Grocery Store Insurance

Grocery stores offer many conveniences to the public. Many provide goods and services that go beyond food products, including pharmacies and catering services. But grocery stores are vulnerable to numerous potential risks on a daily basis, including shutdowns due to fire, vandalism, and more.

Opening a grocery store requires a large initial investment, so you want to be sure to protect your business assets with a sound business insurance package. An independent insurance agent can help you build a supermarket insurance policy that meets the coverage needs of your particular grocery store.

Supermarket and Grocery Store Industry Stats

The supermarket and grocery store industry requires unique coverage tailored to its specific needs and exposures. Understanding a bit more about the industry as a whole can be helpful before shopping for coverage. Here are just a few quick stats about the grocery store industry.

There are 63,348 supermarket and grocery store businesses operating in the US this year.
New York has the highest number of supermarket and grocery store businesses in the country, with a total of 12,774.
Grocery stores in the US employ more than 1.43 million people.
By the end of this year, grocery store sales are expected to reach $817.35 billion in the US.

With the industry overall being so large and profitable, each business deserves the right kind of protection through adequate grocery store insurance.

Your Grocery Store Needs Sufficient Property Coverage

You've invested a lot of time and money in opening your grocery store. Be sure to protect your business assets with the right kinds of commercial property insurance. Look into adding the following types of property insurance for grocery stores:

Building insurance: This provides coverage for repairs to the structure of your building if it gets damaged by a covered event such as wind, lightning, fire, or vandalism.
Commercial property insurance: This provides coverage for the products and inventory kept inside your store if they get lost or damaged by a covered event. Covered items include things like your inventory of food and products, shopping carts, shelving, computer systems, cash registers, conveyor belts, and display units.
Boiler and machinery insurance: This is specialized coverage for the machinery kept and used in your grocery store, including heating and cooling units, meat slicers, freezers, and refrigerators. In the event of a machinery breakdown, it pays for repairs or replacements and covers the cost of renting machinery while yours is being repaired.
Spoilage insurance: This is often included under boiler and machinery coverage. It provides compensation if perishable items are spoiled due to a failure of your cooling systems.

An independent insurance agent can help ensure you get all the right property coverage components in your grocery insurance policy.

Protect Your Supermarket with the Right Liability Insurance

Every business runs the risk of lawsuits, and grocery stores are no exception. Commercial general liability insurance protects your business assets by covering your legal defense fees, court costs, settlement damages, and other expenses related to a lawsuit.

Your grocery store must have the right kinds of liability coverage. Be sure to talk to your independent insurance agent about these additional types of liability protection:

Premises liability insurance: This provides coverage if a third party suffers personal property damage or bodily injury while on your business premises. This is especially important in a supermarket, as dropped foods, particularly in the produce section, can produce slippery floors and hazardous conditions.
Product liability insurance: This covers you against lawsuits if a product you sell causes customers to get ill or suffer injuries. This might happen if bacteria such as E. coli in your products cause foodborne illness to several of your customers.
Commercial auto liability insurance: If your grocery store provides catering or delivery services, you likely have a company-owned vehicle or fleet of vehicles that need protection against the cost of lawsuits related to accidents and other mishaps. If employees use their personally owned vehicles to do work-related jobs or make deliveries, you can be held liable if they are involved in an accident, in which case your store would need hired or non-owned auto insurance for these incidents to be covered.
Liquor liability insurance: If your grocery store sells alcoholic beverages, there's a chance your store could be held liable for damages or injuries caused by an intoxicated person who acquired the alcohol in your store, especially if the person is underage. Liquor liability insurance provides your business with coverage in this event.
Druggist liability insurance: If your grocery store provides pharmacy services, you need to have the proper pharmacy insurance, including druggist insurance. Pharmacy insurance is a form of professional liability insurance designed specifically for pharmacists.
Cyber liability insurance: This covers the financial burden that may be imposed on your grocery store if cyber criminals target your computer system and access customer information, including credit card numbers, and expose, distribute, or sell the data.
Commercial umbrella insurance: Because insurance companies impose caps on the amount of liability insurance they provide, business umbrella insurance may be necessary to add extra liability coverage to adequately protect your grocery store’s finances. Business umbrella coverage increases your existing liability coverage limits by increments of $1 million.

Liability coverage is a key component of business insurance for grocery stores. An independent insurance agent will help you get set up with all the right types of liability coverage for your store.

What Other Grocery Store Insurance Coverage Should You Consider?

Other coverage options may also be a good fit for your grocery store. Keep in mind that grocery store insurance programs need a variety of coverages to truly be complete. Be sure to talk to your independent insurance agent about:

Business income insurance: This coverage provides your supermarket with a continuation of income and employee wages if you must close for an extended period due to a covered event.
Workers’ compensation insurance: This insurance provides coverage for medical treatment, lost wages, and other expenses related to employee injuries and illnesses that occur on the job or as a result of job duties.
Flood insurance: Commercial insurance policies specifically exclude coverage for damage caused by natural floods, so if you're located in a flood zone, ask your independent insurance agent about adding this coverage.
Employment practices liability insurance: This protects your business if a disgruntled employee sues it for claims of illegal business practices such as wrongful termination, discrimination, or harassment.
Employee dishonesty insurance: This protects your supermarket from financial losses if an employee steals from it or engages in other illegal behaviors while on the job.

Your independent insurance agent can recommend the exact types of additional coverage your grocery store needs the most.

How Much Does Grocery Store Insurance Cost?

The cost of grocery store insurance depends on a number of factors. Just a few of the most common factors that impact the cost of your business insurance policy include:

Your store's location
The number of employees it has
The types and amounts of coverage it needs
Your store's specific operations and risks
Your store's claims history

An independent insurance agent can help compare policies from many local business insurance carriers and provide you with more exact quotes for grocery store coverage.

Why Work with an Independent Insurance Agent?

When shopping for supermarket insurance to protect your business interests, it's ideal to work with an experienced independent insurance agent who has your best interests at heart. Unlike captive agents who are limited to a single insurance company, independent insurance agents are free to shop around. They can help you understand your coverage options and can recommend the right kinds of coverage for your store. Ultimately, they'll get you matched to the grocery store insurance policy that offers the best blend of coverage and cost.

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