City focus: food-to-go in Stockholm

Ahead of our food-to-go safari in Stockholm on Thursday 22 May, we highlight some of the key features of the market.

Making food-to-go simple to serve and simple to operate

There's a strong convenience presence across the Nordics, and Sweden is no exception. Driven by Reitangruppen, its two chains, 7-Eleven and Pressbyran, have a strong focus on food and drink to go. Both play a significant role in the overall market, with a combined store count of c. 400 across the country and a combined daily transaction count of 350,000.

7-Eleven has the stronger food-to-go focus of the two. The proposition at 7-Eleven impresses across the range of food-to-go missions targeted, the slickness of the operating model (counter-based, but simple to serve) and the way it collaborates with other food-to-go and foodservice businesses, such as the co-branded ranges with local food-to-go operator Panini Internazionale.

Combining healthy and affordability in food-to-go

The key example here is Picadeli, a digitally led salad bar concept that has enjoyed tremendous success in Sweden and in many other markets across Europe. Typically located in supermarkets and convenience stores, this focus is however expanding, as we discovered first hand on a recent visit to Gothenburg to witness its expansion into standalone and workplace locations. We've long been very impressed with the proposition, and the breadth of healthy options it brings to consumers at affordable price points - it's one that is well worth seeing and understanding if you're focused on the future of food-to-go.

Putting sustainability high on the menu

Sweden has long had a strong focus around sustainability, and sustainable thinking comes through in many of hte leading concepts and operations. Whether it's Picadeli salad bars (where its digital labels show the carbon footprint and nutriscore of all their food lines within the salad bar), or Reitangruppen's PBX sustainable convenience store concept, it's clear this retains a high priority in the marketplace and in the consumer mindset.

A different take on global cuisines and interpretations

Stockholm as a city is full of a range of global cuisines and the food-to-go landscape is no different. Businesses such as Indian Street Food, Panini Internazionale (which doesn't focus on paninis) Hawaii Poke, Zócalo, Taco Bar and Pong all impact the food-to-go and broader service landscape, and this is reflected in impactful globally influenced retail food-to-go ranges.

Next level bakery

Bakery is an important part of the overall food landscape, and the way operators like Bröd & Salt have developed their cafe and food-to-go appeal offers good learnings for a wide range of businesses. And Fabrique and Gateau also impress. And at the heart of each of these lies a differentiated, quality orientated product range, a great source of inspiration for anyone looking to reinvigorate and/ or drive new appeal in their bakery offer.

Innovative thinking around food retail and supermarkets

Sweden boasts several excellent food retailers, who have a strong focus on fresh and a solution oriented approach. There are several notable differentiated features of Swedish supermarkets, not least the tacos aisle in-store, driven by Taco Friday being an established tradition among many Swedes, while concepts like Urban Deli straddle both food retail and hospitality.

Want to find out more? Why not join us on our May 22 Stockholm food-to-go safari?