New 'Marketside' Brand Fresh Food Items From Walmart - Part Deux

Private Brand Showcase

In the Private Brand Showcase piece linked here - December 18, 2010: Walmart Launches New 'Marketside' Fresh Food Lines - Plus A 'Fresh' Campaign to Create Brand Buzz - we wrote about (and included photographs) three new fresh food product lines, along with some new item line extensions, Walmart Stores, Inc. recently introduced under its fast-growing "Marketside" brand.

Today we thought we would give Fresh & Easy Buzz readers an additional pictorial look at some of the new items not pictured in the story on Saturday.

Pictured above, the items are, from left to right:

>"Marketside Mushroom And Cheese Half-Moons and Grilled Chicken and Spinach Ravioli. The varieties are two of the numerous SKUs (and shapes) in the new"Marketside" brand refrigerated fresh pasta line, which we wrote about in the in the Saturday piece. [See - December 18, 2010: Walmart Launches New 'Marketside' Fresh Food Lines - Plus A 'Fresh' Campaign to Create Brand Buzz

>"Marketside" Chicken Tortilla Soup. This a fairly new item (line extension) Walmart has added to it existing "Marketside" line of ready-to-heat, fresh-refrigerated soups. [See - February 28, 2010: Walmart Introducing New Ready-To-Heat Prepared Entrees, Fresh Soups Under its Marketside Brand]

>"Marketside" Classic Smooth Guacamole. This SKU is a larger version (2/7oz Trays instead of pouches) of the same item we ran a picture of in the piece on Saturday. That item: "Marketside" Classic Smooth Guacamole; but in 6/2oz Pouches instead of the trays. [See the photo at the December 18, 2010 story link above.

>"Marketside" Artisan Petite Cranberry Walnut Loaf. This new specialty bread is one of a number of new varieties Walmart is launching to go with its existing "Marketside" bread, roll and baked goods lines. [See - September 9, 2010: Walmart Introduces 'Marketside' Brand Packaged Fresh-Baked Breads, Sub Rolls and Chocolate Chunk Cookie]

>"Marketside" Roasted Garlic Hummus. The variety is one flacor in the multi-SKU new line of "Marketside" packaged, fresh-refrigerated Hummus.

As we noted in the story on Saturday, Walmart Stores, Inc. is developing additional new "Marketside" private brand fresh food lines, and preparing to introduce some of those new lines, along with numerous new item line extensions, in the first half of 2011.

Stay tuned.

Related Stories

March 31, 2010: Walmart Adds Additional Marketside Fresh Food Items to Marketside.com Not Long After Our February Reports

March 9, 2010: Walmart Adds Two More SKUs to its Marketside Ready-To-Heat Fresh, Prepared Entree Line

March 2, 2010: Walmart Launching New 'Marketside Fresh Garden Salsa' Line Under its Fast-Growing Fresh Foods Store Brand

February 28, 2010: Walmart Launching New Value-Added Pre-Packaged Fresh Produce Line Under its Marketside Fresh Foods Brand

[Private Brand Showcase is a regular feature of Fresh & Easy Buzz. In it we report on, write about and offer analysis and commentary on the fast-growing private or retailer brand (sometimes called private label) movement, along with featuring various private brand products being offered by Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, along with those of other grocers and retailers operating various types of formats. Below is a selection of 2010 stories in our Private Brand Showcase]

Private Brand Showcase 2010

December 18, 2010: Walmart Launches New 'Marketside' Fresh Food Lines - Plus A 'Fresh' Campaign to Create Brand Buzz

December 13, 2010: House (Sparking) Cider Rules at Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market

October 30, 2010: Raley's Launches New 'Raley's TO GO' Pre-Packaged, Refrigerated Fresh-Prepared Foods Line

October 16, 2010: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market 'Bags' the Humble and Nutritious Plantain For A New Snack Chip Item

October 16, 2010: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market's Private Brand Kids' Cereal Wins Bronze 'Pentaward' in 2010 Packaging Design Competition

October 9, 2010: 'Use Me': Should Reusable Packaging Be Part of Tesco's Sustainable Private Brand Offering? A Student-Designer Thinks So

September 27, 2010: First Items in Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market's 'eatwell' Brand Frozen Foods Line Arriving in Store Freezer Cases This Week

September 4, 2010: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Unveils New fresh&easy 'goodness' Brand Items and Packaging

August 29, 2010: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Expanding its fresh&easy 'goodness' Co-Branded Line; Launching Numerous New Items

August 18, 2010: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Extending 'eatwell' Healthy Foods' Private Brand Into Dry Grocery Category

July 21, 2010: 'Sipsational' & 'Quenchtastic': Safeway Introduces New 21-Flavor Line of Soft Drinks Under 'refreshe' Private Brand

July 17, 2010: New Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Clock-Shaped Private Brand Candy Line Hits the Shelves at Fresh & Easy

July 12, 2010: Tesco Launches Private Brand 'Lasagne Sandwich' in the UK Today...With No Apologies to The Earl of Sandwich

June 24, 2010: New Fresh & Easy Clock Logo-Shaped Candies Are A Pretty Sweet Idea

May 11, 2010: Tesco Might Want to Get 'fresh & naked' at 'fresh & easy'

April 2, 2010: Fresh & Easy's New 'EatWell' Healthier Fresh, Prepared Foods Brand to Hit Stores on April 7

April 11, 2010: When it Comes to Fresh, Prepared Foods, New York City's Duane Reade is Simply 'deLish' for Walgreens

February 22, 2010: Food, Drug Retailers With Stores in California, Nevada & Arizona Honored for Private Label-Store Brands' Excellence

[Photo credit: Photo courtesy of Sophistisishe.com.]

Walmart Launches New 'Marketside' Fresh Food Lines - Plus A 'Fresh' Campaign to Create Brand Buzz

Private Brand Showcase: Fresh Foods

Walmart Stores, Inc. has been busy creating and launching new fresh food product lines under its "Marketside" private brand, along with adding new SKUs to its existing lines, since we last reported on and wrote about the introduction of a new line of "Marketside"artisan breads and related baked goods in September. [Read the story - September 9, 2010: Walmart Introduces 'Marketside' Brand Packaged Fresh-Baked Breads, Sub Rolls and Chocolate Chunk Cookie.]

Since then, Walmart has launched three notable new "Marketside" lines: a line of ready-to-use refrigerated dips (for chips, crackers, fruits and veggies); a cook-in-three-minute fresh, refrigerated pasta line; and a companion line of ready-to-heat fresh-prepared pasta sauces.


Dips: The extensive line features numerous SKUs, including Guacamole; a range of ranch dips like Chipotle Ranch and Buttermilk Ranch; Bleu Cheese; a cream cheese and vanilla bean fruit dip; and others.


Fresh Pasta: The "Marketside" line of fresh, refrigerated pasta includes numerous pasta shapes, along with ravioli and tortelloni varieties filled with meat and cheese, like the Three Cheese Tortelloni pictured above. All of the fresh pasta varieties take three minutes to boil.

Pasta Sauce: The "Marketside" refrigerated, fresh-prepared pasta sauces come in tomato-based and cream varieties, as well as pesto. The cream-based sauce varieties include the Asiago and Smoked Provolone cheese sauce pictured above. The tomato-based marinara sauce varieties include the Tuscan-Style Marinara Sauce, also pictured above.

Walmart has yet to add the new "Marketside" fresh pasta, pasta sauce and dip lines, as well as some of the new SKUs added to the existing lines, to its Marketside.com product website.

Walmart's "Marketside" private brand now includes lines and products in the fresh-prepared foods, fresh produce and bakery categories.

The fresh-prepared food lines include both ready-to-eat items - grab-and-go salads and sandwiches; party trays; Rotisserie chicken and other meat and non-meat items and side dishes; plus the dips and sauces - and ready-to-heat or quick-cook items, such as entrees, side dishes, pizzas, pastas and sauces.

There's also a line of "Marketside" packaged fresh cheese and a line of packaged lunch meats which are sold in some Walmart stores.

The fresh food products are sold in the retailer's Walmart Supercenter, Walmart Neighborhood Market and marketside by Walmart banner stores in the U.S. Additionally, selected "marketside" items are also sold in some of the retailer's discount format stores.

The product grouping above - the ready-to-eat rotisserie chicken and take-and-bake pizza, along with a bag of fresh spinach, a loaf of fresh bread and a cookie - is a good graphic depiction of the "home meal replacement" marketing positioning focus Walmart is using for its "Marketside" fresh foods brand.

Home meal replacement positioning, building brand buzz

Walmart's strategic vision and marketing strategy for "Marketside" is to create a multi-line family of fresh food products and position them to shoppers as an affordable, fresh and high-quality "home meal solutions" brand and concept, which it has started doing, using a handful of marketing and promotional vehicles.

The retailer's new campaign for "Marketside," which began the first week of November, is designed to create online buzz around the brand by engaging food-oriented bloggers and "mommy" bloggers, many who are members of Walmart's moms' blogger group.

The "home meal replacement" positioning for brand "Marketside" is the central theme of the campaign. Boulder, Colorado-based design and corporate identity firm Mighty Fudge Studios, the creators of the "Marketside" product packaging, prepared an attractive and detailed collateral piece for the week-long promotion. The package was sent to the bloggers as an information piece about the brand, along with inviting them to receive a selection of free "Marketside" products over a period of time, which they could try and hopefully write about in their respective blogs, thereby creating some desired online grassroots buzz for and around the brand.

The marketing communications piece (pictured above) uses the "home meal solutions" positioning as its overall theme, focusing the "Marketside" brand message on that key element.

A number of the food-oriented and "mommy" bloggers who received the free products and market communication piece have since posted about the "Marketside" products, along with posting recipes they created using the fresh food items.

More brand 'Marketside' to come

In addition to introducing the new "Marketside" fresh food lines, Walmart has added new SKUs to many of its existing lines over the last couple months, such as new fresh bread items, ready-to-heat refrigerated soup varieties, value-added produce items and a some others.

New line creation and SKU expansion are far from over at Walmart for brand "Marketside." The retailer is currently working on additional new fresh food lines, including prepared-foods, and new SKUs to add to the existing lines, for introduction in the first half of 2011.

Stay tuned.

Related Stories

September 9, 2010: Walmart Introduces 'Marketside' Brand Packaged Fresh-Baked Breads, Sub Rolls and Chocolate Chunk Cookie

March 31, 2010: Walmart Adds Additional Marketside Fresh Food Items to Marketside.com Not Long After Our February Reports

March 9, 2010: Walmart Adds Two More SKUs to its Marketside Ready-To-Heat Fresh, Prepared Entree Line

March 2, 2010: Walmart Launching New 'Marketside Fresh Garden Salsa' Line Under its Fast-Growing Fresh Foods Store Brand

February 28, 2010: Walmart Introducing New Ready-To-Heat Prepared Entrees, Fresh Soups Under its Marketside Brand

February 28, 2010: Walmart Launching New Value-Added Pre-Packaged Fresh Produce Line Under its Marketside Fresh Foods Brand

Walmart Introduces 'Marketside' Brand Packaged Fresh-Baked Breads, Sub Rolls and Chocolate Chunk Cookie

Breaking Buzz: Private Brand Showcase

Walmart Stores, Inc. has introduced its line of 'Marketside' brand pre-packaged fresh-baked breads and submarine sandwich-style rolls, along with the first item, a 3.17 ounce Chocolate Chunk Cookie, in what will be a multi-item companion line of 'Marketside' packaged, ready-to-eat fresh baked goods.

The first items in the 'Marketside' fresh-baked bread line are:

Bread Loaves, 16 ounce packages:

>Roasted Garlic Artisian Loaf
>MultiGrain Boule
>Neo Tuscan Boule
>Combo Loaf
>Ciabatti Loaf
>Seeded Rye Loaf
>MultiGrain Loaf Bread
>Sourdough Loaf Bread
>Pumpernickel Loaf Bread

Sub Sandwich-Style Rolls, 16 Ounce Packages

>Seeded Rye Sub Rolls
>Sourdough Sub Rolls
>MultiGrain Sub Rolls
>Pumpernickel Sub Rolls

As mentioned, the Chocolate Chunk Cookie (pictured below) is currently the only item in the 'Marketside' private brand fresh baked goods line. But there are more SKUs to come soon.
We said Walmart would be introducing the 'Marketside' breads and baked goods "soon" in this March 31, 2010 piece: Walmart Adds Additional Marketside Fresh Food Items to Marketside.com Not Long After Our February Reports. They retailer has done so.

The new fresh-baked bread, sub roll and baked goods lines join Walmart's other 'Marketside' store brand packaged food items - fresh-prepared foods, take-and-bake pizza's, packaged produce and salsa, giving Walmart Stores, Inc. 'Marketside' "fresh" items in three categories: Deli, produce and bakery. [Click here for a selection of past stories about Walmart's 'Marketside' brand items in the fresh-prepared foods and produce categories.]

The 'Marketside' items - and the categories they're in - are very similar in style, ingredient profile and packaging to what Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market has done with its fresh&easy brand, which it uses in all categories, including fresh-prepared foods/deli, and bakery.

Unlike Tesco's Fresh & Easy though, which is only able to sell the fresh&easy brand items in its 163 small-format stores in California, southern Nevada and Metro Phoenix, Arizona, Walmart is able to offer its 'Marketside' "fresh" items for sale in its thousands of supercenters (and some discount format stores) and Neighborhood Market supermarkets in the U.S., as well as in its four small-format 'marketside by Walmart' food and grocery stores in the suburban Phoenix, Arizona cities of Mesa, Tempe, Gilbert and Chandler.

Walmart is currently developing additional 'Marketside' brand items in the fresh-prepared foods, pre-packaged produce and fresh bread/baked goods categories.

The mega-retailer is also rolling out the 'Marketside' store brand items to additional stores, such as the many recent discount format stores its been converting to hybrid supercenters.

Walmart Adds Additional Marketside Fresh Food Items to Marketside.com Not Long After Our February Reports

Walmart has now added its Marketside private brand fresh soups, which we reported on in February [Walmart Introducing New Ready-To-Heat Prepared Entrees, Fresh Soups Under its Marketside Brand], to its marketside.com Web site. There are eight varieties in the ready-to-heat soup line.

In addition, Walmart just-recently added its eight-item Marketside refrigerated take-and-bake pizza line (pictured at the top) to the site.

The pizzas were the very first item Walmart rolled out in its Marketside ready-to-heat and ready-to-eat, prepared foods line. It introduced the pizzas in selected stores in fall 2009. The refrigerated pizzas take about 17-19 minutes to bake at in a conventional oven.

Walmart has recently given the Marketside pizza package a makeover, giving it a new look, and bringing its graphic design in line with all of the other Marketside private brand prepared foods products introduced to date.

You can view the pizzas, soups and other items at the http://www.marketside.com/ site.

The reason the soup line have now been added to marketside.com is because Walmart has rolled the items out to many more of its Supercenters and Neighborhood Market supermarkets than was the case when we reported on the new Marketside store brand prepared foods items in February.

The pizzas were only recently added to marketside.com because of the packaging makeover mentioned above.

Next up for brand Marketside is a line of artisian breads and baked goods. Walmart is currently preparing to start introducing some of the items in selected stores soon, we've learned.

Additional varieties of Marketside fresh, prepared entrees and other ready-to-heat and ready-to-eat food items are also in the works, as we've previously elaborated on in a number of the posts linked below.

Walmart's Marketside: Recent Biography

>March 9, 2010: Walmart Adds Two More SKUs to its Marketside Ready-To-Heat Fresh, Prepared Entree Line

>March 2, 2010: Walmart Launching New 'Marketside Fresh Garden Salsa' Line Under its Fast-Growing Fresh Foods Store Brand

>February 28, 2010: Walmart Launching New Value-Added Pre-Packaged Fresh Produce Line Under its Marketside Fresh Foods Brand

>February 28, 2010: Walmart Introducing New Ready-To-Heat Prepared Entrees, Fresh Soups Under its Marketside Brand

>January 9, 2010: Walmart's 'marketside': What's 'In-Store' for 2010?

>December 21, 2009: Wither Walmart's Small-Format 'marketside' Stores and Format?

Walmart Adds Two More SKUs to its Marketside Ready-To-Heat Fresh, Prepared Entree Line

Fresh, Prepared Foods Merchandising

Walmart Stores, Inc. has added two additional SKUs to its Marketside ready-to-heat, fresh prepared entree line, which Fresh & Easy Buzz was the first publication to report on that we're aware of.

The two additional fresh, prepared entree SKUs, sold in 3 pound family-style size packages, are: Lasagna With Meat Sauce (pictured at the top) and Chicken Enchiladas (pictured below). (We recall a similar Chicken Enchiladas entree - but not in the same packaging or same quality product - packed under the Sam's Club store brand, in the past.)
That makes four SKUs in the Marketside fresh, prepared entree line we've been able to document thus far: Mac N' Cheese With Bacon, Rigatoni With Italian Sausage; and now the Chicken Enchilada and Lasagna With Meat Sauce varieties.

Walmart has posted pictures of the two entree varieties on its marketside.com Web site. The two Marketside entree items we reported on in February (Mac N' Cheese With Bacon and Rigatoni With Italian sausage) weren't up on the site at the time. They are now, along with the Chicken Enchilada and Lasagna With Meat Sauce SKUs.

The marketside.com Web site also has some (but not all of the SKUs in the line) of the Marketside bagged and packaged fresh produce items we reported on in the February piece [Walmart Launching New Value-Added Pre-Packaged Fresh Produce Line Under its Marketside Fresh Foods Brand] pictured as well. All of the SKUs are listed in our story.

Further, the Marketside fresh soup line we reported on in this February 28, 2010 piece [Walmart Introducing New Ready-To-Heat Prepared Entrees, Fresh Soups Under its Marketside Brand] and the Marketside fresh salsa line we reported on in this March 2, 2010 post [Walmart Launching New 'Marketside Fresh Garden Salsa' Line Under its Fast-Growing Fresh Foods Store Brand] aren't depicted on marketside.com, perhaps because they're too new

There's also a "Bakery" tab on marketside.com. In case you're wondering when you see it, the tab is for a new line of Marketside fresh breads and baked goods the retailer will be introducing soon. Currently if you click the tab it says "Coming Soon." More to come on that "soon" in Fresh & Easy Buzz.

Fresh & Easy Buzz has been out front in reporting and writing about Walmart Stores, Inc.'s development of its new Marketside fresh foods store brand.

For example, see the posts linked below:

>January 9, 2010: Walmart's 'marketside': What's 'In-Store' for 2010?

>December 21, 2009: December 21, 2009 piece - Wither Walmart's Small-Format 'marketside' Stores and Format?

>Click here and here for a selection of additional 'marketside' past posts.

Walmart Launching New 'Marketside Fresh Garden Salsa' Line Under its Fast-Growing Fresh Foods Store Brand

Fresh, Prepared Foods Merchandising

In addition to the new Marketside fresh, ready-to-heat soup, prepared entree and value-added, pre-packaged fresh produce lines we reported on and wrote about in these to pieces on February 28 [Walmart Introducing New Ready-To-Heat Prepared Entrees, Fresh Soups Under its Marketside Brand and Walmart Launching New Value-Added Pre-Packaged Fresh Produce Line Under its Marketside Fresh Foods Brand], Walmart Stores, Inc. is spicing things up by launching a new line of Marketside store brand fresh salsa in seven varieties.

The product is called Marketside Fresh Garden Salsa.

The seven SKU's in the new line are: Mild, Medium and Hot; Chipotle Garlic; Sweet Onion; Mango Peach; and Black Bean & Corn

The salsa comes in 18 oz plastic tubs, as you can see in the photograph at the top. The hot variety is pictured above.

The packaging for the fresh salsa is the same as that of the 10 oz Marketside Mild Pico De Gallo Salsa item in our February 28 report.

Walmart is in the process of rolling out the new Marketside fresh salsa line to selected Supercenters and Neighborhood Market supermarkets in the U.S. We've been told the line also could be sold in Walmart's discount format stores.

The 18 oz Marketside Fresh Garden Salsa line - like its cousin the 10 oz Pico De Gallo, which in the full line comes in medium and hot varieties in addition to the mild - is targeted to be merchandised in the refrigerated sections in the produce departments in Walmart stores. We suspect it might find its way to the self-serve refrigerated deli sections in some stores as well.

The unit price point for the new Marketside 18 oz Fresh Garden Salsa is about $2.99, depending on the region where a store is in the U.S.

Walmart has posted the new Marketside value-added, packaged fresh produce line (plus the Pico De Gallo Salsa) and the Marketside family-sized entrees from our February 28 story on its fairly recently revamped http://www.marketside.com/ Web site.

However, as of today, the new Marketside Garden Fresh Salsa line - or the ready-to-heat soup line we reported on also on February 28 - isn't included or depicted on the marketside.com site.

Walmart Launching New Value-Added Pre-Packaged Fresh Produce Line Under its Marketside Fresh Foods Brand

Fresh Foods Merchandising: Value-Added Produce Category

Walmart Stores, Inc. is introducing an extensive new line of value-added fresh, bagged and pre-packaged produce items under its Marketside fresh foods brand, Fresh & Easy Buzz has learned.

Thus far, the line includes 17 SKUs in the following categories: Fresh, bagged or pre-packaged spinach greens, salad mixes and lettuce, value-added fresh veggies, and a fresh salsa item.

All of the value-added fresh produce items come in either clear bags or plastic packages/tubs. Below are the 17 new Marketside value-added fresh produce items, detailed under the four categories we've created and grouped them under:

Spinach Greens

>Marketside Fresh Spinach, 10 oz
>Marketside Organic Baby Spinach, 10 oz
>Marketside Organic Baby Spinach, 5 oz

Microwave In-Bag Value-Added Veggies

>Marketside Broccoli Cauliflower, 12 oz
>Marketside Broccoli Florets, 12 oz
>Marketside Broccoli/Cauliflower/Carrots Vegetable Medley, 12 oz
>Marketside Snow Peas, 8 oz
>Marketside Sugar Snap Peas, 8 oz

Salad Mix, Salads & Lettuce

>Marketside Classic Iceberg Salad, 12 oz
>Marketside Classic Iceberg Salad, 24 oz
>Marketside Classic Iceberg Salad, 6 oz

>Marketside Shredded Iceberg Lettuce, 8 oz

>Marketside Broccoli Slaw, 12 oz

>Marketside Organic Herb Mix, 5 oz

>Marketside Organic Spring Mix, 10 oz
>Marketside Organic Spring Mix, 5 oz

Fresh Salsa Mix

>Marketside Mild Pico De Gallo, 10 oz

Five of the 17 bagged and pre-packaged fresh produce items are organic, as you can see in the above list.

Walmart is launching its new Marketside value-added, bagged and packaged fresh produce items in selected Supercenters and Neighborhood Market supermarkets.
Some of the 17 items have been sold at Walmart's four small-format 'marketside by Walmart' fresh food and grocery stores in Metropolitan Phoenix. Those stores opened in May 2008.

Earlier today we reported on and detailed that Walmart is introducing a new line of pre-packaged, ready-to-heat fresh, prepared entrees and soups under its Marketside store brand. [February 28, 2010 Walmart Introducing New Ready-To-Heat Prepared Entrees, Fresh Soups Under its Marketside Brand] The two new lines follow Walmart's introduction last year of its Marketside take-and-bake pizza line.

The extension of store brand Marketside to the new pre-packaged, value-added fresh produce line shows Walmart plans to use Marketside as a complete fresh foods store brand, including fresh produce - and other types of fresh foods - under the brand, along with the fresh, prepared foods line.

Interestingly, the new Marketside value-added fresh produce line includes not only the upscale, specialty items like the fancy and organic greens, but also more basic items like the iceberg lettuce and fresh vegetables.

For those who haven't thought Walmart isn't planning to exploit "Fresh," this new development, along with the Marketside fresh, prepared foods line extension, should offer a change of mind.

Additionally, Walmart will be rolling out additional fresh foods items under its Marketside store brand. Stay tuned.

Walmart Introducing New Ready-To-Heat Prepared Entrees, Fresh Soups Under its Marketside Brand

Fresh, Prepared Foods Merchandising

Walmart Stores, Inc. is adding additional fresh, prepared foods items to its Marketside fresh foods store brand, as we predicted it would in this January 9, 2010 piece: Walmart's 'marketside': What's 'In-Store' for 2010?

First, Walmart is introducing a new line of Marketside family-size, ready-to-heat prepared entrees. Fresh & Easy Buzz has located two items/SKUs in the new prepared entree line thus far: Marketside Macaroni & Cheese With Bacon, in a 3 pound package, and Baked Rigatoni with Italian Sausage, in a 46 ounce package. (The Rigatoni With Sausage entree is pictured above; the Mac and Cheese With Bacon is at the top.)

Additionally, Walmart has introduced a new line of ready-to-heat, refrigerated fresh soups (pictured above) under its Marketside brand.

The Marketside entrees and soups are similar to those marketed by Safeway (Signature Cafe store brand), Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market (fresh & easy brand) and a number of other U.S. food retailers. But the expansion by Walmart is significant from a competitive standpoint because the mega-retailer has thousands of U.S. stores in which it can sell the growing marketside fresh, prepared foods line

Walmart is in the process of launching the new Marketside fresh, prepared entree line and the fresh soup line in selected Supercenters and Neighborhood Market Supermarkets.

There will be additional items/varieties in the prepared entree line coming out soon, according to our sources and research.

The Marketside entrees and soups were originally created for Walmart's four small-format 'marketside by Walmart' fresh food and grocery stores located in the Metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona region, where the ready-to-heat fresh foods have been sold since the four stores opened in May 2008.

As we've reported and written about extensively, Walmart is using the 'marketside' stores as a laboratory for the development of its brand Marketside fresh foods program.

Walmart introduced its first Marketside branded fresh, prepared food item, a line of take-and-bake pizzas, to selected Supercenters and Neighborhood Market supermarkets last year. The pizzas were also developed at and are sold at the four Phoenix Metro region 'marketside by Walmart' stores.

Fresh & Easy Buzz reported in this December 21, 2009 piece - Wither Walmart's Small-Format 'marketside' Stores and Format? - that Walmart had replaced the Web site for its small-format 'marketside by Walmart' fresh food and grocery stores with a single page describing its new Marketside line of fresh foods.

We said this development signaled that Walmart was putting its primary emphasis regarding brand Marketside on the new fresh foods line rather than on additional 'marketside by Walmart' stores., which remains the case.

In our January 9, 2010 piece [Walmart's 'marketside': What's 'In-Store' for 2010?] we made three predictions about Walmart's brand Marketside for 2010.

One of those predictions was that Walmart would soon be rolling out additional fresh, prepared foods items under its Marketside store brand.

Here's what we said (in italics below) in prediction two of the three:

"Walmart will introduce a few additional packaged fresh, prepared foods items (SKUs) under its 'marketside' brand in some of its Supercenters, discount format stores and Neighborhood Market supermarkets in 2010, following up on the 'marketside' prepared, take-and-bake pizza.

Look for some or all of these prepared foods items in 2010: 'marketside' ready-to-heat fresh soups in containers and ready-to-eat packaged salads. Plus 'marketside' ready-to-heat prepared entrees in varieties like macaroni & cheese, meatloaf and pot roast, for starters."

Walmart is doing just what we predicted it would.

Walmart will be launching additional fresh, prepared - and other fresh foods - under its Marketside store brand this year.

Stay tuned.

[Click here and here for a selection of past posts in Fresh & Easy Buzz about Walmart's 'marketside' retail format and stores.]

[Editor's Note: In the past, Walmart used all lower-case letters for 'marketside.' It still uses lower-case for its 'marketside by Walmart' stores. However, Walmart is using Marketside (with a capital M) for its Marketside store brand. Therefore, we will follow this convention.]

Walmart's 'marketside': What's 'In-Store' for 2010?

Analysis & Commentary

In December 2009 we published this piece [December 21, 2009: Wither Walmart's Small-Format 'marketside' Stores and Format?] in which we reported that the Web Site for Walmart Stores' 'marketside by Walmart' fresh food and grocery stores had been replaced by a single page site touting its new line of 'marketside' fresh, prepared foods, and examined the potential future of the four small-format stores, located in Metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona.

Our story has generated a considerable amount of interest in the food retailing industry and media, including being picked up by the convenience store industry trade publication CSP Reports on December 30, 2009 here and by CBS's BNET business news Web site on January 8, 2010 here.

Brand 'marketside' & synergy

In October 2008 we published this analysis and think piece [October 6, 2008: 'The Promotional Pundit:' How Wal-Mart Can Use its Supercenters to Create Customers For its New Small-Format Marketside Stores in Arizona] in which we suggested ways in which Walmart could use its retail power in the Arizona market to create a synergistic relationship for its start up 'marketside by Walmart' stores (then called just 'marketside'), as well as for all of its food and grocery retail formats and banners, particularly its flagship Supercenters and Neighborhood Market supermarkets.

Walmart operates Supercenters, club stores and its Neighborhood Market supermarkets in Arizona, along with the four 'marketside by Walmart' small-format food stores. Walmart is the food and grocery sales market share leader in Arizona., followed by Kroger's Fry's and Safeway Stores, Inc.

One thing we suggested in the October 2008 piece was that Walmart could open branded 'marketside' kiosks in its Supercenters. We also suggested various other things Walmart could do in this regard - the focal point being all about how the retailer could expand and extend 'brand marketside.'

Walmart in fact has recently started doing just that - extending its 'marketside' brand via a new line of store brand fresh, prepared foods products and branding 'marketside outside of the four walls of the small-format Arizona stores.

New 'marketside' fresh-prepared foods line

Recently Walmart began testing the sale of a new store/private label brand of fresh foods labeled 'marketside' in some of its Supercenters, discount format stores and Neighborhood Markets.

The first of the 'marketside' store brand fresh foods products are a line of prepared pizzas in varieties such as Three-Cheese, Pepperoni and Canadian Bacon. The retailer recently has been advertising the 'marketside' pizzas in its ad circulars and promoting them with price discounts in-store. Walmart handed out free samples of the 'marketside' pizza in many of its Supercenter and discount format stores during a special three day Thanksgiving holiday promotion in November.

Announcing the planned line of 'marketside' store brand fresh foods products in July 2009, Wal-Mart spokeswoman Amy Wyatt-Moore said in a statement: "We are testing a number of concepts on home meal replacements and chilled entrees under the 'marketside' brand in select Walmart stores."

Brand 'marketside' & Walmart's Neighborhood Markets

Walmart also started another 'marketside' branding experiment in late summer of 2009. It has rebranded the deli departments (including naming them 'marketside delis') in a handful of its Neighborhood Market supermarkets in Texas and Arizona as "marketside delis," also branding most of the bulk and packaged deli items and fresh, prepared foods under the 'marketside' brand, as it does in its four 'marketside by Walmart' food and grocery stores in Arizona.

Conceptually these two 'marketside' branding efforts outside of the four walls of the 'marketside by Walmart' stores reminds us much of what we suggested the retailer do vis-vis 'marketside' in that October 2008 piece: 'The Promotional Pundit:' How Wal-Mart Can Use its Supercenters to Create Customers For its New Small-Format Marketside Stores in Arizona. In fact, Walmart is sort of turning our concept on its head a bit.

Brand extension & synergy

The expansion of the 'marketside' brand into the test of a private label/store brand fresh foods line and 'marketside' branded deli departments also fits in with the analysis we offered in this October 5, 2008 piece [Wal-Mart's Marketside is More Than the Sum of the Parts of its Other Formats; While Time and Consumers Will Judge, We See the Format As A Stategic Fit] where we laid out the potential synergistic elements of brand 'marketside' and the 'marketside' retail format; brand extentions which Walmart wasn't attempting to develop at the time and only began doing in the late summer of 2009.

What do we make of these developments by Walmart?

First, Walmart's recent developments with brand 'marketside' conceptually follow our analysis well over a year ago about the synergistic potential of brand 'marketside,' or at least the idea that attempting to brand 'marketside' beyond the four walls of the four Arizona 'marketside' food-grocery stores is something the chain should and needs to do.

Second, we think the broader branding of 'marketside' could serve a two-fold purpose for Walmart: It could help the existing 'marketside by Walmart' food stores and any future units Walmart might open because by expanding the brand into store brand fresh food products and 'marketside' in-store deli departments in its Neighborhood Market supermarkets and its Supercenters, more consumer awareness and top of mind vis-a-vis 'marketside' will be created. That's what branding and brand extension is all about.

Lastly, Walmart needs a better position in the fresh, prepared foods space in all of its key formats - Supercenters, Neighborhood Market, discount stores and Sam's club stores. The existing four Arizona 'marketside' fresh foods stores have and could continue to serve as an idea, concept and product development incubator for the giant retailer. Think synergy again. In other words, a secondary function of the 'marketside by Walmart' food stores in Arizona is to serve as the research and development lab for Walmart's overall fresh, prepared foods program.

Three predictions for 'marketside' (brand and stores) for 2010

1. Walmart will keep the four Arizona 'marketside by Walmart' stores open in 2010. It will do so in part to serve the research and development function we mention above. Walmart won't open any new small-format 'marketside by Walmart' stores in 2010 though, either in Arizona or elsewhere in the U.S.

2. Walmart will introduce a few additional packaged fresh, prepared foods items (SKUs) under its 'marketside' brand in some of its Supercenters, discount format stores and Neighborhood Market supermarkets in 2010, following up on the 'marketside' prepared, take-and-bake pizza.

Look for some or all of these prepared foods items in 2010: 'marketside' ready-to-heat fresh soups in containers and ready-to-eat packaged salads. Plus 'marketside' ready-to-heat prepared entrees in varieties like macaroni & cheese, meatloaf and pot roast, for starters.

3. Walmart will brand the deli departments in a few (or perhaps more than a few) additional Neighborhood Market supermarkets into 'marketside delis.' Perhaps in some Supercenters as well.

Since the primary focus of the small-format (about 16,000 square feet) 'marketside by Walmart' stores is fresh foods, and particularly fresh, prepared foods, Walmart's thinking we believe is that although its Neighborhood Market store delis are much smaller than 16,000 square feet, they can still be 'mini marketside' fresh, prepared foods stores (the deli departments) within the Neighborhood Market supermarkets, which average about 43,000 square feet.

[Click here and here for a selection of past posts in Fresh & Easy Buzz about Walmart's 'marketside' retail format and stores.]

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Wither Walmart's Small-Format 'marketside' Stores and Format?

Walmart Stores, Inc. has eliminated its Web Site for the four 'marketside' (now named 'marketside by Walmart') small-format grocery and fresh foods markets it operates in the Phoenix, Arizona Metropolitan region and replaced it with a single Web Page introducing the company's new line of 'marketside' store brand foods products, which are named after the fresh foods-focused format stores in Arizona.

The Web address for the 'marketside' retail store chain is marketside.com. But that Web Address now contains only this Web Page offering a graphic and headline about the new 'marketside' store brand food products, along with a comment box asking readers to e-mail any comments about the new store brand line to Walmart.

If you click the marketside.com link on any past stories about Walmart's 'marketside' stores in Fresh & Easy Buzz it will take you to the new 'marketside' store brand product line Web Page. The old 'marketside' retail stores' Web Site is gone. And based on our research, Wal-Mart has not moved it to another Web Address. The photograph at the top of this September, 2008 story in Fresh & Easy Buzz is from the no longer existing 'marketside' retail stores' Web Site.

Walmart Stores, Inc. does include 'marketside,' along with its other corporate retail formats, on this page on its corporate Web site. Ironically though, as you can see at the link, the store pictured still has the old 'marketside' (only) sign on it rather than 'marketside by Walmart,' which the stores are now called.

Walmart opened the four 'marketside' combination grocery and fresh foods markets on October 4, 2008 in the suburban Phoenix, Arizona cities of Glibert, Chandler, Mesa and Tempe.

In addition to these four initial test stores, Walmart had planned to open an additional 'marketside' store in Peoria, Arizona, also in the Phoenix Metropolitan region.

Up to five additional 'marketside' test stores were planned for the San Diego region in Southern California. The Peoria, Arizona 'marketside' and at least two of the San Diego region stores - one in San Diego and the other in nearby Oceanside - were originally slated to be open by now based on the retailer's initial strategic plan.

However, earlier this year Walmart announced it was postponing the opening of any additional 'marketside' stores until further announcement.

Shortly after this announcement Wal-Mart confirmed it would introduce the first of its food products under the 'marketside' store brand this year. It has started doing so. The first 'marketside' branded item is an upscale prepared pizza.

This summer Walmart added the 'Walmart' name to the four Arizona 'marketside' stores, changing the original 'marketside' (only) signage on the stores to new signs reading 'marketside by Walmart,' and bearing the Walmart logo. This was a departure from the retailer's original strategy which was to not associate the Walmart name with the 'marketside' stores, instead positioning them as a free-standing entity.

Walmart also set up a corporate office for the 'marketside' stores in Tempe, Arizona. That facility and the four 'marketside' stores remain operating.

Wither 'marketside' the stores?

So, what to think of Walmart's replacing its 'marketside' stores' Web Site with the single page 'marketside' store brand site?

We think the main reason Walmart did this is because since it now has branded the four stores in Arizona 'marketside by Walmart' the old Web site can no longer function as a marketing or communications tool. It's not a standalone 'marketside' grocery and fresh foods store brand anymore.

We have searched for a replacement Web Site for the Arizona 'marketside by Walmart' stores without success. If one exists, it's well hidden. Walmart isn't commenting on the subject at present. There is a Facebook Site for 'marketside by Walmart' stores. However it hasn't had much activity lately.

Fresh & Easy Buzz has reported on and written extensively about Walmart's 'marketside' small-format grocery and fresh foods retail format since early 2008. In our reporting and analysis we've always stressed that for Walmart 'marketside by Walmart' is truly a test. The retailer isn't wedded either to the small-format grocery and fresh foods format -- as Tesco is in the U.S. with Fresh & Easy, for example -- nor is it wedded to the 'marketside' stores specifically. The four stores are a mere trickle in the investment bucket for Walmart.

Walmart though appears somewhat wedded to the 'marketside' brand name in that it is using the name for its new prepared foods store brand, developing and rolling out additional items under the brand.

Perhaps when all is said and done 'store brand marketside' will be the only legacy of the name for Walmart Stores, Inc.?

We don't suspect Walmart will close the four existing marketside stores just yet though. But the fact the chain postponed going forward with opening the additional 'marketside' stores doesn't hold great promise for the future of a chain of 'marketside by Walmart' stores. The San Diego region stores haven't been built/remodeled yet although Walmart holds leasing on the two sites.

The recession really changed the landscape for Walmart vis-a-vis focusing on the marketside stores. It's mega-combination grocery and general merchandise Supercenters have drawn an entire new demographic of shoppers - higher income and professionals - along with its traditional shopper base, as consumers have been searching for food and grocery dollar value in the last two years, and continue to do so. The Supercenters are also drawing more food and grocery customers of all socio-economic levels than ever before.

This fact has caused increased faith at Walmart in its Supercenters, along with the development of a strategic program in which the retailer is committed to holding on to its "new" customers when the recession ends.

Walmart's original strategic vision for 'marketside' was as a fill-in type food and grocery store (in between shopping trips to its Supercenters), which is the main reason it opened the first four test stores in Arizona, where Walmart has numerous Supercenters and holds the number one market share position for food and grocery sales.

The second reason was to test whether or not a focus on selling fresh, prepared foods (ready-to-eat and ready-to-heat) had consumer sales legs. Think Tesco's Fresh & Easy.

The 'marketside' stores were also a defensive move against Tesco's Fresh & Easy, which is another convenient reason the 'marketside by Walmart' stores are located in Arizona, which is one of Tesco's three markets with Fresh & Easy.

Walmart's marketside, just like Tesco's Fresh & Easy, hasn't been turning in a stellar sales performance to date as a format devoted roughly 50% to prepared and fresh foods and 50% to grocery and related products.

Based on our reporting and research at present we don't know the ultimate fate of Walmart's now 'marketside by Walmart' stores and format.

However, we believe there's a high probability that Walmart will dump the stores sometime next year. We don't see Walmart opening the San Diego test stores anytime soon. And it makes little sense for Walmart to operate just four of the 'marketside' stores.

Additionally, with a line of fresh foods and fresh, prepared foods branded 'marketside' available in every Walmart Supercenter and Walmart Neighborhood market format store is a small-format store called 'marketside by Walmart' then needed? Why not just 'marketside' fresh and prepared foods kiosks inside the Supercenters, for example.

For now though the 'marketside by Walmart' stores remain open. Web Site or no Web Site. And of course if a new 'marketside by Walmart' Web site pops up soon that would be a good indicator or sign that 'marketside' the stores also will be around for a while. Stay tuned.

[Readers: Click here and here for a selection of past posts in Fresh & Easy Buzz about Walmart's 'marketside' retail format and stores.]