Tap into convenience with ethnic HMR offerings
Summer in Canada goes hand in hand with barbecue, and with the changing face of consumers it's not just burgers and dogs on the barbie. It's not kalbi, or Korean marinated beef ribs.
This year marks the 10th year for Galleria Supermarket as an independent grocer in Canada.
When Galleria first opened the Thornhill location, most of our Korean customers purchase kalbi then marinated it at home overnight for a barbecue party the next day.
Unlike other types of barbecued meats, where only need to brush the sauce onto the meat on a blazing fire, authentic Korean barbecue involves a lot of prep work before it goes on top of the grill.
In an effort to ease the preparation work and making gatherings easier for people, Galleria Supermarket did a study to reach this untapped market and in response created the "BBQ Package" that included well-marinated quality short ribs, kimchi(pickled, spicy cabbage), Korean barbecue sauce, water, vegetables, plates and chopsticks.
This package is sold at Galleria 20% cheaper than if the products were picked up separately. But more than cost, it's convenience that resonates with today's time-pressed customers. All they need to do is just order it one day in advance, then it can be picked up at the store.
It's not only Koreans that have gravitated toward this bestselling HMR meal solution. This no-worry BBQ Package soon became a sensation for mainstream consumers as well.
After the launch of the first BBQ Package, Galleria made many different sizes of BBQ Packages for smaller parties and is still researching to make the summer barbecue memorable and easy for everyone who shops with us. The packaged product represents a big portion of our summer sales.
To maintain and keep the BBQ Package fresh and in good quality, Galleria even hired mystery shoppers to monitor it.
Other ethnic grocers, realizing how popular kalbi is among other ethnic groups, and non-ethnic consumers, have also jumped on the barbecue kalbi bandwagon.