The Fresh Market is hiring more seafood and deli employees as it prepares for an initial public offering and expansion, according to analytics firm GlobalData.
The Greensboro, North Carolina, U.S.A.-based operator of 159 stores is also developing plans for high-quality restaurant meal replacement kits, GlobalData said in a press release.
The retailer’s job postings increased from 849 jobs in January 2021 to 1,377 jobs in August 2021, soon after its public filing for an IPO on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange. The company has the goal of raising US 100 million (EUR 84.7 million) by going public.
“Fresh Market is stepping up staffing requirements at its stores,” GlobalData Business Fundamentals Analyst Ajay Thalluri said. “The company is hiring significantly for front-end entry-level jobs across its deli, meat and seafood, bakery, grocery, and produce and floral departments.”
Notably, around 18 percent of Fresh Market’s total job listings between January and August 2021 are for meat and seafood department positions. In addition, 22 percent of total listings are for deli employees specializing in ready-to-cook meals. In July, the retailer also posted a job position for director of product, occasions, and meal-solution marketing.
The retailer has been innovating in prepared seafood meals for years. For example, in 2019, it launched a line of six Seafood Ramekins served in reusable ceramic containers.
The aim of the ramekins was to offer shoppers, particularly millennials, “flavorful entrées you’d find at your favorite seafood restaurant, ready to bake in 35 minutes or less,” the retailer said on its website at the time.
Fresh Market is also developing long-term capital and execution plan for new stores and a refurbishment plan for existing portfolio, Thalluri noted.
SeafoodSource attempted to contact Fresh Market, but the company declined to comment on its expansion plans.
Photo courtesy of The Fresh Market
