SuperValu Hansfield: combining fresh, local relevance and food solutions

We recently visited the new SuperValu concept in the expanding Dublin commuter town of Hansfield. 

And it impressed. We met up with Gary McMahon, Musgrave’s Food Specialist, and explored how the 14,500 sq ft store is positioning itself as a forward-thinking food and drink destination.

Here’s what we found:

1. Fresh at the Heart

Fresh is the heartbeat of the store. Even before entering the store, floristry sets the tone. An impactful floristry selection by the entrance leads into the extensive produce selection. 

“We’ve traditionally been really strong in fresh and in this store we wanted to call this out and take it further” says Gary. Produce leads into broader fresh categories, including bakery, hot food, meals for tonight and the meat & fish counters. At the same time, there’s a clear statement on value at the front of the store, with a dedicated section on the left of the entrance showcasing the products featured in the latest best offers.  

 2. Upgraded Food-to-Go (Front of Store)

Food-to-go is prominent, with the grab & go offer to the right immediately after the entrance. A high-visibility island unit anchors the food-to-go offer. Key elements of this include sushi from partner Sushi Circle, prepared in the nearby Swords SuperValu, which features a full sushi counter. “The sushi has been doing very well for us since opening, and we’ve also added a grab & go hot food unit, covering basics like jambons and our famous Superquinn sausage rolls.”  

3. The Chicken Hatch

 “We thought a lot about this concept - chicken is more popular than ever, and we created something which we believe gives us a clear point of difference. We’re doing a lot of the prep on site, which does cost us more but enables us to deliver a better product to customers.”  Hot hold units are used to make the offer easy to understand and to shop, with rotisserie chicken as well as chicken tenders and wings all part of the offer. It serves both on the go and at home missions, with a range of sides being developed and integrated to complement the chicken offer.

“ All our Chicken here is 100% Irish, which was very important to us in building the brand. This sits alongside the more traditional hot deli offering, which also features carvery allowing us to offer a premium hot sandwich and hot carvery dinner solution.”

4. Meals Market 

Despite the store's modest footprint, the store includes meat and fish counters. Crucially as well as raw products, the butchers and fishmongers also create meal for tonight solutions, offered as part of the store’s Meals Market offer. There’s a strong range of products from external suppliers here as well. “One range that’s done really well for us so far in this store is the prepared meals range from our sister brand Donnybrook Fair”.

5. Bakery is a standout feature

Our first impression of the bakery section was one of variety, excitement and depth. Highlights for us include an enticing patisserie, a feature around donuts and a broader range of boxed grab & go sweet bakery treats. Across the range there’s clearly been a focus on recognising trends from across the wider bakery sector and incorporating those into the proposition, not least in pistachio.  

6. Enabling cheese to be a star with a hybrid (open) counter 

“This is working nicely for us in enabling us to showcase our strong cheese offer on the shopfloor without a team member having to always be at the unit. Dedicated team members will support this unit at key times, giving us scope to help customers on their cheese discovery journey, but it also works really well on a grab & go basis.”

7. Hyper-local demographics

“A high proportion of those living in the local catchment are of South Asian origin, while we’ve also a significant local Brazilian community. We’ve worked hard on strengthening our ranges to target those customers across different parts of the store, whether it be the unique produce lines we’ve sourced or in the broader ambient ranges. And we’ve a really strong range of frozen Brazilian speciality products, which is helping us attract more Brazilian customers to the store. 

8. Showcasing ranges through a Healthy Living shop-in-shop

“There’s a lot more interest in healthier options across the Irish consumer base, and we’ve tried to make it much easier for customers to find these products in-store with a dedicated shop-in-shop feature. Our Healthy Living zone is clearly segmented from the rest of the store, with differentiated flooring, lighting and fixturing, and we’ve aimed to segment this into relevant sub categories focused across a combination of product groupings and customer need states.” 

9. Oakberry Açai 

Not entirely disregarding the Brazilian element in the local catchment, SuperValu has an Oakberry Açai outlet as part of the unit. “We’ve a strong coffee offer in-store ourselves with our Frank & Honest proposition, so we looked to add something different for our local customers.” 

10. Creating the BWS Experience

Compliance with Irish legislation requires a separated alcohol section – although it can still be within the main store. This has been nicely executed. Two aspects stood out to us - the extensive chilled beer & cider offer and the focus on more premium lines. “We’ve been able to add a bit of theatre into this section as well, and supported by some great fixtures and lighting, we’re really pleased with how this section has come out.”

Our take: what you can learn from this store:

1. Understanding the individual store’s missions and distinct demographic unlocks new opportunities. The operating model for supermarkets won’t allow uniqueness everywhere, but creating more points of difference will drive longer term sales and loyalty. And, remember, consumers change over time - the ideal is to retain the ability to reshape these as the market and competition evolves. Ultimately, it shouldn’t be forgotten that new stores provide a great test bed to incubate new concepts that could have much broader rollout potential.

2. Team members are a critical point of difference. Paying more for labour means ultimately that all employers need a better return on their investment. Harnessing the unique strengths of their own labour force to strengthen the relationship with customers will become increasingly important. 

   
   

3. Fresh remains an abiding principle driving format design and future growth opportunity expansion in the supermarket arena. To differentiate vs. purer value led players, and to create a springboard to take full advantage of the food to go and prepared food opportunity, supermarkets need to optimise and maximise this. Getting the right cues in this section will undoubtedly play a key role for many as they look to expand in this area.