Chain restaurants are now battling for
sales with Grocery stores, C-stores, Liquor stores, and Drug stores. Legacy
food retailers risk being marginalized by new concepts with smaller footprints,
lower cost of goods and faster service. Food retailers must understand
the new dynamics in the industry and react properly in order to accelerate
growth. The focus is on the Grocerant niche.
Here is what we understand; consumer
discontinuity in food retailing began in 2005 and continues today. New points
of distribution are growing, with retail outlets becoming smaller in
size. Nielsen in a new report finds “The underlying trend of shoppers
moving away from larger to smaller stores continues. …Historically, traditional
convenience stores were used for immediate or ‘distress’ purchasing, however,”
Today the change is accelerating driven in large part by major supermarkets
around the world investing heavily transforming C-stores with contemporized
relevance.
“The future has already arrived; it’s
just not evenly distributed” A quote made famous by William Gibson sure comes to mind don’t you
think. Fresh prepared “better for you” food and food options that are
Ready-2-Eat or Heat-N-Eat continue driving the grocerant niches rapid success.
In the United States successful
convenience store operators the likes of Sheetz, Rutter’s, and Wawa once
notable regional players are now getting squeezed a bit by both 50,000+ unit 7
Eleven entering the fresh food meal niche and 1,700+ unit Casey’s General
Stores who continues to drive sales and frequency with fresh prepared
food.
Many legacy restaurant companies the
ilk of Darden and Brinker will undergo additional scrutiny in order to find a
repositioned niche that will sustain them over time. Legacy grocery
stores that are seemingly stuck in the middle will simply fade away.
Wal-Mart’s supply chain advantage and
industry reach will provide advantages, but won’t be enough to hold off Aldi or
WinCo. The added points of fresh prepared food distribution in the retail
channel offered by Walgreens and Rite Aid will renew the local neighborhoods
focus and rekindle community sprit garnering share of stomach from all other
sectors.
William Gibson quote: “The future has already arrived; it’s
just not evenly distributed.” How many of you are prepared for 2010. If you have been
waiting to see what’s next? If so you might have just missed the bus.
Visit: www.FoodserviceSolutions.us
if your 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: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us
or call: 1-253-759-7869
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