Piada Italian Street Food Testing Supplier Partnership to Drive Sales

Limited time offers are an excellent way for companies to experiment with new menu items, new food manufactures, new suppliers and other retailers as new points of distribution all in order to drive new electricity within the brand while edifying customer touchpoints according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

 Piada Italian Street Food for regular readers of this blog that may not know them is a fast casual Italian street food restaurant best known for its innovative menu of piadas, pastas and salads. In partnership with Barilla, Piada will serve Barilla Spaghetti Rigati in all locations nationwide and at select breweries for a pasta eating contest on October 17. This is a great way to test a relationship within foodservice today as your brand is searching for the new electricity to help drive the brand forward 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.”

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.

This is the first time since its inception in 2010, Piada will test a new pasta, which was first rolled for Guest feedback at Beavercreek, Ohio, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio and Memorial Location in Houston, Texas before deciding to test it nationwide on National Pasta Day.

Piada’s culinary team continues to break new ground, redefining what it means to be fast casual Italian by elevating Piada’s menu with new ingredients and forward-thinking entrees. Director of Culinary and Head Chef Matt Harding spent six months sampling various kinds of pasta before deciding to test this new Barilla Spaghetti Rigati in restaurants.

“Above all, we’re committed to culinary-driven food and the Guest experience,” says Matt Harding. “We relentlessly tested pasta to perfectly complement our fresh ingredients and bold flavors. Kitchen testing showed this pasta paired better with our sauces and better holds temperature for optimal Guest experience.” This one-day nationwide test will help Piada determine if it will permanently replace its original angel hair with the new spaghetti rigati.

Piada will also partner with breweries in Columbus, Ohio, Dallas, Minneapolis and Pittsburgh on Oct. 17 to serve the new pasta in pasta eating competitions. These competitions will be held at the following breweries: Columbus, Ohio: ​Pretentious Barrel House, Dallas (Lewisville): ​TKO Libations,Minneapolis: ​HeadFlyer Brewing, and Pittsburgh: ​Wigle Whiskey.

Five people will be selected to participate at each competition, and the first 75 people to arrive at each brewery will receive free pasta. The winner of each pasta eating contest with receive Piada for a year. Additional prizes for all contestants include gift cards and Piada swag.

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.