Decoding ‘Fresh Thyme’ – Grocery store revolutionizing the traditional farmer’s market

About: Fresh Thyme is a chain of full service grocery stores that is revolutionizing the traditional farmers market in Midwest America. Headquartered in Chicago, it was started in 2012, and currently operates with approximately 35 stores, though opening of more stores is on the cards. The business model amalgamates the spirit of weekend farmers market and the convenience of neighborhood store, providing ‘fresh food at refreshingly low prices’. It has an assortment of national and organic products, with core focus on perishable products.

Objective: To promote the concept of organic lifestyle to masses through fresh produce at value for money proposition.

USP’s

• Offers fresh and healthy food, major being fruits and vegetables
• Simple store design with vibrant and fun shopping environment
• Competitive Pricing with Value for money proposition
• Competitively priced private label range, with 300 SKUs focussed on products with maximum household penetration

Sneak Peak into store offerings –

Store Design –

• Built-up – Approximately 30000 square feet in area
• Location – Strategically chosen, providing hot spot of customers looking to a healthier lifestyle by choosing to eat fresh food
• Layout – 50% of store space is dedicated to perishable products – organic and local grown vegetables and fruits, fresh from farm (In-house production). Rest allocated between natural meat department, bakery goods, bulk food bins, dairy & frozen and health supplement products.
• Maintaining the freshness – Freshness of produce is maintained by maintaining a strong supply chain from picking of the produce, till its transportation to the outlets. At the outlets, strong emphasis is laid on temperature control, mist spray to maintain freshness and waste management

Core Offering – Produce department forming the nucleus or centre-stage of store, having prime visibility from all other departments

Supplementing Produce –

• Other products – Natural meat raised without hormones, Seafood which is flown in daily
• Bakery products – produced in-house and also sourced from local artisan bakeries
• Butcher Shop –producing natural handmade sausage on daily basis
• Fresh Thyme Kitchen offering healthy meals which are ready to eat on run – Salads, made to order sandwiches and pizza
• Healthcare section – 7000 varieties of Vitamins, supplements and natural body care products
• Natural and organic bulk foods
• Locally roasted organic coffee beans
• Eco-friendly cleaning supplies
• Specialty items – Gluten-free and dairy-free options

• Hops & Grapes department – Offering expansive selection of wine and local craft beers

Prime eye space is always give to organic brands, though it also maintains certain national brands as campbell soups or 20 ounce bottles of coke and sprite, based on customer’s request. These brands are always stalked at the lower racks.

Target Customers – Time starved and convenience oriented customers, who want to eat fresh.

 Tapping Consumer Touch points:

Offers – Weekly Deals and Discount coupons are floated to boost customer footfall along with ‘Double-Up Thursdays, when maximum offers are generated

Culinary Bytes – Monthly Recipe booklet featuring various healthy and nutritious recipes and health tips is available free of cost at all stores. Taste filled healthy recipes are sought after by shoppers with every new issue

E-recipe’s – The recipes are uploaded on the website in different categories. Currently the website has approximately 221 recipes in categories of beverages, breakfast, dessert, snack and main dishes. Apart from this, it also provides information about preparation of different varieties of sauces, dressings and dips.

Kids Creative Corner – To engage the young ones creatively while parents are busy shopping, Fresh Thyme stores have a dedicated kid’s corner. Unlike play areas offered by most outlets here, kid’s corner focuses on creative activities like colouring, bead making, block building along with collection of toys. Kids love to spend their time at kid’s corner.

Kid’s Stand – Healthy items for kids to munch on as fresh fruits, raisins etc are placed at kid’s takeaway corner

Snacking Corner and Relax Zone – Not only kids, even adults can spend some quality time at the snacking corner and relax zone. They can order for freshly prepared snacks or salads from store and enjoy the same at the store.

Coffee Dispenser – To add to this, a free coffee dispenser is also placed

Corporate Social Responsibility – Concept of ‘The Giving Tree’, is promoted in which Fresh Thyme partners with schools, local organizations and not for profit groups (Indian equivalent of NGO’s) to support them with in-kind donations and fund raising events. It also promotes the concept of reusable bags, to promote a clean and eco-friendly environment.

All these initiatives create, a positive and fun filled environment at the store, aiding in creation of customer pull at the stores.

Point of Differentiation – As opposed to most of the stores that cater to pantry re-stockers, Fresh thyme is primarily targeted towards busy shoppers who are trying to eat fresh. The entire business model revolves around ‘freshness’ as the main focus.

Success Mantra – The success of business model lies in generating major revenues from perishable products. The profit margin is higher on the fresh produce, especially because most of it is grown in-house

Key Challenges – Managing waste, getting the offer right and managing labour

Adoption of business model in emerging economy like India: With India currently witnessing a start-up revolution, many grocery chains have emerged in India, each trying to differentiate itself from the other. Since the major population in India believes in eating freshly prepared food, a similar model can be replicated in India, especially in metro and tier 1 cities with customization as per targeted population. Control over supply chain, maintaining the core offering of freshness, preparation of fresh takeaway snacks with health being core component and strong in store differentials can be key drivers in building a strong brand – an Indian version of an upscale farmer’s market.

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