7 Eleven Looking A Customer Ahead Looks a Lot Like a Restaurant

While traditional grocery stores continue to capitulate market share, convenience stores the ilk of 7-Eleven continue to growth units, same store sales, and bottom line profits according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

So, how do they do that?  Simple, convenience stores are looking like, acting more like, and following success-steps left by chain restaurants and according to Johnson 7-Eleven is doing better at that  than most. Copycat menus, marketing, and mix and match meal offering of grocerant niche fresh prepared food has been the key driver of customer adoption for the c-store sector. Now, 7-Eleven is following the lead of Dominos offering delivery in public parks, ball fields, and gather spots all with a smartphone app.

7-Eleven’s new 7NOW delivery smartphone app users to order their favorite products and get it delivered to anywhere they are.  Copy-cat marketing works, and in just over a year 7-Eleven has copied Dominos delivery which will help drive incremental sales per unit where it is offered according to Johnson.

Here's how it works:

·         To order delivery to a 7NOW Pin, shoppers simply open the app, which will auto locate their current location or show the nearest 7NOW Pin on the app's interactive map.

·         Each 7NOW Pin corresponds to a public place or space where users can receive the delivery.

·         A courier will pick up the order from the nearest participating store and deliver it to the selected 7NOW Pin location or specified address in 30 minutes or less on most occasions.

Success does leave clues.  7-Eleven excels a picking up the right clues and edifying their system with them.  7-Eleven understand that consumers are dynamic.  Your customers are dynamic, they are on the move, are your offering them what they want, where they want it? Are you looking a customer ahead?

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?  

Longo Brothers Grocerant Footprint Delights Foodies

Once again garnering new customers comes to those who embrace grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food that can be mixed and matched into a perfect meal and that’s exactly what Longo Brothers Fruit Market is doing according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Success comes when you give consumer what they want well Longo Brothers Fruit Market began testing a new in-store program to make it easier for customers to assemble all of the components for a meal.  Under the pilot, launched Monday at Longo’s Maple Leaf Square store in Toronto, a centrally located kiosk merchandises the fresh ingredients needed for a meal. Shoppers can hand-select their produce, meats, starches and garnishes to create a specific meal or follow a certain recipe.

Simply put grocerant niche fresh food is a template for success and Longo’s is another retailer edifying its relationship with the consumers enabling ‘Meal sizing’ is adjustable so customers can buy ingredients to feed a single person or a dinner party of 10 people, according to Vaughan, Ontario-based Longo’s. Recipes and step-by-step cooking guides are available in-store and online.

Rosanne Longo, consumer spokesperson and brand ambassador at Longo’s, stated "As the grocery store model continues to evolve, we must focus on developing programs that are both customer-centric and designed for the future of retail," …"Through this program, we hope to create greater value for our customers that will keep them returning to their favorite Longo's location."

Customization and personalization are hallmarks of the grocerant niche and Longo’s noted that the program offers a more personalized shopping experience that reflects the needs of today’s on-the-go consumers. Plans call for the retailer to expand the concept to all of its 33 stores in Ontario by the spring of 2020.

Priced right Longo’s stores also offer a range of chef-made meal options through a department called The Kitchen. Customers can choose from a rotating selection of family weeknight dinners; family-size items or party trays; heat-and-eat entrees and sides; $6, $8 and $10 individual meals; and lunch sandwiches and salads.

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

Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Not Down Not Out

The restaurant industry is not brain surgery, it is however filled with consumers that are dynamic not static, and investors that more often than not are impatient, ill informed, inflexible according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Once again, the C-suite at Red Robin Gourmet Burgers has been revolving as regular readers know.  There is little doubt in the minds-eye of Johnson that Red Robin is one of the few chain restaurants that has been doing many things right.  Here is one additional example. Red Robin has been quietly testing the sale of pizzas from Donatos Pizza in selected units as a way of bolstering off-premise sales.

The pies are also available for dine-in service, adding another family favorite to Red Robin’s burgers-heavy menu. Mix and match meal bundling is a hallmark attribute drive growth within the grocerant niche both Donatos Pizza and Red Robin understand that according to Johnson. 

Once again there is no blurring of brands in the minds-eye of the consumers only in the minds-eye of dinosaur brand food marketers who believe in brand protectionism over customer relevance.  Most want their stores/outlets to look more like 1990 than today.  Johnson says they are comfortable doing with they have always done and want to continue to do it the same way.  They seem to forget that consumer is dynamic not static. 

Consider that at Donato’s, a collaboration could be a way of expanding its geographic range without building restaurants. The 170-unit chain operates in nine states, with a concentration in the Midwest. Red Robin, with about 572 stores, is a national brand. See how easy success could be if your look outside your box.

Consider that Red Robin offers delivery through arrangements with third-party services and has experimented with self-delivery in a handful of stores it makes a lot of sense leveraging Donato’s expert knowledge in delivery.  Now, is any of this brain surgery? NO   Is your brand looking for some new electricity?

Are you looking for a new partnership to drive sales? Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing tactics look more like yesterday that tomorrow?  Visit www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information or contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us Remember success does leave clues and we just may have the clue you need to propel your continued success.

Time Starved Consumers want Grocerant niche Fresh Prepared Food

Success does leave clues and Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® continues to find that research firm after research firm continues to follow his lead edifying how, why, and when consumers migrate from legacy channels of fresh food distribution into or add grocerant food to their line-up customer follow.

Most recently Beth Brickel, senior research director on the Insights and Innovation Team at EnsembleIQ edified Johnson’s findings with a new study that found “while 42 percent of shoppers prioritize "quick and easy" when the goal is to satisfy hunger, other factors have more influence than simply convenience; 31 percent prioritize quality and 25 percent prioritize selection and variety.

While Foodservice Solutions® recent Grocerant Scorecards continue to find the top two reasons to purchase grocerant niche prepared meals are 76.2% of consumers are time starved, 69.3 % lack the cooking skill-set to prepared flavor profiled meal.

Here are some of Brickel’s study's other key takeaways that you might find interesting they include:

Increasing satisfaction with heavy c-store shoppers must remain a focus. And while beverages and snacks should not be ignored, meal occasions are most at risk for the c-store shopper.

A majority of all shoppers consider themselves health-conscious. But what does that really mean? The No. 1 indicator of "healthy" in their eyes is freshness.

Think household. Nearly half of shoppers' purchase decisions (49 percent) are influenced by a partner, while 41 percent are influenced by children.

Influence on where to purchase is led by word-of-mouth. Digital resources are not far behind, particularly for millennials.

Most frictionless services, although underrepresented across convenience, perform better elsewhere than at grocery or fast food. Frictionless services can include mobile ordering, delivery services and more.

Concerns about food freshness and quality are the top reasons preventing grocery and fast-food shoppers from purchasing at c-stores. Their perceptions of freshness are affected by store and merchandising cues that go beyond the actual food, such as store cleanliness and an uncluttered interior.

Both grocery and fast-food shoppers would be motivated by a selection that offers more better-for-you options. Increasing this type of offering could prompt higher purchase frequency.

Better variety is the most requested change by c-store shoppers. Nearly two-thirds of study participants (32 percent) listed selection/variety as their response to an open-ended question on what they'd like to change about c-stores. 

Looking for success clues of your own? Foodservice Solutions® specializes in outsourced food marketing and business development ideations. We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities, technology, or a new menu product segment.  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

Will Food Delivery Drive Ikea into being the world’s 5th largest food Chain

Ikea the Swedish giant is reportedly testing delivery of its menu in Paris once again elevating Ikea’s private label grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared directly where consumer want it.  Regular readers of this blog know about the piles of Ikea’s meatballs, cinnamon rolls, and herring that hungry shoppers grab in Ikeas around the globe really add up—so much so that Ikea claims to be the world’s sixth largest food chain.

Recenlty the Spanish publication El Confidencial reported that Ikea is thinking about expanding its food footprint even further into home deliveries, the company confirmed to Co.Design that it is current testing the service in Paris.

Ikea’s food delivery trial includes delivery of its Swedish foods—which include salads, salmon, beets, and cabbage—and which are distributed out of its two-story, 58,000-square-foot urban store located centrally in the city. If the pilot is successful, Ikea may bring the idea to Spain and other European markets in the future.

When asked if Ikea is not delivering hot, ready-to-eat meals, today.  However, our Grocerant Guru® believes that will inf-act happen within the next near in urban settings.  Elevating affordable family meals that are fresh, fast and affordable to new heights.  

Ikea continues building more small stores in urban stores expanding it reach for both lunch and dinner. It’s investing in a better app and website. And it continues to hone its food program, eyeing how its meat-based menu can be more sustainable into the future. The allure of an anachronistically cheap bite creates a powerful halo effect when you’ve just spent hundreds to thousands of dollars on items for your home.

According to Johnson, Chain restaurants, grocery stores, and conveniences stores all seeking to sell food for dinner will have to rethink their price, value, service equilibrium. Want to know how Ikea became the 6^th largest food retailer in the world?  Simple one plate of meatballs at a time.

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

Grocer’s struggle so Entering the C-Store Sector is the Rage

Grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh food continues to be the fuel that is driving consumers into new avenues of distribution, new meal choices, a new fast fresh food service options according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

The undercurrents of consumer shopping behavior have driven Australia’s two largest grocery store groups Coles and Woolworths to move into the convenience sector, taking on smaller corner stores in capital cities around the country.

According to local media reports, “the trigger has been the increase in city-based population and the conversion of office blocks to apartments where space is not available for traditional supermarkets.

In Sydney, for example, it has been reported that Woolworths is trying to find sites of 200-400 square metres. This format would see the smaller format stores in direct competition with convenience businesses 7-Eleven and City Convenience. Woolworths confirmed to Fairfax Media that it had a small number of smaller format supermarkets.

The initial branding for Woolworths’ corner store push is “Woolworths Small Format” and it will start in Sydney and Melbourne. The stores will offer a limited range of products, and will be feeder stores to the medium-line Woolies Metro stores, such as the one in Melbourne’s Southern Cross Station.

It has been reported that Coles is also looking at a business model that would allow it to offer smaller format supermarkets.

Australia’s largest convenience store operator 7-Eleven recently announced the opening of its 600th store at Gumdale in Queensland, continuing what it said was “strong, sustainable growth”.

7-Eleven CEO Warren Wilmot said “this milestone for 7-Eleven comes at an exciting time, only weeks before the Company’s first store opens in Western Australia, our first new market entry in more than 30 years.” The first Western Australia store at 100 High Street in Fremantle is scheduled to open its doors on 30 October 2014.

7-Eleven is the largest convenience retailer in Australia. The company is privately owned by the Withers and Barlow families.  The move by Coles and Woolworths into the convenience sector comes amid increasing concerns about the market power of the two major supermarket groups. However, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) chairman Rod Sims told Fairfax Media the regulator did not and should not have the power to push the supermarkets to divest assets.

Looking for success clues of your own? Foodservice Solutions® specializes in outsourced food marketing and business development ideations. We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities, technology, or a new menu product segment.  Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma WA is the global leader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com

Summer is Hot and Beverages are Cool

It may not be hot where you are today but summer is here and that means all of us will be cooling down with a cold beverage this summer.  Isabelle Gustafson published an article on stating that “people shouldn’t have to sacrifice healthy, fresh food choices for convenience and incorporates clean beverage offerings into its elevated convenience market.

Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® agrees and says consumers are looking for fresh prepared grocerant beverages that are ‘better-for-you’. Here are the summer beverage trends from the article:

1. Non-GMO 

With organic beverage consumption anticipated to reach nearly $1.7 billion in sales by 2020, it’s no surprise that we’ve seen heightened demand for non-GMO and organically sweetened beverage options. Carbonated soft drinks as a category has been trending down for years, and as consumers raise the bar on what they put into their bodies, beverage providers will need to accommodate or face being left behind. We’ve seen great success with our natural fountain beverage alternatives — made with cane sugar, natural colors and natural flavors — and as summer months bring beach goers and road trippers in for quick and refreshing drinks, we anticipate this program to thrive.

 2. Kombucha vs. Soda 

As consumers lean in to label reading and ingredient knowledge, we’ve seen an increase in demand for functional beverage choices that offer a benefit to our guests, such as kombucha on tap with probiotics and specialty smoothie mix-ins for added protein, fiber and potassium benefits. Long gone are the days of empty calories — since launching earlier this year, our market has sold twice as many servings of tapped kombucha than bottled Coke — proving that this summers consumer is truly looking to get more bang for their buck.

3. Smoothies 

Light, refreshing and customizable, smoothies will prove to be a go-to beverage for consumers of all ages this summer. As natural food trends continue to thrive, more and more consumers are recognizing smoothies as a quick and convenient way to fit an extra serving of fruits into each day — rather than cooling off with traditional frozen beverages packed with sugar. Smoothies have consistently remained our most popular cold beverage offering – with the energizing Awake smoothie outselling traditional canned Red Bull — and with warm weather finally upon us, we anticipate this offering’s popularity to grow.

4. Fresh Flavor

With more options on the market today than ever before, the average consumer is more adventurous than past demographics and is always looking to try new things. Summertime is all about spontaneity, and as consumers seek out flavors they’re less familiar with, limited-edition and specialty products — such as unique natural soda, kombucha and juice offerings in flavors such as Cucumber, Sarsparilla, Strawberry Sage and Mandarin Cardamom — will prove to be successful.  So what do you think?

For international corporate presentations, educational forums, or keynotes contact: Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions.  His extensive experience as a multi-unit restaurant operator, consultant, brand / product positioning expert and public speaking will leave success clues for all. For more information visit www.GrocerantGuru.com , www.FoodserviceSolutions.us or call 1-253-759-7869

The Grocery Store Conundrum Remodel Stores or Online Sales

If you were to read the grocery store trade magazines you would think grocery stores were booming with growth option online and new store formats.  The fact is today there is are now 50% fewer legacy grocery stores in the US than there are today.

Why, the old format stores filled with products on the shelves because manufactures paid ‘slotting fees’ to get them on the shelfs did not work out for them or the category managers that boasted how many of everything they sold. What those category managers did not do is tell you where the grocery shoppers went as they reduced visits, bought less when they were in the store, simply left.

In new research from the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) shows; regular food shoppers rate online as doing at least an equal job to supermarkets in 11 of 18 performance areas, ranging from product freshness to value to customer service.  Wow, that means customer migration to new non-traditional food outlets most likely will continue to grow.

“Among all regular food shoppers, brick-and-mortar supermarkets continue to enjoy a clear edge over online grocery retail in perceived performance on key evaluation criteria, especially in providing fresher produce (a top store-selection driver) and better customer service,” Here is my point customer migration from legacy grocery stores continues.  Here is why.  The FMI study found

1.       “Sixty-nine percent of regular food shoppers said supermarkets do a better job than online in freshness of perishables,

2.       29% who said online does at least an equal job in this area.

3.       Physical grocery stores also were deemed as outperforming online in easy returns (64% vs. 30%);

4.       quick access to customer service (58% vs. 37%);

5.        helpful customer service (56% vs. 38%);

6.       ability to save through sales, discounts and coupons (53% vs. 45%);

7.       affordable everyday prices (50% vs. 46%);

8.       availability of loyalty/rewards programs (47% vs. 46%).

Rather than looking at ‘share of stomach’ the FMI study looked only at grocery store customers.  New avenues of distribution for fresh food continue to grow.  Smaller, fresher food, faster service, and in many times food mix and matched in a meal for one, or two people of which included 65% of US Households.

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

Battle for Share of Stomach

Briggo Coffee with a Robot not a Barista

Regular readers of this blog have heard of Briggo’s Robot barista but have any of you considered the undercurrents of coffee sector change that Briggo has in trial?  If successful Briggo will garner customer migration from other retail brands with coffee they can sell for LESS according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

While travelers and employees of San Francisco International Airport will soon have their coffees prepared and served by a robotic barista. The next sept could be in your office lobby, at your local YMCA, in the lobby of your bank, doctor’s office, dormitory, and hospital.

Consider that Briggo’s robotic Coffee Haus can operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  That my friends is why Briggo could be the next breakout grocerant niche Ready-2-Drink fresh prepared food company.

Loaded with technology that enables ordering ahead from the Briggo mobile app or on the Coffee Haus touchscreens, customers can completely customize their flavored latte, cappuccino, or several other gourmet coffee and tea drinks. Using the precision and efficiency of Briggo's robotic technology, drinks are crafted within minutes from custom whole-bean blends, fresh dairy, and gourmet syrups at a rate of up to 100 cups per hour.  How much do you spend on labor to serve 100 cups of coffee? Are you looking a customer ahead? 

Foodservice Solutions® team is here to help you drive top line sales and bottom-line profits. Are you looking a customer ahead? Visit www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information or contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us Remember success does leave clues and we just may the clue you need to propel your continued success.

Del Taco’s Halo of Better-for-You Reaches 2 Million Milestone

If success leaves clues and it does Del Taco’s has hit the right customer touchpoints with its partnership with Beyond Meat that is driving new electricity within Del Taco and with consumers according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Del Taco revealed that they have sold nearly 2 million Beyond Tacos and Beyond Avocado Tacos since the products were introduced chainwide in April—making it one of the most successful product introductions in the chain’s history.

John Cappasola, Del Taco CEO stated “The enthusiasm shown by our fans during the first weeks of our Beyond Meat offerings was undeniable,” Regular reader of this blog know we highlighted the new electricity that this partnership would bring.  What we did not mention was how Beyond Meat has been able to tap into Millennials desire for food discovery under the umbrella of ‘better-for-you’.

Now Del Taco elevating Beyond Meal to a platform status offering consumers even more options including:

·         Beyond 8 Layer Burrito (Loaded with 27 grams of protein): Del Taco’s seasoned Beyond Meat plant-based crumbles layered with slow-cooked beans, tangy guacamole, fresh diced tomatoes, crisp lettuce, hand-grated cheddar cheese, zesty red sauce and cool sour cream, in a warm flour tortilla.

·         Epic Beyond Cali Burrito: Del Taco’s seasoned Beyond Meat plant-based crumbles combined with its world famous Crinkle-Cut Fries, cool sour cream, tangy guacamole and handmade pico de gallo salsa in a warm, oversized flour tortilla.  Have you created a platform for new electricity?

According to Johnson, “Brand relevance is in part driven with innovation in new menu related 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, plant based  foods,  sampling, toy’s, beer, developing brands, unique urban clothing, grocerant positioning, Fresh food messaging, autonomous delivery, cashier-less retail, plates, glasses, cash-less payments, digital hand-held marketing.

All food 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.

Looking for success clues of your own? Foodservice Solutions® specializes in outsourced food marketing and business development ideations. We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities, technology, or a new menu product segment.  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