Dickey’s Grocerant Ready-2-Heat Holiday Feasts for Thanksgiving

 

Are you sure you want to cooking a big holiday meal for the family and then pack up leftovers for everyone to take home? COVID-19 has most of us stuck home this year.  However, cheer-up you can still treat, your kids, grandkids, and family with a holiday meal on you.  It’s simple call Dickey’s Barbecue Pit they everything you need for your family to enjoy a stress-free Thanksgiving with time left over to think about you.

Being socially distanced does not mean you can’t still enjoy the celebration with a meal according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

This year, Dickey’s customers can order individualized holiday box lunches containing slow-smoked carved turkey sandwiches, sides of cornbread dressing, bags of chips and cookies along with a to-go sauce of the guests’ choice. The family-owned restaurant brand is also offering a deluxe version of its new holiday box lunch option that includes an additional fan-favorite holiday side of southern-style green beans.

For mid-size gatherings of eight to 12, Dickey’s is also offering a new ready-to-eat Holiday Big Yellow Box which comes with sliced turkey breast, cornbread dressing, gravy, baked potato casserole, green beans with bacon and a dozen buttery rolls.

Available for pickup and delivery throughout the holiday season from participating Dickey’s locations, guests can enjoy these heat-and-eat options:

The Complete Feast – Choose from smoked turkey, prime rib, Cajun-fried turkey or spiral ham along with cornbread dressing, gravy, baked potato casserole, green beans with bacon and a dozen buttery rolls.

The Dinner Feast – Choose from smoked turkey, prime rib, Cajun-fried turkey or spiral ham along with cornbread dressing, gravy and a dozen buttery rolls.

À La Carte Menu – Order any of Dickey’s slow smoked holiday meats of savory sides individually.

Laura Rea Dickey, CEO of Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants stated, “This year is anything but traditional and we want to do what we can to help make sure that all of our guests enjoy Thanksgiving without the added stress of having to cook,” says “Our holiday feasts have always been a big hit and this year, we’ve debuted the Holiday Big Yellow Box, which is a delicious Ready-2-Eat option. Whether you’re looking for delicious, high-quality sides, slow smoked meats or dessert, Dickey’s is here to help.” You can order and pick up and or have delivery from most locations. Have a Happy Thanksgiving Meal or Give a Thanksgiving Meal.

Foodservice Solutions® team is here to help you drive top line sales and bottom-line profits. Are you looking a customer ahead? Visit GrocerantGuru.com for more information or contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us Remember success does leave clues and we just may the clue you need to propel your continued success.

Love’s Expands Flavor Profile with Middle Eastern Food

Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru®, Steven Johnson stated “The United States continues to be a melting pot of immigrants from all over the world. Today,  households are expanding in complexity, with more multi-generational households, multi-ethnic households, and multi-income households. The team at Foodservice Solutions® has repeatedly found that the cooking skill-set required to meet household palate demands simply does not exist in most homes today.

It was not a surprise to anyone at Foodservice Solutions® when Love's Vice President of Restaurant Services Joe Cotton said “Naf Naf Middle Eastern Grill provides customers with a new foodservice option that's both fresh and delicious”.

The restaurant opened this month at the Love’s Travel Stop in Greenup, Ill., and offers customers a variety of handmade Middle Eastern food choices. This was a clear effort for Love’s to expand its customer base while rewarding current customers with additional full-flavored menu options according to Johnson.

Joe Cotton, vice president of Restaurant Services stated, “Our customers love options, especially when it comes to food, so we’re excited to debut Naf Naf,” ... “We want to give our customers a variety of fresh, delicious and quick options when it comes to dining, and Naf Naf is the perfect fit.”

So, for those of you who do not know, Naf Naf offers signature bold flavor options such as pillowy pita, savory chicken shawarma, hummus, crispy falafel and more. Love’s plans to open an additional 10 Naf Naf locations in the next five years. What flavors do you have to offer Loves?

Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores operates more than 530 locations in 41 states. Founded in 1964 and headquartered in Oklahoma City, the company remains family-owned and operated and employs more than 27,000 people. Consumers are dynamic not static.  How are you evolving your brand?

Love’s provides professional truck drivers and motorists with 24-hour access to clean and safe places to purchase gasoline, diesel fuel, fresh coffee, restaurant offerings and more. Love’s has more than 390 truck service centers, which include on-site and stand-alone Speedco and Love’s Truck Care locations. Love’s and Speedco combined is the largest oil change, preventive maintenance and total truck care nationwide network. Love’s is committed to providing customers with “Clean Places, Friendly Faces” at every stop

Success does leave clues. One clue that time and time again continues to resurface is “the consumer is dynamic not static”.  Regular readers of this blog know that is the common refrain of Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  Our Grocerant Guru® can help your company 253-759-7869.  

Nestle’ Has a History selling Fresh Food Fast

Nestle, back in the day owned Culinary Brands a sous vide meal manufacture, in Sausalito, CA and Foodservice Solutions® own Grocerant Guru®, Steven Johnson based in Tacoma, WA work with them to develop menu items for clients around the world. Nestle’ knows the fresh food meal space.

So, when Nestlé announced that it has acquired Freshly, a leading fresh-prepared meal delivery service, for $950 million, with potential earnouts up to $550 million contingent to the successful growth of the business no one was surprise at Foodservice Solutions®.  The team at Foodservice Solutions® did ask Johnson an important lesson; Is the consumer ready this time for fresh food fast, will the meal from Freshly be the same quality of those from Culinary Brands?

Will the Freshly meals now be priced to sell, or priced for a premium once again? What lessons has Nestle’ learned after all Nestle owns Hot Pockets, Gerber, DiGiorno, Buitoni, Lean Cuisine, Stouffer’s, Nescafe’ Ready to Drink, and many more.

In case you did not know, Freshly delivers a menu of fresh, chef-cooked meals to subscribing members across the United States, that, according to the company, breaks down the barriers to healthy eating by delivering nutrition and convenience at scale and they were founded in 2015.

Nestlé USA Chairman and CEO Steve Presley , "We are excited to welcome Freshly to the Nestlé family," ... "Consumers are embracing e-commerce and eating at home like never before. It's an evolution brought on by the pandemic but taking hold for the long term. Freshly is an innovative, fast-growing, food-tech startup, and adding them to the portfolio accelerates our ability to capitalize on the new realities in the U.S. food market and further positions Nestlé to win in the future."

Battle for Share of Stomach

According press release, the move brings together Nestlé's deep understanding of what and how people eat at home, and world-class research and development capabilities with Freshly's highly specialized consumer analytics platform and distribution network to fuel growth opportunities within the Freshly business and across Nestlé's portfolio.

Nestlé, is the largest food and beverage company in the United States, purchased an approximately 16% stake in Freshly in 2017 as a strategic move to evaluate and test the burgeoning market of home-delivered meals.

Freshly pioneered the direct-to-consumer prepared meal delivery channel and is known for its use of standard-setting technology and analytics, which will build upon Nestlé's strong base of innovation. Growing year-over-year since launching in 2015, Freshly is now shipping more than 1 million meals per week to customers in 48 states. Its 2020 forecasted sales are $430 million.

Get this, Freshly’s weekly subscription service delivers fresh, chef-cooked meals to customers’ doors that can be heated and served in three minutes. The company’s food philosophy is centered on less sugar, less processed and more nutrients. All meals are gluten-free and single-serve for effortless portion control. Developed by chefs and nutritionists, the menu features better-for-you versions of classic comfort foods with smart ingredient swaps.

Freshly CEO Michael Wystrach stated, “We are extremely excited to expand our relationship with Nestlé,”. “Our mission is to make eating healthy easy by bringing nutritious, high quality meals directly to customers' homes. Convenience and nutrition are driving forces in the future of food, and our becoming a part of the world's largest food company confirms that. With Nestlé, we will have access to resources, research and development, and years of experience that we can tap into to catapult our growth plans and move closer to our goal of being in every household in America.”

Laurent Freixe, Nestlé CEO Zone Americas  continues by saying "At Nestlé we know the at-home food market and we know how to win there,”  “With the acquisition of Freshly we are strengthening our position in the U.S. and expanding our ability to deliver a wide variety of delicious food to our consumers when and where they want. Whether purchasing our products from the comfort of their homes, in retail stores or through social commerce, we will continue to provide them with unbeatable convenience, choice and ease of purchase.  Is, this how fresh meals will be sold, consumed in 2022? Or will Freshly go the way of Culinary Brands? How well do you know the Grocerant Niche?

Don’t over reach. Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing ideations look more like yesterday than tomorrow? Interested in learning how Foodservice Solutions® can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization?  Email us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or visit us on our social media sites by clicking the following links: Facebook,  LinkedIn, or Twitter 

Hurry Order from Sprouts Grocerant Holiday Meal Options

Why not have a Thanksgiving meal designed and prepared with the help of “Iron Chef” star Cat Cora.  Take the worry out of planning and cooking this Thanksgiving and leave the hard work to Sprouts Farmers Market and Cat Cora according Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  Success does leave clues and Cat Cora and Sprouts are our success clue for Thanksgiving.  

So, Sprouts Farmers Market has kicked off the holidays with fresh, healthy and convenient selections across its stores and online. Through Nov. 23, shoppers can reserve turkeys and holiday meats, prepared meals, and party trays online, or by texting HOLIDAY to 50392.

Customers may pick up their orders until Thanksgiving Day at noon. December pre-orders resume Dec. 7 through Dec. 21. Shoppers can pre-order the following items:

·         No-Antibiotics-Ever Natural Turkey: 12 pounds for $20.28, 18 pounds for $30.42

·         Free-Range Organic Turkey:10 pounds for $29.99

·         USDA Choice Beef Rib Roast: 8 pounds for $79.92

·         No-Antibiotics-Ever Spiral-sliced Ham: 8 pounds for $23.92

·         No-Antibiotics-Ever Uncured and Sugar-Free, Spiral-sliced Ham: 8 pounds for $31.92

Sprouts Chief Fresh Merchandising Officer Scott Neal stated, “Shoppers are particularly interested in the quality of the meats they’re preparing for their families this year.. … “Sprouts’ natural turkeys are raised with no antibiotics ever, and Sprouts’ organic turkeys are free-range and fed a certified-organic diet on family-run farms.”

This is the best part Sprouts focused on price and they are priced right.  They range from $35.99 to $79.99, for the grocerant Ready-2-Heat and -serve prepared meals include traditional trimmings and seasonal sides, with main courses such as Roasted Boneless Turkey Breast for two, or party-sized portions for six to eight of a Natural Whole Turkey, USDA Choice Boneless Rib Roast or Spiral-sliced Ham, along with seasonal sides and dinner rolls. 

For those seeking a vegan option, Sprouts offers a prepared 40-ounce Gardein Roast meal, which includes cornbread stuffing, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, and a Take & Bake Sourdough Loaf. Also available are ready-to-serve party trays for $15.99 to $44.99.

Customers can place delivery and curbside pickup orders for holiday meats, prepared meals and thousands of holiday ingredients online. Prepared meals can be ordered as gifts for faraway friends and families to pick up at their local Sprouts stores. Thanksgiving Day delivery is available while supplies last. Customers can place orders using their Sprouts accounts and link their Instacart Express Memberships.

Additionally, in celebration of the season, Sprouts will host an Instagram Live cooking demo with “Iron Chef” star Cat Cora on Tuesday, Nov. 10 at 1 p.m. PST. During the demo, Cora will show how to make her Cornbread, Sausage and Apple Stuffing recipe. That is interactive and participatory brand building and will be fun according to Johnson.

“Growing up in the South, we made all our family recipes from scratch using fresh and seasonal ingredients,” said Cora. “This stuffing reminds me of the flavors of cooler seasons back home ... apples, sausage, cornbread. I hope everyone can enjoy the goodness and love of this recipe during their holiday meals this year!”  Let Cat Cora help you have a happy holiday meal.

Invite Foodservice Solutions® to complete a Grocerant Program Assessment, Grocerant ScoreCard, or for product positioning or placement assistance, or call our Grocerant Guru®.  Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche. Contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or 253-759-7869 

Panera Franchisees Can Make a Difference

 

Franchise developers at Panera Bread typically own at minimum 15 units. Regular readers of this blog know that in most cases franchisees are closer to the consumer and pulse of ‘what customers want’. In the case of Panera bread developer, The Flynn Restaurant Group subsidiary Pan American Group is testing alcohol sales as part of the Panera Tonight program in five Kansas City locations.

Listening to consumers and giving them what they want is important according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®. When asked if they wanted to cook dinner from scratch or assemble dinner from fresh meal components 91.1 % of Gen Z chose assemble from Fresh Prepared Meal Components and Millennials 83.6 chose meal components. Johnson noted that both wine and beer are meal components deemed an important to complete a meal by 69.7% or respondents.

The alcohol test is part of the introduction of the Panera Tonight: Beer, Wine & Dine program that premiered exclusively at the five Pan American franchised stores on Oct. 28, which coincided with the nationwide launch of Panera’s new flatbread pizzas. Ok, we all know that beer and pizza is like a one to punch for online ordering.

Since this is the first time that any Panera Bread café is serving alcohol. Pan American Group is partnering with Boulevard Brewing Co. and Napa Valley’s Ménage à Trois Wines. The program will start out at two cafes in Overland Park, Kan., and will expand to three other Kansas City cafes. Customers at these locations will be able to try out and pair a variety of wines, beers and hard seltzers from 4 p.m. until closing, including Boulevard’s pale ale, unfiltered wheat beer, and Quirk Spiked and sparkling strawberry lemon and basil seltzer, along with Ménage à Trois’ red blend, gold Chardonnay and Limelight pinot grigio.

Randy Bates, senior director, head of marketing at Flynn Restaurant Group told NRN, “We are targeting our dinner and evening guests that are looking to pair a beer or wine with our great products like our new flatbread pizzas,”. “Given the environment over the last 6 months we’ve been challenged to think differently about our business.  This is one of the areas we believe is a growth opportunity for our brand.  We always like to give our guests choices.”

While the alcohol menu is only available for dine-in customers, though Bates said that they “will continue to evolve to meet the demands and requests of our guests.” He also said that depending on the success of the pilot program, that they could add to their alcohol offerings or expand the program to other stores. Johnson noted the benefits of increasing ticket size for delivery while meeting the unmet demand for convenience by consumers is obvious.

Natalie Gershon, vice president of marketing for Boulevard stated, “Like mine, families on-the-go are always looking for dinner options that are delicious, healthy and please the entire family,”…  “We are honored to team up with Panera for this pilot and offer fans Boulevard beer and seltzer in our backyard.”

“It’s honestly up to our customers,” Bates said. “If they show us that they want a beer with their flatbread or a glass of wine with their salad, I think it likely that others will jump on board.” If you want beer and wine from your Panera start asking every time you visit, call, or order Online according to Johnson.

Panera Flatbread pizzas are available in cheese, margherita, or chipotle chicken & bacon.  They start at $7.59, while beer and wine prices range from $4-$6 at the participating Kansas City area Panera restaurants.

Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing ideations look more like yesterday than tomorrow? Interested in learning how our Grocerant Guru® can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization?  Email us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or visit: us on our social media sites by clicking one of the following links: Facebook,  LinkedIn, or Twitter

Vallarta Supermarkets' in-house Mexican kitchen Meals are cooked fresh daily.

 

Success does leave clues and at Vallarta Supermarkets grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food is cooked on site, with fresh foods, and authentic full-flavor that taste homemade.  Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru® based in Tacoma, WA Steven Johnson stated “in-house /on-site kitchens drive freshness, and consumer adoption.”

So, Vallarta Supermarkets, is one of the largest Latino-owned supermarket chains in California, is now offering home delivery of its La Cocina menu of prepared food through a new partnership with Postmates food delivery service.  This partnership that will rival the service from a chain restaurant according to Johnson will create new electricity for both La Cocina Kitchen and Vallarta.

Vallarta Supermarket is known locally as the “Home of the Original Carne Asada”.  They have been testing Postmates delivery service in select regions since June and will now offer it in 32 of its 52 stores, with service to more stores coming by the end of 2020. How are you developing new electricity for your brand?

Johnson stated “that in my minds-eye the new electricity must be very efficient for the supply chain and includes such things as fresh foods, online ordering, delivery, plant based foods, sampling, toy’s, cereal, developing brands,  grocerant positioning, fresh food messaging, autonomous delivery, cashier-less retail, plates, glasses, cash-less payments, digital hand-held marketing.

All food and beverage retailers to survive the next generation of retail must embrace the artificial intelligence revolution while simultaneously embracing fresh food and beverages that are portable, fresh, with differentiation that is familiar not different.  Does your retail path forward look more like yesterday than tomorrow? Why?

Mark Montelongo, vice president, meat, seafood and La Cocina stated, “The wait is over, now you can get Vallarta’s homemade, authentic dishes from La Cocina delivered straight to your home,” … “Food delivery is something that our customers have been asking for, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Postmates is making it convenient and safe for you to have our delicious tacos, burritos and other menu options at your door. We’ve worked hard with our operations teams to ensure customers get the high-quality La Cocina items they’ve come to expect." 

On average, Postmates will deliver to a customer’s door within 45 minutes, the retailer said. For customers who prefer to pick up their orders, they can place the order via the Postmates app and pick it up in-store at the Postmates pickup window at La Cocina.  

La Cocina Authentic Mexican Taqueria and Kitchen is Vallarta's in-house Mexican kitchen where traditional foods are prepared, cooked fresh daily and ready for purchase. The La Cocina menu will consist of popular items including carne asada burritos, birria de res, taquiza packs, tamales, caldos (soups), horchata, pupusas, fresh guacamole, premium tortilla chips, tres leches cake, champurrado, fresh-squeezed juices and more.

Invite Foodservice Solutions® to complete a Grocerant Program Assessment, Grocerant ScoreCard, or for product positioning or placement assistance, or call our Grocerant Guru®.  Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche. Contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or 253-759-7869

Restaurant Conundrum: Compliancy or Consternation

 

Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru® Steven Johnson ask can you afford to sit back and wait for the COVID-19 vaccinations to reach 100% of your consumers?  The time to look a customer ahead is now. You have a choice barrow money and wait it out, hoping all of your customers return or you can fight the tenancy of compliancy and opt for a degree of consternation as you move forward with new menu items in new avenues of distribution.  

So. back in the day (2009), Domino’s awoke from a long period of brand protectionism practices, self-imposed rules that contributed to stifling sales growth, product quality, and a loss of customer relevance.  Domino’s was the first major retail brand to discard it core product for and completely new one since the failed rebranding of Coco Cola. It was a huge risk.  Guess what Domino’s won.

Domino’s did what no other restaurant chain did; they stopped doing what they always had done and moved forward focused on the customer. In short, they abandoned brand protectionism.   It is not back to the basics.  It was a macro step, not a micro step.  It was a step into the future of brand marketing, positioning, and essential for legacy brands continued consumer relevance.  Abandoning brand protectionism means repositioning a product or a company focusing on the core foundation of the legacy product with a dramatic shift in contemporized customer relevance.  Simply put incremental steps are not enough today. 

In Seth Godin's book Purple Cow where an entrepreneur wants to recapture some of the magic that the brand at one time had. Godin suggests that the key to success is finding a way to stand out and be remarkable, like a purple cow in a field of regular cows. That’s what Domino’s did and the company has never looked back.

Domino’s same-store sales have risen 19 percent on a two-year basis, which six years later and with a recession in the middle is not bad at all. They continue to rise.

Rebuilding customer relevance is important if a brand somehow grows out of touch.  In the case of Domino’s abandoning brand protectionism contributed to drive top line sales and bottom-line profits, driving customer relevance and sales momentum resulting in same-store sales in international markets rose 7.7 percent in the quarter in 2015. Growth can happen when both the franchisee and customers are happy at chain restaurants.   The customer is dynamic not static any your brand must be as well. 

The challenged for any restaurant today is to move past the yesterday and look at Gen Z and Millennials think about how a digital native is going to shop, buy meals, and eat moving forward. The grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat or Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food, gives retailers the to drive incremental food sales, the ability to see and understand the customers focus at its core, then evolve. Success does leave clues and companies leading the charge in 2021 will be leaders within their niche for years to come.

Food retailers that do not evolve be warned that the rest of will be reading headlines that C-level change is coming or came at your company. Without bold new leaders many legacy retail food brands may simply become non relevant. In the event that they are more about their brand than the consumer they will simply fall to the way side. Do you need outside eyes to help drive top line sale and bottom-line profits?

Consternation is not a bad thing. It can be both uncomfortable and rewarding. Are you trapped doing what you have always done and doing it the same way?  Interested in learning how Foodservice Solutions FIVE P’s of Food Marketing can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization?  Email us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or visit:  www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information