

Depending on what the customer is doing, he says, along with a host of other contextual factors, a myriad of things could appear on that display. It could be a money savings offer from a brand or, more interesting to me, it could display nutritional information or dietary data – that could be interactive.

Next step could well be facial recognition where that frozen food door recognizes me – well not maybe me – but that I’m a white baby boomer, slightly overweight  male – and display customized offerings based on that demographic; perhaps a Healthy Choice grilled chicken bowl?

When one looks at consumer behavior studies, the company says, one of the more consistent findings is that over two-thirds of consumer purchases are spontaneous, spur-of-the-moment choices. That means the challenge for brands and retailers, looking to make conversions, is in properly being in and capturing that moment right at POS.