The Food Scout

Well, the British are attacking the West Coast, staking claim to corner after corner of property, but there seems to be little mention of it in the mass media. Mark my words, Tesco’s new Fresh & Easy concept, which is now opening in Calif., Nev., and N.M. in the next couple of months, will have the revolutionary effect on the retail food industry that Boston Market and Starbucks have had in the past 15 years. And it will be covered in the mass media some day - possibly when it’s too late for anyone to do something about it, though.

What’s amazing is that Tesco has already sited locations for nearly 200 stores in a relatively tight areas of the Southwest (you can see them on all the website, www.freshandeasy.com). Also amazing is the fact that all of the products appear to be branded only with Tesco’s namesake brand. The foods are fresh, frozen and shelf stable, and the footprint of the stores is only a little larger than a convenience store (or about the size of neighborhood stores that used to be common in the 60s and 70s.

There’s no doubt that grocery retailers in California are watching this store chain closely. Not because it’s big enough to steal a significant share of total grocery sales - yet. But just as Starbucks market share was relatively small compared to the big CPG coffee market, no one can argue that Starbucks influence was huge on consumers and manufacturers alike. Likewise, retailers will be looking to see whether they should take some cues from Tesco’s bold entry into the US marketplace to possibly fill a quality gap that has been opening for some time.