The GIANT Company is cutting prices on its in-store hot bars, a relatively small move that unlocks a much larger competitive opportunity for food retailers as consumers continue looking for ways to reduce the cost of meals.
Beginning this week, the Carlisle, Pa.-based retailer is lowering hot bar prices at GIANT and MARTIN’S stores by 10%, from $9.99 to $8.99 per pound. Hot bars are available at 188 locations, with offerings including fried chicken, meatloaf, pasta, Asian dishes and a growing assortment of sides.
The retailer is also adding Korean BBQ chicken, cilantro lime rice, creamed corn with bacon, and mashed sweet potatoes as it expands the assortment. Rebecca Lupfer, chief merchant at The GIANT Company, said the changes are intended to deliver greater convenience, variety, and value as families return to school-year routines.
But GIANT Company’s hot-bar price cut comes at a time when the economics of eating at home and the costs of dining out are diverging faster than ever…
Grocery Stores Gain an Affordability Advantage
The Consumer Price Index for food-at-home increased 2.7% for the 12 months ended in July, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Food-away-from-home prices increased 3.4% during the same period. Grocery prices declined 0.1% in July from June, but restaurant and other foodservice prices increased another 0.3%.
USDA expects that gap to persist. Its August Food Price Outlook forecasts food-at-home prices will increase 2.5% in 2026, compared with a 3.6% increase for food-away-from-home.
This price volatility and the divergence between eating at home and eating out make prepared foods part of supermarkets’ affordability proposition.
Consumers Are Redefining the Meal
Recent research from FMI – The Food Industry Association suggests consumers are already changing where they source meals.
FMI’s 2025 Power of Foodservice at Retail report found that 28% of consumers were choosing deli-prepared foods instead of restaurant meals, more than double the 12% who reported doing so in 2017. Another 53% said they use a hybrid approach, combining deli-prepared foods with items already in their kitchens. Retail foodservice sales reached $52.1 billion, up 1.6% over the previous 12 months.
More recent FMI research suggests the shift is continuing.
Half of shoppers surveyed for FMI’s 2026 U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends research said their families are eating fewer restaurant meals and ordering less takeout and delivery. About 44% said they are having more family meals at home than a year earlier, while 35% said they are cooking more frequently.
Affordability remains central to that behavior. FMI found that roughly six in 10 workers who prepare or bring lunch from home cite cost savings as a reason. Among consumers buying prepared lunches from grocery stores, speed, and convenience are major considerations.
That creates an important middle ground between cooking from scratch and going to a restaurant.
Grocery Can Compete for the Whole Meal
A shopper deciding what to serve for dinner may no longer be choosing simply between buying groceries and dining out. The decision could involve a supermarket rotisserie chicken and vegetables from home, a prepared entrée supplemented with a salad, or several items from a hot bar.
That makes the supermarket’s competitive set considerably larger than the store across the street. The bottom line is that affordability is top-of-mind for many consumers, and now the industry has an opportunity to define it differently.