Why Restaurants Worry Customers Won’t Return from C-stores

Grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food continues to attract customers at Conveniences stores that once went to fast casual restaurants and casual dining restaurants according to Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru® Steven Johnson. 

Johnson continued “as regular readers of this blog know Wawa a leading C-store retailer calls itself a ‘fast casual restaurant To-Go”  In a new study for Acosta called “The Why? Behind the Dine” found:

1.       Fifty-two percent of consumers have purchased a prepared or made-to-order meal at a convenience store in the past month, 

2.       Over the past three months, 22% of consumers ate prepared foods at home purchased at a c-store

3.       14% ate prepared foods in the dining area of a convenience store.

The lines between restaurants Convenience stores, retail grocery deli channels grow ever thinner and the battle for share of stomach continues to heat up one thing is very clear.  Consumers are faced with more food shopping choices than ever before and all retailers had better up-there game for the competition will only get tougher as the grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat food space continues to boom according to the team at Foodservice Solutions®.

Let’s look at some additional data from Acosta study, over the past three months:

• 57% of consumers ate prepared foods at home from a grocery store.
• 25% of consumers ate prepared foods in the grocery store dining area.
• 12% of consumers ordered groceries online for pickup at the store.

The Worry part: the younger the consumer, the more willing they are to purchase food from a grocer.

• 64% of millennial diners (18-34) ate grocery prepared food.
• 60% of Gen X diners (35-50) ate grocery prepared food.
• 51% of baby-boomer diners ate grocery prepared food.

According to the report, diners are increasingly using digital and social tools, as well as loyalty cards, to navigate their dining decisions.

• Four in 10 diners are using the Internet to find the best restaurant deals.
• Six in 10 millennials and four in 10 Gen X diners agreed that they often read restaurant menus online before going out to eat.
• 15% of U.S. diners use social networking regularly for restaurant dining.

According to the report, younger diners, those with children at home and diners with a household income of $45,000 or more use convenient meal solutions more frequently. Over the past three months, the top five methods of food consumption were:

• Eating a meal at home (95%)
• Eating a restaurant meal (85%)
• Getting carry-out (63%)
• Using a drive-thru (63%)
• Eating grocery-prepared foods (57%)

As Foodservice Solutions® has reported since 1991, consumers have been exposed to a plethora of flavors and have not the time to master the skill of cooking each.  The rapidly growing grocerant trend is empowering the consumer to establish new customs and traditions in eating better, more flavorful food from new non-traditional locations.  

Simply put the Grocerant niche is about convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization and Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru® has been driving success within the Grocerant niche longer than any other company in the world.  Visit: www.FoodserviceSolutions.us or Email: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us for ideations on how your brand or product can find success within the grocerant niche.