Whole Foods Inclusive Strategy Means Additional Distribution

Whole Foods understand the food consumer better the than most other food retailers. Understanding that consumers wanted better for you food continues to be one of the company’s strengths.  When we talk about Whole Foods inclusive strategy we are speaking about Whole Foods ability to incorporate the consumer’s desire for “better for you” all day long.

Whole Foods understood that the consumer wanted better for you food but did not have time to cook it or the skill set to cook it. Thus Whole Foods added stations within the stores for ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat fresh prepared food creating additional points of distribution right in the stores. Consumers loved it.

Once known for 50,000, 60,000 and 65,000 square foot units consumer found it took too long to shop. Whole Foods reduced store size for new units two years ago and ROI on new units is up. It must also be noted that fresh prepared food sales and space allotted for grocerant niche food is up as well.

Now Whole Foods is planning on expanding points of distribution again this time with a program called “Click and Collect”.  Click and collect is a new online ordering program with store pick-up of food ordered. Whole Foods understands consumers are mobile, click and collect complements industry trends and most important adds value to consumers today and tomorrow.

Whole Foods goal is to more than double the number of stores (current 340) and grow to 1,000 in the United States alone. There is no doubt sales will double as more points of distribution are added. If success leaves clues a consumer focused strategy is one of them.

Steven Johnson is Grocerant Guru at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions, with extensive experience as a multi-unit operator, consultant and brand/product positioning. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche for more on Steven Johnson and Foodservice Solutions® visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant 

“Better For You” Grocery store Now with “Better For You” Prepared Food, Cafe

Every sector of retail is experiencing accelerated growth while finding success within the ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat fresh prepared food niche aka the grocerant niche. Last week we learned that in California the El Cerrito Natural Grocery is expanding remodeling the store next door to include a café that will offer fresh prepared ready-2-eat sandwiches, salads, pizza, baked goods, coffee, espresso drinks.

The café / food-service counters will offer a variety of natural meals, snacks that can be eaten on site or pre-ordered and picked up for to-go. El Cerrito Natural Grocery is “Basically we're going to be able to offer all the things we haven't been able to offer in the store," stated Robin Valerie Low, of El Cerrito Natural Grocery.

The menu offerings “includes a cafe with coffee, tea and hot chocolate with multiple flavors of hot chocolate including  Mexican, Peruvian, a bakery section, made-to-order and ready-made sandwiches, fresh pizza, salads, a cheese shop, a wine and beer shop, and an ice cream counter. There'll also be rotisserie chicken and daily "blue plate special" meals, Low said. There will be seating with a view of the hills as well.

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

Schnucks Interactive and Participatory Cultivating Kid Consumers

Research company after research company of late has reported the success the grocery sector is finding selling ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat fresh prepared food. NPD reported  between 2006 and 2012 that the grocery/supermarket sector increased sales of prepared meals by 46 Million. Then Technomic projected that the rate of growth within the grocery ready-2-eat prepared meal space would be larger than the growth rate for the restaurant sector in both 2013 and 2014.

Here is one example how the grocery store sector got cooking. Schnucks registered Dietitian Kara Behlke is partnering with the team at Schnucks Kehrs Mill, “to deliver Summer Cooking Camps for young foodies ages 5-8 and 9-12.  Camps start Monday, June 10 and run through Friday, Aug. 9, but it’s based on a flexible schedule so campers can also register for individual classes… 

Each action-packed day offers a different theme and a new hands-on food adventure.  According to Behlke, the summer program will offer a complete learning experience with cooking and nutrition lessons as well as related crafts and activities.  “This is not like your typical summer camp.  Our schedule is designed to be flexible in order to fit into every family’s busy summer schedule.  Young foodies can sign up for one class, for a morning or afternoon session, a full week or multiple weeks,” she said.”

Behlke and the Schnucks summer nutrition team are making learning fun and exciting with themes like “Campfire Cooking” and “Magical Wizardry” for the younger set and “Chuckwagon Chow” and “Tie-Dye Surprise” for the older age group. “Kids will learn to cook with recipes, work with kitchen equipment, create crafts to take home and participate in activities all focused around making food fun and learning how to prepare nutritious foods,” Behlke said.  “Smaller class sizes and a team of support staff, means more individual attention and more happy campers!”

The Classes range from $20-$30 or $90-$130 for a full week pass.  For more visit Schnucks kids camps and classes, visit www.schnuckscooks.com/for_kids.asp.

Steven Johnson is Grocerant Guru at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions, with extensive experience as a multi-unit operator, consultant and brand/product positioning. 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 twitter.com/grocerant 

Restaurant Dinner Occasions Diminish as Grocery stores Dazzle Dinner

Where are we going for dinner? Today the options for dinner have turned to opportunity for many non-traditional food retailers including grocery stores. Going out to dinner was once a treat, then the norm today consumer content with their 65 inch HDTV’s are asking: Where are we going to get dinner?

Darren Tristano, Executive Vice President of Chicago based Technomic states that “consumers turn to retailers for prepared food most often in the evenings”.  Restaurants need to recognize that increase competition for share of stomach comes from non-traditional fresh prepared food retail companies the ilk of grocery stores, Drug stores, C-stores and Club stores.

Technomic’s research found that customers of non-traditional fresh prepared food from the aforementioned list of new competitors rated “supermarkets and c-stores equal to or better than limited-service restaurants”. His examples were; “53 percent of consumers say the freshness of prepared foods at conveniences stores is on par with that of limited service-restaurant fare”. Supermarket offerings did just a little better than that “54 percent said food freshness is comparable at supermarkets with 24 percent saying supermarket prepared foods are fresher”.

A full one in five consumers today identified grocery-store prepared food as a Top alternative to a restaurant. Regular readers of this blog know we have been providing the success clues for the ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat fresh prepared food niche since 1991 and none of this is a surprise to us.  The rest of you however must the momentum within this sector is building and the current numbers alone are impressive.  The grocery and c-store sectors account for $37 billion in U.S. sales alone with $20 billion for grocery and 10.7 for c-stores according to Technomic.  That number grew $2 Billion dollars from 2010 to 2012.

This niche has more than resonated with consumers it is now either a preferred choice or a clear option. Restaurants need to be mindful of the momentum in consumer satisfaction, industry growth rate and the new retail food price, service, equilibrium being established. 

Steven Johnson is Grocerant Guru™ at Tacoma, WA based www.FoodserviceSolutions.us and can be reached at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us FoodserviceSolutions® is the Global leader in Grocerant niche consulting since 1991. 

Chain Restaurants Pressured by: The 65 Inch HDTV Syndrome

What some restaurants missed the evolving consumer

Retail foodservice continues evolving with a strong focus on the consumer.  At the intersection of the consumer, technology and retail food sales we find the grocerant niche creating and expanding points of quality food distribution.  It’s at that intersection that Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru identified one universal commonality driving consumers buying pattern changes.  Johnson calls it “The 65 Inch HDTV Syndrome.

The grocerant niche is the result of the blurring line between restaurants, grocery stores, convenience stores, and drug stores all selling fresh prepared, portable, convenient meal solutions.  Targeted at the time-starved consumer with Ready-2-Eat or Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food components that are perceived “better for you”, and portioned for one or two. Consumers like the Convenient Meal Participation, Differentiation, Individualization / Family Customization that these retailers offer.

Restaurateurs need to be particularly mindful of developments within grocerant niche for they are driving the change within the price, value, service equilibrium in retail foodservice.

Others missed evolving marketing trends

It is at the intersection of the consumer, technology and The 5 P’s of Food Marketing: Product, Packaging, Placement, Portability, and Price that retail food sales competition is expanding. Driving ever greater Mix and Match bundled meal options and new points of distribution for consumers.  Consumers love the on-the-go options in fact Zaget’s 2013 NYC Restaurant Survey found that in New York at-home meals surpassed dining out for the first time in 30 years.

Looking back, during the late Home Meal Replacement frenzy grocery stores, C-stores and restaurants all studied with excitement the successful developments of Phil Romano’s Eatzi’s.  Eatzi’s is Where Phil turned the page from restaurateur to foodservice retailer and food merchant.  Phil’s experiment was a smashing success. It was and remains consumer interactive, participatory with visceral authenticity recording sales of 17 Million a year at the original store.  Now in NYC Eatley is Eatzi’s on steroids doing close to 60 Million a year in sales. 

Legacy Home Meal Replacement focus quickly faded away in the Restaurant side of business. However in the Grocery, C-store and Drug Store sector it continued to be studied, tested, and implemented. Today the grocerant niche is the strategic path of choice for non-traditional food retailers, targeted at restaurant customers, profitable and expanding at an ever increasing pace.

Some simply discounted competitors

Wawa was once considered a convenience store now they view themselves as a restaurant with a focus of serving Fast Casual Food- - To Go.  At Wawa customers are now finding What’s for Breakfast, What’s for Lunch and now what’s for Dinner.  Sheetz once a convenience store now calls themselves a restaurant that sells gas.  Sheetz Made To Order food is a hit with customers.  Sheetz is successful contemporizing legacy C-store products with differentiation, customization and personalization. Consumer like the variety, 24 hour menu serving all day parts - all day long - a wide range of consumer meal and snacking needs.  Sounds and acts like a restaurant doing all the right things.

Rutter’s is another convenience store in transition.  Rutter’s understands the unique balance between palate, price, pleasure and the consumer’s drive for qualitative distinctive differentiated new messaging and Rutter’s is meeting that need set. The food value proposition equilibrium for the consumer today balances; better for you, flavor, and traditional products all blended into something with a twist.  In industry speak, differentiated does not mean different to the consumer it means familiar.   Rutter’s is an example of brand identity extending beyond consumer expectations within the traditional conveniences store sector. Too the consumer Rutter’s is a direct valued competitor within the QSR space.

Food Quality Never Takes a Step Back. The grocerant niche is driving new competitive points for food distribution which are a step above consumer expectation in most cases.  Food quality never takes a step back, these evolving new points of fresh food will continue to improve over time increasing industry competitiveness. Dunkin Donuts, McDonalds, and Starbucks, here comes The C-store sector.   When you look at the menu items offered by these legacy conveniences store operators it is clear to see that the grocerant niche is a platform that is creating equilibrium.   In other words they are not discouraged or intimated by competition from any sector.

Warning when Non traditional retailers garner your customers something is not right

They understand that the grocerant niche is a result of the blurring of the line between restaurants, grocery stores, convenience stores, and drug stores all selling fresh prepared, portable convenient meal solutions.  Targeted at the time-starved consumer with Ready-2-Eat or Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food components that are “better for you”, portable and portioned for one or two. All of these operators want a larger share of the retail food market.  They want to take share from the restaurants.

During Transformational period’s legacy industries are at times forced to expand at a pace unseen in decades. The grocerant niche is contributing too redefining the retail foodservice experience. The Ready-2-Eat & Heat-N-Eat fresh and prepared food niche is expanding rapidly within the grocery sector. Whole Foods is no longer Whole Paycheck but Whole Fresh Food Fast and consumers find that is “better for you”.

Whole Foods is driving customer frequency while building loyalty with Fresh prepared ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat better for you food. Whole Foods focus is on convenient meal participation, better for you differentiation, and individualization.

Safeway’s has integrated Mix and Match Meal Bundling marketing into daily and weekly iphone app’s and legacy print flyers. With a focus on Fresh Prepared Food, Safeway is leveraging The 5 P’s of Food Marketing: Product, Packaging, Placement, Portability and Price establishing contemporized consumer relevance. In what was once restaurant food space alone grocery stores, C-stores and Drug stores are now garnering consumer attention.

With powerful well Financed companies the ilk of Walgreens entering the fresh food space that is something no food retailer should dismiss as not my competitor.  Walgreens with over 78 Billion in sales they can try and try again. Walgreens might just be the next Next Biggest Competitor in the retail food space.
 

It must be noted that Walgreen’s all but exited retail food service when they sold their last Wag’s restaurant.  We all must remember at one time Walgreens was a tier one fresh food retail operator / restaurant. Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh food runs deep in the legacy of Walgreens.

Walgreens Fresh with Duane Reade have 7,500+ retail outlets.  Who is selling what in your back yard? With Walgreens entering the fresh food area again with meats, wraps, soups "and other on-the-go meal options, as well as convenient alternatives for tonight's family meal, it is clear that the future of fresh food retail leadership may be up in the air.

Consumers evolve they do not go backwards

Food Retailing Never Take a Step Backward.  Consumers are dynamic not static always looking to save both time and money.  The grocerant niche is propelling new quality points of fresh food distribution and competitors that are well financed. Today a home cooked meal is in large part assembled from fresh prepared meal components not cooked from scratch.  Is your restaurant selling into that channel?

Steven Johnson is Grocerant Guru at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions, with extensive experience as a multi-unit operator, consultant and brand/product positioning. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche for more on Steven  Johnson and Foodservice Solutions® visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant 

Food Industry Trends Point to an Increase in Non-Traditional Meal Occasions

Five years from now at the intersection of the consumer, fresh prepared food and technology they will have found that consumer eating behavior is evolving and is now beyond the control of traditional food marketers. Evolving culture and lifestyle, demographics along with the new uncertain economy are all putting pressure on the American food consumer: Demands of work, economic shrinkage, demands of raising a family, commuting, social interaction, kid's after-school activities, all contribute to a food marketplace where convenience vies with price over legacy brands. That one in 10 shoppers choose higher-end cuts of meat in order to recreate a restaurant dining experience (FMI, 2013).

Packaging Advances Extended Acceptance

Five years from now restaurant chain leaders will understand that packaging advances help create new points of non-traditional food distribution have empowered consumer choice, and American embraced these choices even as legacy marketers cringe. Who's after restaurant food dollars… simply put… everyone.

Why should you care if Walgreens is selling fresh prepared ready-2-eat and made-2-order sandwiches? Why should you care if Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Safeway and Wegmans are selling ready-2-eat and or heat-N-eat fresh pizza? Why should you care if Coinstar is selling Seattle Best Coffee at 1,000 locations for $1.00?

You should care because they are selling it, and you are not! The fastest growing sector of retail food service for the past four years has been the Convenience store sector. The C-store sectors growth in large part has been driven by fresh prepared food. Non-traditional avenues of distribution are growing, gobbling market share while establishing new patterns of consumption, price points and customer loyalty.

The Shopper is in Control Spurring New Retail Food Formats

Trader Joe's and Whole Foods have created ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat fresh prepared food items with qualitative differentiation as an entity with identity that has help propel them into ready-2-eat fresh prepared food leadership. In fact recent research shows that both Trader Joe's and Whole Foods are each known for high quality (restaurant quality) ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat foods with distinctive offerings. More important each is leading with innovative products and package size that create value and have positioned each chain as a food shopping destination for meal components customized and personalized for immediate consumption or mix and matched for a meal time at home. In short they are stealing your customers.

Walgreens fresh prepared food i s restaurant quality and priced less than Panera Bread or Corner Bakery CAFE. BothPanera Bread and Corner Bakery CAFE thrive in urban locations. Walgreens is now growing price, quality and speed of service advantages over legacy retailers. Legacy restaurant chains must reconsider the speed at which they evolve and adapt or non-traditional outlets will capture profits margins as well.

Traditional views of meals and mealtime can pretty much be discarded. Legacy retailers waiting for the "next big thing" to copy simply might be out of luck this time. Legacy food retailers may not like to be first movers very much but it may prove that waiting too long will not work this time.

Product, Packaging, Placement, Portability and Price are Foodservice Solutions® 5 P's

The retail food world is evolving at an ever increasing pace filled with innovation in food, portion size, points of distribution, and quality fresh prepared meal solutions. The price, value, service equilibrium is resetting in retail foodservice. In order to edify the brand and reinforce consumer relevance restaurateurs must leverage Foodservice Solutions® 5P's of food marketing.

Many legacy food retailers continue to practice brand protectionism, stifle the brand while diminishing consumer relevance. The consumer is dynamic not static. Brands must be dynamic, evolving with the consumer. Four more years of watching other retail sectors thrive should be long enough. Success in the restaurant world is no longer simply about what happens within your 4 walls.

Steven Johnson is Grocerant Guru at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions, with extensive experience as a multi-unit operator, consultant and brand/product positioning. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche for more on Steven Johnson and Foodservice Solutions® visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant

Is the Restaurant Fast Casual Niche Simply the Race Too The Middle?

When industry trade magazine hyperbole garners more attention than consumers you know trouble is brewing.  When special seminars are hyped by legacy research companies as a way to pump-up internal quarterly sales numbers garnering the attention of only lethargic marketers. When awards are given out to clients and newbie’s to ensure attendance and press coverage at Fast Casual seminars you know the signs of a top are near.  Is you company racing to the middle? Do you want to your company to stand up and stand out?

Five years from now chain restaurant leaders will be attending the National Restaurant Show in Chicago networking, learning and laughing aloud about the money they wasted sending employees to Fast Casual Summits. Laughing aloud about how a multi-billion dollar restaurant industry missed the Consumer Marketing Migration that took place from 1999 to 2013. 

Food Marketing Migration

Where are restaurant customers migrating? In a new study released by the NPD Group found that in the three years between 2006 and 2012 that the grocery/supermarket sector increased sales of prepared meals by 46 Million. That’s 46 Million fresh ready-2-eat meal occasions that could have been would have been restaurant meals.

Chain Drug stores have taken notice and continue testing fresh prepared food at locations from coast to coast. Five years from now when restaurant chain leaders return to Chicago for the NRA Restaurant Show they will be focused on Non-traditional fresh food competitive growth while looking for new non-traditional points for their fresh food offerings.

Restaurants Coddling Brand Protectionism

Five years from now chain restaurant leaders will wonder how Mintel, NPD and Technomic reported on but missed the Consumer Marketing Migration. Five years from now chain restaurant leaders will laugh at the fact that the undercurrents of the evolving face of retail food competition has been all around yet while they practiced brand protectionism, drug stores, C-stores and grocery stores simply catered to the evolving consumer preferences garnering share of stomach and did so within in the ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat fresh prepared food grocerant niche .

Five years from now chain restaurant leaders will wonder why when in 2013 Technomic reported that revenue from prepared foods at supermarkets had increased more than six percent annually during the past five years. Why they continued to host, speak and pontificate on Fast Casual when the consumer had migrated. More important T echnomic reported that the prepared food number grows to 13 percent for mass merchandisers and superstores during the same period. All the while the margins on prepared food were expanding creating a fast growing new revenue center for fresh prepared food in this non-traditional fresh prepared food retail sector.

Looking Outside Current Boundaries

Five years from now all food retailers will evaluate how they do business not how they did business. Five years from now chain restaurant leaders will be laughing how they missed the universal commonalties the drug store, grocery and c-store food marketers did not. Five years from now they will understand that successful competition comes from outside well established operating boundaries.

Five years from now no one will wonder about the findings in a Harris Poll of 2,496 adults surveyed online between February 13 and 18, 2013 by Harris Interactive found that Americans continue to be reducing how often that they eat out at restaurants : Fast food restaurant chain (26% less, 14% more),Local casual dining restaurant (20% less, 14% more),Casual dining restaurant chain (24% less, 11% more),Local fine dining restaurant (21% less, 7% more),Fine dining restaurant chain (23% less, 4% more).

Channel Blurring

Five years from now all food marketers will understand that channel blurring exist only in the minds-eye of legacy food marketers not in the minds-eye of consumers.

Five years from now Food retailers will understand the 65 Inch HDTV Syndrome Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru Steven Johnson found: The line between restaurants and food retailers is growing ever thinner. The fight for America's food dollars continues to intensify as consumers find fresh prepared ready-2-eat food options at a wide and growing array of outlets across almost every channel: convenience stores, chain drug stores, restaurants, grocery stores, club stores, vending and even more non-food retailers like dollar stores. While manufacturers, retailers and restaurants worry about choice overload, consumers have embraced their new choices and show no signs of returning to the old ways. This fight is taking place in what is called the grocerant niche.

The restaurant industry is not an industry known for trying to be first as in fastest to market with an ideation, food or technology advance. In the United States the larger the chain in almost all cases the more slowly they are to adopt something than a smaller chain or independent restaurants will. Chain restaurants goal is simple feed one meal at a time in the restaurant while protecting and edifying the brand.

Historically chain restaurant leaders have denied the credibility of start-up competitors as non-relevant. The pizza sector is a great example; evolving from family dinning independents to national chain of "Red Roof" Italian, then to delivery only outlets and now take-N-bake is garnering market share in the pizza sector. (Note: Home Made Pizza Company and Papa Murphy's are further examples of take and bake pizza operators.)

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

Baskin-Robbins Expands Brands Consumer Relevance

Restaurant chains witnessing customer migration are taking steps to extend brand relevance, edifying restaurant unit sales with a stronger brand presence while simultaneously expanding into non-traditional points of distribution.  Baskin-Robbins is just the latest company properly tracking its core consumer and announcing that it is rolling out a new line of “shelf stable sherbet flavored freezer bars” they will initially be sold at  retailers the ilk of  CVS/pharmacy, Dollar General, Rite Aid, and Walgreens.

Baskin-Robbins parent company Dunkin’ Donuts has long sold packages of its coffee in supermarkets that consumers can buy and then use to brew coffee at home. However to enjoy a frozen treat from Baskin-Robbins treat has generally meant a trip to a Baskin-Robbins store. Not any more soon Sherbet Flavored Freezer Bars will be available at many retailers, and that means that Baskin-Robbins products will be exposed to a wider audience.

A box of the new product (pictured above) contains 12 Sherbet Flavored Freezer Bars, and the box has a suggested retail price of $2.99 to $3.49, Baskin-Robbins said. John Fassak, vice president of business development for Dunkin’ Brands, stated “We look forward to introducing the Baskin-Robbins brand to even more people across the US and giving our existing guests yet another way to enjoy our wide array of ice cream flavors and frozen treats,”.

Baskin-Robbins understands that increasing brand value means increasing opportunity to buy, focusing on share of stomach, the value of the brand in an Omni-channel retail world.

While some franchisee may be concerned about the value of the brand being diminished they should not be concerned for long.  Each CPG item sold edifies the brand and extends the brands value. This is a good retail strategy. This Omni-channel strategy will build additional awareness and traction that will ultimately benefit franchisees.

Foodservice Solutions® specializes in outsourced business development. We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities or a brand leveraging integration strategy.  Foodservice Solutions of Tacoma WA is the global leader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant

Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat Food Providing Leadership Globally

Food consumer customer migration continues to drive the evolution of retail food sales around the world. Grocerant Guru, Steven Johnson of Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions stated “consumer commonalities driving ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat grocerant niche filled with fresh prepared food have a global appeal and continue driving change in Share of Stomach purchases evolving the retail food space”.

In the Netherlands with on-going economic weakness it is no surprise to us that “convenient, easy to prepare Ready Meals are, perhaps unsurprisingly, the most popular category in the sector, with value and volume shares of 69.4% and 69.7% respectively for 2012. This popularity looks to continue over the next five years, as the category grows ahead of the sector in terms of both value and volume, at a CAGR of 2.7% and 3.3% respectively to 2017.”

This month we have been to or noted success of Jaya the Grocer in Malaysia, Coles in Australia, Pueblo, Ralphs and SuperMax in Puerto Rico, and Walgreens in the United States, there is no doubt that the growth of the grocerant niche is a trend not a fad. 

Legacy food retailers including restaurants, grocery stores and C-stores are now paying attention to this fast evolving consumer focused migration wondering what to do.  Well, we know what works best in every sector and can assist you in edifying your brand for success.   Is your company evolving with contemporized consumer relevance as fast as the consumer? 

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

Outback Steakhouse at Home

The ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat fresh prepared food niche growth continues to outpace all other sectors of retail foodservice.  Restaurants today need to become good food merchants; not just restaurateurs serving one meal a person in store at a time. Outback Steakhouse has edified consumer relevance with its “Curbside Take-Away and Online Ordering”.

Time-starved, quality focused, consumers want Outback's convenient Curbside Take-Away® Online Ordering.  Integrating ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat options that are as easy as point, click, and eat or in Outback’s case head to your local Outback and pick up your favorite items make life easy. That is a win for Outback and a win for consumers.

Restaurants need to understand that the line between restaurants and food retailers is growing ever thinner. The fight for America's food dollars continues to intensify as consumers find fresh prepared ready-2-eat food options at a wide and growing array of outlets across almost every channel: convenience stores, chain drug stores, restaurants, grocery stores, club stores, vending and even more non-food retailers like dollar stores. In an Omni-channel food retail world restaurants can no longer think that they operate in a single environment.

While food retailers and restaurants worry about choice overload, consumers have embraced their new choices and show no signs of returning to the old ways. This fight is taking place in what is called the grocerant niche. Restaurants like Outback that expand brand focus on “share of stomach” rather than just table turns will be winning in food retail for years to come.

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

Foodies: Instagram is Elevating and Educating Consumers on What’s for Dinner To-Go.

Restaurateurs how does your food look packaged To-Go?  Does your customer know what is for dinner?    At 4 PM 81% of US consumers do not know what they are going to eat that night for dinner.  Do you have a business development plan that can leverage your skill set into the retail food channel? Do you or your franchisees post real time pictures of fresh prepared food? Instagram, like no other tool is edifying consumers on daily specials and can entice them to buy more effectively in real time.

Consumers are interactive and desire a participatory look and feel with food, brands and family.  Instagram can bind all three while solving the problem of what’s for dinner.  Photos of your Food in real time can help you garner income while solving the most contemporary daily conundrum What’s for dinner?

By way of introduction my name is Steve Johnson and I am currently the Grocerant Guru at Foodservice Solutions®.  My focus is on ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat fresh and prepared food.  In the United States the market size for grocerant niche (ready-2-eat and heat-Neat fresh prepared  food is 1 Trillion a year.  The niche includes restaurants, grocery stores, convenience stores and retail drug stores the ilk of Walgreens. 

Success does leave clues.  Foodservice Solutions® specific interest is in building out this niche leveraging your menu and products.  I look forward to speaking with you soon.

Foodservice Solutions® specializes in outsourced business development. We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities or a brand leveraging integration strategy.  Foodservice Solutions of Tacoma WA is the global leader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant.

Dollar store sector extends success with Food.

When you hear a CEO of any company is quoted saying “We’re going where our customer wants us to go” you know success is near.  Well that is exactly what Michael K. Bloom, President and CEO of Family Dollar Stores said.  Looks as if heat-N-eat and ready-2-eat food is the lynch pin of success for another retail sector.

Family Dollar current sales mix is about 64.6% consumables. Plans are now in place to continue to increase the assortment of consumables at its stores to drive sales. They expect to expect to add more than 1,000 new consumable SKUs 2012.  Regular readers of this blog know the retail food landscape is evolving fast. .

Dollar Tree like Family Dollar is continuing to install freezers and coolers at additional stores this year “because frozen and refrigerated product drives traffic into our stores.” A company spokesperson said. Dollar Tree offers perishables and frozen foods at 2,220 stores — about half of its 4,351 total.

Branded fresh prepared ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat is redefining the food landscape.  Walgreens, Rite Aid, 7 Eleven, Dollar Tree and Family Dollar are all going where the customers wants them to go!  Is your company going somewhere new?  Are you moving forward with the consumer?

Foodservice Solutions® specializes in outsourced business development. We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities or a brand leveraging integration strategy.  Foodservice Solutions of Tacoma WA is the global leader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant.

“Better For You” Halo driving Subway Growth 3,000 units in 2013

Subway’s message of “Better For You” sandwiches and “better for you” concept has resonated with consumers since its inception.  The consumer interactive participatory assembly of the sandwich combined with aromatic and visceral presentation of fresh baked bread has creates a halo of “better for you” around the brand.

 Unit sales were propelled higher with the price point promotion of the $ 5 dollar foot long.   Not only did the $ 5 dollar foot long edify the franchisee it edified the consumer with the brand creating additional contemporized consumer relevance. 

Subway day-part success with new and expanded $3.00 Breakfast Combo offering continues to drive top line growth and bottom line profits.  The signal that Subway is sending to the rest of the retail food industry is look out we are serious about building breakfast and don’t intend on giving any ground on lunch. 

Subway clearly is utilizing Foodservice Solutions® 5 P’s of food marketing: Product, Packaging, Placement, Portability and Price; leveraging all brand attributes with the 5 P’s. Subway is building strong sales with an integrated grocerant niche food program leveraging distinctive differentiated food consumables as an entity with identity by day part.

Interested in learning how the 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

Bud’s Chicken and Seafood Eat In or Take-Out.

There is no better place in the country to be today than one of Bud’s Chicken and Seafood restaurants located in South Florida.  This regional chain restaurant has developed a national following.  This second generation family owned and consummately run chain understands the grocerant niche, the importance of a local sustainable seafood chain operation, the power of consumer choice and meal component bundling.

When it comes too clam strips Bud’s is simply one of the best.  Here is what one of his loyal customers had to say; “Ming T from Westminster, Colorado writes “I LOVE BUD's! Every time I go down to the Palm Beach area this is a must. I think I had Bud's 4 times during the 7 days I was in West Palm. The staff is so friendly and helpful and the fried clam strips with tartar sauce is second to none. If you're in the mood for some really good fried food I would highly suggest you get your rear-end down there. The hush puppies are a fluffy corn filled heaven... oh man, I'm drooling again!”

Bud’s Chicken and Seafood understands Foodservice Solutions® 5 P’s of food marketing: Product, Packaging, Placement, Portability and Price. Building strong sales with an integrated grocerant niche food program leveraging distinctive differentiated food consumables as an entity with identity by day part is something that Bud’s does well.

Foodservice Solutions® specializes in outsourced business development. We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities or a brand leveraging integration strategy.  Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche for more visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant

Cook from Scratch, Get Real, Get Ready-2-Eat or Heat-N-Eat Tonight

Grocerant ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat fresh prepared food is blurring the line between restaurants and grocery stores. Grocerant food targets the time-starved consumers, not with ingredients to make from scratch rather with ready-2-eat or heat-N-eat food components that can be bundled into a meal.

Just think about how you shop for most meal preparation needs. You might buy a rotisserie chicken, pick out something from a salad bar and maybe an appetizer at the deli service case. Those are components vs. buying uncooked chicken, a head of lettuce and then having to clean, cut, season and then season and spend time cooking.

Steven Johnson, is the Grocerant Guru at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solution® and defines the niche this way "Grocerant means any retail food item that is ready-2-eat or heat-N-eat while fresh prepared. Currently these items can be found in grocery stores in the deli / lifestyle section, Convenience stores in the prepared food area and prepackaged, ready to eat items and in restaurants under the To-go, takeout or take away or delivery section of the menu or on the website and now at Chain Drug Stores Walgreens and Duane Reade."

What is Driving the Grocerant Trend

Its 4 PM: your customers are just beginning to think about what's for dinner. 81% of American consumers are unsure about what's for dinner. Time Starved Consumers are looking for high quality ready to eat foods and ready to heat meals. Today's time starved consumer wants to purchase meal components that they can bundle into a customized family meal that will please everyone without spending time cooking.

Examples of Grocerants

Restaurant examples are McDonalds, Pret A Manger Burger King, Pizza Hut, Papa Murphy's and Starbucks, each having a fresh ready-2-eat or heat-N-eat food menu. You may not think of Walgreens as a food destination yet Walgreens sells fresh soft-serve yogurt, coffee and sushi at selected stores, so they are technically grocerants. In the Casual Dining sector Maggiano's Little Italy offers a buy one take a 2^nd home for free in their Classic Pastas menu section.

Convenience Store examples are 7 Eleven, Wawa, Sheetz and QuickChek, all of which sell fresh and prepared sandwiches, salads, beverages.

Supermarket examples are Whole Foods, Central Market, Safeway and Kroger… all sell fresh prepared chicken, salads, sandwiches and most offer sushi and beverages.

Drug Store examples are Walgreen and Duane Reade both offer in both New York and ChicagoSushi, Smoothie, Wine, Coffee, and Fro-yo Bars then there are the 455+ CafeW’s severing baked goods and beverages.

The retail supermarket and convenience store sector have unique grocerant challenges. Presentation of the ready-2-eat or heat-N-eat fresh food is important. When you get a meal at a restaurant, the plate and the food look great… let's call this "food for now". Retailers are primarily selling "food for later" or take-out and unless an item is a sandwich, the looks of ready-2-eat meals and snacks begin to change.

Why is it so hard to package food to go? In the Hot food section of the grocery store the food in most cases does not look appealing so our expectations drop when we get it for Take-Away. In convenience stores like Wawa, the ready to eat food looks great in the to-go containers. Why? Because Wawa puts the entire package together. They exert more control on the look and feel of "food for later".

Around the world we are now seeing sections in department's stores and kiosk in malls in Europe and Asia and airports around the world. The items can range from entrees to side items and deserts. Some examples of items range from fried chicken, mash potatoes, cream spinach, to liver and onions, pizza, hot dogs, steak, prime rib, various casseroles (hot-dish) to salads, side salads pie, cake and any single proportioned deserts. They can be picked up at the specific unit, or delivered.

In summary, a Grocerant is a result of the blurring of the line between restaurants and grocery stores aimed at the time-starved consumer with ready-2-eat or heat-N-eat food components that can be bundled into a meal. With new non-traditional points of distribution and retail food competition opening daily it is the grocerant niche that is growing faster than any other sector of food retail today.

Invite Foodservice Solutions® to complete a Migration Marketing assessment, grocerant program assessment. For brand, product placement, menu positioning assistance simply calls Foodservice Solutions® today.  Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant

Fast Casual Restaurants Capitulate 46 Million Meal Occasions to Non-Traditional Outlets

Five years from now restaurant chain leaders will understand that packaging advances help create new points of non-traditional food distribution have empowered consumer choice.

46 Million Reasons Restaurants Should be Concerned:

In three years between 2009 and 2012 NPD reported that the grocery/supermarket sector increased sales of prepared meals by 46 Million. That occurred in a short three year period.  Chain Drug stores have taken notice and continue testing fresh prepared food at locations from coast to coast. Five years from now as restaurant chain leaders return to Chicago for the restaurant show they will be focused on Non-traditional fresh food competitive growth.

Restaurant Customer Migration Expanding

Five years from now chain restaurant leaders will be attending the National Restaurant Show in Chicago networking, learning and laughing aloud about the money they wasted sending employees to Fast Casual Summits. Laughing aloud about how a multi-billion dollar restaurant industry missed the Consumer Marketing Migration that took place from 1999 to 2013.

Coddling Brand Protectionism

Five years from now chain restaurant leaders will wonder how Mintel, NPD and Technomic reported on but missed the Consumer Marketing Migration. Five years from now chain restaurant leaders will laugh at the fact that the undercurrents of the evolving face of retail food competition has been all around yet while they practiced brand protectionism, drug stores, C-stores and grocery stores simply catered to the evolving consumer preferences garnering share of stomach and did so within in the ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat fresh prepared food grocerant niche .

Five years from now chain restaurant leaders will wonder why when in 2013 Technomic reported that revenue from prepared foods at supermarkets had increased more than six percent annually during the past five years. Why they continued to host, speak and pontificate on Fast Casual when the consumer had migrated. More important T echnomic reported that the prepared food number grows to 13 percent for mass merchandisers and superstores during the same period. All the while the margins on prepared food were expanding creating a fast growing new revenue center for fresh prepared food in this non-traditional fresh prepared food retail sector.

Looking Outside Current Boundaries

Five years from now all food retailers will evaluate how they do business not how they did business. Five years from now chain restaurant leaders will be laughing how they missed the universal commonalties the drug store, grocery and c-store food marketers did not. Five years from now they will understand that successful competition comes from outside well established operating boundaries.

Five years from now no one will wonder about the findings in a Harris Poll of 2,496 adults surveyed online between February 13 and 18, 2013 by Harris Interactive found that Americans continue to be reducing how often that they eat out at restaurants : Fast food restaurant chain (26% less, 14% more),Local casual dining restaurant (20% less, 14% more),Casual dining restaurant chain (24% less, 11% more),Local fine dining restaurant (21% less, 7% more),Fine dining restaurant chain (23% less, 4% more).

Channel Blurring

Five years from now all food marketers will understand that channel blurring exist only in the minds-eye of legacy food marketers not in the minds-eye of consumers.

Five years from now Food retailers will understand the 65 Inch HDTV Syndrome Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru Steven Johnson found: The line between restaurants and food retailers is growing ever thinner. The fight for America's food dollars continues to intensify as consumers find fresh prepared ready-2-eat food options at a wide and growing array of outlets across almost every channel: convenience stores, chain drug stores, restaurants, grocery stores, club stores, vending and even more non-food retailers like dollar stores. While manufacturers, retailers and restaurants worry about choice overload, consumers have embraced their new choices and show no signs of returning to the old ways. This fight is taking place in what is called the grocerant niche.

The restaurant industry is not an industry known for trying to be first as in fastest to market with an ideation, food or technology advance. In the United States the larger the chain in almost all cases the more slowly they are to adopt something than a smaller chain or independent restaurants will. Chain restaurants goal is simple feed one meal at a time in the restaurant while protecting and edifying the brand.

Historically chain restaurant leaders have denied the credibility of start-up competitors as non-relevant. The pizza sector is a great example; evolving from family dinning independents to national chain of "Red Roof" Italian, then to delivery only outlets and now take-N-bake is garnering market share in the pizza sector. (Note: Home Made Pizza Company and Papa Murphy's are further examples of take and bake pizza operators.)

Future Trends Point to an Increase in Non-Traditional Meal Occasions

Five years from now restaurant chain leaders will understand that packaging advances help create new points of non-traditional food distribution have empowered consumer choice

Foodservice Solutions

Trends in the Food Industry Point to an Increase in Non-Traditional Meal Occasions

Five years from now at the intersection of the consumer, fresh prepared food and technology they will have found that consumer eating behavior is evolving and is now beyond the control of traditional food marketers. Evolving culture and lifestyle, demographics along with the new uncertain economy are all putting pressure on the American food consumer: Demands of work, economic shrinkage, demands of raising a family, commuting, social interaction, kid's after-school activities, all contribute to a food marketplace where convenience vies with price over legacy brands. That one in 10 shoppers choose higher-end cuts of meat in order to recreate a restaurant dining experience (FMI, 2013).

Packaging Advances Extended Acceptance

Five years from now restaurant chain leaders will understand that packaging advances help create new points of non-traditional food distribution have empowered consumer choice, and American embraced these choices even as legacy marketers cringe. Who's after restaurant food dollars… simply put… everyone.

Why should you care if Walgreens is selling fresh prepared ready-2-eat and made-2-order sandwiches? Why should you care if Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Safeway and Wegmans are selling ready-2-eat and or heat-N-eat fresh pizza? Why should you care if Coinstar is selling Seattle Best Coffee at 1,000 locations for $1.00?

You should care because they are selling it, and you are not! The fastest growing sector of retail food service for the past four years has been the Convenience store sector. The C-store sectors growth in large part has been driven by fresh prepared food. Non-traditional avenues of distribution are growing, gobbling market share while establishing new patterns of consumption, price points and customer loyalty.

The Shopper is in Control Spurring New Retail Food Formats

Trader Joe's and Whole Foods have created ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat fresh prepared food items with qualitative differentiation as an entity with identity that has help propel them into ready-2-eat fresh prepared food leadership. In fact recent research shows that both Trader Joe's and Whole Foods are each known for high quality (restaurant quality) ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat foods with distinctive offerings. More important each is leading with innovative products and package size that create value and have positioned each chain as a food shopping destination for meal components customized and personalized for immediate consumption or mix and matched for a meal time at home. In short they are stealing your customers.

Walgreens fresh prepared food i s restaurant quality and priced less than Panera Bread or Corner Bakery CAFE. BothPanera Bread and Corner Bakery CAFE thrive in urban locations. Walgreens is now growing price, quality and speed of service advantages over legacy retailers. Legacy restaurant chains must reconsider the speed at which they evolve and adapt or non-traditional outlets will capture profits margins as well.

Traditional views of meals and mealtime can pretty much be discarded. Legacy retailers waiting for the "next big thing" to copy simply might be out of luck this time. Legacy food retailers may not like to be first movers very much but it may prove that waiting too long will not work this time.

Product, Packaging, Placement, Portability and Price are Foodservice Solutions® 5 P's

The retail food world is evolving at an ever increasing pace filled with innovation in food, portion size, points of distribution, and quality fresh prepared meal solutions. The price, value, service equilibrium is resetting in retail foodservice. In order to edify the brand and reinforce consumer relevance restaurateurs must leverage Foodservice Solutions® 5P's of food marketing.

Many legacy food retailers continue to practice brand protectionism, stifle the brand while diminishing consumer relevance. The consumer is dynamic not static. Brands must be dynamic, evolving with the consumer. Four more years of watching other retail sectors thrive should be long enough. Success in the restaurant world is no longer simply about what happens within your 4 walls.

Steven Johnson is Grocerant Guru at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions, with extensive experience as a multi-unit operator, consultant and brand/product positioning. 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 twitter.com/grocerant