Food Discovery Autonomous Vehicles and Youthful Experimentation

While the line between food retail channels may be blurring in the minds-eye of the consumer both Gen Z and Millennials quest for personalized food discovery seems to have few limits according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  

Understanding digital native’s is fundamental for companies the ilk of Sodexo focused on feeding students on college campuses.  Success for Sodexo like many other food companies requires customer relevance enough to create new electricity according to Johnson. 

To that end in a new partnership between Sodexo and autonomous vehicle developer Starship Technologies formed to provide autonomous vehicles that are now delivering groceries from a campus grocery store and food from several foodservice outlets to students across campus at George Mason University.

This new avenue of distribution provides services to supply 25-plus small vehicles, allowing George Mason's 40,000 students, faculty members and staffers to have products delivered anywhere on campus, within minutes, for $1.99 per delivery.

The Starship Deliveries mobile app, which is compatible with iOS and Android, allows users to order items from campus grocers including 2nd Stop, Blaze Pizza, Starbucks and Dunkin'. More partners will be revealed in the coming weeks.

The service, which works in conjunction with student meal plans, is intended to make food and beverages more accessible to ease the hectic lives of students and faculty.To use the technology, customers:

·         Open the Starship Deliveries app on their mobile device;

·         Choose from a range of food and beverage items;

·         Drop a digital map pin on the screen where they want their delivery to be sent;

·         Upon receiving an arrival alert, meet the robot and unlock it through the app; and

·         Retrieve their order.

Mark Kraner, executive director for campus retail operations at George Mason University  stated; "We're excited that our students, faculty and staff get to be at the forefront of this pioneering campus food-delivery service," … "This will enhance life for everyone at the university, and that's something we're continuously looking to build upon. Our commitment to providing an optimal campus experience is one of the things that distinguishes George Mason University as a place where everyone can thrive."

Each robot can carry up to 20 pounds, or roughly three shopping bags full of products, and is able to cross streets, climb curbs, travel at night, and operate in both rain and snow. They make their delivery in no more than 15 minutes — depending on travel distance and items ordered — and are stored in pods located around campus, where their batteries are automatically switched so they can continue operating.

Food retailers today must understand that relevance drives trial and adoption this new partnership drive relevance with digital natives.   Is your brand is searching for the new electricity to help drive the brand forward. So, just what is your brands new electricity? According to Johnson, “Brand relevance is in part driven with innovation in new food products in combination with new avenues of distribution all of which are the platform for the new electricity.”

Can you Win the Battle for Share of Stomach 

Johnson stated “that in my minds-eye the new electricity must be very efficient for the supply and includes such things as fresh foods, free food / sampling, beer, developing brands, unique urban clothing, grocerant positioning, Fresh food messaging, autonomous delivery, cashier-less retail, plates, glasses, cash-less payments, digital hand-held marketing.

All retailers to survive the next generation of retail must embrace the artificial intelligence revolution while simultaneously embracing fresh food that is portable, fresh, with differentiation that is familiar not different.   Sodexo and Starship Technologies plan to expand the foodservice- and grocery-delivery technology to additional campus locations globally in the future.

Are you looking for a new partnership to drive sales? Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing ideations look more like yesterday than tomorrow? Interested in learning how www.FoodserviceSolutions.us can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization?  Email us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or visit:  www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information.

Customer Facing Technology too Speed Throughput at Wawa

Wawa excels at understanding customer relevance according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  So last week when all of us learned that an 11-Year-Old Hacked Into a U.S. Voting System Replica in 10 Minutes we all instantly understood what Gen Z and Millennials have been telling us; without technology our companies will not be moving forward they expect it and are better with it than we are.

Wawa Inc. recently rolled out a pilot of checkout kiosks at its Broad and Walnut streets c-store in Philadelphia. The separate checkout counter on wheels accepts card payment only.  Set on rolling swivel casters, the moveable setup consists of a small counter to place drinks, food or other purchases while customers are being rung up. It is outfitted with a barcode scanner, a credit card reader and a plastic bagging station all within a total footprint no bigger than a mailbox.

The Broad and Walnut streets c-store is the only one in the City of Brotherly Love currently testing the mobile registers, in addition to a few of the busier stores at the Jersey Shore.

Lori Bruce, corporate spokesperson for Wawa, confirmed to Billy Penn that the company is officially giving the checkout alternative a try. "We are always testing new ways to improve convenience and the customer experience," she wrote in an email. "[A]t this time, we don't have a lot of details available."

How are you garnering respect from tomorrow’s customers today?  Are your meeting today’s customer’s expectations or does your company look more like yesterday than tomorrow?  When an 11 year old can ‘hack’ into our election system in 10 minutes what expectations do you think they have for your service system, technology or food delivery platform?

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

Subway Branding the Sweet Sounds of Success

Success does leave clues and Subway the world’s largest restaurant chain is expanding the value of their brand messaging this summer with music, food, fun, and consumer interactivity and Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru® believes that is a very good way to expand the ‘halo of better-for-you’ beyond the four walls.

This summer Subway, will be serving free mini sandwiches, among other goodies and experiences, at five music festivals.  From May to August, Subway will take an interactive lounge known as “The Green Room, baked by Subway” on a roadshow to festivals, starting with this past weekend’s Hangout Music Festival in Gulf Shores, Alabama.

The Green Room baked by Subway, is a restaurant, a performance space, and a lounge, “it will bring a “backstage” experience to the front of the house for all festival goers. Featuring live acoustic and DJ sets, meet-n-greets with artists and semi-famous internet people, a live-stream of mainstage performances, virtual games, prizes, sweet amenities like cookie-flavored lip balm (no joke), and free mini sandwiches, festival-goers can chill out and recharge however they please.”

The Green Room is about much more than FREE MINI SANDWICHES (and high speed Wi-Fi, air conditioning, exclusive performances, phone charging stations, and personal refreshment stations) but don’t get me wrong the Free mini sandwiches will be big hit. It’s about th, expanding, evolving, and redefining, Subway as a brand with consumers.

Karlin Linhardt, SVP of Marketing for North America at Subway stated “The Green Room provides an experience festival-goers can’t get anywhere else. It’s also a chance for people to connect with Subway in a fresh way, and reconsider how they see our brand.” “Subway is a part of people’s lives everyday, and we want to expand into new territory to exceed the expectations of younger customers,” 

There will also be a sauce bar and fresh-baked cookies “offered sporadically,” while thirsty folks can chug new vitaminwater that will be served at select festivals. If success does leave clues this is the right step at the right time for a brand consumers enjoy. 

Do your 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 the clue you need to propel your continued success.