Think Amazon & Whole Foods as Food + Price will Drive Customer Adoption

Success does leave clues and as traditional chain grocery stores struggle to keep stores open and chain restaurants continue to capitulate customer counts and top line sales and bottom line profits to the convenience store sector it appears that the grocery store sector is picking up some of the C-store success clues according to our Grocerant Guru®.

Yes, regular readers of this blog know that Steven Johnson Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru® coined the term "grocerant" back in 1996 and trademarked it. The term grocerant refers to any fresh prepared food item sold in any channel for takeout, to-go, delivery, or sold in a drive thru.  Grocerant food is about Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food according to Johnson.  Simply put grocerant food at non-traditional fresh food outlets is driving customer adoption. 

Foodservice industry icon Bonnie Riggs of The NPD Group recently pointed out that grocery stores selling grocerant niche fresh food “generated 2.4 billion visits and $10 billion in sales in 2016 by promoting restaurant-quality freshly prepared foods. Now that’s a lot of grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat to eat fresh prepared food.

Riggs explained that grocerant offering “represent an extension of what's known in the supermarket trade as the service deli, those staffed counters in many upscale stores that have long offered salads, fresh bakery items and rotisserie chickens. Grocerants, however, take these delis to the next level with niceties that can include sit-down service with waiters, full bars and even sushi chefs.”

Consumers are not confused by the offering of restaurant quality offerings at C-stores, Club stores, furniture stores, or drug stores but retailers seem bewildered at all of the new avenues of fresh food distribution and must reevaluate just who is the competition.

Riggs continued “more than 40% of Americans buy freshly prepared foods from grocery stores. Besides being fast, it can be cheaper than traditional takeout. A grocerant meal costs $4.22 on average, according to NPD, compared to $7.96 at a fast-casual restaurant, a 53% difference.”

The Price Value Service equilibrium in retail foodservice has changed according to the team at Tacoma, WA Foodservice Solutions®.  Restaurants, Grocery stores, furniture stores, club stores, drug stores and dollar stores are all selling grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared meal components?

Since 1996 the continued expansion of the grocerant niche has driven change within the retail foodservice industry including increasing awareness of fresh food, food safety, food packaging, most important it met consumer demand and filled a void that traditional restaurants, grocery stores and other retailers did not. Amazon and Whole Foods will elevate the competitive undercurrents within retail foodservice today.  Does your brand look more like yesterday than tomorrow?

www.FoodserviceSolutions.us  is the global leader in grocerant niche business development.  We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities.  Has your company had a Grocerant ScoreCard completed?  Want one?  Call 253-759-7869 Email: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us