Once There Was Home-Meal Replacement But Today Hello Grocerant

Grocerants niche success is creating a generational shift on how and where consumers buy fresh Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food. At the intersection of the consumer, technology and retail food sales we find the grocerant niche creating and expanding points of quality fresh food distribution.  

Some legacy restaurant chains and legacy grocery stores are wondering just where this new seemingly stealth competition came from and just who is after their share of stomach?  Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru™, Steven Johnson stated that “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 fresh prepared 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. This not stealth competition when everyone is getting in on the act it is about Convenient Meal Participation, Differentiation, Individualization / Family Meal Customization according to Johnson.

Today, 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.  It is at the intersection of the consumer, technology and Foodservice Solutions® 5 P’s of Food Marketing: Product, Packaging, Placement, Portability, and Price that retail food sales competition is expanding. 

Looking back, during the late HMR 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 food merchant.  Eatzi’s remains consumer interactive, participatory with visceral authenticity.  With Eatzi’s the grocerant niche began. 

The Grocerant niche focus is on fresh food fast according to the Grocerant Guru™ with quality food, portioned for 1, 2, or more?  Mix & Match meal components have become a mainstay within the Grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food niche.  In fact Mix & Match bundling is now the platform for personalization, customization and family meal cohesion.  

Legacy Home Meal Replacement programs for the most parts have 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, targeting restaurant customers. 

The Grocerant niche is profitable and expanding at an ever increasing pace driving growth in new non-traditional points of fresh food distribution.  Without doubt the 152,000+ C-store’s sector are stealth competitors no more.  Restaurateurs need to pay particular attention to the expanding points of quality food competition from C-stores, retail drugstores, and grocery stores. 

Visit: www.FoodserviceSolutions.us  if you are 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 or you can learn more at Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant