Coles launches its future foods

Coles has opened its first “store of the future” in its new convenience-focused format.

Coles ambassador Curtis Stone at the launch of a new Coles store format at The Glen in Melbourne Picture: David Geraghty

Coles has opened a “store of the future” in Melbourne, the first supermarket in its new convenience-focused format that will feature a much larger space for fresh food, gourmet foods and fridges packed with meal kits and will be rolled out to 100 Coles stores this year.

The chain conducted a trial in Sydney’s Eastgardens Shopping Centre and yesterday opened the maiden site in The Glen shopping centre in Melbourne’s east.

Coles executives hope the new format, with its emphasis on food for now and food for later — encapsulated in the meal kits and ready-to-cook category — will help drive a sales boost.

“Customers have told us what they want: it has to be fresh, it has to be quick and it has to be great quality,” said Coles general manager for store development Jon Haggett.

“So we’ve done the hard work with an expanded range of delicious ready-made convenience options, including everything from an on-the-go breakfast like an acai pot with banana and oats to prepared meals from our new Coles Local brand and Youfoodz that could help you put dinner on the table in minutes.”

The new Coles format is a response to the explosion in demand for meal kits and meal deliveries from services such as Marley Spoon, Hello Fresh and Uber Eats.

“This store is a future concept store for us just like Eastgardens was in NSW, and we are using these stores to drive a differentiated customer offer through the fresh areas of the business,” Mr Haggett told The Australian after the store was opened by Coles ambassador Curtis Stone.

Coles believes the importance of a strong convenience strategy is underlined by the growth in meal kit providers like Marley Spoon and Hello Fresh.

Convenience was also highlighted by Coles chief executive Steven Cain as a key pillar of growth and complementary to his strategy of the “Own Brand Powerhouse”, where a growing proportion of the products sold are private label.

“We have trialled this concept in a number of stores, and based on the results of those trials, both financial performance and customer feedback, we have chosen to roll out in significantly more stores — 100 this calendar year.”

Mr Haggett said the plan was to retrofit 100 existing Cole stores with the improved and expanded fresh food and convenience format, to ramp up the sales sourced from these categories.

The new Coles site in The Glen also features some other additions to draw in shoppers, focusing on fresh, convenience and gourmet foods, and features a number of innovations that have already proven popular in customer trials, including a fresh pasta bar, DIY pizza station, restaurant-quality desserts from Mark’s Cakes and stone-baked breads from Melbourne supplier Laurent Boillon.

Coles will report its full-year results on August 22.