Video: Amelia and I discuss the awesome recipe cards from Publix that informed our latest Millennials Eat episode.
During my recent trip to Nashville for the Southern Innovations Organics & Foodservice Expo, I checked in on three grocery stores in the area — Publix, Kroger and Food Lion — and found a great example of a store adding value for its shoppers in the produce department.
Placed next to the banana display, Publix had a revolving display of 40 recipe and product information cards, covering commodities from green cabbage to bok choy to kale, jicama to eggplant to sugar snap peas, mini sweet peppers to collard greens to Brussels sprouts.
I'd never had Brussels sprouts before my colleague Amelia fixed them for our latest episode of Millennials Eats. She used the Brussels sprouts recipe card I brought back from Publix as inspiration for her dish.
What impressed me about these cards was that the featured recipes generally had no more than five ingredients aside from salt and pepper. I appreciate this because having to chase down many ingredients — or unfamiliar ones, or ones that require lots of preparation — has often deterred me from trying certain recipes.
In addition to the recipes, the cards included alternate methods of preparation, whether grilling, baking, microwaving or sautéing. Product attributes like flavor, texture and cooking tips were on the other side with a photo.
How much do we hear about how millennials like to try new foods and experiment? If your store has a significant millennial demographic, a display like this makes a lot of sense. I know I picked up a bunch of the recipe cards at this Publix in Nashville, and had I not had a flight scheduled the next day, I would have picked up a bunch of items for the recipes, too.