At 4 PM: What’s For Dinner?

81% of American consumers are unsure about what’s for dinner at 4 PM every day!

Your customers are just beginning to think about what's for dinner. Eighty-one percent of American consumers are unsure about what's for dinner; the opportunity is yours for the asking. Consumers are looking for high quality ready to eat foods and ready to heat meals… I coined them as ready-2-eat and or heat-N-eat. Consumer trends point to this - what today's time starved consumer wants is to purchase meal components that they can bundle into a customized family meal that will please everyone without spending time cooking.

Food is Everywhere

At one time you purchased your food at the grocery store, channel blurring has created food to be everywhere! Consumers today have the opportunity to purchase high quality chef prepared ready-2eat and heat-N-eat food from independent restaurants, grocery stores, chain drugstores (Walgreens) convenience stores, chain restaurants and non-traditional food retailers the ilk of Amazon.com and food trucks. At the convergence of all of these new and legacy meal component points of distribution you find the Grocerant niche.

What is a Grocerant?

The grocerant niche refers to prepared food that is portable, ready-2-eat or heat-N-eat food that is deemed "better for you food". The consumers are finding grocerant niche food in grocery store deli sections including Whole foods, Trader Joes, Safeway Lifestyle stores, Central Market and Wegmans Market Café . Not to be left out, convenience store segment has grocerant pioneers in the brand names of Wawa, Sheetz, Rutter's Farm Stores, and 7 Eleven. Finally chain restaurants and independent restaurants around the world complete the circle of grocerants.

Successful foodservice operators today understand that differentiation in menu items and food products doesn't mean different, rather it means familiar with a twist; taking ordinary daily menu items, adding contemporary relevance. Then presenting, brand positioning and pricing competitively; these are the universal footprints of success found within the grocerant niche.

Consumers Want Food On Sale.

90 percent of people look for deals to get more value when making food purchases in new national research survey conducted by DiGiorno January 2013.

US consumers estimate that restaurant rewards program would increase their visit rate to a particular restaurant by average of 35%, according to new study; 65% would recommend restaurant more to others if that restaurant offered rewards program in a study by LoyaltyPlus January 2013

US millennials seem to be spending more money than other generations when it comes to dining out, industry officials noted as reported by Ginia Bellafonte of the New York Times as a percent of income January 2013.

I would like to introduce you to Threep.  Threep is a mobile application that rewards users for visiting your business in groups of 3 or more people.  It is consumer interactive and participatory, with real time consumer relevance, adding value to your brand, building sales with incremental group size, and leveraging Micro groups for Macro results.  Threep is a sales building tool that complements restaurant LSM programs. Threep is a platform enabling consumer choice and brand equilibrium.  Let your brand win.

Interested in learning how Foodservice Solutions 5P’s of Food Marketing can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization contact us via Email us at: grocerant@q.com or visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant