Full-service and quick-service unite against the new takeout competition—supermarkets.

In last month’s column I talked about the increasingly humorous and claims-aggressive marketing tactics being deployed by a number of quick-serve and full-serve restaurants that are competing against one another to hold on to customers.

But while the foodservice brethren are trading punches, supermarket chains across the country are stealthily launching some serious price- and quality-competitive claims to woo consumers from both quick-serve and full-serve to their prepared-foods counters.

Since January, I’ve been on a series of multi-city food scouting missions, visiting new and remodeled supermarkets in urban and suburban neighborhoods to better understand the growing prepared foods phenomenon that is bubbling up among leading retail grocery chains around the country.

California-based Safeway is not only busy setting up a new, smaller foodservice-minded concept on the West Coast called The Market, which feature Signature Café dishes to go, but also building enhanced “lifestyle concepts” in Chicago under the Dominick’s banner with extended prepared-foods sections. Supervalu’s Jewel chain in Chicago recently debuted a pilot Urban Fresh format that centers on chefs preparing food all day in open kitchens for city dwellers to pick up after work. The in-store design is very upscale, but the foods are affordable and have everyday appeal.

In the old days, hot prepared-foods were an adjunct to the deli meat counter, but now the prepared-foods section is front and center, taking up more retail space than the produce section, which used to be the first feature shoppers saw when they entered a store. Retailers have seen the growing appeal of ready-to-eat foods for family dinners and have decided that this is a market worth stretching for.

Kroger’s new Fresh Fare concept, which recently opened in Atlanta, has a prominent sign featuring Chef Howard in front of the Bistro by Kroger area. This is where consumers can have foods dished up cafeteria-style or select their own foods at a buffet in the front of the store. There’s also a Meals to Go section, a kiosk full of hot dinner foods, an olive bar, and a selection of ready-to-heat main dishes and sides that put standard Boston Market fare to shame.

Then there’s Lakeland, Florida–based Publix, which recently adapted its cooking school, Aprons, into its own in-store and stand-alone meal-assembly concept. Consumers can put together dinner kits to stock freezers or pick up pre-assembled meals in a pinch. This same brand is used to highlight daytime demonstrations of easy-to-prepare meals with all the ingredients needed for the custom recipes right beside the Aprons kiosk for easy selection...

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