Healthy Lunch & Snack Ideas for Your Home-Schooled Kid

 

The holiday season is in full swing now and it is important they you remember that every minute with your family counts. Even when there are times you think that is not the case according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®. That is why our Grocerant Guru® invited Olivia Chang from Yumble to be a guest blogger today.  Yumble understands kids and family dynamics we invite you to visit Yumble and think kids, kid’s meals, and fun family time this holiday season.

When your child is home-schooled, it’s essential that you have lots of healthy snacks and lunches that are easy to pull out at a moment’s notice. Busy parents know how important it is to keep a fully stocked fridge so that you don’t have to run out to the grocery store every day. 

If you’re feeling a creative block in the kitchen, we’ve whipped together some simple recipes below. Meal prep is the key to staying sane while you’re homeschooling. Some days call for an easy cold lunch that you can grab quickly and other days, you have more time to relax over a hot meal. Of course, for days when you don’t feel like cooking at all, you can always have healthy kid’s meals delivered!

 Hot Lunch Ideas

 Cauliflower Rice Burrito Bowls: Instead of full-blown burritos, these bowls are perfect as a healthy meal option on a day when your kid needs cheering up. Prep the chicken in the morning by putting it in the slow cooker with mild salsa and it’ll be ready by lunch. Cauliflower rice is a healthy substitute for white rice and your kid won’t know the difference. Add all the trimmings your little one craves, from avocado to cheese. 

Baked Potato Bar: A baked potato bar is another perfect lunch option for your hungry kid. It’s simple, easy to cook, and fills them up. Make lunchtime fun for your kids by letting them pick out the toppings for their baked potato. Bacon, cheese, broccoli, sour cream, and chives are just the tip of the iceberg.

 Cold Lunch Ideas

 Hummus and Avocado Bagel Sandwich: Think outside the PB&J with this healthy bagel sandwich both kids and parents will enjoy. Take your child’s favorite bagel and spread a dollop of hummus on one side and a half an avocado on the other. Sprinkle salt and a squeeze of lemon for freshness. You can always add tomato, greens, and cucumber if you so choose.

Turkey and Cheese Roll-Ups: If it’s rolled up, it’s likely your kid will find it appealing. The turkey and cheese roll-up is a classic that can’t be beat! You can roll them up on their own, or in a veggie tortilla. Serve with a bit of mustard and a side like carrot sticks or grapes.

 Easy Snack Ideas

 Creamy Fruit Salad: This tasty fruit salad makes for a sweet treat in the morning or afternoon. The best part is that you can use whatever fruit you have on hand and it will be delish no matter what. Mix up a large bowl and save it in the fridge for a couple days worth of snacking.

PB&J Apples: Remember when we said to think outside the PB&J? Here’s a fun twist on a snack that your child will love. You’ve probably tried peanut butter on apple, but you can also add jelly for a deliciously winning combo. You can even use almond butter if that is more to your child’s taste!

Success does leave clues. One clue that time and time again continues to resurface is “the consumer is dynamic not static”.  Regular readers of this blog know that is the common refrain of Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  Our Grocerant Guru® can help your company 253-759-7869.  Are you looking for Kids Meals? Yumble just might be for you.

ShopRite Moving from Grocery Store to Grocerant

 

Success does leave clues now that there are 34.5 Restaurants for every grocery store.  ShopRite is one of the grocers that says enough is enough, its time to move with the consumer.  Consumers are dynamic not static and they have been on the move for 40 years leaving the grocery sector for the restaurant sector.  In fact, over the past 16 years there are 50% fewer grocery stores and 38.9% more restaurants.

Ok, we are in the middle of a pandemic and the grocery sector is doing great.  However, its not because they are doing the right things for the consumer.  Yes, restaurants are still closing.  Pay attention that will not last forever, rents will be reduced and new entrepreneurial foodies will step up, stand out, and make waves with new restaurants and grocerants that will continue to disrupt legacy chain grocery and restaurant chains according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

One grocery chain has stepped up, is looking a customer ahead, and focusing on the consumer.  That company is ShopRite.  They have revamped and renamed their deli ordering app, providing shoppers the ability to easily shop ahead for prepared foods, deli, floral and other specialty items for pick-up and delivery. When you look closely you will see it has the look and feel of a top tier chain restaurant. Bravo!

So, the ShopRite Order Express app, expands its available features and added new options offered in a fresh look. The new app will automatically upload for current app users. New customers can download it from their phone’s app store or scan a QR code in the store seamlessly.

Meal focus, family oriented, consumers can order game day platters and birthday catering, including cakes and desserts, sandwich platters, appetizers, entrees, fruits and veggies, salads, sides, seafood, sushi, as well as floral arrangements and balloons. 

We should note they also can still order deli meats and cheeses in advance to have them ready at the counter when they visit the store along with sandwiches, pizza, rotisserie chicken and other items that can also be ordered ahead for easy pick up or delivery at select stores.

Building on our Grocerant Guru’s customization and personalization essentials for fresh food sales success you can use the custom cake builder included on the new app. For personalization options for cake design include flavors, filling, frosting colors and messages.  Are you looking a customer ahead or are is your store looking more like yesterdays store?

Success does leave clues. One clue that time and time again continues to resurface is “the consumer is dynamic not static”.  Regular readers of this blog know that is the common refrain of Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  Our Grocerant Guru® can help your company 253-759-7869.

 

Win Free Breakfast for a Year Just Listen to McDonald’s New Jingle

There is no food retailer today better than McDonald’s at consumer focused interactive and participatory brand marketing according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®

McDonald’s is celebrating the iconic Egg McMuffin on the menu for 45 years with a breakfast jingle and giving one lucky fan free breakfast for a year. The new breakfast jingle, created in partnership with Roger Greenaway, the Songwriters Hall of Fame member behind the “Buy the World a Coke” jingle and highlights how the company is building a better McDonald’s by giving our customers freshly prepared breakfast sandwiches, like the Egg McMuffin.

This is a fun way to kick start the day, pulled inspiration from the mouthwatering sounds of McDonald’s breakfast, such as:

·         Grade A, freshly cracked eggs

·         Extra-lean Canadian bacon, sizzling on the grill

·         McCafé premium drip coffee, made from 100 percent Arabica beans

·         The soft scrape of real butter spread on toasted English muffins, biscuits and bagels

Breakfast enthusiasts everywhere can sing along to the new jingle on McDonald’s social channels, including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Customers also have the chance to win free breakfast for a year and a limited-edition vinyl by commenting their favorite menu item and @-tagging a friend on the video.

Interested in learning how Foodservice Solutions 5P’s of Food Marketing can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization? Email us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or visit:  www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information.

Mix & Matched Meal Components Drive Dinner Day-part Sales

Regular readers of this blog know that grocerant niche mix and match meal component bundling is now the cornerstone of retail foodservice success.  Mix & Match bundling continues to drive customer migration from legacy CPG products, restaurants, and grocery stores to new fresh food products and new avenues of fresh food distribution according to Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru® Steven Johnson.

Yes, "the new normal" in food retail requires a shift away from traditional food packaging, points of distribution, and a focus on fresh prepared food rather that pantry stocking according to Johnson. Meal components that focus on healthier choices are an invitation Millennials cannot seem to pass up. .

Our Grocerant Guru® identified, quantified, and qualified the vital role of portability as a major driver of the growth of the grocerant niche and subsequently Technomic revalidated our findings.   of the snacking trend, obvious not only at the drive-thru window, but also with packaged offerings at convenience stores like 7-Eleven, and at "boutique" establishments, like Starbucks.

Today traditional mealtimes are less frequent, less important, less likely than the convenience of fresh prepared meal components that can be consumed immediately, used later as a mix and match meal components for the perfect family meal, cocktail compliment, or meal replacement as a small meal. 

New Non-traditional "dayparts" are emerging.  This is creating quite a conundrum for legacy retailers in both the restaurant sector focused on selling complete meals and legacy grocery stores focused on collecting slotting fees rather than providing consumers incremental fresh food options.

Recent research by InfoScout looked at 77,820 American households who provided daily receipts to the company to determine which off-hour consumers are most apt to head to a restaurant in those times, as well as the overall percentage of visits made by consumers during off-hour dayparts and the basket size during those visits and how that compares with the basket size of traditional mealtimes finding “off-hour meals make up 35 to 48 percent of all trips”.

Food retail has become a battle for share of stomach. The battle for that share of stomach is taking is between all retailers sell food including the ilk of: Convenience Stores, Supermarkets, Dollar stores, Drug stores, Ikea, Liquor stores to name but a few.

In research from CocaCola they found that Millennials average 4.2 meals a day. Clearly Millennials are evolving as food consumers here are some additional facts from the Coca Cola survey: 

1. More than half eat breakfast outside of morning hours. 

2.  30 percent replace one or two meals daily with snacks. 

3. 35 percent eat dinner at restaurants offering "happy hour" deals.

4. 43 percent say they snack more today. 

5. Members of the 18-to-24 age group reported they would go to restaurants more if they stayed open later.

Packaging fresh food meal components and placing those components in avenues of distribution that are representative of the products target market is more important now than ever according to the team at Foodservice Solutions®.    Can your meals be turned into meal components?  Success does leave clues.

Are you trapped doing what you have always done and doing it the same way?  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.