Talking Retail Grocery and product news for independent retailers
After a fact-finding expedition to Northern Ireland, where the food-to-go market is highly developed in convenience stores, father and son team Abdul and Umar Majid, who run the Nisa Local Belshill, decided that they really liked what they saw.
Abdul said: “We really like the Irish model and the cornerstone of what they do is their fresh food. In the long term, we want to have shoppers coming in for their freshly prepared food and picking up their groceries on the same trip.”
The family began by creating a food take out offer and has now moved on to sell freshly prepared meals including casseroles, soups, pies, and pasta dishes that shoppers can pick up from the chiller, take home and heat up for dinner.
Abdul said: “We dipped our toe in and were surprised by how successful it was and so we now have a longer-term plan to build up the offer.”
Made on-site and sold under the Baba’s Kitchen brand – after Umar’s grandfather – the choice is expanding and has been well received by shoppers who are enjoying the increased range of both food for now and food for later.
Umar, who has taken on responsibility for developing this side of the business, aspires to make significant changes over the next five to 10 years and ensure the store is future fit.
“Currently we are selling out of most of what we make every day, and we don’t have the capacity to prepare any more. So, the long-term plan will see us create a larger kitchen space which will allow us to make more products,” said Umar.
He added: “It isn’t going to happen overnight, but I have a lot of ideas and it’s something we can do that will really help us to stand out from the competition.”
