BentoBox 'Bento Door-to-Door' Complements Grocerant Niche Fresh Food Sales

Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® was the first too identify, quantified, qualified, the grocerant niche, then he coined the term Grocerant back in the day. Johnson was first to publish an article on both Nations Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality in 1995 tilted ‘Call them Grocerants’.

The grocerant platform has continued to evolve garnering consumers from every sector of food retail today. In fact, every sector of has evolved to include tat least basics of grocerant retail to some grocery stores doing 76.3% of all sales from within the grocerant niche. 

BentoBox, the hospitality platform that empowers restaurants to own their presence, profits and relationships, today announced the launch of Bento Door-to-Door, a convenient, affordable, and reliable delivery fulfillment solution for restaurants using Bento Ordering and perfect complement for grocerant niche retailers according to Johnson.

So, Bento Door-to-Door drives higher margins for restaurants through flat pricing, and BentoBox never takes a cut of the courier service fees. Besides affordability, Bento Door-to-Door offers fast setup and simple order management. The turnkey delivery service enables restaurants to access an on-demand network of best-in-class couriers to deliver orders directly to diners in their area.

So, how do they do that? Simple, by integrating delivery directly into their websites, restaurants benefit from simple, painless order management. Features include automatic driver assignment, visibility into order status, and control over settings like driver instructions and order minimums with the click of a button. By empowering restaurants to maintain ownership over customer relationships and data while outsourcing logistics, Bento Door-to-Door provides a compelling delivery option that helps restaurants to completely control delivery fees with a built-in, full or partial offset. 

Krystle Mobayeni, co-founder and CEO of BentoBox  stated "As part of our mission to help restaurants drive revenue, build relationships, and take control during COVID-19 and beyond, we are excited to announce this next evolution to our online ordering solution,”  “Restaurants have full ownership over branded ordering and customer information while also maintaining the convenience and simplicity of automatic couriers for incoming orders.” 

Bento Door-to-Door provides restaurants with access to an industry-leading delivery network, fast setup and service, and user-friendly integration. Bento Door-to-Door makes it incredibly easy for restaurants to add delivery fulfillment directly to their branded websites.  Are you empowering consumer choice within the grocerant niche? 

Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing ideations look more like yesterday than tomorrow? Interested in learning how Foodservice Solutions® 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 us on our social media sites by clicking the following links: Facebook,  LinkedIn, or Twitter

Moe's Opens Kiosk-Only Restaurant focuses on Fresh and Fast

Success does leave clues, and today consumers want grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food that is flavorful, fresh, with fast service.  According to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® kiosk-only outlets can drive incremental top line sales and bottom-line profits for one restaurant or a chain of restaurants.  

At the intersection for marketing messaging, technology, and relevant consumer touchpoints kiosk help brands get closer to consumers at a lower cost. COVID-19, has un-ended traditional retail food channels and Moe’s Southwest Grill has not only managed to stay open, but evolved to bring in revenue, engage with their customers in new ways and fast-tracked innovation.

Here is the best part of this kiosk according to Johnson, it helps drive more contactless ordering options that drive consumer relevance in the time of COVID-19. Combine that with additional sanitation efforts that have been put in place in accordance with CDC guidelines and consumer adoption will very likely follow.  

Today, consumer have embraced a more digital-first dining experience, this restaurant is a natural next step. The kiosk-only restaurant, owned and operated by Moe’s multi-unit franchisee, Mike Geiger, also features Moe’s new brand design.

This is just the latest in a string of new product offerings and technological advancements the brand has put into place since March of this year. Other examples include:

·         A completely revamped app, which launched earlier this month

·         Launch of Taco Kits for easier family-style dining at home

·         The announcement of Moe’s Market, where stores would sell bulk ingredients that were in low stock at local markets.

·         Free delivery via the Moe’s app March 16-April 17

·         Ramped up curbside dining

How are you reducing cost, extending your brand messaging, while driving top line growth?

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 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche. Contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or 253-759-7869

7-Eleven Expands Frictionless Shopping

Consumers want fresh food fast its that simple.  Foodservice Solutions® team while identifying, quantifying, and qualifying the Grocerant niche used its time-tested formula Build, Measure, Learn, and Repeat.  There is now doubt that 7-Eleven is doing the same with its Mobile Checkout and they have found success.

According to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® 7-Eleven tested its Mobile Checkout, in some Dallas, TX, Manhattan, and Long Island NY stores.  Its working well and now customers in Utah can now shop, scan and pay through the 7-Eleven app, facilitating social distancing and minimizing time in stores.

7-Eleven Chief Digital Officer Tarang Sethia, stated. “Now more than ever, customers are looking for an even greater level of convenience – one that includes minimizing contact with others,” …. “We want to meet that need during this uncertain time and Mobile Checkout is one of the innovative ways we can do that.”

So, get this, customers can shop, scan and pay with their smartphones, facilitating social distancing and minimizing time in stores. The frictionless shopping experience is integrated with the company’s award winning national 7Rewards loyalty program where 33 million members can earn and redeem points on product purchases and receive coupons and promotions.

When using Mobile Checkout, customers can also take advantage of 7-Eleven’s new beverage deals. 7–Eleven is offering seven free any size hot beverages and/or free any size fountain drinks per 7Rewards loyalty member through its 7–Eleven mobile app. After redeeming all seven free cups, loyalty members can continue to purchase any size hot coffee for $1 or Big Gulp drinks for just 49 cents for the rest of the summer.

Here’s how to use mobile checkout through the 7-Eleven app:

·         Update to the latest version of the app or download it from the App Store or Google Play.

·         Register for or log into the 7Rewards loyalty program.

·         Open the app in a participating store and tap “Start Scanning” on the home page.

·         Scan the barcode on the desired products to add it to your basket. Discounts and promotions are applied automatically.

·         Pay for purchases using Apple Pay, Google Pay or a debit or credit card in the app, which customers can setup ahead of time.

·         Confirm your purchase by scanning the QR code on confirmation screen once the payment is authorized.

Sethia continued, “Not only does Mobile Checkout offer frictionless shopping and tremendous value, it also empowers customers to be in control of their entire end-to-end in-store experience,”  “Last but certainly not least, it helps store associates reallocate their time to keeping the store clean and in stock for customers.”

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 us on our social media sites by clicking one of the following links: Facebook,  LinkedIn, or Twitter

Target Getting Fresh for 2 Million New Customers

Success does leave clues and Target is getting fresher faster by listening to it new first time digital drive-up customers.  According to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® “Target is giving customers more of what they want, when they want it”

Regular readers of this blog know that consumers increasingly want more grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food. So, get this, more than 5 million customers shopped on Target.com for the first time during the first quarter, including over 2 million first-timers for Drive Up service.

Consumers are dynamic not static according to Johnson and Target Corp. is evolving faster making fresh and frozen food available through its in-store Order Pickup and curbside Drive Up online grocery services. Giving consumers what they want when they want it.

Digital sales are working at Target  as sales in Q1  were up 141%.  The move adding fresh and fresh frozen into the mix, adds another 750 produce, dairy, bakery, meat and frozen items to the product selection for in-store and curbside pickup, according to Target.

The company noted that the expansion now enables online customers to order key perishables — such as milk, bread, eggs and ice cream — along with grocery staples already available through Drive Up and Order Pickup. Ok, so regular readers of this blog say why did it take them so long.  Who cares, they are beginning to get it now. 

Target Chief Operating Officer John Mulligan, stated, “The speed and convenience of our fulfillment options are unmatched across the country, and they’ve become even more critical for our guests searching for easy and safe ways to shop during the pandemic,”  “By adding fresh grocery to the pickup services our guests already love, we’re giving them even more reasons to shop at Target.”

More than 5 million customers shopped on Target.com for the first time during the first quarter, including over 2 million first-timers for Drive Up service. When you get new customers are you giving them what they want?  Consumers are dynamic not static.  Are you evolving with your consumers?

Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing ideations look more like yesterday than tomorrow? Interested in learning how Foodservice Solutions® 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 us on our social media sites by clicking the following links: Facebook,  LinkedIn, or Twitter

Morrisons Beef’s up it Grocerant Niche Offerings

Consumers touchpoints are important at Morrisons.  At the intersection of customer relevance and one of key drivers of the grocerant niche is the ‘halo of better for you’. That is intersection Morrisons is using to edify their brand with consumers according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  

When, UK retailer Morrisons has announced that it has introduced a lean meat box for health-conscious consumers it was clear they were looking to add brand value with incremental customer relevance.  So, the six-kilogram box, priced at £45, will offer 50 portions of chicken, beef, pork, turkey and bacon - all containing less than 5% fat.  That focus on the ‘halo of better for you’ plays perfectly into Foodservice Solutions® FIVE P’s of Food Marketing and will drive sales now in this time of COVID-19 and after according to Johnson.

Head of food boxes at Morrisons, Tessa Callaghan, stated, ”Many of our customers are thinking about their health and fitness during lockdown. …“So, we wanted to create a great value bulk box which was made from British lean fresh meat and which could be delivered right to their front door.”

The boxes can be ordered online and are delivered the following day or at a chosen date. How are you expanding top line sales and bottom-line profits?  Are you ready to enter the grocerant niche?

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 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche. Contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or 253-759-7869

Restaurant Leadership Complacency is not a Solution to Drive Sales

Our Grocerant Guru®, Steven Johnson while reading about restaurant business complacency found this on Quotabulary.com  and he thinks you will like it. “Complacency is a rigid illusion nursed by those who embrace mediocrity as a way of their life. A dangerous disguise, it also deprives people of opportunities and brings growth to a standstill”.  Is your restaurant brand stuck?

So, back in the day (2009), Domino’s awoke from a long period of brand protectionism practices, self-imposed rules that contributed to stifling sales growth, product quality, and a loss of customer relevance i.e. complacency.  Domino’s was the first major retail brand to discard it core product for and completely new one since the failed rebranding of Coco Cola. It was a huge risk.  Guess what Domino’s won. Today, Domino’s is described as a ‘Tech’ company selling pizza. That my friends is not complacency.

Domino’s did what I call Ground Branding.  It is not back to the basic’s, it is a macro step, not a micro step, it’s a step into the future of brand marketing, positioning essential for legacy brands they want continued consumer relevance.

Ground Branding means repositioning a product or a company focusing on the core foundation of the legacy product or companies’ value with a dramatic shift in contemporized customer relevance.  Simply put incremental steps are not enough today. 

In Seth Godin's book Purple Cow where an entrepreneur wants to recapture some of the magic that the brand at one time had. Godin suggests that the key to success is finding a way to stand out and be remarkable, like a purple cow in a field of regular cows. That’s what Domino’s did and the company has never looked back.

Rebuilding customer relevance is important if a brand somehow grows out of touch.  In the case of Domino’s one macro ground branding move contributed driving customer relevance and sales momentum that continues today.

According to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® Domino’s chose to resetting the Price, Value, Service equilibrium within pizza space with technology.  While Johnson was the first to reveal, reevaluated, and re-engineer the Price, Value, Service equilibrium and here is that new formula:  Price + Quality + Social + Portability = Value.  Domino’s has shown everyone how to look outside the box to drive relevance.

The challenged for any food retail within the Ready-2-Eat or Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared grocerant niche is the ability to see and understand the customers focus at its core evolve, not your brands core. Success does leave clues and companies leading the charge in 2020 will be leaders within their niche for years to come.

Food retailers that do not evolve be warned that the rest of will be reading headlines that C-level change is coming or came at your company. Without bold new leaders many legacy retail food brands may simply become non relevant. In the event that they are more about their brand than the consumer they will simply fall to the way side. Do you need outside eyes to help drive top line sale and bottom-line profits?

Are you trapped doing what you have always done and doing it the same way?  Interested in learning how Foodservice Solutions Five P’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

Fazoli's Doing What Subway Won’t

Fresh, fast, fabulous Fazoli’s is doing to the fast-casual restaurant sector what Subway’s franchisees don’t want to do.  That is sell dinner for $ 5 a person. That’s right, Fazoli’s is serving up menu variety with value with its latest 5 Under $5 promotion.

According to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® Fazoli’s is resetting the Price, Value, Service equilibrium within the fast food and fast casual space much like Subway did back in the day with the original $ 5 Footlong.

Johnson was the first to reveal, reevaluated, and reengineer the Price, Value, Service equilibrium and here is that new formula:  Price + Quality + Social + Portability = Value.

While Subway’s franchisee squabble over price Fazoli’s is going to leverage price within an interactive participatory consumer facing touchpoint to drive family mix & match meal bundling (a hallmark of grocerant niche success). At Fazoli’s your grocerant niche mix & match family meal can be ordered online for delivery. Think about it.  Dinner for four for $5 a person and you don’t have to cook or do dishes. Regular readers of this blog know that’s a dream come true.

Now consider that this is available for a limited time, guests who visit Fazoli’s can enjoy these five delicious dishes, with its famous fresh breadsticks, all under $5:

Small Fettuccine Alfredo.

Small Spaghetti with Marinara or Meat Sauce.

Double Slice Pizza (Cheese or Pepperoni).

Chicken Parm Pasta Duo – Creamy Baked Fettuccine Alfredo, served alongside Italian favorite Baked Chicken Parmigiano.

Fettuccine and Ravioli Bake – Creamy Fettuccine Alfredo side-by-side with cheese-filled ravioli covered in marinara, baked with mozzarella and provolone cheeses.

Director of Culinary Innovation for Fazoli’s Rick Petralia stated, “At Fazoli’s, we promise guests a premium meal with exceptional service at an unbeatable price,” .. “The pandemic has created a difficult time for many, so we want to provide options that are both packed with flavor and value-conscious. For under $5, guests will receive craveable dishes. Plus, what really makes Fazoli’s unique – our signature, fresh-baked breadsticks. Our quality and value is second to none. You won’t find a better deal.”

Success does leave clues. One clue that time and time again continues to resurface is “the consumer is dynamic not static”. Fazoli’s has found a solution to the age- old question; What’s for Dinner?  Regular readers of this blog know that is the common refrain of Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  Our Grocerant Guru® can help your company 253-759-7869. 

Jimmy John’s introduces Interactive Participatory Marketing Campaign

How about a marketing campaign that is interactive, participatory, and local at Jimmy John’s that is the recipe to extend brand value according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Utilizing the hashtag #HomemadeContent Jimmy John’s has created an incremental consumer touchpoint with relevance according to Johnson.  So, Jimmy John’s launched a national campaign highlighting its latest sandwich offer:

when Jimmy John’s guests buy any 8″ or 16″ sandwich, they get an additional sandwich for 50 percent off on orders placed online or through the Jimmy John’s app with the code SAVEON2, now through July 5.

The deal is available to help satisfy sandwich cravings for less via contactless delivery, curbside pickup or drive-thru at participating locations edifying the brands relationship with Gen Z and Millennials.

To create these spots, representing real, at-home moments we’re all experiencing, Jimmy John’s and agency of record, WorkInProgress  teamed with creatives across the industry who were eager to keep working and creating from home during the ongoing COVD-19 pandemic.

This is the second campaign for the brand that uses #HomemadeContent, following the launch of 5OFF20.

Focusing in on grocerant niche valued attributes fast and fresh the; Freaky Fast! Freaky Fresh! Jimmy John’s makes Fresh, Fast, Tasty sandwiches. Homemade bread is freshly baked every four hours and locally purchased veggies and all-natural** meats are hand-sliced daily extends the value of the message with trending attributes.

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 us on our social media sites by clicking one of the following links: Facebook,  LinkedIn, or Twitter

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