Saturday, October 13, 2018

Beyond Restaurants Consumer Seeking Fresh Food Fast


Regular readers of this blog have read about several virtual restaurants of the past ten years some have failed, some struggle, some evolved into brick & mortar retail platforms.  All had one thing in common that was the desire to delivery fresh food fast for less according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.
With each ideation the virtual restaurant platform has evolved to the point that rather than one or two Johnson believes that we will be seeing several new companies opening a quarter in 2019.  In fact Johnson is calling 2019 the year that branded virtual restaurants will set themselves apart establishing to industry standards at the intersection of Price, Value, and Service.  
Once such company that Johnson thinks everyone should keep an eye on launched in 2017, is Kitchen United.  They are a state-of-the-art commercial kitchen facility designed primarily to meet the needs of restaurant operators looking to build off-premise business. Johnson insist that the restaurant sector business model must evolve or chain restaurant after chain restaurant will simply fade away.
O’ and by the way Kitchen United announced the closing of a $10 million series A funding round led by Google Ventures, a move that will accelerate planned growth for the self-described “virtual restaurant concept."  Johnson, insist that the it is at the intersection of technology, forward thinking leadership, and consumer migration that food sales success can be found moving forward.
The first Kitchen United facility now serves about seven restaurant concepts out of about 12,000-square feet. Going forward, Kitchen United locations will be bigger, designed to serve between 10 to 15 restaurant companies, depending on location.
“In addition to kitchen space, Kitchen United provides support services that allow restaurants to maximize efficiency, from refrigeration, storage and shared dishwashing to data that can help restaurant operators map demand, tailor labor and make the most of their menus.” according to Lisa Jennings of NRN. Is your company looking a customer ahead?  How are you going to sell more for less?
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


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