Foodservice Quest for Fresh Drives Success

The retail foodservice landscape has become a hot bed for start-ups, evolving retail chains, stalled legacy grocers, and legacy chain restaurants all seemingly clogging the foodservice landscape according to Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru® Steven Johnson as regular readers of this blog know. 

In a world that is increasingly flat new equals fresh, fast, and fabulous, evolving equals frail, frighten, forward, and stalled equals delay, divert, distract, and freefall.  With an increase in the popularity of discounters in every foodservice channel we are witnessing massive shifts by consumers into new non-traditional points of fresh food distribution according to Johnson.

Consumer demand for grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared meal components, convenience, and value have stifled the retail foodservice business model for Restaurants, Convenience Stores, Grocery Stores, but not for Drug Stores, Liquor Stores, Furniture stores, and Clothing retailers.

The quest for fresh has crimped the CPG industry.  According to IRI the CPG industry has experienced more changes in the past five years than over the previous 50 and this trend is expected to endure in the years to come. Are you a retailer holding on to the past? Are you stocking shelve with yesterday’s brands that are collecting dust? Are you evolving within the grocerant fresh? If not you may want too.

Fresh is ‘Better-for-You”: In the minds-eye of the consumer fresh is better that will continue to drive growth in fresh food. Grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat meal components.  

Consumers are Dynamic not Static:  When the customer moves retailer must move.  Don’t allow your branding, your food products, your menu items, to look more like yesterday than tomorrow.

Fresh means Customization Personalization:  Empower customer to buy into your brand. No dust grows on mix and match meal components that customized and personalized. 

Chain Decentralization: Local is fresh. Fresh equals ‘Better-for-You”.  Consumers have refine their definition of local, new business models are being created that challenge established ones and are forming a new landscape of competition. Decentralize or die.

The foodservice landscape has become a hot bed for start-ups, evolving retail chains, stalled legacy grocers, and legacy chain restaurants all clogging the foodservice landscape.  Remember that Outside-Eyes can drive top line sales and bottom line profits.   Are you looking a customer ahead? Are you garnering new customers or capitulating YOY customer counts?

Foodservice Solutions® specializes in outsourced business development. We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities or a new menu product segment and brand and menu integration strategy.  Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma WA is the global leader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant