Grocerant

Dunkin Donuts Warmer Winter and Ice Coffee Sales Are UP!

2012-02-01T04:42:00.000-08:00

Beveragegiant Dunkin Donuts reported that after polling its iced coffee drinkers thatan overwhelming majority 84 percent say they are drinking more iced coffeedrinks this winter than last.

Thepoll was conducted Dec. 27 through Jan. 3rd by Burson-Marsteller online and among 500 members of the general populationwho are age 18 to 49, representative of the U.S. population and drink icedcoffee. The representative study was to examine the opinions and habits of icedcoffee drinkers, including why they warm up to iced coffee during the winter.

Hereare some of the findings:

•Eighty-six percent of the respondents said they are drinking more iced coffeethis winter compared to three winters ago.
• Iced coffee drinkers savor the flavor, with 90 percent of respondents goingfor flavor in their beverage. The most popular choices among the surveyrespondents are French Vanilla (30 percent), Mocha (27 percent) and Caramel (21percent).
• Most people crave iced coffee midday. The most popular time of the day isbetween 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. (41 percent), followed closely by 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.(37 percent).
• More than half of respondents (55 percent) said they feel cooler and trendierby holding a cup of iced coffee. That percentage increases to 60 percent amongyounger iced coffee drinkers, aged 18 to 24.

JohnCostello, Chief Global Marketing and Innovation Officer for Dunkin Brandsstated "As the company that servesthe most iced coffee in America, we've seen iced coffee consumption continue torise steadily in winter months, with iced coffee now nearly as popular as theclassic cup of Dunkin' Donuts' hot coffeeeven during the coldest time of year," The majority of sales are 65%+ of total salesat Dunkin Donuts are beverages.

Ready-2-eatfresh prepared food is garnering additional share for Dunkin via new day-partsandwich offerings that of course complement iced coffee. Dunkin' Donuts' new Ham & CheeseBakery Sandwich features Black Forest ham, white cheddarcheese and Creamy Dijon sauce on a French roll, while the new Turkey, Cheddar & Bacon Bakery Sandwichfeatures turkey, white cheddar cheese, bacon and Ancho Chipotle sauce on aFrench roll. Guests can also enjoy ChickenSalad and Tuna Salad Bakery Sandwiches, featuring chickensalad or tuna salad on a bagel. All bakery sandwiches are served oven-toastedand made-to-order on a French roll, bagel, or croissant.

Foodservice Solutions®specializes in outsourced business development. We can help you identify,quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities or a brandleveraging integration strategy. Foodservice Solutions of Tacoma WA is the global leader in the Grocerant niche visitFacebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant ortwitter.com/grocerant.

Nielsen: Convenience Stores out number grocery stores and growing.

2012-01-31T05:23:00.000-08:00

Conveniencestores are becoming Grocerants with ready-2-eat fresh prepared food. Nielsen’s TDLinxreport found, as of December 31, 2011, “the total store count of conveniencestores is 30,000-plus locations greater than the cumulative totals of competingchannels, including supermarkets (32,924 stores), drug stores (38,526 stores)dollar stores (22,782 stores) and superettes (13,234 stores).”

December31, 2011, a 1.2% increase (1,785 stores) from the year prior, according to thelatest NACS/Nielsen Convenience Industry Store Count.

Whenyou look at the population of the United States as of Dec. 31, 2011, there wasan estimated 313 million, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Today there isone convenience per approximately every 2,100 U.S. residents.”

7Eleven is an example of one leading chain hat is opening many of its new storeswithout gas as a component and is instead focusing on Fresh Food. “Thecontinued growth in store count shows our industry is vibrant and adding jobsin difficult economic times. Convenience stores are an essential part of thefabric of everyday life across the country and our core offer of conveniencecontinues to resonate with customers,” said NACS Chairman Tom Robinson,president of Robinson Oil in Santa Clara, California.

Grocerantprogram assessments can deliver top line sales building information and bottomline profits.

Invite FoodserviceSolutions® to complete a grocerant program assessment, brand, product placementor positioning assistance. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the globalleader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson,Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant.

7 Eleven is the fastest growing restaurant by new units..

2012-01-30T04:03:00.000-08:00

New 7 Eleven Wings

Hungry, odds are goodif you lived in the United States or Canada you had the opportunity to stop atone of the 650 new 7 Elevens stores that opened in 2011. With a clear focus onfresh prepared ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat food no one can claim to have openedmore food outlets in 2011.

7 Eleven is the worldlargest Convenience store chain. In North America 650 new units is a lot forone year by any retailer. They are notslowing down in 2012 this week they announced that “Fifty-five Sam's Martlocations in the Carolinas will be carrying the 7-Elevenbanner now that the convenience store chain has entered into anagreement to acquire the stores.”

The Sam Mart acquisitionis part of the company’s accelerated growth plan. An estimated 50% of the newunits from Florida to Vancouver BC that 7 Eleven is opening are without gas, andFood is the focus. With new freshprepared food delivered daily and fast service 7 Eleven is becoming a Fast Foodindustry leader.

Grocerantprogram assessments can deliver top line sales building information and bottomline profits. Invite FoodserviceSolutions® to complete a grocerant program assessment, brand, product placementor positioning assistance. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the globalleader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson,Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant.

Foodservice Solutions® 5 P’s of Food Marketing

2012-01-29T03:45:00.000-08:00

Tacoma,Washington based Foodservice Solutions® has been gathering retail food successclues. Within the clues they discoveredsome universal commonalities from those commonalities they developed: The 5’P’sof Food Marketing:

1. Product

2. Packaging

3. Placement

4. Portability

5. Price

If you are interested inlearning how The 5P’s of Food Marketing can edify your retail food brand whilecreating a platform for consumer convenientmeal participation,differentiationand individualization contact us via this blog or Email at:grocerant@q.com

Grocerantprogram assessments can deliver top line sales building information and bottomline profits.

The New American Meal: creating happy meal times.

2012-01-28T03:35:00.001-08:00

Alice May Brock said: “Tomatoes and oregano make itItalian, wine and tarragon make it French, sour cream makes it Russian, lemonand cinnamon make it Greek, soy sauce makes it Chinese, garlic makes it good.”

I say: grocerant meal components bundled andportable make a family meal, a happy meal!

Grocerants allow customers to select from Italian,French, Russian or Greek and utilize the components at home any way theylike. The new American meal has become acomposite of any prepared food components that the individual may want, thatthey can mix and pair them together any way they like as well. Our society is a composed for people from allover the world, with different cultures, traditions and flavor preferences. The new American meal is a melting pot offlavor and choice bundled from mix and match meal components.

Fresh prepared ready-2-eat and heat-N-rat foods arenow available for all comers and can be found at Convenience stores, Grocerystores, Restaurants, Mobile trucks all just waiting for the taking.

Consumers have been exposed to a plethora offlavors and have not the time to master the skill of cooking each. This growing trend is empowering the consumerto establish new customs and traditions in eating better, more flavorfulfood. The Grocerant niche is about convenient meal participation, differentiation andindividualization.

Success leaves clues:Foodservice Solutions in Tacoma, WA has been gathering them just for you!

Grocerantprogram assessments can deliver top line sales building information and bottomline profits.

Restaurant guest shifting to other fresh food formats.

2012-01-27T04:11:00.000-08:00

Restaurants are losing customers to non-traditional pointsof fresh food distributions. Regularreaders of this blog have been reading about the success Chain Drug Stores,Convenience Stores, Grocery Store Delis are having selling fresh prepared food.

A new research survey conducted by Alix Partners highlightsa dramatic shift in consumer spending patterns away from restaurants based on heavy userfrequency.

Food Segment Q 4 2010 Q 1 2012 Difference

Convenience 1.6 2.0 + 0.4

Fast Food 4.8 4.1 -0.7

Fast Casual 2.5 2.2 -0.3

Casual 2.4 2.2 -0.2

Fine Dinning 1.0 1.0 Even

The grocerant niche is filled with ready-2-eat andheat-N-eat fresh prepared mix and match meal component options. 7 Eleven has increased the number of freshprepared foods nationwide since 2010, Wawa and Sheetz continue to expandlocations and fresh food offerings. Walgreens which this report did not include will alter the way consumershop for fresh prepared food. Walgreenswas once the largest food ready-2-eat food retailer in America and they justmight be again.

Foodservice Consumers expect Attractive Digital Signage.

2012-01-26T08:33:00.000-08:00

Wal-Mart recently added digital signage toselect end caps within their stores. I had a friend remark that after a recentvisit to Wal-Mart she was impressed and please to see how viscerally attractivethe store was. Digital Visceralattractiveness is now a contemporary standard in retailing.

British Petroleum is installing DigitalSignage at the Pump and in the store at over 1,000 units. Digital signage is not an operational efficiency itis now a required step in the consumer’s path of contemporary relevance. Theconsumer is not static they are dynamic all retailers must keep pace with thecustomer.

Supermarkets, Convenience stores andRestaurants all must avoid unwittingly practicing Brand Protectionism andsaying no to items that consumer comes to expect. Visceral attractiveness is now as importantas cleanliness and service. The Grocerant sector is leveraging digital informationaltools to build a strong consumer base.

I was reminded as well that the NY Hiltonhotel has had CNN in its elevator now for over 12 years. Visceral information is not new nor is itgoing away. Don’t let your brand unwittingly practice “Brand Protectionism”.

The Evolving food consumer: Close-Up Look at Food Retailing Today

2012-01-25T05:20:00.000-08:00

Thegrocerant niche is changing the face of retail food sales. As it turns out, arecent analysis / case study of the Philadelphia grocery marketplacewill tell us a lot about the changing state of food marketing.[1] Regular readers of this blog will not be surprised at the findings whichI believe reflect the success of the expanding fresh prepared ready-2-eat andheat-N-eat grocerant niche nationally.

The#1 chain in terms of market share is regional brand Wakefern’s ShopRitebanner.

Butmore telling: the #4 “grocery” food retailer is Convenience-store chain Wawa.

That’sright, a convenience store that sells quality ready-2-eat fresh prepared foodnon-traditional food retailers are expanding at an ever faster rate than everbefore. This July Wawa will open storesin the Orlando, FL Market.

These20 chains account for 92.1% of the total grocery market. And over $3.8bn of the$13.7bn or 28% of the spend on food in Philly was racked up by“non-traditional” retailers like CVS, Walgreens and Rite-Aid,not to mention 7-Eleven. The latter’s rather poor numbers explode themyth that 7-Eleven dominates the c-store category, which is mostly made up ofsmall chains and single operators.

Andif mass merchants Target, K-Mart and Wal-Mart, and clubstore BJ’s are excluded from the totals, and only traditional grocerystores are factored in ($7.66bn), then the percentage of sales bynon-traditional retailers rises to almost half (49%). Clearly the foodmarketplace is VERY different than what it was just a few years ago, and thosechanges are having real impact on the way food is sold in the U.S. But justwhen you think the traditional grocery store in on the way out, NorthCarolina-based Food Lion (part of Belgium’s Delhaize Group) hasannounced its intention to tackle the Philly market in a big way.

3 of the top ten are non-traditional food retailers.

Store Name	Number of Stores	Sales ($MM)	Share (%)
1. ShopRite	43	1,700	11.42
2. Acme	69	1,570	10.56[2]
3. Giant Food Stores	47	1,530	10.29[3]
4. Wawa	280	1,440	9.65
5. Rite-Aid	252	884.1	5.94[4]
6. A&P/Superfresh/Pathmark	40	850.8	5.72[5]
7. Wal-Mart	37 SuperCenters	831.1	5.59
8. CVS	187	817	5.49
9. Genuardi’s	28	733.7	4.93[6]
10. Target	29	534.4	3.59
11. Walgreens	90	480.9	3.23
12. BJ’s Wholesale Club	12	413.9	2.78
13. Wegmans	6	371	2.5[7]
14. Save-A-Lot	34	258	1.74
15. Sam’s Club	7	238.2	1.6
16. Thriftway/Shop’N’Bag	21	230.5	1.55
17. Redner’s Market	10	222.7	1.5
18. K-Mart	29	210.9	1.42[8]
19. 7-Eleven	179	201.3	1.35
20. Whole Foods	8	191.6	1.29

ChainDrug stores Rite-Aid and CVS rank in the top 10 of food retailers inPhiladelphia. That makes 3 companies in the top ten that are non-grocerystores. Walgreens is selling freshprepared food in NYC, Chicago, and San Francisco. Coast to coast food retailing isevolving. The grocerant niche is filledwith new points of distribution, newfresh food offerings, and smaller more convenient locations all driving topline sales and bottom line profits.

[1] Source: PhiladelphiaBusiness Journal.

[2] Parent company Eden Prairie,Minn.-based Supervalu Inc. shuttered seven stores in 2011.

[3] Owned by Dutch retailconglomerate Ahold, Giant is projected to overtake Acme in 2012 as the#2 grocery chain.

[4] The Camp Hill, PA company has apilot program with Save-A-Lot in North Carolina to co-brand 10 storescarrying a full line of groceries and drug products.

[5] Parent company Great Atlantic& Pacific Tea Co. has been closing stores since filing for bankruptcyprotection in December, 2010, shuttering seven in the greater Philadelphiamarket, while opening only one Superfresh.

[6] Parent company Safewaywill sell 16 stores to Giant Foods, close three and seek buyers for theremaining eight.

[7] The Rochester, N.Y.-basedcompany will open two new stores, and at 140,000 ft.² are 2x thesize of a conventional supermarket.

[8] K-Mart closed four stores inPhiladelphia in 2011.

Note:Reprinted with permission of Broad Street Licensing with permission and edits.Here is the link to the original http://www.bslg.com/news/2012/01/philadelphia-story

Outside eyes can deliver top line sales and bottom line profits. InviteFoodservice Solutions® to complete a grocerant program assessment, brand,product placement or positioning assistance. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the globalleader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerantortwitter.com/grocerant.

Wing War Kroger and KFC battle for wing sales prior too Super Bowl Sunday.

2012-01-24T04:30:00.000-08:00

7 Eleven Wings

NPD data found for the yearending November, 2011, the top five restaurant categories to order chickenwings throughout the year (accounting for over 90 percent of all wing orders)are:

1 CasualDining Restaurants: 33 percent of all chicken wing orders
2.      Pizzaplaces: 26 percent
3.      Chickenplaces: 16 percent
4.      Mid-pricedfull service restaurants: 9 percent
5.      Foodstores: 8 percent

This year however Kroger isout to change that specifically in the northwest via their Fred Meyerstores. While KFC is utilizing price asfocus point in their advertising campaign with hot wings priced at only $0.50each. Kroger aka Fred Meyer is sellingboneless wings for $0.25 each. With more than 1.25 billion wing portions beingconsumed during Super Bowl weekend in 2012, totaling more than 100 millionpounds of wings, according to the National Chicken Council's. Whowill win? This year it looks as if Fred Meyer will pick up sales of Wings andshare of stomach.

Product Positioning and Marketingare key to success in any sales battle. This battle for share of stomach is no different and wing salesspecifically. KFC is utilizing price andprice alone as the driver. While FredMeyer is focusing on bundling other meal components with the wings, they arealso focusing on boneless wings. Marketing programs need both strategy andtactics price alone is a tactic. Successful grocerant niche marketingincorporate Foodservice Solutions® 5 P’s of food marketing: Product, Packaging, Placement,Portability and Price, When the 5P’s areintegrated into a marketing plan they edify the brand, the product and theoffering.

It’s easy to Harkinback the Colonel hocking his product, 11 secret ingredients, unique flavors,value pricing, and convenience of not cooking, then packaged to-go. Kind ‘a reminds you of the 5P’s of foodmarketing. Fred Meyer did not forget.Integrating critical messaging into a promotion is food marketing 101. Whileprice play’s an increasing pivotal roll today, it alone will not garner theresults of an integrated plan. Retail food success within the grocerant nicherequires mix and match meal component bundling as regular followers of the blogwell understand.

Swiss Farms Drive-Thru convenience.

2012-01-23T05:31:00.000-08:00

Swiss Farms success is built on picking up all theright clues. Then they take those cluesand make good use of them. Swiss Farmsshelves are filled with over 700 items most frequently purchased from a grocerystore in the quick check-out lane. Withan eye on the time starved consumer and supermarket pricing bundled withdrive-thru convenience Swiss Farms is growing new corporate and franchise unitswhile building a loyal customer following in three states.

Swiss Farms is not simply another convenience storeor Quick Service Restaurant it is not quite a grocerant but from a consumerperspective much better than a grocery store. Food first that is ready when you are Swiss Farms is in a uniquecompetitive position. Place your orderand set a time, then simply drive thru and pick up your order under a coveredroof no rain, wind or snow.

Understanding the attributes of consumer relevancethen incorporating those attributes into a retail model is exactly how since1968 Swiss Farms has grown it customer loyalty. When you combine drive-thru convenience with time starved consumers youend up with a win win. When you’reready-2-eat without doubt think about Swiss Farms, don’t wait, don’t walk inthe rain, no need to get the kids out of the car.

Kowalski’s Market showing the Grocery catering sector how to garner market share from restaurants.

2012-01-22T04:06:00.000-08:00

The grocery sector isgarnering share of stomach via retail catering from the restaurant sector. Minnesota based Kowalski’s Markets are agreat example of expanding deli section with reay-2-eat and grab-N-go foodsperfect of customised family meals or heat-n-eat meals all week.

Kowalski’s Markets not onlycan you get Boursin Stuffed Chicken Breast, Pork Tenderloin with Lingonberries,Scottish Sea Whistle Salmon Fillet; you can have a personal Sushi Chefand Bartender at your event. Grocerystore catering has come a long way.

Safeway has entered thecatering market as well with a guaranteeddeliver windows of 1 hour. Safeway is going to be a very serious ready-2-eatplayer within the catering niche. Retail foodservice success is about garneringShare of Stomach and Safeway’s teamof ready-2-eat brand managers is doing an excellent job integrating themessaging systemwide and too the customers. Safeway’s Lifestyle stores are filled with cheese and wine, salads andsandwiches as well.

Tradition be dammedcaterers and restaurants be forewarned the grocery sector is focusing onTake-Out, Take-Away ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat fresh prepared food. Safewaywill deliver beverage and food right into your BREAKROOM. Safeway is redefininggrocerant food delivery options by integrating the 5 P’s of food marketing intoall aspects of its business model. So if your staff is working hard, then theydeserve a treat, order fresh prepared food in from a restaurant or grocerystore today.

Do legacy brand managers matter in a world of private label managers?

2012-01-21T06:26:00.000-08:00

What is the role ofthe legacy national brand manager in a world where private label is branded?National brand manufactures all of whom are highly valued continue payingslotting fees to grocery stores and supermarkets as the easiest way to reachthe consumer. The slotting fees continueto go for space on the shelf. Currently many companies key location End Capsare now being filled with the stores own private label products. Legacynational brands are cutting back in paying for end caps it may be time to stopthe paying the slotting fees as well.

The brand managersof the private label products have are utilizing a tool out of the NationalBrand Managers playbook to build loyalty, reinforce value and generateadditional sales and profits for the store and their particular private labelproduct. They are taking the end capsfor themselves!

Price Chopper isutilizing what they call “power displays”. Wal-Mart is utilizing the end capsto reinforce value of their private label products and consumer is picking themup! Wegmans gets the customers coming and going utilizing the vestibules withthe likes of Wegmans private label potato chips and the next week Wegmans owncanned tuna and their own mayo for example.

Deep in the storethe private label battle continues with ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat freshprepared portable food. Most preparedfresh in store and in most cases right in front of the customer. Private Label Grocerant ready-2-eat andheat-N-eat food now has brand managers of there own and they are building salesnot slotting fees.

KFC America’s Original Grocerant.

2012-01-20T05:13:00.000-08:00

KFC the iconic American chain restaurant with legendarybackground and globally legions of devoted fans was arguably the firstGrocerant. If not the first, it clearlywas a niche and industry leader in grocerant ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat freshprepared food niche filling the gap for the time starved consumer.

Foodservice Solutions® 5P’s of Food Marketing: Product, Packaging, Placement,Portability and Price have been in play at KFC from the very beginning. Whilewe had not defined it way back when, KFC or Kentucky Fried Chicken if youharkin back had all the elements of the 5P’s from the very start. Many retail foodservice companies havecopied, mimicked, and bootlegged ideations, from KFC. Grocery stores, C-stores, restaurants allhave honed ilk niche product, Take-Away, To-Go, Food Delivery skill sets fromKFC.

While many scoff at KFC’s recent slip in domestic sales, KFChas been bold while introducing “better for you” new productintroductions. Let’s give credit wherecredit is due, they spent more money on advertising new “better for you”product than many chains gross per year. The consumer is always right and while KFC may have been early with somenew product introduction. They will getit right and I would bet that they continue edifying their brand with the 5P’sof Food Marketing: Product, Packaging,Placement, Portability and Price in new integrated product and marketingprograms staying true too the Grocerant niche and their roots.

With nearly 18% ofCanadian sales contributed via delivery, KFC will continue to be a leader inthe fresh prepared ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat grocerant niche for years tocome. Success does leave clues andfollowing what KFC is doing is one of the clues.

Publix focus is on meal bundling with upgrade to all delis.

2012-01-19T04:57:00.000-08:00

Mix and Match meal component bundling is one ofthe success clues found in the Grocerant niche. Kimberly Reynolds, Publix spokeswoman state that in South Florida allPublix deli sections get an upgrade. Each store will be expanding specialty cheese sections and helpfulinformation to pair wine and cheese.

“The changes are designed to enhance our delicustomers' shopping experiences through new products and an improved shoppingenvironment,” Reynolds said. “Customers will appreciate the look, simple navigationand amount of product we will be able to provide.”

“Each store is getting a makeover to someextent,” Reynolds said. “Several stores each week are starting to make thechanges.”

Feeling the pressure from 7,500+ unit Walgreensentrance into ready-2-eat fresh prepared food we not not surprised. Following the lead of other grocery storeslike Safeway’s success with their “lifestyle” stores, Whole Foods, Winn-Dixieand The Fresh Market. Publix will reapthe benefit from Mix and Match meal component bundling.

Kids Vs. School Lunch Program

2012-01-18T04:17:00.000-08:00

Menu magic it was not. In a strong effort to serve food that is“better for you” (better for your Kids). The Los Angeles Unified School District the second largest public schoolsystem in the United States developed and implemented a new school lunch menusthat were much “healthier” than previous menus.

The menu even sounds good to me. The Los Angeles Times reported “menu items such as beef jambalaya,vegetable curry, pad Thai, lentil and brown rice cutlets and quinoa andblack-eyed pea salads…” But when I thought about it many items do sound goodbut I don’t eat them very often and there is a reason. Flavor familiarity-comfortably, portabilityand ability to customize. So why would students like them?

Turns out they didnot! Students fled the lunch program somuch so that “Dennis Barrett, LA's food services director, is doing a mid-yearrevision of the school lunch menu. Hamburgers and whole wheat, low-fat cheesepizza will be back on the daily menu after students indicated they would not eatvegetable curries, tamales and the like that were being substituted.” Here weare back with Foodservice Solutions® 5 P’s of food marketing: Product,Packaging, Placement, Portability and Price.

Thousands of studentshave dropped out of LA’s lunch program. Barrett stated in the LA Times “thatintroduction of the healthy meals was "a disaster." School lunchenlistments fell by 13 percent. Students dropping school lunches were oftenseen packing in their own junk food and sodas.”

Better for you foodin schools is very important. Understanding how students eat is important when constructing a newmenu. Differentiation in food does notmean different it means familiar with a twist. LA’s revised program is now on the right track.

Foodservice Solutions®specializes in global outsourced business development. We can help youidentify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities ora brand leveraging integration strategy. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutionsof Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche for more visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant

Walgreens growing a grocerant footprint coast too coast.

2012-01-17T03:45:00.000-08:00

Walgreens has ilk Grocerantniche stores from San Francisco, to Chicago and New York City. Walgreens is aretail leader that understands Foodservice Solutions® 5 P’s of food marketing: Product, Packaging, Placement,Portability and Price. Walgreens is a world class in operating these newready-2-eat and heat-N-eat outlets learning and adjusting as they crisscrossthe country.

When you’re ready-2-eat or in need of someheat-N-eat fresh and prepared food it will not be long that you start thinkingfirst about Walgreens. Last week theyopened a new store in Chicago where you can start out at a Sushi Bar go to the Coffee Bar, thentry some Quick-and-Fresh deli offeringsmaybe get some Fro-yo or visitthe Bakeshop. Want some wine to complement your heat-N-eatmeal? Why of course, simply visitthe virtual bartender, and havea sip and don’t forget to pick up some specialty cheese to go with the wine.Walgreens has ilk Grocerant niche stores from San Francisco, to New York Cityand Chicago.

If you would like to see more photo’s of theChicago location here is a link: http://www.drugstorenews.com/premium-offerings-showcased-walgreens-chicagoland-flagship-part-1

Invite Foodservice Solutions® to complete agrocerant program assessment, brand, product placement or positioningassistance. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the globalleader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson,Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant.

NPD Fast food restaurants now account for half of meals eaten out.

2012-01-16T05:02:00.000-08:00

Grocerant ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat food continues expanding it’sfootprint. Eat Out Magazine reports that in Great Britain “The latest data fromindependent foodservice research agency NPD Group has found that over half ofall meals eaten out of the home are now bought from fast food restaurants.”Grocerant niche food is booming worldwide.

“Figures have found a four percentagepoint increase in the use of quick service restaurants since 2008, withconsumers making 5.5 billion visits to these outlets in 2011, compared to 5.4billion in 2008.

Lunch has also been an important factorin the growth of the quick service food business, accounting for almost threequarters (72%) of the sector's growth and a 7% increase in the number of visitssince 2008.

However the restaurants experiencingthe greatest drop are those in the workplace and education - whose share of themarket has shrunk by 2.6 percentage points - from 19.5% in 2008 to 16.9% in theyear ending September 2011.

NPD believes the decline in this sector is down to quick service restaurantchains offering menu options, promotions and discounts that attract workers andstudents away from their office/campus and into their restaurants.

NPD's research also showed thatconsumers in London are more likely (55%) to visit quick service restaurants,when compared to 49.5% for consumers in the rest of the country.

Guy Fielding, NPD's director offoodservice for Europe, believes consumers in the capital are also a keyinfluence in the growth of the quick service sector. He said: "Consumersin London spent 7% more in restaurants this year and it is the quick servicerestaurants, serving burgers, ethnic dishes and chicken that have led thatgrowth.

"It's also about the quick servicerestaurants giving Londoners a good deal. Meal deals and promotions account for27% of spend at commercial restaurants in London, but they accounted for 100%of the growth. Consumers in London may eat out more than in other areas of thecountry, but only when the deal is right."

Food Consumer Discontinuity: Advantage C-Stores, Grocery and Drug Stores.

2012-01-15T05:15:00.000-08:00

Remember the old adage one step back then two forward. In order to understand what is occurring in the food space today sometimes its best if we take a look back. The shift in food retail consumers spending patterns or retail food consumer discontinuity started well before the economic down turn.

I hear regularly from clients that “our consumer is not doing what they have always done”. I have but one simple reply, your consumer is not the same as her/she was a year ago, five years ago nor will they be next year and neither should your brand be.

The confluence of increasing consumer knowledge about food via TV, the “food network”, and rapid restaurant industry growth, coupled with concept sameness, combined with the weak economy allowed trepidation too crept into restaurant executive planning meetings and board rooms across the industry in 2008 and seemly stay there.

In far too many restaurant companies the cry was for just wait it’s the economy not us all will be fine. That prevalence of mediocrity and complacency at the C-level was extremely naive. As an industry restaurateurs concern is and should be share of stomach; first by company, second by niche-market share, and third the restaurant industry overall at all times.

The economy is not the largest problem it is competition for share of stomach; specifically by the ready-2-eat prepared meal section of the grocery stores, Convenience stores, and Chain Drug stores. Under reported but significantly noted first in 2005 by Foodservice Solutions®. That was the first year that recorded a consumer increase in percent household spending for food in grocery stores and away from restaurants in 25 years.

The shift had been slow in coming but it has continued since 2005. That was the first such directional move in 25 years. That 25 year span can best be recalled as the golden age of chain restaurants, and marks a huge shift. The timing of this is important. Those were the boom years for the restaurant industry. During that period we witnessed double digit growth in new units with most tier one players year after year.

It is important to note that in the past 15 years the average grocery store has dropped or discontinued carrying 15,000 Sku’s (individual food ingredients) which is equal to two isles in a standard grocery store. They replaced them with less than 200 ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat fresh prepared food products. They created from those new ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat Sku’s a mix and match components that consumers bundled into customized family meals. Consumers now say most ready-2-eat components are restaurant quality. Those products are driving an increase in customer frequency and loyalty for Grocery stores, C-stores and Retail Drug store chains.

On top of that they have integrated the ready-2-eat and multi-daypart meal components food products foods into national advertising and weekly flyers. YES, an ilk equivalent to a restaurant meal bundled and priced very competitive with a focus on fresh better for you. Harris Teeter once described its remodeled stores salad bar and ready-2-eat foods as CASH COWS. Safeway stock is up sharply over the same period with the proven results from their ongoing remodel prepared food focused lifestyle stores. It must also be noted here that during that 25 year period while the US population was booming, grocery stores declined in number by 25,000 units while the restaurant industry grew by 200,000 plus outlets.

The grocery prepared food Industry leadership is being driven by European retailers. Three of specific note are Marks & Spencer, Morrison’s (M-Local) and Trader Joe’s with “tonight’s dinner” mostly refrigerated or quick chilled food components which blend their store brands with branded ingredients and simultaneously put their prepared meals on par with homemade. Today, Walgreens and Duane Reade both US retail drug stores are aggressively expanding into fresh ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat prepared food.

Walgreens initiative can best be called convenient meal participation. For the consumer it is interactive, participatory and inviting, providing “like” homemade touches via component bundling creating personal satisfaction. This as extremely compelling because Walgreens is an 81 Billion dollar company well financed and that makes this very competitive for the restaurant industry. This is not a fad but a trend that is now 27 years in the making. The trend began in 1985 with the food industry focus on Home Meal Replacement (HMR) and has progressed into a full-fledged battle for the consumer’s food dollar and share of stomach by all retail sectors.

The race for the consumer is transformational with more competitive points of distribution opening up all of the time. The traditional metrics for measuring success at chain restaurants is currently being challenged by the success of chains like; Buffalo Wild Wings, Chipotle, and Papa Murphy’s. These firms have carved out niche’s based on purpose, choice,

convenience and price. Realism is reflected in the customer counts and continued sales numbers for these companies.

The economy is a focus now, however since 2005 clear indicators are now providing a picture of what is important and changing with consumer eating habits particularly HOW THEY EAT, WHEN THEY EAT, and WHY THEY EAT.

Most notable is the change in consumer vision and role of food: including social eating, eating economically, environmental eating and eating for personal benefit! Yes personal benefit, only in America do consumers go on diets to eat their way thin! Ok, ask yourself does that work? If no keep reading.

Recently three chains particularly have addressed these issues and seem to be having success; Domino’s, Starbucks and Cheesecake Factory. Each company has had a dramatic overhaul of menu and positioning are now recovering building new and additional loyal customers.

The restaurant industry has not proved as agile as the Grocery, C-store or Drug Store sectors when it comes to attracting new consumer while expanding fresh food offerings since 2005. The confluence of events may in fact force our industry to look at how we run our business. It will not however force us to stick to outdated metrics, methods or models. Yes, “times they are a changing”. The challenge is to recapture share of stomach.

The grocery and drug store sector particularly have spent millions studying restaurant quality food, levels of service, packaging and product positioning. They have a wealth of knowledge and it is in play. The restaurant industries legacy of innovation combined with its ability to get products to market faster, places it first in the mind’s eye of the consumer. Increase success in the Grocerant niche call Foodservice Solutions®.

Invite Foodservice Solutions® to complete agrocerant program assessment, brand, product placement or positioningassistance. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the globalleader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson,Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant.

It’s 5 PM in January and you have No idea what’s for dinner.

2012-01-14T06:06:00.001-08:00

It’s cold, windy, snowy for most of theUnited States and its 5 PM, dark outside, the kids are hungry and you havenoting in the house to eat. You’re gettingin the car to head home now what do you do? (Time for Grocerant ready-2-eat or heat-N-eat fresh prepared food)

What is your first choice stop and pickeveryone up and go to a restaurant? Which restaurant? Will it costtoo much? Will everyone like that spot?How long will it take to gather everyone up and sit down, order, eat and returnhome? Should I order from my I Phone andstop at the restaurant and pick up food? I guess the questions is How tired amI?

Second choice should I stop at MetropolitanMarket, Central Market, HEB or Wegmans and pick up ready-2-heat or heat-N-eatfresh prepared pizza, prime rib with all the trimmings and a chicken Cesarsalad?

I could simply stop at Wawa, Subway or7 Eleven and get a fresh selection of prepared fresh sandwiches with freshfruit on the side? Then there isMcDonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell or Papa Murphy’s all fresh prepared food thatis ready-2-eat or heat-N-eat and all grocerant niche options. My point is this no one wants to cook fromscratch at 4PM, 5PM, or 6 PM. Let meknow where you will go tonight? Will you cook from scratch or visit agrocerant?

Invite Foodservice Solutions® to complete agrocerant program assessment, brand, product placement or positioningassistance. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the globalleader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson,Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant.

Grocerant Success the Future is here, are you?

2012-01-13T05:14:00.000-08:00

Consumer’s like fresh prepared readry-2-eat and heat-N-eat Grocerantfood. Thus Grocerant shoppers simplyshop more frequently. In Europeconsumers tend to shop more often, almost daily. And the mix between fresh-preparedand frozen is about 20-80 (as opposed to the US, wherefrozen foods dominate fresh-prepared 80-20 England). The grocery retailers haveadapted to this with small footprint stores like Tesco’s“Tesco Express,” Sainsbury’s “Local,” and Marks& Spencer’s “Simply Food.” Now fourth-place retailer Morrison’sis putting its hopes on M-Local. The video below will giveyou an excellent overview of the food retailing trends at work there:

There are some interesting innovations described here, including electronicpricing linked to price changes in the main computer (the “till”), and the 4xdaily deliveries. American fresh-prepared retailers are trying to stretch out“shelf” with things like High Pressure Pasteurization (HPP)instead of tackling the inefficiencies of their supply chain. Why? Consumers want Fresh. Small footprint only 3,000 SF. Now look at the offerings fresh food. This is better for you grocerantshopping. Are you ready for an tour? Contact Foodservice Solutions.

Invite Foodservice Solutions® to complete agrocerant program assessment, brand, product placement or positioningassistance. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the globalleader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson,Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant.

Burger King DELIVERS food from 11AM to 10PM in regional test.

2012-01-12T14:02:00.000-08:00

Burger Kingexpanding points of distribution is now offering food delivery at just a fewtest stores. This is a big event formobile ordering services around the world. It is even bigger for office catering, family meals and collegestudents. Ready-2-eat Burger King is ready for you. who will be next?

Burger King which operators 7,500 fast-food restaurants inthe U.S. and Canada, is testing out delivery service at some stores in Virginiaand Maryland as a possible way to boost sales.

“We are currentlytesting the service to bring this convenience to the U.S.,” Kristen Hauser, aspokeswoman for Burger King, said in an e-mail. The Miami-based chain willexpand its test to 16 locations from four by Jan. 23, she said, declining tosay whether the service will be offered nationwide.

During the testfood will be available from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., deliveries cost $2 and there isa minimum order of $8 to $10, depending on the market aka franchisee, accordingto Burger King’s website. The restaurant, whose rivals include Arby’s,McDonald’s Corp. and Wendy’s Co., is delivering meals such as 40-piece chickentenders and two bottled drinks for $10.99 and four large sandwich combos for$23.99.

Currently customerscan order online or via phone. Burger King doesn’t deliver fountain drinks,milkshakes, coffee and breakfast foods, Hauser said. The grocerant niche continues to expand it’sreach.

Outside eyes can deliver top line sales andbottom line profits. Invite Foodservice Solutions® to provide brand and product positioningassistance or a grocerant program assessment. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the globalleader in the Grocerant niche for more on Steven Johnson and FoodserviceSolutions® visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant

Retail Foodservice’s new growth vehicle the grocerant niche.

2012-01-12T05:33:00.000-08:00

Is your retail foodservice chainlike a Disney Movie, where everything is happy at the end of eachmovie/month? Where sales and profits areup and your customers walk out with a smile. Then you most likely have entered the grocerant niche. Grocery stores, Restaurants, Conveniencestores, Dollar Stores, Mobile food trucks and Kiosk are all improving thequality of the food that they sell. The race for share of stomach has neverbeen at a faster or more focused pace.

Consumers want to feel connectedto you brand and your brand must remain relevant in the mind’s eye of theconsumer. The convergence ofnon-traditional points of distribution, an evolving grocery fresh preparedsector and lingering economic conditions have created the perfect opportunityfor retail food brand expansion. Drug stores and Dollar stores are nowclamoring for traditional restaurant and grocery stores customers and garneringthem with new fresh food offerings.

It’s time that brand managerschallenge the premise of all new food product ideations, pressing, probing andprodding development teams to develop new products for each new avenue ofdistribution. Brandprotectionism never works. The retailfoodservice consumer is dynamic not static and the opportunity for ready-2-eatand heat-N-eat fresh prepared food has never been greater. It’s time to take a close look at what isunder your foodservice umbrella.

TESCO'S Fresh & Easy Not So Easy 7 Units to Close.

2012-01-10T15:03:00.000-08:00

Photo from LA Times

Fresh & Easy wanted to be a grocerant butfailed to follow a grocerant success path. Instead they tried to become a grocery stores with prepared food. They are far from the same thing.

Shen Li reports that: “Seven Southland grocery stores are among 12under-performing locations nationwide to be closed by Fresh & EasyNeighborhood Markets in an effort to boost profitability, a report says.

The seven stores in Southern California -- inAnaheim, Bakersfield, Baldwin Park, Fountain Valley, Fresno, Hemet and Ontario-- will close within the next few weeks, along with four stores in Phoenix andone in Las Vegas, company spokesman Brendan Wonnacot wrote in an email.

"At this time, there is simply not enoughgrowth in sales and customers at those stores to keep them open," Wonnacotsaid. "We will re-open them when economic and business conditionswarrant."…

Despite the store closings, El Segundo-basedFresh & Easy will continue to roll out new stores. More than two dozenlocations are to open their doors through March, including seven smaller-formatExpress stores in Los Angeles and Orange counties and five stores inSacramento.”

What Fresh & Easy needed todo was follow Foodservice Solutions® 5 P’s of food marketing: Product, Packaging, Placement, Portabilityand Price are all utilized by Walgreens and Duane Reade. Which by the way arebuilding top line sales, customer frequency and bottom line profits. Step by step, Walgreens has picked up theclues and is turning into a local grocerant nationwide. That as regular readersknow is not what’s happening at Fresh & Easy. sometimes global succes requires a global view: Foodservice Solutions has that view.

Invite Foodservice Solutions® to complete agrocerant program assessment, brand, product placement or positioningassistance. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the globalleader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson,Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant.

McDonalds garners market share while burger battle brews below.

2012-01-10T04:25:00.000-08:00

During the past 4 decades hamburgers drove sales and propelled theoverall restaurant industry. Without a doubt the hamburger is now globallyrecognized as a penultimate American food. It is ready-to-eat, hand held and preparedto eat on the run; convenient, simple and affordable. Contrary to popularbelief Americans do not eat hamburgers daily. There simply is not room in theminds-eye of the consumer for all of the hamburger chains in America today.

McDonalds with innovative new products, continually reimaging stores and afocus on the consumer is the global leader in restaurant sales and thehamburger niche. In the United States the undercurrents of a sector in upheavaland transition is emerging for every position except number one. McDonalds isand will remain number one for many years to come.

However legacy second tier hamburger chains Wendy’s, Burger King, Sonic arecircling in a quagmire of their own making. Each is trying to re-energize thehalo of success they have not seen in years. Success to date has provenallusive for each in their effort to re-energizing. It is very likely that oneor two of the three might very well be much smaller in five years than it istoday.

One of the reasons is that there are hamburger companies on the move includingSteak & Shake which is profitable once again and refocusing on growth. Thenupstarts Five Guy’s, Smashburger, Fatburger are garnering market share fromthose legacy second tier players. The next company in the QSR niche to watchwill be In-N-Out Burgers. If In-N-Out Burgers does half as well in Texas asthey do in California and Nevada they will accelerate growth and watch out. Oneof these three; Wendy’s, Burger King or Sonic might just fade away.

Is Carl’s Jr. losing market share because they tried to enter the mid price setwith the $ 4.00 burger or is it the California economy nagging at the door? Inany case the mid-priced hamburger category is over crowed as well. In fact wemay have seen the tipping point at the mid-priced burger category now thatseemingly all celebrities including the likes of, Bobby Flay, Emeril Legasseeach have opened and are more and more gourmet burger restaurants. While RedRobin and Fuddruckers struggle to maintain market share, The Hard Rock Café andTGI Fridays are trying to pull away from the burger category.

The metrics for the burger industries customer mix are in flux. Clearly some ofthe legacy players that focus on the franchisee more than the consumer aregoing to continue to lose market share too both new up-start chains andregional players that are positioned to win. I believe a shake-out in thehamburger niche will begin in 2012 and a road map to the future will evolvethis year.

Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® a Tacoma, WA based retail foodserviceconsultancy has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche. For product orbrand positioning assistance contact Steven Johnson and Foodservice Solutions®or visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant or on Facebook at Steven Johnson,BING, ASK, orGOOGLE: Grocerants or follow us at twitter.com/grocerant

Foodservice Solutions® Restaurant IN’s and OUT’s.

2012-01-09T05:21:00.000-08:00

Foodservice Solutions Grocerant Guru Steven Johnson announces Restaurant2012 IN and OUT’s. 2011 by any count wasa year that marked the start of major transformation within the restaurantindustry. New aggressive competitors focusedon selling fresh ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat prepared food. Most notable was the convenience storesector, grocery stores delis and chain drug stores all entering fresh preparedfood space. With that in mind here areSteven Johnson’s 2012 IN and OUT’s:

OUT: Dine-In
IN: Food Portability

OUT: Template TV Advertising
   IN: Web portals with your video

OUT: Brand Protectionism
   IN: Brand Evolution

OUT: In Store Training
   IN: On-Going Educating

OUT: Working the kitchen
   IN: Consumers view food cooking

OUT: Calendar filled with tactics linking Promo’s with advertisingschedule

IN: Foodservice Solutions® 5 P’s of food marketing andIntegrated Strategy

OUT: You’re the manager of the restaurant
    IN: You’re the mayor of yourcommunity

OUT: You’re in the restaurant business
    IN: You’re in the marketing/networkingbusiness

OUT: National One Size Fits All Menu
   IN: National Halo menu with Regional Identity Menu

OUT: Menu Boards
   IN: Digital Menus screens with Menuand HD Visceral Brand Stories

OUT: High Turnover and associated high cost

    IN: Employee Health CareStability and associated high cost

OUT: Bound, Laminated or Paper Menus
   IN: I Pad Menus

OUT: Yellow Page Advertising
    IN: Local Sponsorships withVisibility

Invite Foodservice Solutions® to complete agrocerant program assessment, brand, product placement or positioningassistance. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the globalleader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson,Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant.

McDonalds, Wendy's, Chick-fil-A trying Fast Casual

2012-01-08T06:13:00.000-08:00

WhileWawa, Sheetz, and 7 Eleven each has successfully expand into traditional QSRspace with quality fresh prepared ready-2-eat and heat-n-eat food. McDonalds, Wendy’s and Chick-Fil-A are inaddition remodeling stores with attributes more a kin to fast casualrestaurants than traditional QSR’s.

Whatis really happening is a confluence of events that is culminating and drivingmultiple legacy retail food niches and legacy food retailers into adoptingFoodservice Solutions® 5 P’s of food marketing: Product, Packaging, Placement, Portabilityand Price; in order to maintain consumer relevance.

Successful retail food operators must leverage the 5 P’s of foodmarketing to build strong sales with an integrated grocerant niche food programfilled with distinctive differentiated foodconsumables as an entity with identity by day part.

Here is one example, my formula for establishing customer focused pricein 2012:

Price + Quality +Service + Portability = Value

Incremental Value =Constantly Changing Menu (Seasonally / Sustainability with creditability).

Foodservice Solutions® recognized as the global leader in the Grocerant niche!

2012-01-07T05:47:00.000-08:00

Cultivating a brand is moreimportant that managing a brand. Brands are dynamic not static, they developand grow with our consumers. Understanding the unique balance between palate,price, pleasure and the consumer’s drive for qualitative distinctivedifferentiated new messaging; places Foodservice Solutions team in a selectindustry grouping.

During the past 18 years we havedeveloped over 5 billion Dollars in new avenues of business revenue forclients and companies. Identifyingdistinctive differentiated programs, positioning and consumable’s by day partthat reflect the brand, industry trends, consumer preferences, not fads. This isthe area that we particularly excel. The food value proposition equilibrium forthe consumer today balances; better foryou, flavor, and traditional products all blended into something with a twist. In industry speak, differentiated does not mean different to theconsumer it means familiar.

Theprice, value, service equilibrium is resetting in Grocery stores, Restaurantsand C- stores. Each is reconfiguringtheir offerings of ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat fresh prepared menu items or mealcomponents for grocerant niche success. Outside eyes can shed new lightand assist in your pace of growth, redevelopment and deployment of your newproducts. Do you need help understandingthe new success metric’s within retail foodservice?

Quality Fresh Ready-2-Eat Food in Convenience Stores.

2012-01-06T04:02:00.001-08:00

Harkin back to thedays that employee’s uniforms were back & white. Employees all dawned paper hats, a time thatthe roller grill was introduced and ready-2-eat hot prepared food wasintroduced in the Convenience store channel. It was a time when the availability of food staples in extended hours ofoperations drove sales in this dynamic channel.

The Conveniencestore channel continues to be dynamic; currently it is booming in the preparedready-2-eat and heat-N-eat food sector or what I call the grocerantsector. I believe that differentiationdoes not mean different it means familiar within each food niche and this oneis no different. Consumers young and oldare demanding more choice, fresher quality and more contemporary food optionsand convenience stores are stepping up.

Niche and industryglobal leader 7-Eleven de-emphasize the roller grill and recently hasintroduced Fresh Bananas, Pizza, and Chicken Wings. They are testing in new pilot stores their “latestinsights into market trends to provide a range of 45 freshly prepared foodproducts, including a hot breakfast menu and toasted sandwiches cooked toorder.” This test includes a “café-esque range of hot lunch alternatives andwill combine with Lavazza to offer barista-made coffee.”

Sheetz & Wawaboth offer a full range of prepared food choice including fresh salads andfruit options. Good companies do good things over and over again. Recently Wawa CEO Howard Stoeckel detailedseveral efforts the convenience store chain is undertaking in during theeconomic slump the US is in, He stated "we're performing better than thevast majority of retailers," Freshprepared ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat food products are strongly contributing toon-going sales and profit success.

Legacy Fast food is in the throes of drive-thru Darwinism

2012-01-05T04:34:00.000-08:00

Timesthey are a changing as the song goes. Regular readers of this blog understand the rapid currents of growthtaking place within the grocerant niche filled with ready-2-eat and heat-N-eatfresh and prepared food. Part of thatniche includes QSR’s, however that seems to be the one sub-sector strugglingwith repositioning while attracting new consumers.

TiffanyHsu of the Los Angles Times wrote the following which all of my regular readerswill enjoy

“Fast-food eateries are inthe throes of drive-through Darwinism as more upscale upstarts, such as Chipotle Mexican Grill and Panera Bread Co.,grab market share from the likes of Taco Bell, Subway and Wendy's.

Chains that are fancier than fast-food options but cheaper than sit-downalternatives are part of a hybrid sector known as fast-casual that is maturinginto one of the food industry's strongest.

That category is tapping into growing demand for more healthful, specialtyfoods that are still speedily served and moderately priced. Fast-casual issteadily poaching fast-food customers looking for better quality and sit-downdiners seeking cheaper prices, said NPD analyst Bonnie Riggs.

"There's no end in sight to their growth," Riggs said. "They'vedelivered on consumers' value expectations far more than most fast-foodplaces." …

But the boundaries are blurring. Eateries such as Carl's Jr., with its SixDollar Burger, and foodie-favorite In-N-Out straddle the line betweenfast-casual and fast food. Drive-throughs are appearing at Panera locations.Some fast-casual chains are experimenting with delivery, usually an optionprovided by sit-down restaurants.

"We're going to continue to see more fuzziness in how to define theserestaurants," said Robert L. Sandelman, chief executive of food serviceresearch group Sandelman & Associates.” Folks let’s face it this is the GROCERANT NICHE. Want to get caught up on the niche read someof our pervious blogs.

Outsideeyes can deliver top line sales and bottom line profits. InviteFoodservice Solutions® to complete a grocerant program assessment, brand,product placement or positioning assistance. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the globalleader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerantortwitter.com/grocerant.

Duane Reade food is for those who are ready-2-eat.

2012-01-04T06:11:00.000-08:00

Duane Reade is part of $72 billion dollar WalgreenCompany, which acquired the chain of over 250+ stores nearly two yearsago. While Walgreen’s has 450+ CafeW’s located within some of their 7,500+ storeswhen it comes to ready-2-eat or heat-N-eat food innovation Duane Reade takes the lead for Walgreens.

Duane Reade has put fresh food on the menu not justthe shelves. Select Duane Reade locations are now serving sushi, sandwiches,beer and frozen yogurt. Walgreen’s withDuane Reade and CafeW’s is clearly helping grow the grocerant niche.

All food retailers should be taking notebecause as Adrianne Pasquarelli reported and I quote “Linda Alexander used tograb lunch at one of the numerous eateries near her office on Broadway. Butlately, the public relations executive is buying her grub at Duane Reade.

“It's insanely convenient,” said the foodie, whofavors the chain's salads, frozen TV dinners and Eli Zabar sandwiches. “They'recheap as hell, which is a problem, because I certainly want to patronize thelocal delis, but Duane Reade is much cheaper.”

Duane Reade's ready-2-eat prepared fresh foodoptions are obviously a big hit. PaulTiberio, senior vice president of merchandising and marketing at Duane Readestated “that already almost a third of Duane Reade's sales come from food,including its own private label Good & Delish branded products. “Wecertainly are making things more convenient” for consumers, he said. Ok, yesthese stores are in New York City, but have you seen the food isle at yourlocal Walgreen?

Foodservice Solutions® 5 P’s offood marketing: Product, Packaging,Placement, Portability and Price are all utilized by Walgreens and DuaneReade. Step by step, Walgreens haspicked up the clues and is turning into a local grocerant nationwide.

Outside eyes candeliver top line sales and bottom line profits. Invite Foodservice Solutions®to complete a grocerant program assessment, brand, product placement orpositioning assistance. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the globalleader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerantortwitter.com/grocerant.

Where is the beef: are there too many burger joints?

2012-01-03T05:00:00.000-08:00

Whenit comes to ready-2-eat fresh prepared food, there is nothing that sells betterin the U.S. than the hamburger. In facttwo of 2011’s fastest growing restaurant chains sell hamburgers as theirmainstay product Smashburger and Five Guys Burger and Fries.

Howeverthe USDA reports that over the past 10 years, per capita beef consumption at57.4 lbs., down 13 percent and down about 25 percent from 1980. In 2012, USDApredicts, Americans will eat 54.1 lbs. of beef on average.

Thereis a confluence of events particularly the rise of the grocerant niche pullingconsumers away from traditional home cooked meals and cooked from scratch mealswith beef as the main dish. Today aplethora of outlets offer ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat fresh prepared mealcomponents that are utilizing leaner meats as well as vegetarian offerings andmany meals / components that simply focus on the “better for you”health-conscious.

ChrisCalkins professor at University of Nebraska said that “Beef suppliers, likeTyson Foods, JBS, Cargill, and National Beef, are carving up beef carcasses ininteresting new ways. Carcass portions that were once meant for ground meat orroasts, such as rounds and chucks, are now sliced into cheaper cuts of steaksfor the American palate. These less expensive cuts became popular during therecession.”

Howeverthe recession will end. Grocerantretailers are not going away they are expanding offerings, locations and evenmore competitive pricing. What will become of the over supply of burger joints?

Invite Foodservice Solutions® to complete agrocerant program assessment, brand, product placement or positioningassistance. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the globalleader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson,Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant.

McDonalds heating up Denmark

2012-01-02T14:43:00.000-08:00

It not so cold this year in Denmark now thatMcDonalds is heating it up with a little spice. Customers of the Denmark McDonald’s will be the first to try their new Big Hot Jalapeno Burger or Chicken Jalapeno Burger. Made withsliced chiles, the new additions to McDonald’s menu will hopefully signal anopenness to add more spiciness to the menu.

With a brand as large as the Golden Arches,it’s always a hard to find somewhere test a new item. Let’s face it McDonalds has a focused yetbland menu. With a global audience it ishard sell to bring in an item with any exemplary amount of “heat” for fear ofalienating their customer base. We’ve seen a few LTO’S that were spicy here inthe States. I’m guessing that if itfly’s well here it will roll out on a globally.

When the world is ready-2-eat McDonalds isthere! Jalapeno Burger Lovin it!

Here is the YouTube line to the TV commercialrunning with the promo: http://www.youtube.com/user/McDonaldsDanmark?feature=watch

Invite Foodservice Solutions® to complete agrocerant program assessment, brand, product placement or positioningassistance. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the globalleader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson,Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant.

Jollibee Foods Corp. plans to grow Pho24 in 2012

2012-01-02T05:09:00.001-08:00

Philippines fast-food ready-2-eat giantJollibee Foods Corp. (JFC) has a road map for growth with a $60-million deal tobuy half of the business of a food group that operates a chain of HighlandsCoffee, Hard Rock Cafe and Pho24restaurants across the region.

JFC has advanced $5 million to theSuperFoods group, which very recently acquired Pho24, which has 48 storesacross the region, specifically in Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines, Hong Kong,Cambodia and Japan. Pho24, which serves Vietnamese dish with rice noodles asits core product, and provides the platform for continued growth in Asia.

Highlands Coffee serves Vietnamesecoffee and ready-2-eat light meals in 54 trendy coffee shops in Vietnam. It alsosells packaged coffee through retail outlets. The combined synergy will propelJFC to become a long term growth player in Asian retail foodservice for yearsto come and the grocerant niche.

Invite Foodservice Solutions® to complete agrocerant program assessment, brand, product placement or positioningassistance. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the globalleader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson,Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant.

Is your Restaurant like a Kodak Camera or a Disney movie?

2012-01-01T05:19:00.000-08:00

I have you noticed that Kodak is nearly out of business. Growing up inthe 1960’s and ‘70’s, every family had a Kodak Camera and I still have one ofmine. Those yellow boxes were everywhere and getting your very own Kodachromecamera was seemingly a rite of passage, heck, Paul Simon even wrote a songabout it.

As digital cameras gained popularity, Kodak stuck to what they believed. Theysneered at digital’s quality, righteous in their knowledge that Americans wouldNEVER give up shiny pictures for their photo albums.

Today, cell phone cameras take most of the pictures and they are rarelyprinted. Kodak will shut the doors, correct in their assertion thatprofessionally developed pictures look better than low-resolution versionsuploaded to Facebook.

Beingdead and correct is not a great strategy. Today chain restaurants are either growing ordying much the same as Kodak. Simply look at restaurants that filed bankruptcyof late: Claim Jumper, Mr. Pita, Friendly’s, Chevys, Sbarro, Perkins. Theyare not all dead but they have been far from right.

These are statements frequently heard from legacy restaurant operators. LikeKodak, crystal clear that what has always worked will continue to work.

• Our executives have 30 years of experience and know how to run the business.
• We never use coupons, nor do we deliver.
• We don’t allow our brand to wander, we protect our brand.
• We don’t use online ordering, I-pad ordering or voice screen ordering.
• We don’t advertise on Google, Twitter or Facebook.
• We don’t open for breakfast.
• We like the umbrella approach each store different personality but under oneumbrella.
• Video menus and video signage is visceral gimmickry.
• We don’t measure ingredients, we create daily specials and simply showemployees how to make it
• We can’t raise our menu prices.

How did a dominant brand and sector leader like Kodak, in a rock-solid consumerstaple lose everything? Simple, they determined the market, the direction ofthat market and took the steps to conquer it. If that sounds like your restaurant, retailfood sector or niche leader, you better keep reading.

There is little about today’s market, the consumer or food marketing /promotions that was predictable 3 years ago. In the next three years the rateof change will continue to increase. So let’s look at the above list:

Reliability and a comfortable working relationship is correctly a key tosuccess. However, if you find your teamis blaming the economy, minimum wages increases, cost of health care and risingfood cost for disappointing results. Do not forget that many restaurants companiesare growing both the top and bottom line, number of units and garnering marketshare. It might be time for OutsideEyes.

We always/never use coupons – coupons and promotions are very complicatedtoday. Add the online aggregators the ilk of Livingsocial and Groupon and howcan you know what works. Here is the point, what you measure you manage. Alladvertising must have a objective that is clear and measurable to insure aproper marketing ROI.

We don’t deliver – face it, convenience is a driving reason why foodservice is popular.If you do not want to deliver, consider outsourcing. Delivery is not about you. That’s right it isabout the consumer.

We protect the value of our brand and its integrity for the consumer,our shareholders and stakeholders. Weknow the consumer is dynamic not static, but our customer’s comeback because wehave a brand promise and they trust in us to keep that promise. Sounds a lotlike Kodak, don’t you think?

We don’t use online ordering our food does not “carry” well. Think about this if you don’t have a way toconnect your menu to computers and mobile devices, your competition will wooyour customers. Consumers are time starved, and hooked on technology, make iteasy.

Google or Facebook – as above, set up a Facebook page, it costs nothing. Havesomeone help if you need it and then monitor your page 5 minutes a day. Don’t think about it get started today.

We don’t open for breakfast – you pay rent 24/7, find ways to increase theutilization of your “factory”. Considering catering or school lunch program,contract out your kitchen. Don’t becomethe next Kodak of chain restaurants.

Different store brands / personalities under one large corporation and allexpected to operate utilizing a uniform set of metrics. Worked well in the 70’s, 80’s but you havethe answer. Let me know just how wellthat works out.

Visceral gimmickry does not replace high quality food and great serviceever. Who defines quality service? Youvia your brand promise or the consumer?

We don’t measure ingredients; my employees know how much to use – why have menuprices, let customer pay whatever they want. If you don’t care what yourproduct costs, you CAN’T make money.
We can’t raise our menu prices – tell that to the gas station owner on thecorner, or the farmer growing your food. Costs are up, you must raise your menuprices or you will not exist.

Kodak management, smart and hard working as they were, did not see the worldchanging, fortunately you do. Realize that change is good and necessary. Actnow to challenge your assumption, create new revenue streams and increaseprofits. Success does leave clues, Disneymovies leave you with a smile, being dead and correct is not a greatstrategy.

Ed Zimmerman contributed to this blog and can be found: http://www.thefoodconnector.com/

Happy New Year

2011-12-31T08:15:00.000-08:00

Foodservice Solutions® assist companies in demystifying foodchannel points of distribution and menu opportunity. We specialize in Grocerantniche program strategy development, including program rollout with consumerrelevant contemporized components, specifically brand edifying new productpositioning and brand continuum positioning.

Many legacy companiespeg their brand to a specific product or day-part. In industry terms it’s calledbrand protectionism. Foodservice Solutions® integrates its 5 P’s of foodmarketing (Product, Packaging, Placement, Portability and Price) into a companyspecific retail food strategy; providing a platform for success within thefastest growing retail food sector the grocerant niche.

Invite FoodserviceSolutions® for innovation ideation, for brand food brainstorm sessions, newproduct placement ideations. Is it time that you tried our grocerant programassessments. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been theglobal leader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerantor twitter.com/grocerant

Top 10 searched restaurant brands.

2011-12-30T06:11:00.000-08:00

The list below contains theGoogle’s top searched restaurant brands for 2011.

The list is as follows:

1. Pizza Hut
2. Domino’s
3. Papa John’s
4. Starbucks
5. McDonald’s
6. Olive Garden
7. Subway
8. Applebee’s
9. Jimmy John’s
10. Buffalo Wild Wings

Want to know more The list,including weekly and monthly details, can be found here:
http://www.googlezeitgeist.com/en/top-lists/us/lifestyle/restaurants

Subway will grow at a rate of 6.8 stores a day.

2011-12-29T04:36:00.000-08:00

Subwaynow exists in 98 countries adding 5 new restaurants a day worldwide. Subway nowhas more than 35,800 franchised locations. This year became the world's largestrestaurant chain in terms of number of locations, and was just named the topranked restaurant brand in Entrepreneur magazine's annual Franchise 500listings. Can you say $ 5.00 foot-long! Has your company made the list of late?

Subway's2011 openings included 1,000 new locations in the U.S. and Canada alone. A bigpart of the chain's growth came from nontraditional spaces such as conveniencestores, department stores, train stations, museums, hotel lobbies and movietheaters. This year marked the company's 8,000th nontraditional opening. Theconsumer is dynamic not static your brand should be as well.

Subway'sgrowth is expected to continue into 2012, with plans to add 2,500 morerestaurants, approximately 6.8 new stores a day worldwide. So how is fast is brand growing? Not growing,Why?

InviteFoodservice Solutions® for innovation ideation, for brand re- positioningbrainstorm sessions, new product placement ideations. Is it time that you tried our grocerant program assessments. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the globalleader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson,Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant

Chain Restaurant sameness creates consumer discontinuity.

2011-12-28T04:31:00.000-08:00

Grocerant nicheready-2-eat and heat-N-eat food continues to drive top line growth. Restaurantconsumer discontinuity is the focus on much attention from consultants to chainexecutives. As an industry our concernis and should be share of stomach, first by company, second byniche-market share and third the restaurant industry overall.

The economy is notour largest problem it is competition for share of stomach; specifically bythe ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat freshprepared meal section of the grocery stores and C-stores or as I call it theGrocerant section.

Under reported butwell known by regular reader of this blog. Noted and followed here atFoodservice Solutions since 2005. Whichwas by; the way the first year that recorded a consumer increase in percenthousehold spending for food in grocery stores and away from restaurants in 25years. It continues, we understand whyare here to help.

Restaurants, Grocerystores and the Convenience store sectors are all competing for shareof stomach and the consumers are attracted to the options presentedby within the Grocerant niche. Is yourcompany in need of a grocerant niche assessment, national or global grocerantstore tour?

Invite Foodservice Solutions® for innovationideation, for brand re- positioning brainstorm sessions, new product placementideations. Is it time that you tried our grocerant program assessments. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the globalleader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson,Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant

Catering is a platform for food brand manager success watch Safeway.

2011-12-27T04:48:00.000-08:00

Unbounded opportunity for food marketing brand managers is developing inthe Grocerant niche (prepared ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat better for you food).Consumer Reports found in a head-to-head qualitative blind taste test 29 storebranded food products were tested that, 23 of the 29 private label vs storebranded products scored as good as or better than the national brand. With the success in private label behindthem, grocery stores are catering fresh prepared food with a focus on localbusiness offices.

Grocerant food that is ready-2-eat fresh prepared food is now finding itsway in large store formats like Safeway’s Lifestyle stores, HEB’s CentralMarket, and Harris Teeter to the table of business luncheons. Utilizing traditional category management techniquesall of these companies are seeing success in fresh food. Lead by Safeway’s Brand Marketing team freshfood offerings are being pushed from store to the office party all whileexpanding the brand freshness.

Catering fresh prepared ready-2-eat or heat-N-eat food is nothingnew. The Safeway has studied theindustry and picked up all the right clues. Within retail food service there is a battle for share of stomach. Thebrand managers at Safeway are focused on the consumer with fresh prepared ready-2-eatfood all while extending the brand.

Invite Foodservice Solutions® for innovationideation, for brand re- positioning brainstorm sessions, new product placementideations. Is it time that you tried our grocerant program assessments. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the globalleader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson,Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant

Ready-2-Eat fresh branded food propels growth for Convenience-store sector.

2011-12-26T05:14:00.000-08:00

Building both the top andbottom line, convenience stores make growth look easy. Leveraging legacy locations, convenience,speed of service while integrating branded fresh prepared ready-2-eat andheat-N-eat food; convenience stores are garnering customers from both therestaurant and grocery sectors.

Convenience stores foodserviceofferings have largely been over looked or dismissed by Quick ServiceRestaurant chain operators and grocery stores. Following the lead of Wawa, Sheetz, Rutters and now 7 Eleven theconvenience store sector is branding food programs from coast to coast. More importantly they are garnering a lagershare of stomach with improving food quality, healthful offerings and speed ofservice that quite frankly QSR’s can’t keep up with.

David Sprinkle,publisher of Packaged Facts stated "By enhancing foodservice quality andvariety, we believe convenience stores are poised to benefit from increasedsales of gasoline and other merchandise, as consumers seek to consolidate theirpurchases in the interest of efficiency"…"Because it is so wellpositioned, we anticipate that convenience store industry foodservice salesgrowth will outperform the retail and restaurant foodservice industry averagethrough 2013."

In fact PackagedFacts projects that convenience store foodservice sales grew 6% in 2010, andwill rise an additional 6% in 2011 and 5% in 2012.

Invite Foodservice Solutions® for innovationideation, for brand positioning, product placement. Do you need a grocerant program assessment? Since 1991 FoodserviceSolutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant nichevisit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant ortwitter.com/grocerant

Happy Holiday's

2011-12-23T13:07:00.000-08:00

Food retailers battle for market share in 2012.

2011-12-23T04:38:00.000-08:00

Grocery stores,Restaurants and Convenience stores are all scurrying to reposition theirproduct /menu mix of better for you prepared food to garner an increase in shareof stomach. Competitive may notbe a strong enough word for the battle between sectors and companies for theconsumer. The Grocerant niche is whereall the action is consisting of better for you prepared portable ready-2-eatand heat-N-eat food.

McDonalds, Wegmans,Starbucks, Sheetz, Boston Market and Wawa have done great things in thefoodservice area but the equilibrium between financial success and breakthroughtop of mind recognition might be amiss. In SethGodin's book Purple Cow where the entrepreneur wants to recapture some ofthe magic that the brand at one time had. Godin suggests that the key tosuccess is finding a way to stand out and be remarkable, like a purple cow in afield of regular cows.
The challenged foreach company is the ability to see and understand the customers focus at itscore, not your brands core. Success does leave clues and companies leading thecharge in 2012 will be leaders within their niche for years to come.
Does your team havethe ability to ask outliner questions of researchers in order to identifyoutliner results for your product or brand? Have you identified a new avenue of distribution or a new product thatcan be your Purple Cow? Many companiesare in turmoil due to the economic quagmire, very few companies will dosomething bold, new and fresh if they do they will garner market share foryears to come.
We 'can't run fast,leap tall buildings but we sure can think outside the box with a consumerfocus. Do you need an outsiders eye’swith inside knowledge, capable of assisting you to break out of the quagmireand into a new leadership role within your niche. Now is when the next generations of industryleaders are being formed. We all know the status quo is not. Success does leave clues and looking forwardis just one of them. For help findingyour purple cow, call Foodservice Solutions®.

Outside eyes candeliver top line sales and bottom line profits. Invite FoodserviceSolutions® to complete a grocerant program assessment, brand, product placementor positioning assistance. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the globalleader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson,Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant

Fred Meyer Northwest Holiday Meal with Sustainability

2011-12-22T02:02:00.000-08:00

Kroger has a national footprint in the grocery sector. One of Kroger’s keys to success isdecentralization, utilizing the national halo of Kroger then leveragingregional brand names to position it as close to the customer as it can. WithPortland, Oregon headquarter Fred Meyer, Kroger has a winner this holidayseason with its ready-2-eat holiday meal specials.

Fred Meyer focusing on Northwest holiday traditions, familygatherings and fishing season, again this year is promoting a Mix and MatchFresh Local Northwest Dungeness Crab bundled meal. For a limited time they offer Whole CookedDungeness Crab, Signature Salad, Sonoma Chardonnay, Lounsbury Cocktail Sauce,baked or take and bake baguette and of course butter.

In the northwest nothing say holiday like breaking bread andcrackin’ crab. Fred Meyer leveragesregional favorites, local suppliers and first of the season, into local,favorite and happy holiday sales. Success within the grocerant ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat niche is asimple as crackin’ crab!

Outside eyes candeliver top line sales and bottom line profits. Invite FoodserviceSolutions® to complete a grocerant program assessment, brand, product placementor positioning assistance. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the globalleader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson,Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant

Domino’s engaging consumers via Facebook.

2011-12-21T03:35:00.001-08:00

Understanding the consumer is something thatDomino’s Pizza does better than anyone other pizza company in America. Thisweek seeking consumer interactive brand participation Domino’s up-loaded totheir facebook.com home page the photo’s above.

Note: This is pizza is an ideation only, butgarnering attention from consumers and competitors alike. Here is what some aresaying “Uploaded to the brand’s Facebookpage, this pizza makes use of cheese as a backdrop of snow, spinach as theleaves of the tree, sausage as the trunk, olives, red peppers and tomatoes asdecor and a yellow pepper as the star.”

Starbucks stated with online product ideationssuggestion while many scoffed at the attempt, service, quality, store “look andfeel” have all been influenced of late. The consumer is dynamic not static allowing ones brand to grow with theconsumer is a key element in continued brand growth.

Outside eyes candeliver top line sales and bottom line profits. Invite FoodserviceSolutions® to complete a grocerant program assessment, brand, product placementor positioning assistance. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the globalleader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson,Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant

Restaurants can say yes to Food Stamps.

2011-12-20T03:36:00.000-08:00

Food StampRecipients deserve the full range of Alternative and Affordable Meal Solutions.Food Stamps, or now more commonly called EBT cards (ElectronicBenefits Transfer) should be accepted at Fast Food (QSR) restaurants.

YumBrands did the right thing requesting permission to accept food stamps at fastfood…its restaurants in Kentucky. Our question is: why not in every state?

The reported US unemployment rate is hovering at 8.9%,but we all know that combined with the underemployed and those not even lookingany longer the unemployment rate is much closer to 20%. It's clear a largeportion of America is going without. Unemployment numbers aredisproportionately high for those under 24 and over 55 increasing anxiety whilecreating a climate of disorder in the workforce.

The NPD Group reports that" the number of annual restaurantvisits by an average Millennial consumer (age 16 to 30) has dropped from 245visits five years ago to 192 this year -- approximately one fewer visit eachweek. Additionally, a NationalRestaurant Association survey found that in July, restaurant performance dropped toits lowest level in almost a year, and restaurant owners predicted their worstoverall performance expectations in 20 months. This gets more complicated as fastfood blurs the lines between a meal and a snack .

Subsidized in part with food stamp programs Conveniencesstores, Chain Drug Stores, Grocery Stores and now WalmartExpress are increasing fresh food sales and garnering ready-2-eat market share.

Why Are the Food Police ignoring 45 Million people'sneeds in using food stamps for fast food?

QSR's,Fast Casual, Casual Dining and all other restaurant formats as well as deli'sshould be able to accept food stamps. Why?

Recession, stagnation or double dip… 45 million plus Americans are currently receivingassistance from the Food and Nutrition Service division of theU.S. Department of Agriculture (the USDA SNAP), which oversees the foodstamp program. Like most legacy government programs it's time to update thisprogram ensuring participant parity and contemporized consumer relevance. Foranother view here is a link:

http://foodbeverage.about.com/b/2011/11/28/yum-brands-retreats-from-lobbying-for-food-stamps-at-fast-food.htm

Invite Foodservice Solutions® to complete agrocerant program assessment, brand, product placement or positioningassistance. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the globalleader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerantortwitter.com/grocerant.

Quickchek when you’re ready-2-eat all day every day.

2011-12-19T05:26:00.000-08:00

It does not matterwhat time of day to get started, Quickchek has fresh coffee, iced coffee, hotchocolate, cappuccino 24 hours a day every day. Quickchek is one of the leading convenience store chains selling qualityready-2-eat and heat-N-eat fresh food. Quickchek is focused on the grocerant niche and building customerloyalty and frequency with fresh food.

Understanding the power of choice they havebreakfast burritos, sandwiches. TheRancho burrito is filled with Scrambled eggs, pepper jack cheese,southwest corn and black bean salsa in a 10” tortilla. They have a breakfast club sandwich with scrambled eggswith ham, bacon, cheddar cheese and tomatoes with roasted tomato and garlicspread on a sub roll. Quickchek is notyour grandfather’s convenience store.

Theyhave chicken wings with a choice of five signature sauces including Spicy buffalo,creamy ranch, honey mustard, Bourbon BBQ or low fat jalapeno ranch. With a full complement of signature saladsand premium Angus Burgers Quickchek’s menu is more akin to many legacy casualrestaurants chains than legacy C-stores. Built on quality food and convenience Quickchek is rapidly growing inthe grocerant niche.

Invite Foodservice Solutions® to complete agrocerant program assessment, brand, product placement or positioningassistance. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the globalleader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson,Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant.

Walgreens testing Soft Serve or food court.

2011-12-18T04:30:00.000-08:00

Whenyou’re ready-2-eat your next sweet treat you may just be stopping by one of the459+ Walgreens CafeW’s for a frozen yogurt. Duane Reade aka Walgreens in NYCbegan testing a new frozen yogurt bar. Now at the 52^nd and Broadway location you can find a: slurpee-esque Freezee station, its Good& Delish oatmeal station, self-serve juice/smoothie offerings and the SushiStation for fresh custom ordered sushi and frozen yogurt. That sounds like a food court to me.

The Yogurt bar is called the “Fro-Yo Bar willinclude the following flavors: Vanilla, Chocolate, Original Tart, BlueberryTart, Strawberry, Vanilla, Chocolate, Mango, Coffee and Peach. Toppings willinclude various candies, fresh fruit, cereals and Ghirardelli sauces.”

I like what Walgreens is doing. They carry both fresh ready-2-eat andheat-N-eat prepared food. I think that theaddition of frozen yogurt is a perfect complement to cafeW’s all around thecountry. If you’re in the store waitingfor a prescription to be filled a cup of coffee or a frozen yogurt is a perfectway to pass the time. Walgreens is goingto be a large player in the ready-2-eat, heat-N-eat grocerant niche.

Invite Foodservice Solutions® to complete agrocerant program assessment, brand, product placement or positioningassistance. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the globalleader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerantortwitter.com/grocerant.

Foodservice Solutions® retail food success comes in the Grocerant Niche.

2011-12-17T04:22:00.000-08:00

The Grocerant niche is inclusive of allready-2-eat and heat-N-eat fresh and prepared fresh food products offered byany food retailer. This niche is drivenby demand from consumers. Food retail companiesare now flooding into the space focused on ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat fresh andprepared food.

Foodservice Solutions® assist companiesin demystifying food channel points of distribution and menu opportunity. We specialize in Grocerant niche programstrategy development, including program rollout with consumer relevantcontemporized components, specifically brand edifying new product positioningand brand continuum positioning.

Many legacy companies peg their brandto a specific niche, product or channel. In industry terms it’s called brand protectionism. FoodserviceSolutions® integrates its 5 P’s of food marketing (Product, Packaging, Placement,Portability and Price) into a company specific retail food strategy; providinga platform for success within the fastest growing retail food sector the grocerantniche.

The consumer is dynamic not static,brands must be the same. FoodserviceSolutions views a product or brand from the consumer view utilizing wellestablished but different set of consumer metrics than legacy traditionalinternal metrics. Outside eyes can deliver top line sales and bottom line profits.

Invite Foodservice Solutions® to complete agrocerant program assessment, brand, product placement or positioningassistance. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the globalleader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerantortwitter.com/grocerant.

Burger King innovation success comes in better French Fries and Free.

2011-12-16T05:23:00.001-08:00

Foodservice Solutions® 5 P’s offood marketing are: Product, Packaging,Placement, Portability and Price. TodayBurger King has declared “FreeFries Friday”. Burger King is leveragingall® 5 P’s of food marketing are: Product,Packaging, Placement, Portability and Price offeringconsumer a free sample order of fries.

Free is “better for you”; the newBurger King French Fry, which I have had the opportunity to try is Good. Indeed, it is then a “better for you” productwith a “halo” of brand value and industry buzz via the free promo that willallow Burger King to regain some momentum in the burger sector.

Leo Leon, vice president, globalinnovation, Burger King Corp stated “We believe our new fries are the latestexample of our commitment to quality and innovation, and we invite everyone tovisit our restaurants and taste the difference.”

Here at Foodservice Solutions®differentiation does not mean different it means similar with a twist. The new Burger King French Fry is verynoticeably better and the twist is it will be a quality driver moving forward.

Outside eyes candeliver top line sales and bottom line profits. Invite FoodserviceSolutions® to complete a grocerant program assessment, brand, product placementor positioning assistance. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the globalleader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson,Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant.

Boston Market: Fewer Units Again

2011-12-15T05:14:00.000-08:00

Boston Market finds itself at the end of 2011 with fewertotal units than they had in 2010. This story is simply the same one we havewitnessed year after year with this company. Boston Market finds itself in the conundrum of being in Sun Capital’sretail food group. Ask Friendly’s and Real Mex employees just how that isworking.

Boston Market (BM) once a leader in the grocerant niche,attempted to re-position away from the fastest growing retail food sector theready-2-eat and heat-N-eat fresh and prepared food niche and into “casualin-store” dinning. Why, why even botherasking. Sun Capitals food team at leastappears consistently filled with misguided efforts. In the BM case they are so far wrong indirection and timing it’s simply professionally embarrassing.

Their spin is remaining unit sales numbers are up? Well come on, all chain restaurants thatremodel – positioning garner a natural 2-3% uptick. However in BM’s case when you increased themarketing advertising spend one would expect to see stellar numbers. We are hearing they are holding onto up numbersbut nothing stellar or even close.

Scott Beck please buy back BM, you understand BM, thegrocerant niche, consumer flow and positioning for success. Scott Beck understood how to look a customer ahead. WhenMcDonald’s own BM they tried to put it in a QSR box, under Sun Capital theyutilize retail foodservice philosophy’s, positioning and branding ideationsfrom the 70’s and 80’s text book. Theconsumer is dynamic not static. Withoutchange next year BM will be a bit smaller again. Many retail food chains are growing units toplinesales and bottom line profits.

The fastest growing sector of retail foodservice is theGrocerant niche filled with ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat fresh and preparedfood. BM was once the leader of thepack, it time for them to get the mojo back.

Foodservice Solutions®specializes in outsourced business development. We can help you identify,quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities or a brandleveraging integration strategy. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions ofTacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche for more visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant

Retail Foods contemporary relevance.

2011-12-14T05:10:00.000-08:00

Retail foodservice is undergoing a transformation or is it simply amigration from traditional cooking from scratch to Ready-2-eat and heat-N-eatfresh and prepared food. Here are someinteresting view of a changing retail food world or not. Maybe the more change the more things are thesame.

1. Hudson Riehle stated recently that 26% of chefs rankedsmartphone apps as the top restaurant technology trend in 2012. Can anyone be surprised?

2. McDonald's has"promoted" Tweet 2nite that goes to "Party with #BigMac"& Facebook RSVP link.

3. Google gobblesup restaurant-recommendation app.

4. TaskRabbit raises $17.8M, plans to hopinto Seattle with errand service http how many of the errands will be foodrelated? We suspect many.

Youbetter be good because Santa Claus is coming to a White Castle in a town nearyou this holiday season! More than 370 participating restaurants are hostingBreakfast with Santa from 8 to 10:30 a.m. Saturday, December 17. This is thefirst year White Castle is hosting Breakfast with Santa.

Up tofour children, 12 and younger, eat free with each adult who makes a purchase.

Thechildren’s menu includes:

A small four-piece French Toast Sticks and small hash rounds with juice or milk
tne breakfast Slider on a bun and small hash rounds with juice or milk

Foodservice Solutions®specializes in outsourced business development. We can help you identify,quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities or a brandleveraging integration strategy. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions ofTacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche for more visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant

The Food Price Conundrum Reset for 2012

2011-12-13T04:46:00.000-08:00

The food price valueequilibrium continues resetting in Restaurants, Grocery stores and Conveniencestores, where is the bottom? We won’tknow until the consumer stands still. Retail foodservice consumer discontinuity is the only constant. Consumers are looking for “better for you”products at a better for you price.

What is the price of breakfast? McDonalds is putting the US on notice that it does not plan anycapitulation of breakfast market share! There is no greater gift than customersthat love your food, and will pay for it-but at what price? Here is my formula for establishing customerfocused price in 2012:

Price + Quality +Service + Portability = Value

Incremental Value =Constantly Changing Menu (Seasonally / Sustainability with creditability).

Successful retail food operators today need to utilize Foodservice Solutions® 5 P’s of Food Marketing: Product, Packaging, Placement,Portability and Price. Then leverage them too buildstrong sales with an integrated grocerant niche food program filled with distinctive differentiated food consumables as an entitywith identity by day part.

Since 1991 retail food consultancyFoodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in theGrocerant niche for more on Foodservice Solutions® Bing or Google Grocerants or visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant, twitter.com/grocerant Email: grocerant@q.com

Safeway is out catering Au Bon Pain, Boston Market, and KFC for the Holidays.

2011-12-12T05:27:00.000-08:00

When you’re ready for your next holiday office party, officecelebration, birthday or retirement party, there is no need to order from arestaurant or catering company any longer. All you have to do is go on line toSafeway.com there you will find one page ordering, and if you order by 8:30 AMsame day delivery.

The best part is for a limited time, when you visitSafeway.com your delivery is FREE. All you have to do is enter the Promo Code:BREAKROOM. (Note free delivery is validfor your first order only and with a minimum order of $49 in areas that theyhave delivery). Guaranteed deliverwindows of 1 hour Safeway is going to be a very serious ready-2-eat player.Retail foodservice success is about garnering Share of Stomach and Safeway’s team of ready-2-eat brand managersis doing an excellent job integrating the messaging system wide and too thecustomers.

Tradition be dammed caterers and restaurants be forewarned.Safeway is a ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat grocerant niche power player. They have the Signature Café Chicken Snack Attack Tray, Love Those Veggies Tray, PrimoTaglio Party Platter, Spiral Sliced Ham need I go on. Safeway will deliver beverage and food rightinto your BREAKROOM. So if your staff isworking hard and they deserve a treat, I recommended Safeway.com this holidayseason. Safeway is redefining grocerantfood delivery options by integrating the 5 P’s of food marketing into allaspects of its business model.

Food, Fresh or Prepared Fresh is better for business.

2011-12-11T07:55:00.001-08:00

A grocerant is aresult of the blurring of the line between restaurants and grocery stores aimedat the time-starved consumer with ready-2-eat or heat-N-eat food components thatare “better for you”. These components canbe bundled into a meal of the consumer choice.

Grocerant food refersto any retail food item that is ready-2-eator heat-N-eat sold in a Grocery store,Convenience Store, Chain Drug Store or Restaurant for To-go or Take Away format. Most retail companies goal is to create acollection of branded private label entrée and side dishes that have nicheleading identity.

Traditionally these items can be found in grocerystores in the deli / lifestylesection, C-stores in the prepared foodarea and prepackaged, ready to eat items and in restaurants under the To-go, takeout or take away ordelivery section. If success leaves clues most retailers havingsuccess have developed a reputation for their unique flavor profiles, rightsizing packaging and creating a halo of better for you around their offerings.

Around the world we are now seeing Grocerant sections indepartment’s stores and kiosk in malls in Europe / Asia and airports around theworld. The items can range from entreesto side items and deserts. Some examplesof items range from crab puff pastries fried chicken, mash potatoes, creamspinach, to liver and onions, pizza, hot dogs, steak, prime rib, variouscasseroles (hot-dish) to salads, side salads pie, cake and any singleproportioned deserts. Grocerant preparedready-to-eat and ready-to-heat foods contributes to making life just a littleeasier. For a Grocerant programassessment contact Steve Johnson at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions.

Dollar General to nudge Walgreens with a focus on food for growth.

2011-12-10T05:11:00.001-08:00

With a base of over 9,200+ locations today Dollar Generalis set to add another 625 units over the next 12 months. Dollar General will be aggressively targetingfood deserts in a rush to best Walgreens on locations and food options.

Both Walgreens and Dollar General offer a full range ofpackage food, and Heat-N-eat prepared food. In addition each has or is trying its hand at Ready-2-Eat fresh andprepared food. Walgreens is winningcurrently but continues to test many products and concept formulas. DollarGeneral is testing Ready-2-Eat as well, they can’t be discounted.

Food Manufactures this is a perfect opportunity to pushyour new products. These are two of themost successful retailers in the US. They both understand that the grocerant niche filled with ready-2-eatand heat-N-eat fresh and prepared meal bundled options has been the sole driverof retail foodservice for the past three years and there is no sign of thingschanging. I believe both can win in thisspace.

Online grocery food orders for Christmas will set record sales in 2011, thanks Amazon Fresh

2011-12-09T02:05:00.001-08:00

December is the single busiestmonth for Great Britain’s supermarket food delivery business. Most companies have been accepting“pre-orders” for Christmas deliver for weeks. At Waitrose alone they have “Fifteen miles of conveyor belts, 3.7 million packets ofstuffing and thousands of 'pickers'” for food most is ready-2-eat andheat-N-eat fresh and prepared food.

At Tesco, theybegan accepting orders for deliver Christmas week in October. Sainsbury's is much the same story. Here aresome numbers this year in London alone they expect delivery of “40,000Christmas puddings, more than a million mince pies and 35 million caloriesworth of brandy butter zipping around the country”. In the US the “dotcom”grocery business went. However look atthese numbers, it will be back.

"At Tesco,the figures are even more eye-watering. Over the next few weeks, it expects tosell a staggering (and slightly nauseating) 2,200 tons of turkey, 3,200 tons ofsprouts and 3.7 million packets of sausage meat and stuffing. Chocolate coins?Two million packs. Clementines? One million nets. Given that last year sawroughly £45m worth of its business being done online, that adds up to an awfullot of food flying through cyberspace. It sees party food – cakes, platters,meat selections – increase by more than 1,000 per cent…’

The onlineChristmas boom is big business for food retailers. Amazon Fresh is in themiddle of the mix. I don’t think thatwith the smashing success of food delivery in Great Britain that the US willlet the “dotcom” bust garner any dust. Food Delivery is back.

What is a family meal today? Send us your definition of a family meal.

2011-12-08T04:15:00.001-08:00

One thing we know from US Census information is that50% of adults over the age of 18 are single. How do they define a family meal? How often do they have a family meal?We are in search of examples, stories, or case studies on what is a familymeal. How do you “defined” a family meal today?

We think that Grocerant prepared food components, are the foods that binds the family, can be assembled fast, and pleases everyone at the table.

What a quagmire we findourselves in today trying to understand: what is a family meal? This year whilelooking for answers from some of the food industry leading research companies Ilearned that each has a series of benchmark studies all “best in class” yetnone seems to answer or categorize: What is a family meal. Nor did any address what we found, havewitnessed or have been hearing about for three years the “new family mealparadigm”. Here are three examples ofthat shifting meal paradigm.

1. Family dinner occasions with meal componentsfrom McDonalds & Taco Time for children 14 & 12 years olds and dinner for adults from Whole Foods prepared mealsection. This is dinner, is it a familymeal. We say yes; since they all eattogether just not the same food.

2. During a recent visit to NYC after a clientmeeting we went to a business associates home ordered food-in. His wife, myself and my client we orderedfrom three separate companies (Italian Chinese, Greek) one was pickup nextdoor. I was assured this was not unusualin their household, this is a family dinner again.

3. Studies on Take &Bake pizza show it is the sole food item only 60% of the time. Generally complemented with prepared foodfrom other outlets, the ilk of Wawa, Sheetz, Safeway. Not food prepared fromscratch. This again is a family meal.

Please submit your example to grocerant@q.com or leave your example below. We think that Grocerantprepared food components, are the foods that binds the family, can be assembledfast, and pleases everyone at the table.

Famous Dave's when you’re ready-2-eat or want heat-N-eat fresh food.

2011-12-07T05:02:00.001-08:00

Nothing new in the race to garner share of stomach, all food retailers areentering the grocerant niche or wishing that they had. The grocerant niche filled with freshprepared ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat fresh prepared food niche is the onlysector in food retail that is showing positive year over year sales and profitgains.

Famous Dave’s based in Minneapolis opened “Famous Dave’s BBQ Shack”prototype Monday in Eden Prairie, Minn. Here is what is new in this BBQ Shack unit,the location includes counter service and a pick-up window. The focus is READY-2-EAT and HEAT-N-EAT freshprepared food. Regular followers of thisblog know, that is the main-stay of the grocerant niche and a consumer focusedsuccess clue.

This new BBQ Shack prototype also will focus on phone-ahead orders with apick-up window, which is squarely at the center of the emerging grocerant nicheand will complement Famous Dave’s carryout and catering business if properlypositioned and marketed.

Restaurants, grocery stores, C-stores, drug store (Duane Reade akaWalgreens), and now Dollar General stores are all rushing into the freshprepared ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat grocerant niche. This is going to be a battle for share ofstomach and is in the process of changing food retailing for years to come.