Conveniences Stores, Trader Joes, Whole Foods all leverage fresh prepared food for success.

Retail foodservice sector leaders, Wawa, Sheetz, Trader Joes, Whole Foods and 7 Eleven are leveraging fresh prepared ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat fresh and prepared meal components to garner market share.

Take-Away, Take-Out or delivered fresh prepared food continues to drive top line sales and bottom line profits within retail foodservice. Trader Joe’s continues to expand its small footprint grocerant across the US with ever increasing success. That success is in large part due to quality meal components that can be bundled in a single or large family meal quickly.  Whole Foods has now reduced the footprint of all new stores while increasing fresh prepared ready-2-eat meal component options.

Trader Joe’s utilizes Foodservice Solutions® 5 P’s of food marketing: Product, Packaging, Placement, Portability and Price better than any other food company operating in the US. Upon any visit to Trader Joe’s you will witness a private label fresh or prepared entree in most of the shopping carts. Sheetz with its MTO line and Wawa has its branded Hoagies each is of the highest quality in fresh prepared food.

Both Whole Foods and Trader Joes have food product sampling and information stations staffed with well trained employees that can assist you in creating a special dinner, a family meal or a main dish/ casserole of your own.  One  unique ability of Whole Foods and Trader Joes is the ability to allow consumer to customize while utilizing prepared and packed private label products. Those products reduce the meal assembly and cooking time. The outcome is a quality meal in less time, for less money in most cases. You can even sip a glass of “two buck chuck” from bottle Trader Joe’s house wine while you cook, remember the 5’Ps price is simply one of them.

With dollar stores cherry picking the “center of store” of legacy grocery stores one may begin to wonder how long before the large footprint legacy grocery stores will be around. New formats and fresh prepared meal solutions are clearly leading the consumer in a new direction. C-stores are catching on and growth in fresh food meal options continues to fuel that sectors industry leading growth. Restaurants be aware.

Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche. For product or brand positioning assistance contact Steven A. Johnson and Foodservice Solutions® or visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant or on Facebook at Steven Johnson, GOOGLE: Steven Johnson, Grocerants or twitter.com/grocerant

Yum Brands understands consumers need set.

KFC was one of the very first food compaines to  understand the consumers need for  ready-2-eat bundled meal options.  Today KFC continues to offer bundled meal components with the grocerant niche meeting the need set of todays time starved consumer.

John Gordon joins Foodservice Solutions®  leading Food Advocacy: Legislative Action for Food Availability is needed and Good News for consumers

NATION WIDE FOCUS REQUIRES QUICK ADVOCACY ACTION

Sometimes there are important issues that need to be worked, quickly, for the betterment of both consumers (really) and corporations

At the intersection of contemporary consumer meal consumption trends and the confluence of the time starved consumer is the grocerant niche filled with fresh ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat prepared food.  Driven by consumer demand these items can be found in Grocery Stores, Chain & Independent Restaurants, Convenience Stores, Chain Drug Stores and increasing at food trucks and online food portals.

It’s time to allow Americans receiving food assistance to purchase fresh and prepared ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat food from Grocery Stores, Chain & Independent Restaurants, Convenience Stores, Chain Drug Stores and the like.

One such issue is expanding governmental food assistance eligibility

Recession, stagnation or double dip, 45 million plus Americans are currently receiving assistance from the Food and Nutrition Service division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the food stamp program.  Like most legacy government programs its time to up date this program ensuring participant parity and a contemporized relevance.

While the US unemployment rate is roughly 9.2% it is estimated that combined with the underemployed and those not even looking any longer the rate is 14.7% it’s clear a large portion of America is going without. Unemployment numbers are disproportionately high for those under 24 and over 55 increasing anxiety while creating a climate of disorder in the workforce. 

Why is this good thing for all of us?

• For consumers:

Over the past 20 years there has been a transition in home cooking where the vast majority of meals are not cooked from scratch but assembled meal components.  Components like rotisserie chicken, fresh vegetables, ribs, soups, take-N-bake pizza, casseroles, Chinese entrees, build your own salad. This trend in large part was driven by the ever increasing growth of multi-cultural multi- generational households where meal time consisted of more divergent flavors than ever before.  The skill set to cook multi-cultural meals has not been handed down as in the past. The anxiety of being cash strapped, frustration and desire for comfort food is heightened. Allowing consumer to buy fresh prepared meal components edifies the family unit of today while easing the frustration and pain of economic turmoil.

• For small business:

Small business nestled in each community across the country, understand the flavor profiles and competitive business environment and are best equipped meet the consumers needs while building community cohesiveness.  Independent restaurants will benefit creating more Jobs.

• For big business:

Large corporations particularly grocery stores have witnessed the migration of there consumer from the “center of the store” to the perimeter where grocerant niche ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat fresh and prepared food can be found.  National retailers understand the consumer is dynamic not static and want to maintain consumer relevance.  These changes will do just that more jobs.

Who are we?

Foodservice Solutions® has offices in California and Washington and is a foodservice consultancy specializing in outsourced vertical retail food sector strategy - marketing strategy and business development, identifying, quantifying and qualifying niche opportunity for global foodservice related activity since 1991.

Steven Johnson has been a restaurant franchisee and concept developer, is globally recognized for his blog “The Grocerant.” An industry expert in alternative channels of food distribution, he is Grocerant Guru at Foodservice Solutions® specializing in the “grocerant” niche in both fresh and prepared foods. The “grocerant” concept includes grocery stores offering Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat foods too convenience stores, restaurants and now even the drug store sector. The foundation of Johnson’s work in the channel are the 5 P’s of food marketing: Product, Packaging, Placement, Portability and Price. He holds a Master of Science in Food Marketing with distinction from Saint Joseph’s University, and a Bachelors of Arts degree from the University of San Francisco. He is a member of Beta Gamma Sigma, the International Business School Honor Society. Johnson has received numerous awards including 3 EMMEY, awarded by 3M for “Outside the box” thinking and team leadership.

John A. Gordon is a chain restaurant analyst and management consultant who specializes in niche restaurant sector research, analysis and special business intelligence projects. With a professional lifetime in restaurant operations, financial management and management consulting roles, he provides independent perspective and actionable analysis for investors and others regarding difficult and complex restaurant earnings and economics topics via his niche analysis and advisory firm. . He has a 40 year passion for and association in local, state and national politics and government and has hands on knowledge of the legislative process and how the advocacy game should be played.

What we propose to do:

• Issue development  the food availability issue is fast becoming a signature interlocking solution needed for both consumers, and economic development as a whole. We will coordinate and enhance this issue with logical, fact rich support for next legislative cycle introduction.  
• Legislative advocacy: via our contacts and connections, we can work this issue in select, gateway states that will insure fair hearing and progress. This includes briefing and communications to allies, direct legislative access planning and support.
• Ongoing support:  successful issue implementation via the legislative process requires ongoing care and feeding. We can be the gateway to providing logical support and backup to answer questions and sustain the action over time.

How are we different than the other lobbyist/advisory firms?

• Laser like focus and attention: this is our issue and we’ll work it exclusively to others.

• Unlike the other empty suits, we know this business and these issues: we have unique viewpoint and immersion throughout the food “space” and do not sit in ivory towers. If market facing conditions change, we’ll know it before others who sit at the end of the “feed chain”.

• We don’t have the same baggage as they do: we have no other client conflicts or hidden agendas and have no goal other than client satisfaction.
• We don’t have the same overhead as they do: let’s face it: cycle time and cost matters.  Why pay the big firms to get up to speed?

Contact us for topical research and suggested action steps

Steven  Johnson, Grocerant Guru, Foodservice Solutions Food Advocacy  Email:grocerant@q.com Voice: (253)-759-7869

John A. Gordon, Senior Advisor Email: jgordon@pacificmanagementconsultinggroup.com

Voice: (619) 379-5561

Lunch at 7 Eleven; consumer say yes.

Wings from 7 Eleven



Fresh prepared food is entering the marketplace in new points of established distribution. With ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat fresh prepared food becoming the fastest growing and most profitable sector in retail foodservice aka the grocerant niche. 7 Eleven has stepped up and is standing out as sector growth leader.

7 Eleven is perfectly situated to capture a large share of the marketplace. 7 Eleven will experience strong sales growth as they roll out an integrated grocerant food program with distinctive differentiated food consumable’s as an entity with identity by day part. 7 Eleven’s successful food product branding has allowed them to own the flavored crushed ice niche with the Slurpee! They will do it by daypart with other food items as well. If success leaves clues keep your eye on 7 Eleven they are changing and changing fast.

With consumer multi-tasking more and more, convenience stores with a plethora of food offering combined with other services may have an edge moving forward. According to a recent study “ 75 percent of consumers are more satisfied when offered a variety of menu options to choose from; 60 percent of consumers say price is important when choosing between lunch options; 47 percent of consumers choose restaurants that are "earth-conscious"; and 76 percent of consumers take calories and nutrition into account when deciding on lunch.”

Grocerant ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat food is garnering the attention of the consumer. This niche is filled with better for you products that are portioned, priced and portable. C-store success leaves clues in ways that legacy restaurant operators have yet to understand.

Outside eyes can deliver top line insights and bottom line profits. Invite Foodservice Solutions to provide brand and product positioning assistance or a grocerant program assessment. Since 1991 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 or on Facebook at Steven Johnson

Whole Foods Edifies whole PAYCHECK!

Picture from LA Times



During the past five years Whole Foods has been one of the most successful grocery stores companies in understanding the US food consumer. Whole Foods has increased consumer frequency, by creating consumer interactive participatory fresh prepared in stores ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat meal options with seasonal relevance and sustainable positioning. Whole Foods could well be in the process of becoming the first national US Grocerant.

Whole Foods with its understanding of the consumer in hand, and lessons learned from its on-going social media advertising; contracted with LivingSocial for a proactive campaign to garner trial and attention. Wow it worked. They sold “1 million coupons on the LivingSocial website”.

Instead of utilizing the LivingSocial program to educate and elevate the consumer about the brands repositioning with the consumer centric focus of in store fresh prepared ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat meal options that have every increasing consumer relevance and higher margins.

They elected to utilize the social media messaging platform to edify legacy consumer tongue & cheek tagline “Whole Foods equals Whole PAYCHECK” The offer was $10 cash for a $20 gift card. 50% discount in the minds-eye of the consumer means OVERPRICED to begin with. Which was the legacy messaging that Whole Foods has successfully been getting away from with their grocerant offerings.

Foodservice Solutions® 5 P’s of food marketing: Product, Packaging, Placement, Portability and Price which they utilizes with grocerant niche items would have served them well on this program as well.

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

Take-A-Way, Take-Out fresh prepared food a success tool in foodservice today.

Ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat fresh and prepared take-out or take-A-way food continues to drive top line growth and bottom line profits in retail foodservice today. Creating or identifying distinctive differentiated food consumable’s as an entity with identity by day part that are portable is a key driver of that success. 

Understanding the unique balance between palate, price, pleasure and the consumer’s drive for qualitative distinctive differentiated new food consumables allows companies to identify, quantify and qualify new regional products that become successful.

The food value proposition equilibrium for the consumer today balances; better for you, flavor, and traditional products all blended into something with a twist.  In industry speak, differentiated does not mean different to the consumer it means familiar.  

Cultivating a brand is more important that managing a brand. Brands are dynamic not static, they develop and grow with/for your clients and the consumer.  Identifying distinctive differentiated programs, positioning and consumable’s by day part that reflect the brand, industry trends, consumer preferences is an area of the grocerant niche that Foodservice Solutions particularly excels.

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

Independent restaurants stumble while leading a year over year loss of 9,450 units

Chain convenience stores continue to garner consumers favor.  With increase customer frequency at chain convenience stores driven in 2011 by new ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat fresh and prepared food offerings it’s easy to say for the fourth year running convenience stores will top the foodservice growth charts once again.  

For every winning sector there is a sector that is down, again this year it is the independent restaurant sector where changing marketing dollars and product buying clout was simply to much to over come. “U.S. restaurant unit counts declined by -2 percent, or a loss of 9,450 restaurants, based on the most recent restaurant census conducted by The NPD Group, a leading market research company. NPD's Spring 2011 ReCount®, which is a census of commercial restaurant locations in the United States compiled in the spring and fall each year, finds most of the total unit declines were independent restaurants, 8,650 of which closed in the census period.

Many C-store operators have adopted to follow Foodservice Solutions® 5 P’s of food marketing: Product, Packaging, Placement, Portability and Price; while repositioning their food offerings in the grocerant niche. Building strong sales while increasing customer frequency as they roll out an integrated grocerant niche food program with distinctive differentiated food consumables.

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

Is your Foodservice operation like a Disney movie?



Is your retail foodservice operation like a Disney Movie, where everything is happy at the end of each month where sales and profits are up. Then you most likely have entered the grocerant niche. Grocery stores, Restaurants, Convenience stores, Dollar Stores, Mobile food trucks and Kiosk are all improving the quality of the food that they sell. The race for share of stomach has never been at a faster or more focused pace.

Consumers want to feel connected to you brand and your brand must remain relevant in the minds-eye of the consumer. The convergence of new non-traditional points of distribution, an evolving grocery fresh prepared sector and lingering economic conditions have created the perfect opportunity for retail food brand expansions. Drug stores chains and Dollar stores are now attracting traditional restaurant and grocery stores customers.

Its time that brand managers challenge the premise of all new food product ideations, pressing, probing and prodding development teams to develop new products for each new avenue of distribution. Brand protectionism never works. The retail foodservice consumer is dynamic not static and the opportunity for branded ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat fresh prepared food has never been greater in multiple channels. If you want your foodservice operation to mimic a Disney movie, remember the grocerant niche.

Outside eyes can deliver top line sales and bottom line profits. Invite Foodservice Solutions® to provide brand and product positioning assistance or a grocerant program assessment. Since 1991 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 or twitter.com/grocerant