Grocerants ‘Better for You’ Big Play

Did you ever hear the old adage birds of a feather flock together?  Kimbal Musk, the brother of Tesla founder Elon Musk, and, founder of The Kitchen farm-to-table restaurant group and a director of Chipotle, said he’s cracked the code for a quick-service restaurant concept that will feature healthful soups, sandwiches and salads for under $5 each.

Well everyone is constantly talking about how smart Elon Musk is but we know that Kimbal is just as smart.  Kimbal like Hudson Riehle, SVP of the National Restaurant Association’s research and knowledge group understands that For full-service operations, the main drag on sales is something too large for them to right on their own. The issue is an erosion of the spending power of high-income families, whose spending disproportionately fuels that segment.  

Kimbal is doing something about it.  The Kitchenette will be the third healthy concept pioneered by Musk and business partner Hugo Matheson. In addition to locations of The Kitchen, the pair operates a sister concept called Next Door.  Musk will keep costs low in The Kitchenette by working closely with local farmers. Musk says that using the same meat and produce distributors for all three concepts will help slash prices for in-season items.

The Kitchenette is part of Musk’s restaurant philosophy “Community Through Food” and his efforts to establish what he calls a “real food culture.” Musk continued “In the past five years, we’ve moved toward eating in our cars, our cubicles, and in front of our TVs. It’s very isolating “The reality is that we connect through food, and we have the opportunity to do it three times a day.”

Musk hopes to launch more Kitchenette locations within Memphis and eventually take the concept nationwide. The grocerant niche filled with Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared better for you combined with attractive price points (under $5) will be successful according to our own Grocerant Guru®.

Since 1991 retail food consultancy Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche for more on Foodservice Solutions® or for a Grocerant Scorecard visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant, www.FoodserviceSolutions.us  Email: Steve@FoodserviceSoltuions.us