Dive Brief:

• PCC Community Markets has introduced a new value-priced meal program that offers a bundle of ingredients for $9.95 that feeds four people and can be prepared in under 30 minutes.
• Each month, the Seattle-based grocer will introduce a new Shared Values Meal that features sustainably sourced products along with a recipe. The first meal deal, available now, is red curry vegetables with coconut milk over jasmine rice.
• PCC is positioning its new meal specials as part of its ongoing lineup of product specials and also as a tool for fighting food insecurity.

Dive Insight:

PCC’s meal deal comes at a time when consumers are staring down price inflation across store categories and as retailers face increasing competition for meal spending from reopening restaurants.

Its first Shared Values Meal bundles private label products under distributor United Natural Foods, Inc.'s (UNFI) value-priced specialty brand, Field Day, including organic white rice and coconut milk, with Thai Kitchen red curry paste and Cascadian Farm frozen vegetables.

PCC is promoting the meals as part of its regularly rotating product specials, which currently include $2 off pints of organic blueberries and 20% off select PCC-brand vitamins. The cooperatively owned grocer, which operates 15 stores in the Puget Sound region, also lists the meal deals as part of its ongoing efforts to increase access to fresh, affordable food. 

“PCC looks for ways to best provide for our community through the co-op’s grocery rescue program and with contributions to local food banks and small farms,” Brenna Davis, PCC’s vice president of social and environmental responsibility, said in a statement. “Through these long-standing programs, PCC provides immediate support to more than 40 organizations and family-owned farms across the Puget Sound. And the new Shared Values Meal program is a natural extension of our ongoing efforts to increase access to healthy, organic food.”

The grocer highlighted its bulk offerings, including its fresh-ground nut butters, rice, grains and beans, as another low-price option for shoppers. And it noted the availability of Field Day products, all of which are certified organic and Non-GMO Project-verified, throughout stores. 

During its recent investor day, UNFI said it plans to significantly increase the number of products it offers under its Field Day and other private label brands.

Grocers across the country have refreshed their meal offerings for shoppers. The Giant Company, for one, offers meal boxes for $15 that include a main dish and several sides. Other companies, like United Supermarkets and Lucky California, are opening new in-store restaurants that offer omnichannel ordering.