The frozen “Food Court” is vital to long term restaurant brand value building.

If success leaves clues and listening is a key to success then we all need to listen when grocery store category managers refer to the freezer aisle turning into the new restaurant "frozen food court". Pizza manufacture and co-packer Palermo Villa in Menomonee Valley, Wisconsin has seen annual growth of about 5 percent over the last four or five years.

Channel blurring only exists in the BLIND eye of Neanderthal restaurant brand managers. Today restaurant brand managers must understand their brand and their customers. If they do; they can integrate marketing plans that complement their customers while intersecting with the brand in multiple channels of distribution.

Walmart, Costco, Kroger, Safeway each has incorporated a "frozen food court" in the frozen food aisle. Utilizing both national and regional restaurant branded food. Boston Market, TGI Friday's, PF Chang's, California Pizza Kitchen and now Burger King are the most-thorough players with complete or nearly-complete programs at retail. But many restaurants are either looking at leveraging their brands or are jumping in feet first, including Romano's Macaroni Grill, El Pollo Loco, Captain D's, and O'Charley's, while others are trying it with dipping their toes in, The grocer and the restaurant brand all garner additional top line revenue and bottom line profits.

Repeated evidence shows that the distinction in differentiation is a value of the brand. Leveraging that value within additional retail segments is simply contemporary consumer relevance. Is your brand relevant? Foodservice Solutions specializes in outsourced business development; we can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities and brand leveraging integration strategy.

Join me here for insights, information and inspiration. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche for more on Steven A. Johnson and Foodservice Solutions visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant or on Facebook at Steven Johnson.