Although food and beverage dollar sales—up 8.7% in multi-outlet retail channels* for the year ended Oct. 30, 2022, thanks to inflated prices—may suggest that business is booming, that is not the case.
Just two items in the center store (frozen cookies and energy drinks) posted double-digit unit sales growth in that time frame, per IRI data. Of 130 center-store categories tracked, only powdered milk, pastry/doughnuts, bagels/bialys, Asian food, rice/popcorn cakes, candy, baby formula/electrolytes,…