Ukrop’s expands offerings of prepared foods
EVA RUSSO/TIMES-DISPATCH
Ukrop’s Super Markets executive chef Tom Pearce stirs a dish as the chain showed its new take-home line.
Ukrop’s Super Markets Inc. has expanded its line of prepared foods to include several oven-ready, family-sized options aimed at working families.
Sold under the Ukrop’s Bakes brand, the meals are precooked and can be heated and served within 30 minutes.
The chain has also added meals to its Chef’s Specials brand and a new single-serve pasta line.
The line of food includes appetizers, pastas and deserts.
Tom Pearce, Ukrop’s executive chef, said the meals were designed based on customer feedback.
“What we were hearing was that people wanted convenience,“ Pearce said yesterday at an event at the chain’s Chesterfield Towne Center store on Midlothian Turnpike.
The chain held focus groups and conducted surveys to determine what customers were looking for.
Julie Bishop, manager of culinary and wellness trends at the chain, said the 30-minute time frame for the meals was no accident.
“This gives someone time to put the dish in the oven, set the table and get the kids ready,“ she said.
Ukrop’s began selling prepared foods in 1989 with 10 varieties of dishes. It now makes about 250 dishes from its kitchen in Chesterfield County.
Pearce and a team of five developed about 50 new recipes, though only about half will make it into stores. Some of the foods began hitting stores in May. They will continue to roll out during the holidays.
Pearce’s team also added foods that have a bit more ethnic flavors, including a Carnitas Tamale bake, a twist on a Mexican dish.
“Customers told us they wanted to do something adventurous, but safe,“ Bishop said.
The new meals also help the chain attract shoppers who might not be familiar with the chain because they aren’t from the area, said Scott Aronson, Ukrop’s vice president of marketing and analysis.
“It’s a good introduction to people who may be from outside of Richmond,“ he said.
Bringing in new customers is particularly important for the chain, which has been losing market share in the Richmond market because of increased competition.
This year, Ukrop’s lost its top spot in a market-share survey put out by Food World, a trade publication that ranks the grocery industry in the mid-Atlantic. It was the first time in more than 20 years that it wasn’t at the top.
Contact Louis Llovio at (804) 649-6348 or
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Reader Reactions
Honestly, it sounds like some of you want Ukrop’s to go under! Hours-long wait? I don’t believe that for a second ... unless you were there at a busy time and failed to take a number. You can place your deli order at the Spot machine, go do your other shopping and pick up your order at the deli when you’re done - no waiting! At the Ukrop’s I frequent, they are constantly restocking the produce and removing anything that looks like it is going bad. Every day they reduce meat and bakery items that are nearing the expiration or sell-by date.
I have a WalMart, Food Lion and Ukrop’s within two miles of my home. WalMart is not always the cheapest on everything, and check-out is a nightmare. If you look at the sale flyers for Food Lion and Ukrop’s each week, you can compare items on sale and oftentimes they are lower than the everyday price at WalMart. There is no Kroger near me, so I don’t know about their prices.
I finally got fed up with hour-long waits at the deli
Hour long waits at the deli. Really? An hour?
“Every grocer in the country is going to send a representatives to check this out. Happens every time Ukrops innovates.“
These ‘innovations’ are well over a decade old in the rest of the country. Fuelperks & these types of prepared food lines were introduced in the mid-to-late 90s.
If grocers are coming here, perhaps its to see that dinosaurs actually do exist
Am I the only one who is getting poor service at Ukrops? Up until earlier this year, I only shopped at Ukrops, but I finally got fed up with hour-long waits at the deli, mold on the produce, and chunky milk. The chunky milk only happened once, but now that I’m checking for it…I see a lot of dairy/meat that has gone well past the sell by date. Did Ukrops get bought by Food Lion?
for me, the service had set Ukrops apart but now that the service is on a level similar to the others…I go elsewhere and only hit the Ukrops for certain items.
This comment has nothing to do with a grocery store. More like a smut shop.
to bonair: No, sorry have never lived in the West End…..ha
OverIt you’re probably right. But as far as their refusal to beer goes, well that isn’t the only reason I won’t shop Ukrops. They also don’t sell other items I need to pick-up when weekly grocery shopping: Lottery tickets, vibrators, handcuffs & lingerie. In short, Ukrops is totally out of touch with what folks want at a food store.
More sodium, more saturated fat re-packaged in larger quantities to add to the obesity problem in this city. And very expensive. Ukrops needs to get a life!
C’mon, just read the sodium and saturated fat content on any of their prepared foods - no difference from the Swanson TV dinners from the 1960s. It’s just repackaged fast food. I challenge Ukrops to post food labeling to demonstrate how their prepared food is nutritionally above or even equal to any fast food restaurant. Cut the crap, and for goodness sake, stop making anyone think your prepared meals are anything but high priced, nutritionally deficient junk food.
obxgirl, you’ve got to be from the West End. You’ve just got to be.
HaHa!
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