In 2021 the Restaurants Business Model Must Continue to Focus on Eating-Out While Eating-In

 

The consumer is dynamic not static.  To date there is no indication that consumers want to cook dinner from scratch. In fact, according to recent data, “When asked if they wanted to cook dinner from scratch or assemble dinner from fresh meal components 91.1 % of Gen Z chose assemble from Fresh Prepared Meal Components and Millennials 83.6 chose meal components.   

Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant ScoreCards have found that 81.7% of family meals consumed at home have at least one grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat or Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food item according to Tacoma, WA based Grocerant Guru® Steven Johnson.

According to The NPD Group, consumers reported in July, 2020 that 63% of their eating occasions during the COVID-19 outbreak have been atypical, meaning they’re eating and sourcing foods and beverages outside of their normal routines. Johnson ask how much of your menu could be on consumers table tonight for dinner?

An Ohio State study founded that 80 percent of new restaurants failing within the first five years. That same study suggested about 60 percent don’t make it to year 2.  Reducing cost of operating with a Virtual Restaurant, Ghost Kitchen, and third-party delivery services is a way to edify your brand with consumers for less, while extending your reach. 

According to Johnson the new norm for a success restaurant business model must include ‘takeout, to-go, meals and meal components as consumers want to be ‘Eating-Out’ while Eating-In”.  Selling more food does not mean filling more seats according to Johnson.

Understand this long before the current pandemic, TSYS a payment provider that generated revenue of $4.9 billion in 2017 while processing more than 27.8 billion transactions, conducted a payments study of more than 1,000 U.S. consumers to take the pulse of this sector.

Battle for Share of Stomach

Here are some key takeaways from the study:

Customers are still dining out. As competition from to-go, more restaurants, delivery, and C-stores squeeze the restaurant sector from all sides, there’s no evidence to prove America’s affection for dining out is waning to any considerable degree. TSYS’s study showed that 75 percent of respondents say they eat out at least once a week, with nearly half (42 percent) eating out at least three times a week.

But let’s get to the payment part.

For those diners who eat out two-plus times a week or more, this was their preferred payment at the restaurant. It’s important to note this is paying at the table. So you can scratch the pay-ahead through an app or site factor.

·         46 percent prefer to swipe their debt/credit card

·         41 percent prefer to insert their debit/credit chip card

·         10 percent prefer to pay with cash

·         3 percent prefer to pay with their phone

This is a long-term trend, not a stop gap solution during the pandemic according to Johnson. The simple fact is the day of the mom & pop restaurant using a cigar box as a cash drawer are all but a distance memory.  If success leaves clues and it does.  Restaurants are food manufacturing plants.  If a restaurant wants to become successful, they must sell food in more than one channel and that food must be branded. 

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, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant/ or twitter.com/grocerant