Kerry Foods is aiming to add a further £1.5bn to chilled food sales in convenience over the next three years.

As part of its ‘building a nation of chilled experts’ campaign, Kerry Foods has produced a 36-page guide that helps retailers to reach one of three levels of ‘chilled sales excellence’. 

‘Get chilled fit’ is aimed at retailers with limited space and offers a step-by-step guide on getting the right range, display and pricing structure.

‘Build the basket’ is for retailers with two or more bays of chilled food who are looking to increase shoppers’ spend, while ‘destination chilled’ is designed to help the nation’s best convenience retailers develop cross-category displays and promotions throughout the day.

Clare Bocking, convenience sales director at Kerry Foods, told Retail Express only around 4% of the turnover of small stores is chilled, whereas in grocery mults it is around 25-30%, indicating a huge opportunity.

“From 3-5% is an acceptable level of waste. Retailers need to be bold, and take a bit of a risk.

“Prepare for waste for five weeks, but don’t be put off and push on through the barrier,” she added.

To produce the guide, Kerry Foods has worked closely with leading retailers, including Ramesh Shingadia of Londis Southwater, West Sussex, who scooped the Overall Best Shop award from the Independent Achievers’ Academy last year.

“Summer is the right time to look at your chilled range. We see an upturn in chilled c-store sales from Easter onwards,” said Bocking.