Branding food and selling food in any outlet particularly Restaurants, Grocery stores, Convenience stores or Supermarkets is a big task. Positioning a product within a particular niche is even a more delicate dance. When it is done correctly the results are monumental and rewarding. Timing of course is important; recently the Grocerant industry has been witness to one of the largest shifts in consumer buying patterns in one particular product. Apples, both McDonalds and Burger King introduced a package apple product for children. Within two years of introduction Restaurants in the US accounted for more consumption/sales of Apples that did Grocery stores or Supermarkets. That was / is a historic shift in purchasing pattern. Recently Bill Cross announced that his company will introduce Burger King branded Apple fry’s in 10,000 grocery stores and supermarkets this fall. Selling packaging and branding food products is an art. Success does leave clues: Differentiation does not mean different it means familiar. The Grocerant sector filled with ready to eat and ready to heat foods is on fire and consumers are filling their shopping bags with them. Are your products positioned to win in the Grocerant niche!

Convenience stores, Grocery stores and Supermarkets balance Price, Value, and Quality daily in the struggle to retain customers. While the price, value quality relationship is resetting. We are learning that Food Lion is gaining market share on Shaw’s. There are time’s that price trumps perceived quality. Then there are the times we see that Wawa is the number three food retailer in the Delaware valley here convenience and quality trump. In the restaurant sector we notice that Quick service restaurants are gaining frequency and full service (sit down table cloth) are loosing frequency. What they have in common is price quality consistency! Each also has a growing selection of ready to eat and ready to reheat food that is improving in visceral attractiveness, price and variety. Is your shopping cart going to full or empty? A full cart means interacting with the consumer, introducing new products and pricing that reflects respect of the consumer.

Grocerants are growing in popularity and customer acceptance. The ready to eat ready to heat niche is on fire. Today I simply want post this press release from Papa Murphy’s Take and Bake pizza! They are a full defined grocerant in the restaurant sector! Supermarkets, Convenience Stores and grocery stores should take notice that quality and credibility are attributes of the Grocerant niche.
“VANCOUVER, Wash., June 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Papa Murphy's International, America's largest take 'n' bake pizza chain, was recently ranked among the five leading chains in the Top Food and Top Service(1) categories of Zagat's 2009 Fast Food Survey. Results were based on the responses of 6,107 consumers who participated in the survey, which charted Papa Murphy's with In-N-Out Burger, Panera Bread, and Chipotle - 103 total best-in-class chains nationwide.
"We're honored to be recognized in such an esteemed survey as Zagat's," said John Barr, Papa Murphy's CEO. "The accolades we receive are always a result of our hard-working, enthusiastic franchise owners and their crew members. From sun up, when they make our dough fresh in each store, grate the cheese and chop the vegetables, to sun down, when the last pizza goes into a customers' oven, our owners and crew take great pride in the Papa Murphy's brand. My hat's off to them."
Papa Murphy's, now the fifth largest pizza chain in the country, currently operates over 1,100 locations in 32 states and two provinces in Canada. A key driver of Papa Murphy's success is the connection the consumer has with the product. Not only do they decide which fresh, high-quality ingredients top their pizza, but customers have the pleasure of baking it (or grilling it!) for a piping hot, delicious meal whenever they want.”

Expanding with new flavors, product and Limited Time Offers (LTO’s) is a sure fire way to keep your current customer interested and attract new ones. Restaurant brand protectionism is what many chain managers focus on and have continued to do they are afraid to leave the core business. When all the research consistently shows that that brand “Channel” protectionism is only important to the BRAND MARKETER. Many brand marketers are seemingly entrenched (singularly focused) “this is who we are” or “this is what we do”; that narrow focus is not in the mind of the CONSUMER, of fact they expect a freshness and newness as part of all brands. The industry term for all this is channel blurring; channel blurring studies repeatedly show that channel blurring is not in the mind of the consumer, it is only in the minds eye of the brand marketer. Only when chain brand marketers truly understand that the consumer is dynamic not static will a concept be able to move to the next level or in today’s world maintain market share. Limiting the ideations has stifled, growth, profitability and long term viability of many a chain. Grocery stores and Convenience store leaders are better at experimentation and introducing new ready to eat ready to heat foods. Their ability to experiment with new products and service provides them with a competitive advantage over restaurants today.

Just say Bologna! A&P’s bologna meter tells us what restaurant operators already knew bologna sales continue to rise as the economy continues to decline. Customers are cutting back and this will continue as long as gas prices continue to rise and the unemployment rate remains high. Jamba Juice rolled out their new line of food and beverages on Monday in an attempt to boost sales. The new food items including sandwiches, salads and flatbreads, including a cold tea infusion may not be enough to save the day. All the items with catchy names and linked to a social networking website that either was not working. It may have been overloaded in either case the site was not working the three times I attempted to use it. It’s no wonder Jamba Juice is having difficulty. The convenience store chain Yellow Fun to Go Line (http://yellow.co.il) incorporates a vertically integrated marketing program that provides a platform for new products, better for you products and bundled product offerings. This contemporize grocerant style operation focused on hand held foods for immediate consumption in viscerally attractive packaging brand integrated and size appropriate portioning. Catchy name are cute but have not worked to date for Jamba Juice it might be time for them create a new food entity with consumer focused identity and brand integration. We must all remember that there is always BOLONGNA!

Grocerants the next big wave! Just what is next for the Grocerant sector? Currently we see continued rollout of “deli” fresh authentic sandwiches at most supermarkets, grocery stores and C-stores. This is phase two. Where phase one was fried food of all types or roller grill food. The sandwiches are priced to compete with the QSR sector in fact many grocery stores here on the west coast have installed soda-pop dispenser machines just like the fast food companies have. They are trying to increase frequency and check average at the deli. It looks as if it might be working from conversation and what I am witnessing on trips to the store. The halo that resonates from the fresh authentic made to order sandwiches will shine on the next phase. I believe that phase three will arrive mid-2010 and will include both Italian and Mexican hot entrees at in addition to the Chinese being rolled out regionally. I am now in print so come back and see if I am correct!

Top of the day to you! I was asked recently why the “Grocerant” sector is taking off. My response was instant. I recalled a conversation with my parish priest Father Robert Rekofke SJ. I asked him what his favorite meal was; he replied any meal anyone else cooks! With a simile I recalled all of the focus groups I have watched, participated in or led and the answer was inevitability the same. People do not have the time, training or inclination to cook. Plain and simple our palates have become honed to a multitude of flavor profiles that we enjoy and our skill level at each in not equal. Nor do we have a pantry fill with all of the spices required to prepare our expanded taste. Today we are celebrating a fest with Father Rekofke on the 50th Anniversary of his Ordination as a Jesuit Priest. My message today is short but dedicated to him. It’s much easier to buy ready to eat or ready to heat food that to cook from scratch.