Quality Competition not Economy Driving Grocerant Niche Success



Success does leave clues and the expanding growth within the Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food niche is nothing other than stunning.  The NPD Group is reporting that “Visits to retail stores for prepared foods at lunch increased by double-digits since 2008 and restaurant lunch visits have declined”.

Regular readers of this blog (which there were 25,000+ last month) know that one of the hallmarks of the success within the grocerant niche is the ability to bundle meal components for family meal cohesion.

Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru™ Steven Johnson successful implementation of the 5P’s of Food Marketing into non-traditional fresh prepared food channels the ilk of chain drug stores, supermarkets, liquor stores and Kisok has played a significant role in extending grocerant niche success.

Consumer perceive that the abundance of choice a grocery store deli offers as a distinct advantage over restaurant offerings particularly when bundling meal components for an family of office setting.   NPD reported that the supermarkets have an advantage “over restaurants, particularly quick service restaurants (QSRs) is the availability of healthy options, good variety of foods, light meal offerings, affordability, and one-stop shopping convenience”

NPD reported that since 2008 those key attributes were key drivers for “the 29 percent visit growth for retail prepared foods at lunch” They went on to blame “High unemployment and shaky consumer confidence are among the reasons that lunch visits to restaurants have declined by one percent since 2008.”

We completely disagree, the economy affected each equally.  The differences the retail grocery sector stepped up quality, increased choice, and extended marketing to include Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food.

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. www.FoodserviceSolutions.us is the global leader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant