CPG Brands Expanding into Retail Outlets Blurring the Line

CPG products were once the gold star performer of the retail sector and US CPG brans were the gold standard.  But the times have changed; today many legacy CPG brands are no longer shelf stable. Rather consumers see them as stagnant, stogy, and old school.  Many retailers are replacing legacy CPG products with a new wave of grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat retailers that have caught the eye of the consumers as well as the consumer’s pocket book.

No longer do most Americans by shelf stable products to fill the pantry. Instead consumers are opting to buy more and more fresh food.  Millennials want to cook fresh food or buy fresh prepared food and eat grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food and are driving change in the retail food space according to Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru®. 

Many legacy CPG companies have seen sales slip away to private label retailers the ilk of Aldi, Lidl, and Amazon so fast that even the store shelfs that they do occupy are looking more like yesterday than today or tomorrow.  That once again creates a problem for many legacy food retailers that still focus more on slotting fees than customer trends.

But let’s not write off the legacy CPG brands too fast as they still have a spot in the hearts and minds of the consumer. Brand managers have stepped up and empower the magic of the brand elevating the product from shelf stable, stagnant, and stogy to revitalized customer relevance.  How? 

Simple they brought the brands to life and repackaged them into retail outlets that offer the product as a Ready-2-Eat product and according to Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru® Steven Johnson that is a good thing.

Here are three great examples of renewed customer relevance within the CPG space:

1.       Nestle found success with its Nestle Toll House Café

2.       Pepsi is expanding with its KOLA House

3.       Quaker is rebooting with Oatmeal Bowls via GrubHub and Seamless

4.       Kellogg’s opening a restaurant selling what else cereal bowls.

Simply put these brands are doing all of the right things.  That is not to say the team at Foodservice Solutions® believes that each with make it at as a free standing retail outlet.  No, but what the brands learn about their product and packaging it as fresh not shelf stable will drive change within the grocery retail space where our team believes they will find new life as a Ready-2-Eat product.

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