Alternatives to Cheese Sampling Amid the Pandemic

KANSAS CITY, MO. - When the pandemic hit earlier this year, the grocery retail landscape quickly started to change. One of the first things to exit the scene was a merchandising tool that has a long history of success in driving impulse purchases of specialty items like deli cheeses: sampling.While the grocery industry has begun to find a “new normal” through a new way of doing things, sampling has been one of the more difficult categories to bring back to its former glory. Consumers are still hesitant when it comes to using shared spaces — especially a sampling station in which bite-sized samples are usually served in open cups for any customer to grab as they walk by.