As consumers continue to spread their food dollars across products, brands, pack sizes, stores and restaurants, delivering added value and convenience through grab-and-go meal solutions remains top of mind for marketers when developing new products.

“The Circana National Eating Trends study found that nearly 41% of all meals are ‘quick prep’, meaning more heat/eat and component assembly than traditional cooking,” said Jonna Parker, team lead fresh for Circana. “This points to an important role for convenience-focused foods, including deli-prepared, to be a meal ingredient in addition to a full meal solution.”

Aiming to meet the needs of consumers seeking a quick-yet-satisfying, on-the-go meal solution, Raybern’s Crafted Sandwiches recently rolled out a rebranding effort. Five Raybern’s sandwich varieties will be available in two-count packs with a suggested retail price of $5.79. The five product offerings are Roast Beef & Cheddar, Chicken Bacon Ranch, Philly Cheesesteak (featuring seasoned beef), Barbeque Pulled Pork and Ham & Swiss. The sandwiches boast a shelf life of 365 days when frozen and 12 days when refrigerated, said Doug Hall, senior marketing director at Raybern Foods.

The Raybern’s brand has been around more than 30 years, with its sandwiches available at retail across the U.S. as well as in Mexico, Hall said.

On a per unit basis, frozen food prices increased 1.1% in October 2023, according to Circana research — continuing to trend below the total store average. This is positive news after frozen food inflation tracked ahead of the total store the first half of 2023 and throughout 2022.

In this brand refresh, Raybern’s is working to ensure that frozen-food consumers don’t have to compromise when they walk down the freezer aisle, Hall said.

“We are looking at really addressing consumers in the frozen aisle and in the deli section of the grocery store,” he said. ”There’s a lot of products out there today that are boring — we want to bring some excitement back to the frozen aisle.”

Part of the new sandwich line’s signature appeal is the meats, which Raybern’s crafts in-house, Hall said.

“We’re fully integrated in sandwich-making, with a bakery, our kitchen and assembly all in house,” Hall said.

During the product development phase of the new sandwich line, Raybern’s looked to quick-service restaurants to see what sandwiches were available and which ones were most popular with consumers, Hall said. That research lead to Raybern’s opting to use thinly sliced beef, ham and chicken for its sandwiches, he said.

“We’re bringing these in line more with QSR. It’s going to be a more affordable option than eating out,” Hall said. “Convenience shows up in a couple of ways. Being able to eat it on the run without it being a mess, but also warming it up and having that eating experience be as simple as possible.”

The trend that began during the pandemic of consumers aiming to re-create a restaurant-style eating experience at home meshes with the flexibility and potential for preparation creativity the new line of sandwiches offers, Hall said.

“You can add your own spin to it,” Hall said, mentioning that market feedback on the sandwiches has consumers reporting adding items such as vegetables or slices of cheese to the sandwiches or using different preparation methods.

“It is designed in a way that has a basic format you can eat as is, or if you’re really into it you can add different things to it — you can grill it up if you want. There’s a variety of different things you can do to re-create that restaurant-type of experience,” Hall said.