Growth of prepared foods in delis has kicked into overdrive during the past few years. Prepared foods are leading deli growth, and up 8 percent in dollar sales and 6 percent in volume for the 52 weeks ending Jan. 25 in traditional grocery, supercenters and mass merchandise channels, according to the Nielsen Perishables Group, Chicago.
In addition, prepared foods account for more than half of those channels deli sales, says Sarah Schmansky, director of account services at Nielsen Perishables.