Zoës Kitchen Menu Expanding Customer Touchpoints

Regular readers of this blog know that 2018 was touted the year of the partnerships in retail foodservice by our own Grocerant Guru®.  Here once again is another example of a chain restaurant company doing all of the right things to drive incremental relevance with consumers as Zoës Kitchen partnered with American Airlines to sell its  signature sandwich The Grüben with sliced turkey, Manchego cheese, crunchy Mediterranean slaw and feta spread layered on marble wheat bread, served with a Zoës chocolate chip cookie.

When Zoës Kitchen and American Airlines have teamed up to introduce a new food-for-sale menu for customers seated in Main Cabin Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® noted “adding new points of relevant distribution creates more relevant customer touchpoints.”

Looking a customer ahead the new menu, designed in collaboration with Zoës head chef and Vice President of Culinary Innovation Antonio Iocchi, includes items unique to American as well as signature dishes found in Zoës restaurants, such as its signature hummus and The Grüben sandwich. The new items will be available for purchase on most domestic flights longer than three hours beginning December 1.

Janelle Anderson, Vice President of Global Marketing for American Airlines stated “Zoës mission to deliver goodness from the inside out and their ‘simple, tasty, fresh’ offerings made it an easy decision to partner with the fast casual, healthy restaurant group,” .. “Our customers have asked for lighter tasty food choices. This collaboration with the expert chefs at Zoës provides an innovative, fresh approach to onboard offerings.”

Kevin Miles, president and chief executive officer of Zoës Kitchen went on to say “Together with American, we are excited to elevate the inflight dining experience and deliver goodness to millions of customers by offering our chef-inspired menu items, in a fresh, new way,” “Our goal in our restaurants is to provide delicious, wholesome food, inspired by the flavors of the Mediterranean and for our guests to feel good and motivated to live life to the fullest after dining with us.” The new items launching December 1 include:

1.        Breakfast Sandwich: Turkey bacon, egg slices and tomato topped with baby arugula on a waffle brioche bun with Calabrian pepper aioli

2.        Continental Breakfast Box: Belgian waffle, hazelnut spread and fresh berries

3.        The Grüben: Zoës signature sandwich with sliced turkey, Manchego cheese, crunchy Mediterranean slaw and feta spread layered on marble wheat bread, served with a Zoës chocolate chip cookie  

4.        Chicken Wrap: Grilled chicken wrap with mozzarella, roasted tomatoes, arugula and artichokes, served with a Zoës chocolate chip cookie 

5.        Hummus Duo: Zoës signature hummus duo, including their classic flavor topped with Kalamata olives and basil pesto hummus, served with pita bread, cucumber and carrots

How are you looking a customer ahead? Throughout 2019, American and Zoës will continue to collaborate and introduce additional items in Main Cabin as well as domestic first class service. 

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

Grocery store App’s Integration of Fresh Food too Targets Restaurant Meals

Grocery stores have come a long way from stocking the pantry to curbside pick, delivery, and App’s that you can pick out your prepared meal or buy a meal kit and have it delivered to your car, your home, or your office.  According to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® grocery stores are now leveraging technology ‘App’s’ to answer the never ending question What’s for Dinner?

Today 64.7% of households do not know what’s for dinner at 4PM according to Foodservice Solutions® latest Grocerant ScoreCards.  According to a study from eMarketer, grocery app usage will grow by 50% this year, and 18 million Americans will order food this way.”  We most note that, brick-and-mortar grocery stores are not going away and this is in fact marketing tool being leveraged to garner back customers who have left for restaurants.

The eMarketer study found that one out of five adults will order food through a grocery app next year. “Shoppers are becoming more comfortable with ordering online in general, and grocery is a part of that,” said eMarketer senior analyst Patricia Orsini. In addition, the study shows that grocery app usage among Americans will grow in the future from 18 million in 2018 to 30.4 million in 2022.

Consumers love hand held food for immediate consumption but even more than that they love their smart phones which have turned into a hand held marketing dream platform. In general, mobile shopping is on the rise. For example, Forrester predicts that smartphones will affect more than $1 trillion in U.S. retail sales this year. Globally, mobile e-commerce sales reached $1.4 trillion in 2017 and are expected to increase to $3.5 trillion in 2021.

A Nielsen global survey showed 18% of shoppers used mobile coupons, 15% used mobile shopping lists and 14% used a mobile retail loyalty program. In addition, about two-thirds of shoppers are willing to use these products in the future.

As people become more comfortable with ordering food through an app, grocery stores are taking advantage of this. eMarketer defines a grocery app as one that allows you to order fresh food from a retailer on demand. So, chain restaurants are particularly vulnerable to the new fresh food options from grocery stores?  Is your brand prepared?

Invite Foodservice Solutions® to complete a Grocerant Program Assessment, Grocerant ScoreCard, or for product positioning or placement assistance, or call our Grocerant Guru®.  Since 1991 www.FoodserviceSolutions.us  of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche. Contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or 253-759-7869

Dunkin’ Continues to Expand Grab-N-Go Retail

Bold moves from food companies come is small incremental steps according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  A perfect example of a company evolving with consumers is Dunkin’ as it continues to evolve into a full-fledged beverage company that also sell donuts.

Consumers buy what they like and consumers continue to buy more beverages from Dunkin than donuts. According to Johnson success does leave clues and giving the consumer what they want and where they want it is a clue follow.

Dunkin’ has a new coffee choice served in a cool new way. Less than two years after launching its first bottled Iced Coffee beverages, Dunkin’ is giving the ready-to-drink category another jolt with the launch of new Shot in the Dark coffee espresso blend, the brand’s first coffee beverage served in a can.

Partnerships continue to matter at Dunkin as the new drink is manufactured and distributed by the Coca-Cola Company, Shot in the Dark combines the classic tastes of Dunkin’s signature coffee and espresso for a bold new way to keep recharged, refreshed and running on Dunkin’, any time, anywhere.

Served in a special slim can, Shot in the Dark delivers Dunkin’ ’ high-quality coffee with a touch of cream and sugar, combined with delicious espresso for a full-bodied, rich, smooth coffee espresso blend. Offered in three fan favorite flavors—Caramel, Mocha and Vanilla—each 8.1 ounce can of Shot in the Dark is 80 calories. Shot in the Dark can be found now in select retail locations, and its availability will continue to expand through 2019 at convenience and grocery stores across the United States.

Shot in the Dark is more than that it is a brand extension that will add incremental relevance to the Dunkin brand all the while extending the brands reach with another new set of customers in new points of distribution.  Where is your brand growing?  Where is your customer today?

Interested in learning how Foodservice Solutions 5P’s of Food Marketing can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization? Email us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or visit:  www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information.

The Granger of Grocerants

Consumers continue seeking solutions to the age old questions what’s for dinner.  Today the idea of going to the grocery store buying raw meat, fresh vegetables and cooking from scratch on a regular basis is limited to ‘special occasion dinning for 91.2% of all household according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®

In fact 83.7% of meals prepared at home for the dinner occasion have at least one grocerant niche fresh prepared Ready-2-Eat or Heat-N-Eat meal component according to Foodservice Solutions® recent Grocerant ScoreCards.

So just what kind of things are meal components? Here are some examples you will are be familiar with fried or rotisserie chicken, a baguette from the bakery, and self-serve soup or salad from a salad bar or prepared vegetables from a restaurant or grocery hot bar.

The number of retailers now selling a growing selection of to grocerant niche meal components continues to increase with companies the ilk of Amazon Go, Popeye’s Chicken, McDonalds, Maggiano’s, HEB, Kroger, and 7-Eleven. 

Retailers are consumers looking for ‘dinner solutions’ no longer look at traditional options exclusively for example going to KFC and getting a bucket of chicken.  They are not going exclusively to grocery stores either instead they mix and match meal components to fit the unique needs of their family according to Johnson.

Recently, PepsiCo Foodservice undertook research to find new ways to understand a guest’s door-to-door journey.   Pepsi found  four kinds of “time” or occasions that a majority of guests experience when they visit a restaurant. The four types of time

1.        Responsible time: Choosing a meal on a work day, where the minutes are limited.

2.        Personal time: Things are busy, but the meal is being enjoyed.

3.        Care time: A meal eaten over bonding time, even if it’s not fancy.

4.        Relished time: A meal for special occasions, such as anniversaries or birthdays.

Pepsi found that each mode of time has a different decision-driver. For example, responsible time is about logistics—how close the restaurant is and how quickly the consumer will get the food. For personal time, it’s about selection. In care time, brand matters and for relished time, the dining experience itself is more important than logistics.

Simply put time starve consumers are looking for a specific solution. Many times that solution is for one person, one day-part.  The question becomes can you envision your menu items filling that solution?  Where are you selling your food today?  Where else can you sell a meal or meal component?

Invite Foodservice Solutions® to complete a Grocerant Program Assessment, Grocerant ScoreCard, or for product positioning or placement assistance, or call our Grocerant Guru®.  Since 1991 www.FoodserviceSolutions.us  of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche. Contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or 253-759-7869

Restaurants, C-stores, and Grocery stores Think Fresh with Freight Farms

Consumers continue to be time starved, however today they are increasingly looking for fresh ‘better-for-you’ foods and all food retailers are looking to fill that need-set according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Some of you may not know that Freight Farms is a leading innovator of smart hydroponic software and containerized growing environments.  Freight Farms recently announced the addition of Grown by Freight Farms, an on-site vertical farming service, to its product line. Simply put they help you grow your own fresh food inside your restaurant, grocery store, or convenience stores.  Is your company looking for some new electricity to drive customer relevance, top line sales, and bottom line profits?

Now with Grown, Freight Farms will not only install its signature hydroponic farm—the Leafy Green Machine—on site, but staff a designated farmer to operate, monitor, and maintain the farm completely. What could say fresh better that a garden in your retail outlet that customers and see?

This is something you can add quickly because by eliminating the need to train staff for farming, Grown can immediately integrate with any foodservice operation, employer amenity package, or produce supply chain. Clients choose what to grow, and how that produce will be distributed within their organization. Ease of integration makes Grown ideal for corporations, universities, residential communities, hospitals, and other clients committed to food transparency and wellness.

Farming in a controlled environment means clients can depend on consistent costs and quality year-round, regardless of season. Leafy Green Machines can be installed mere steps from the plate, drastically reducing food-miles. They consume just five gallons of water per day or less, and require no major construction to deploy.

"Our mission with Grown is to provide a solution to institutions that see the immense value of local produce, and would rethink their sourcing methods if challenges like personnel and facilities management were reduced," says Brad McNamara, CEO and Co-Founder of Freight Farms.

The Grown program is already supplying B.GOOD, a Boston-based farm-to-table restaurant chain, with lettuce for its popular Cousin Oliver Burger. Meanwhile, 3D design software company Dassault Systèmes enjoys a thriving CSA program for employees at its Waltham, MA campus.

"Since Google installed their Leafy Green Machine in 2014, institutions all over the world have used them to promote involvement and education around nutrition, sustainability, and technology," says Jon Friedman, Freight Farms COO and Co-Founder. "Now, by removing the burden of managing those farms internally, we hope to reach more people than ever."

Freight Farms is currently accepting new Grown clients in New England, with plans to roll out nationwide in 2019.

Average Grown packages start at $5,000 per month, which includes custom crop scheduling, maintenance, supply replenishment, 24/7 farm monitoring, and all farming operations, such as seeding, transplanting, and harvesting. Add-ons range from marketing and branding services, to in-farm educational events and on-campus CSA programs.

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, www.Linkedin.com/in/grocerant/ or www.twitter.com/grocerant/

At Mrs. Fields Partnerships Drive Incremental Sales

New points of distribution drive incremental sales as regular readers of this blog know.  However finding the right partnerships to drive new electricity meaning top line growth and bottom line profits while building brand equity is hard for some food retailers according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

So, just what is your brands new electricity? According to Johnson, “Brand relevance is in part driven with innovation in new food products in combination with new avenues of distribution all of which are the platform for the new electricity.”  That is why this is such a great partnership according to the Grocerant Guru®.

Johnson stated “that in my minds-eye the new electricity must be very efficient for the supply and includes such things as fresh foods, developing brands, unique urban clothing, grocerant positioning, Fresh food messaging, autonomous delivery, cashier-less retail, plates, glasses, cash-less payments, digital hand held marketing.

Foodservice retailers to survive the next generation of retail must embrace the artificial intelligence revolution while simultaneously embracing fresh food that is portable, fresh, with differentiation that is familiar not different.  That will require brands to embrace new fresh food partnerships more now than ever before according to Johnson.

There are few things better than a warm Mrs. Fields cookie.  That cookie is twice as good when paired with a delicious cup of coffee, tea or cocoa. This September, more than 40 Mrs. Fields locations across the nation will implement a Keurig partnership that will allow consumers to enjoy their favorite K-Cup pods alongside their favorite Mrs. Fields treats now that’s fresh fast and flavorful.

Most participating locations will offer a variety of beverages including the following core flavors:

1.        Newman’s Own Organics Special Blend: 100 percent Arabica blend of medium-roasted Central American and darker-roasted Indonesian coffee beans deliver full-bodied flavor.

2.        .2. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Breakfast Blend Decaf: Light roast coffee that is bright, crisp, and clean.

3.        Swiss Miss Milk Chocolate Hot Cocoa: Rich and creamy cocoa made with real milk and premium cocoa.

4.        Bigelow English Breakfast Tea: Robust black tea that is meant to be enjoyed any time of day and is made from tender, hand-picked tea leaves from high elevation gardens.

Increasing customer relevance select locations will also celebrate the beginning of the fall season by offering a pumpkin spice beverage. While pricing will vary upon location, the cost per cup will range between $1.49 and $1.99 a serving.

Foodservice Solutions® specializes in outsourced food marketing and business development ideations. 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

Aldi Often Over Looked but Never Disappoints Dives into Delivery

Once again Aldi the fastest growing grocery chain that industry insiders, continue to discount elevates it game with delivery driving incremental customer relevance according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  Aldi’s new electricity is delivery.

Regular readers of this blog know that Aldi has close to 1,900 stores open in the United States and plans to build 600 more stores by 2022.  There is no doubt that that this ‘hard-discounter’ has disrupted the grocery store establishment with its unconventional private label, small footprint, fresh food format according to Johnson.

Now that Aldi is officially launching grocery delivery to 75 major markets across its entire 35-state footprint, including San Diego, New York, Miami, Minneapolis, and Raleigh, N.C., by Thanksgiving legacy food retailers will have to ‘up their game’ to compete.

Aldi has a new partnership with Instacart.  The service is launching after successful pilots in Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles and Chicago. Aldi customers in 5,000 ZIP codes in these markets will have access to such fresh groceries as organic produce, antibiotic-free meat and fresh seafood, all available for delivery within an hour.

Jason Hart, CEO of ALDI U.S stated "Aldi is a pioneer and a leader in creating a shopping experience that works with people's busy lives. Our partnership with Instacart and the expansion of our  ecommerce options are more ways we are meeting the growing needs of today's shopper, who wants high-quality food at unbeatable prices."

Shoppers can use the grocery ecommerce service by filling a virtual shopping cart at Instacart.com or through the Instacart app. Customers choose a delivery window – anywhere from one hour to one week later – and let Instacart's personal shoppers build and deliver the order.

Aldi began piloting delivery in the Atlanta, Dallas and Los Angeles areas last August. Following the "overwhelmingly positive" response to those pilots, Aldi and Instacart expanded with an additional pilot in the Chicago area.

So, just what is your brands new electricity? According to Johnson, “Brand relevance is in part driven with innovation in new food products in combination with new avenues of distribution all of which are the platform for the new electricity.”  That is why this is such a great partnership according to the Grocerant Guru®.

Johnson stated “that in my minds-eye the new electricity must be very efficient for the supply and includes such things as fresh foods, developing brands, unique urban clothing, grocerant positioning, Fresh food messaging, autonomous delivery, cashier-less retail, plates, glasses, cash-less payments, digital hand held marketing.

Foodservice retailers to survive the next generation of retail must embrace the artificial intelligence revolution while simultaneously embracing fresh food that is portable, fresh, with differentiation that is familiar not different.  That will require brands to embrace new fresh food partnerships more now than ever before according to Johnson.

Are you looking for a new partnership to drive sales? Do your food marketing ideations look more like yesterday than tomorrow? Interested in learning how www.FoodserviceSolutions.us can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization?  Email us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or visit:  www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information.

Buffalo Wild Wings Refocus with Outside Eyes for Inside Results

Success does leave clues and Buffalo Wild Wings recently did what restaurant chains did all the time back in 1970’s to 1980’s they hired leaders from successful retail CPG brands to lead the company to the next level.  Back in the day restaurants were known as ‘mom & pop organizations’ and ‘funky’ companies that were not very professional according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Once again the restaurant sector while not ‘funky’ is in a funk that requires disciplined outside-eyes to drive inside results elevating chain restaurants out of the ‘self-imposed brand protectionism’ that has stifled customer count growth for nearly 10 years.

So when Inspire Brands named Lyle Tick president of Buffalo Wild Wings, Johnson knew that the undercurrent of grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food was helping a sector get back to basics focusing on the customers first.

Tick was most recently managing director for the beauty brands business of Walgreens Boots Alliance in the Americas. Before working for Walgreens, Tick was senior global category director for Bacardi, based in London, and also the rum producer’s president of marketing for North America, based in Miami. He also has held various positions at marketing and advertising agencies, including J. Walter Thompson, Gotham, McGarryBowen and DDB, according to a press release by Inspire Brands.

Tick’s appointment comes on the heels of the appointment in late August of former hotel executive Seth Freeman as the chain’s chief marketing officer. To many chain restaurants have been doing what they have always done and continue to do it the same way.  Well, regular readers of this blog know that does not work forever! 

The line between retail channels continues to get thinner and thinner.  Food retail brands that insist on a policy of ‘brand protectionism’ will continue to capitulate market share, store numbers will shrink, and average unit volume will continue to slide according to Johnson. Is it time you invite in some Outside-Eyes?

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, www.Linkedin.com/in/grocerant/ or www.twitter.com/grocerant/

Peapod Beef’s Up

Differentiation does not mean different when it comes to food retail it means familiar but with a twist according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  One online food grocery delivery company stepped up to the plate creating a point of differentiation from itself any Amazon Fresh, Walmart /Jet.com, and all others by leveraging beef as its new electricity  to garner incremental customers with a qualitative point of differentiation.

That company is Peapod who entered an exclusive distribution partnership with meat purveyor Meats by Linz. The deal marks the first time Meats by Linz products will be available at grocery retail, with Peapod serving as the only distribution channel for direct-to-consumer purchase. The Grocerant Guru® has no beef with that. OK, so much for the pun.  This is great positioning that is all there is to it according to Johnson.

Meats by Linz  is a third-generation family-owned company, that provides high-quality meat for high-end steak houses throughout the Midwest, including Maple and Ash Restaurant, Ditka's Restaurant Chicago and Michael Jordan's Steak House.

Spencer Baird, SVP of merchandising for Peapod stated "Peapod is continuously looking to add new sources of high-quality products to our lineup, and that is what initially brought us to Meats by Linz," …"As another Chicago-based company, we saw the immense potential not only to distribute their products, but also collaborate in a full partnership that gives the Peapod customer a truly unique experience delivered right to their door."

In addition to the partnership, Peapod has in fact introduced a Virtual Butcher Shop, offering a variety of resources to connect its online grocery shoppers to its meat products including an Ask the Butcher Q&A section and a Dry Aged Steak Room, where shoppers can view the aging process in real time; once again adding a qualitative point of differentiation according to Johnson.

Meats by Linz owner Fred Linz stated "Consumers hear a lot about 'dry aged steak,' but not a lot of shoppers actually know what that means," .. "This partnership with Peapod gives us a way to not only share our amazing products with consumers, but also provide an educational component that will help them purchase items best suited for any occasion"; which is a win for Peapod, a win for Meats by Linz and a win for the consumers according to Johnson.

So, just what is your brands new electricity? According to Johnson, “Brand relevance is in part driven with innovation in new food products in combination with new avenues of distribution all of which are the platform for the new electricity.”  That is why this is such a great partnership according to the Grocerant Guru®.

Johnson stated “that in my minds-eye the new electricity must be very efficient for the supply and includes such things as fresh foods, developing brands, unique urban clothing, grocerant positioning, Fresh food messaging, autonomous delivery, cashier-less retail, plates, glasses, cash-less payments, digital hand held marketing.

Foodservice retailers to survive the next generation of retail must embrace the artificial intelligence revolution while simultaneously embracing fresh food that is portable, fresh, with differentiation that is familiar not different.  That will require brands to embrace new fresh food partnerships more now than ever before according to Johnson.

Are you looking for a new partnership to drive sales? Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing ideations look more like yesterday than tomorrow? Interested in learning how www.FoodserviceSolutions.us can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization?  Email us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or visit:  www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information.