Global Grocerant development underway France, USA, and Malaysia.



Costco is looking at vacated mall locations in the US to open more stores. Blending ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat fresh prepared food with traditional CPG products has proven successful for Costco and these new locations with younger demographics will assist Costco in positioning for the future!

Malaysia’s Jaya Grocer currently in the Empire Shopping Gallery has focused on ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat grocerant food. They are transforming the grocery shopping; blending a dining and shopping experience. Here is how it has been describe in Malaysia.

“THE next time you head for Jaya Grocer to get your fresh cut of steak or seafood, you might not land up taking it out in a bag with you. Instead, you are probably going to enjoy tucking into the steak or fish, the way you like it prepared, sitting down in the middle of the supermarket. This is Jaya Grocer’s newly introduced “grocerant “at its Empire Shopping Gallery outlet – a one-stop shopping and dining experience within a supermarket. Shoppers can walk in, choose their choices of meat or seafood from the butchery or seafood counters, head to the El Fresco cashier to pay for it and specify their choice of how they want it cooked.

Since 1991 retail food consultancy Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche for more on Steven A. Johnson and Foodservice Solutions® Bing or Google Grocerants or visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant, twitter.com/grocerant or Facebook Steven

Are food retailers Grouponing brand value down drain of the information super highway?



Food retailers create direct relationships with the consumer. The goal is too yield a targeted, repeatable experience which will drive frequency of use while edifying brand value and driving top line sales. Groupon is about DISCOUNTING your product and your brand. Bundling your brand and or your product within a Groupon offer may be counter productive to your long term brand building objective.

The information super highway is a location most consumers frequent. Retail food brands must have a location that is easy for consumer to find. If location, location, location is a key ingredient in success. Then food retailers must be keenly aware of the location that they select even if it is an LTO (limited time offer).

Last month while speaking at the National Restaurant Show in Chicago on the rise of the Grocerant niche; I heard first hand stories of cash flow losses from retail operators selecting the wrong online niche marketing program. While Groupon has been testing and expanding into the supermarket arena I have not as yet hear any stories of retailers growing both the top line sales and bottom line profits long term on their platform in either the restaurant or grocery sector.

Don’t throw your brand down the drain of the information superhighway. Consumers are looking for brands and products with consumer relevance. Discounting simply discounts relevance.

Since 1991 retail food consultancy Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche for more on Steven A. Johnson and Foodservice Solutions® Bing or Google Grocerants or visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant, twitter.com/grocerant or Facebook Steven

Foodservice Solutions® retail food consultancy sous vide grocerants early often and right!



A Danish Philosopher once said: Life can be understood by looking backward, but must be lived by looking forward.”

Looking back, the past 20 years senior executives at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions have an outstanding record of seeing and understanding the evolving retail foodservice space. From the viewpoint article “CALL THEM GROCERANTS in Foodservice Director, August15, 1996 or “Understanding the Value of Restaurant Branding” in Nation’s Restaurant News August 21, 1995 outlining the power of restaurant brands within their environment. Even forecasting the growth of both cook chill and sous vide in; “Beyond 2000: Growing your top and bottom line” Nation’s Restaurant News, April 7, 1997.

Just in cast you have not been following this blog or simply wonder what the confluence of current trends and events may bring the industry here a few additional insights from a look backward. (see links below) Join us here the rest of the week for a look forward.

Home-meal-replacement niche is the future of foodservice at: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3190/is_n32_v30/ai_18609897/

http://foodservice.com/articles/restaurant-management/Restaurant-Consumer-Discontinuity/

http://foodservice.com/articles/restaurant-marketing/Convenience-store-sector-the-stage-is-set-for-consolidation-in-2010/

http://foodservice.com/blogs/restaurant-marketing/food-fight-and-the-convenience-store-sector-garnering-share-from-qsr-s-2699/

http://foodservice.com/blogs/c/The-frozen-Food-Court-is-the-new-restaurant-real-estate-play/

Since 1991 retail food consultancy Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche for more on Steven A. Johnson and Foodservice Solutions® Bing or Google Grocerants or visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant, twitter.com/grocerant or Facebook Steven

Amazon Fresh selling food and delivery on a global platform.



At one time many on Wall Street scoffed that Amazon would ever be a serious threat to retailing. Today they continue leading while evolving retailing. Five years ago they began sell fresh food in the Seattle Metro area. They have since expanded retail food sales and deliver in Great Britain and in Germany. Now the world is watching. Wal-Mart the world’s largest retailer is considering a new test of delivery in Southern California. Has Amazon found the “last mile solution”?

Foodservice Solutions® 5 P’s of food marketing: Product, Packaging, Placement, Portability and Price; play a key role on how food will be sold, packaged and delivered. When Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh and prepared food is thrown into the mix, consumer frequency and customer loyalty will both increase.

Meijer has an online grocery service, called ‘MeijerDoorstepGrocer.com’ is the retailer's first effort to sell non-bulk groceries online and is also the retailer's first foray into international online sales. This is a very important step for its e-commerce operations.

Fresh Direct started off in New York City about six years ago and is growing and profitable. Publix recently tested a new service for curbside delivery of customer groceries and have found the test, originally scheduled to be a year long, to be very successful in just a few short months of testing. Safeway and Albertsons both have delivery service but allot very little C-level interest in this burgeoning sector.

Online and internet shopping represents one of if not the fast growing sectors within the global food and grocery market at present, particularly across the more developed parts of the world. The grocerant niche continues to develop across the globe and Amazon my care out a leading position. With Walmart testing delivery is there any doubt that food delivery is here to stay.

Since 1991 retail food consultancy Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche for more on Steven A. Johnson and Foodservice Solutions® Bing or Google Grocerants or visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant, twitter.com/grocerant or Facebook Steven

Take Away, Grab-and-Go Grocerant niche food is driving global food sales.



Grocerant niche food is prepared ready-2 -eat and heat-N-eat fresh food. It can be prepared via sous vide /cook chill or frozen. It must have the ability to be portable however. It can be eaten on-site, in the car, at the office or down the road at the park. At times it is reheated; it is focused on single serve portions or portions for two.

One of the most interesting new developments is bundling of the meal components. It’s a mix and mach game that is very empowering for the consumer. Consumer’s can buy a fresh prepared sauce, and utilize it on fish, steak, chicken, a burritos or pasta. Two people in a home may use the same sauce on two different entrees. The same can be said for each course of the meal. This mix and match of small portion, fresh products makes meal time a time of convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization.

What is the most exciting are the new points of distribution of quality ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat fresh and prepared food. In Asia Convenience stores assemble meals on site and many get delivery of fresh food three times a day; focused on the next meal period. With this focus on freshness and quality consumers are paying respect by spending more and more money on food at C-stores.

Department stores are a source for grocerant food in Asia and Europe. Where outstanding displays of quality prepped, prepared and packaged. In the US you can now find fresh prepared grocerant niche food in most urban chain Drug stores.

Since 1991 retail food consultancy Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche for more on Steven A. Johnson and Foodservice Solutions® Bing or Google Grocerants or visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant, twitter.com/grocerant or Facebook Steven

Retail foodservice evolving with the grocerant niche and preferred consumer preferences.

Foodservice Solutions® is focused on understanding the Grocerant niche. The grocerant niche is creating quality new points of retail food distribution. Expanding points of quality food distribution simply mean more happy retail food customers. Retail foodservice continues evolving with a strong focus on the consumer. At the intersection of the consumer, technology and retail food sales we find the grocerant niche.

The grocerant niche is a result of the blurring of the line between restaurants, grocery stores, convenience stores, and drug stores all selling fresh prepared, portable convenient meal solutions. Targeted at the time-starved consumer with Ready-2-Eat or Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food components that are “better for you”, portable and portioned for one or two.

Restaurateurs need to be particularly mindful of developments within grocerant niche for they are driving the change within the price, value, service equilibrium in retail foodservice.

Since 1991 retail food consultancy Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche for more on Steven A. Johnson and Foodservice Solutions® visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant, twitter.com/grocerant or Facebook Steven Johnson

Will decentralization drive growth within the grocery sector?



The grocery sector finds itself in another quagmire of its own making. Driven largely by category managers and number crunchers that leverage the past, not present or future of food retailing, again is not sure what direction it should peruse.

Kroger and Safeway have built a national footprint and have tried to leverage buying power into a branding voice. It has not worked. From Tom Thumb to Fred Meyer both Safeway and Kroger allowed regional brands to remain, diminishing any added brand value halo that may have been developed.

Given the growth within ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat fresh and prepared food niche combined with the consumer focus on sustainably it just might be best for the grocery sector if regional operating chains/units were spun off and allowed to develop their own identity with relevant consumer messaging.

Since 1991 retail food consultancy Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche for more on Steven A. Johnson and Foodservice Solutions® Bing or Google Grocerants or visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant, twitter.com/grocerant or Facebook Steven