Grocery Service Deli Food Sales Threaten Restaurant Sector Sales

Dinner for less; less money, less cooking time, less clean-up time are the undercurrents driving grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food sales at supermarkets and grocery stores today according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  

Boy, have times changed, foodservice at retail looks different across the grocery landscape as more and more fresh prepared food items continue to enter the grocery store. While the cry, ‘What’s for Dinner’ may be the same the lines between grocery and restaurant blur in a number of ways, from deli cases with prepared foods to hot food bars and sit-down restaurants with beer and wine all touting convenience.

Restaurant sector menu prices were up 2.6% in 2018, while wholesale food prices were down 0.01% and consumers seeking relief from higher prices and noticed that grocery store service deli food cost less, they have tried it and report that most of it today is ‘restaurant’ quality according to Johnson. 

In 2019, 90 percent of restaurant guests research a restaurant online before dining at the restaurant, checking menu options, pricing, and seating.  If your restaurant is not competitive in menu price, menu product mix, or have a portability component you could be losing sales to a grocery store.

More and more we are seeing grocers adding cafe-like seating areas, a platform for consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization. That is to say; of meals at made-to-order stations with all food prepared fresh for either eat-in or take-out. “

If you’re a restaurant, does your concept look more like yesterday than tomorrow? Consumers are dynamic not static you brand must be as well.  Looking different does not mean different its meal familiar but with a twist.  Should you be offering grocerant niche fresh food to drive incremental sales? Are you prepared to spur growth and meet consumer needs and demands?

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.