Dash In the C-store with a Fast Casual Restaurant Appeal

In a hurry for a good fresh meal fast?  Well, in the Northeast you just might be going out to a convenience store called Dash-In according to Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru®, Steven Johnson based in Tacoma, WA.

For those of you who don’t know Dash In, it has close to 60 locations throughout Maryland, Delaware and Virginia, the company is “rapidly expanding, with a focus on a number of locations across the Mid-Atlantic region.” Dash In locations feature the company’s new “neighborhood stores” concept Johnson says that is has the look, feel, and menu of a fast-casual chain restaurant.  

The ‘neighborhood stores’ include an open kitchen in the center and a wide variety of made-to-order, fresh and grab-and-go items. Darleen Nascimento, director of brand marketing at Dash In stated “All of these neighborhood store elements are informed by our commitment to deliver fresh, quality food and a personal experience to our customers every time,”

These new Dash In neighborhood store in Midlothian, Va., is 5,600 square feet with 16 fueling positions. It includes an expansive beer and wine selection — with craft beer offered through a draft growler and crowler program.

All Dash In stores feature “quick bites,” such as breakfast sandwiches, sliders, pizza and wings. But select locations also offer “food market” items, including subs, quesadillas, wraps and salads.

“When adding new menu items, we review the current menu to determine if there are any gaps in terms of flavor profiles or styles and cross-reference those against emerging trends. Then we review how new dishes can be created from components that we currently source,” said Nascimento. “The wants of the customer and the need for executional ease for our employees are always top of mind. …”

In June, Dash In debuted the French Dip Sub, which features U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prime shaved steak, provolone cheese, caramelized onions, brown gravy and black pepper mayo on an Italian roll.

Dash In also debuted its “fresh bowl” concept the Fresh Bowl Chicken Salad is an all-white chicken salad tossed with dried cranberries, red onion, a hint of lime and a croissant on top of fresh romaine lettuce. The Fresh Bowl Tuna Salad features albacore tuna, red onions and hard-boiled eggs blended together on top of fresh romaine lettuce and tomatoes.

Additional new menu items include the BLTM — crispy, center-cut bacon, lettuce, tomato and fresh mozzarella on Texas Toast — and the Poutine Meatball Sub — meatballs tossed with brown gravy, cheddar cheese curds, Monterey Jack cheese and black pepper mayo on a garlic butter roll.

They recently launched a Thai Chicken Wrap. The wrap is made with diced, antibiotic-free chicken tenders, romaine lettuce, red onion, sliced cucumber, almond flakes and sesame dressing wrapped in a flour tortilla. 

Also well received by customers, she said, is the quesadilla line, which includes four offerings: Chicken Bacon Ranch Quesadilla; Buffalo Chicken Quesadilla; Bacon, Egg and Cheese Quesadilla; and Sausage, Egg and Cheese Quesadilla. 

Just like many chain restaurants Dash In’s in-store pilot in September 2018 with No Kid Hungry, which provides nutritious meals to children, enabled Dash In customers to give back as well. Is your restaurant business model evolving as fast as many C-store business models? Are you growing food sales and 9.7%?

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

Dash In's Fresh Food Connects with Consumers

It was not long ago that consumer’s idea of going to a convenience store for a fresh meal meant little more than a Hot Dog on a Roller Grill and a day old donut. Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® has helped changed that at many food retailers around the world over the years.

The demand for grocerant niche Ready-2Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food shows no signs of slowing down in large part to the growing base of time-strapped consumers according to Johnson.  Companies large and small are welcoming the new sales opportunity fresh food brings to retail.

Recently Dash In in an effort to develop a reimagined brand experience unveiled the fruits of its labor with an all-new, large-format "neighborhood concept store" in Chesterfield County, Va., that prominently showcases local products and the retailer’s elevated fresh food and beer/wine offering.

Julian B. Wills, president Dash In, a Wills Group company state  "[This store] achieves what we’re trying to do at Dash In. Other c-stores focus on transactions associated with normal customer pit stops, but for us and our mantra, we want to make time more rewarding for people by emphasizing a sense of local and personal connection that transforms the necessary errands of today’s busy lives into engaging experiences,"

At the core of the new concept is ‘craveable foodservice’. An expansive kitchen serves as the centerpiece of the Chesterfield County location, allowing customers to clearly locate it upon walking into the store. The move to put foodservice at the epicenter of the store design was intentional.

Wills continued "From a trust perspective, we wanted customers to be able to see the food being produced because we wanted to have that transparency. It also illustrates the freshness of everything being made on-site, on demand,"  Its Chef’s Craveable foodservice program — which includes all-day breakfast, artisan sandwiches, grab-and-go wraps and salads that are prepared in-house daily — has been adapted to the fit the concept of localized.

Specific to the Chesterfield County location, Dash In is testing two new menu items: a Buffalo Chicken Quesadilla and Chicken Parmesan sliders. The latter is the seventh variety in the retailer’s slider sandwich program. Thanks to the size of the kitchen, Dash In anticipates using this location to introduce and test more localized menu items before rolling them out to its other stores. So what is your new electricity?

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

Grocerant Growth Food Options Speeds New Concept Dash In Forward

Success does leave clues and retailers are evolving from Convenience Stores and Restaurants to Grocerant niche fresh food concepts that are garnering incremental customer loyalty, driving food retail migration, expanding disruption within legacy retail food sectors according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Dash In a new concept store by the Willis Group created a platform where time stared consumers can get a fresh meal and or meal components or eat a fresh prepared meal according to Johnson. Dash In has 5,600 sq. ft. and blurs the lines between restaurant and C-store by combining a neighborhood bar and grill format with the self-service gas station and car wash layout that is familiar to consumers.

To appeal to consumers’ on-the-go lifestyles, the store stocks fresh, made-in-house grab and go menu items such as artisan sandwiches and salads, in addition to locally sourced snacks such as Good Earth Peanuts, grown in Skippers, Virginia, about one hour south of Richmond.

The bar and grill features of the Dash In store include indoor bar and communal seating, and outdoor seating. An open kitchen will prepare items from the store’s “Craveable” menu which includes Memphis pulled-pork sandwich made with slow-cooked pork in a maple brown sugar barbecue sauce and topped with caramelized onions, as well as a cranberry chicken croissant that Willis Group noted is a customer favorite. The sandwich is made with chicken breast, dried cranberries, red onion, and a hint of lime.

Julian B. Wills, president of Dash In  stated “Our newest Dash In is a demonstration of our commitment to creating a store design that offers an elevated brand experience for our customers,” Dash In capitalizes on several strategies food industry research company Nielsen identified as necessary to remain competitive in a saturated food retail market most of which mirrors Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant ScoreCard data.

In an Insight report from 2017 Nielsen noted that convenience stores have many sources for inspiration. “In the QSR realm, speed has become an essential service element,” Nielsen reported. “Convenience stores need to follow suit, ensuring that customers looking for a quick meal can get in and out swiftly.”

The Dash In concept store offers all-day breakfast, as a nod to the quick-service restaurant (QSR) channel and a direct invitation to customers. Nielsen also recommended restaurant-style seating, broad menus for in-store service and premium product offerings as strategies for elevating the customer experience.

Here is what was different “Digging deeper, Nielsen data shows that subcategories like enhanced water, import, super premium and craft beer, ready-to-eat (RTE) meals, e-cigarettes, tools and housewares and sparkling wine all delivered mid-to-high double-digit sales growth for convenience stores last year,” Nielsen said in its Insight report.

Darleen Nascimento, director of brand marketing for Dash In  “We are delighted to support the craftsmanship of local purveyors and breweries throughout the region within this new Dash In experience,”  “Dash In’s commitment is to make life more rewarding for time-stretched people — we look forward to transforming necessary errands into engaging experiences.”

Invite Foodservice Solutions® to complete a Grocerant Program Assessment, Grocerant ScoreCard, or for product positioning or placement assistance, or call our Grocerant Guru®.  Since 1991 www.FoodserviceSolutions.us  of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche. Contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or 253-759-7869