Grocerant Niche Sell Hot Food Hot and Cold Food Cold

Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru at Tacoma, WA based global foodservice consultancy Foodservice Solutions® reminds us “that in our evolving retail food world that the basics are still important.  That food integrity matters, packaging matters and you better be selling Hot food Hot and Cold food Cold.”

Pizza Hut is one company that continues to evolve when they announced new packaging the team at Foodservice Solutions® assumed they were trying to keep up with Domino’s oven in the car.  The fact is they might have been but did not want to spend that kind of money.  Which is too bad because that car and over are working great for the Domino’s. 

Instead after exhaustive due diligence I’m told Pizza Hut's New 'Oven Hot Delivery System' is Space Age.  Now if that is not marketing spin I have never heard it.  However, let’s teak a look.  Pizza Hut said it “is now using the same material as space blankets, winter jackets, and home insulation to keep pizzas up to 15 degrees hotter than existing boxes during the delivery process.”

The brand’s new delivery system contains a pouch made with 3M Thinsulate Insulation thermal technology and a pizza box with crisp sheet inserts. That is in addition to a reengineered pizza box and a new crisp sheet, the research sparked the development of an all-new pizza delivery pouch featuring three different thermal insulation materials to help ensure the pizza stays oven hot, the cheese stays melted, and the crust stays crisp:

·         The first layer is 3M Thinsulate Insulation, the same technology that is commonly used in ski jackets

·         The second layer is a PET Aluminum Radiant Barrier, which reflects heat from the pizza  back into the pizza, and is the same material found in space blankets.

·         The third layer is a polyester fiber padding like insulation found in homes that traps heat inside

“By implementing the unique power of our Thinsulate Insulation, which is warmer than almost every comparable material on the market, we’re able to help Pizza Hut achieve their goal to deliver customers a hotter pizza than ever before,” said Mindy Murray, brand communications Manager at 3M, in a statement.

Regular readers of this blog know that we are in the food business and doing the basics matter and selling Hot food hot and cold food Cold is still at the top of the list for consumers.  Technology, innovation, and consumers all evolves and you brand should be evolving all of the time.

Invite Foodservice Solutions® to complete a Grocerant Program Assessment, Grocerant ScoreCard, or for product positioning or placement assistance, or call our Grocerant Guru®.  Since 1991 www.FoodserviceSolutions.us  of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche. Contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or 253-759-7869

Meals at Buehler’s Fresh Foods

Restaurants are not the only retailers that understand the consumer’s need-set when it comes to Ready-2-Eat fresh prepared food.  Grocery stores the ilk of Buehler’s Fresh Foods excel at it according to Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru® Steven Johnson. 

Long before McDonald’s made all-day breakfast a national phenomenon, Buehler’s Fresh Foods, was offering round-the-clock breakfast for years. The regional Ohio retailer is famous for its Grandma Buehler’s made-from-scratch buttermilk pancakes, as well local favorites, including ham loaf, meatloaf, fried bologna, and an all-you can eat fried or baked fish meal on Fridays for only $12.99.

What do you call a hamburger patty topped with a fried egg, bacon, cheddar cheese and hash browns, served up on an inside-out glazed doughnut?  At Buehler’s they call it Breakfast.  This past summer it was a limited time offer at Buehler’s.

Grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh food runs deep at Buehler’s in addition to its sit-down restaurants, Buehler’s offers an extensive selection of prepared foods on the supermarket side of the store, including a Smokehouse BBQ in each location offering up pulled pork, smoked chicken, brisket and its famous smoked mac and cheese. I as is there a chain restaurant out there that does not understand the concept of Share of Stomach?

Now some might say Buehler’s is simply trying to be all things to everyone?  Ok we might say the same thing as they offer homemade soups in both hot and chilled in pouches to heat up at home, while the chain’s chicken program uses local Gerber’s Chicken for its fried, roasted and smoked offerings. Take-out Chinese, Stonefire pizza, subs and sushi are also part of its extensive prepared foods program.

The fact is Buehler’s is selling lots of grocerant niche meals, meal components, and fresh prepared foods that consumers can’t find or obtain at other retail outlets.  Why is that? Is  you brand getting your ‘share of stomach’?

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

Marketing with relevance matters at El Pollo Loco

Limited Time Offers known as LTO’s are key drivers when a chain is injecting consumer relevance into a menu according to Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru®, Steven Johnson. That is exactly what El Pollo Loco did when they added four new handcrafted bowls to its menu for a limited time.

The four new bowls are the chicken street corn bowl (chicken, avocado, corn, cotija, citrus chili seasoning, beans, rice, creamy cilantro, cilantro), the mango shrimp bowl (shrimp, avocado, mango salsa, black beans, rice, cotija, cilantro), the double garlic chicken bowl (chicken, garlic butter, cabbage, beans, rice, pico), and the chicken guacamole jalapeno bowl (chicken, guacamole, sour cream, pickled jalapenos, cheese, beans, rice, pico).

Heather Gardea, vice president of research and development at El Pollo Loco, stated “As we thought about all of the delicious and unique choices offered in Los Angeles, we were inspired to create colorful handcrafted bowls that emulate the flavors of our hometown,” …. “While bowls are a great way to eat a meal on the go, we find it important not to sacrifice flavor for convenience. We’re excited for fans to try our delicious new handcrafted bowls, created with a variety of authentic flavors inspired by our Los Angeles heritage and combined for a tasty and fulfilling meal.”

The undercurrents of change and success within the food industry today can be traced back directly too Foodservice Solutions® 5 P’s of Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food marketing. Developed by Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru®, Steven Johnson in 1994; then introduced, implemented, and integrated by foodservice companies including Full Service Restaurants, Chain Drug Stores, Grocery Stores,  QSR’s, and C-Store clients.  The 5 P’s are: 

Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food 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. 

Casey’s General Stores 1 Million steps too Success

The very first step to success is getting someone to step into your stores according to Tacoma WA based global grocerant niche consultancy Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru®, Steven Johnson. The second is edifying a branded relationship with customer relevant technology.   The third is elevating that experience with a sample via taste test once they are in your store according to Johnson.

Customer relevance was top of mind when Casey’s General Stores ’launched its mobile app in January 2016. Now their mobile app has surpassed 1 million downloads, making it one of the most popular fuel retailer and convenience store mobile application on the market.

Casey’s mobile app was built by GasBuddy’s Retailer Services, makers of GasBuddy Business Pages, the B2B SaaS platform for the $650 billion retail fuel and convenience store market that enables marketers to help them create a “Perfect Pit Stop” for consumers. Now with 1 million downloads I guess they understand the niche that they are in.

 Terry Handley, Casey’s General Stores president and CEO stated “Working directly with GasBuddy has helped with our mission to provide our customers with exceptional service and great value on our offerings,” … “GasBuddy has a strong understanding of the industry and provides the technology necessary for us to reach our customers and remain competitive.”

Casey’s mobile app has soared to incredible popularity with features and functions that enable its consumers to order pizza, made-to-order sub sandwiches and appetizers. Casey’s recently completed the implementation of online ordering in all of its stores company-wide, and the Casey’s app makes online ordering even more convenient for customers using their mobile devices.

Invite Foodservice Solutions® to complete a Grocerant Program Assessment, Grocerant ScoreCard, or for product positioning or placement assistance, or call our Grocerant Guru®.  Since 1991 www.FoodserviceSolutions.us  of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche. Contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or 253-759-7869

Buc-ee's Food is Fine but Coffee Divine

Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru®, Steven Johnson stopped by a couple of Buc-ee's watched consumers day and night go inside the cleanest C-store in America and buy food, yes grocerant Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food.

Many of you may not be of the age to remember the retail foodservice buzz word QSC (quality, service, cleanliness) it’s not from a bygone era it alive and well at Bucc-ee’s clearly consumers still value QSC. So it was no surprise to the team at Foodservice Solutions® when  GasBuddy's data scientists reviewed nearly two million user reviews that cover more than 140,000 retail locations where gasoline is sold and rated Bucc-ee's received the highest ratings in the nation as being the best gas station convenience store for a cup of coffee.  Why not who would not like to go to a clean stores with lots of fresh food choices.

Gas Buddy found that more than half of Americans (56 percent) who have visited a c-store in the past three months feel that c-stores make coffee drinks as good as coffeehouses.  Note: not as good as a restaurants but better as good as coffeehouses.

Frank Beard, convenience store and retail trends analyst at GasBuddy stated "Americans love coffee! Our consumption has increased over the years with premium and gourmet coffees serving as the catalyst," … "It is evident that gas station convenience stores are taking market share from [quick-service restaurants] and cafes by creating a true coffee experience." Note the pictures on how Bucc-ee’s and QT sell coffee? When was the last time you evolved how you sell coffee?

On the state level, Tulsa, Okla.-based QuikTrip placed in the top spot in seven state, Pennsylvania-based Wawa came in third by being No. 1 in seven states; and Westborough, Mass.-based Cumberland Farms was third, being the favorite in five states in the Northeast.

Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food 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. 

Starbucks is Growing after 46 Years Are You

If success leaves clues and it does one clue that no one in the foodservice sector should overlook is ‘watch what Starbucks does’ according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based global foodservice consultancy www.FoodserviceSolutions.us . 

Most regular readers of this blog know that Starbucks was founded in 1971 and is now over 46+ years old and not only a category leader it is an industry leader in Coffee, Retail CPG, Foodservice Technology, Customer Service, Grocerant niche Fresh Food, personal use coffee pots, cups OK you know I could go on and on.  In fact the team at Foodservice Solutions® has named Howard Schultz Food Merchant of the year more than on three occasions. Is your brand evolving selling more food more products that last year?

Now Foursquare released its Quick-Service Restaurant Loyalty Index. The company ranked the top 50 chains in the U.S., according to customer loyalty. Foursquare analyzed the foot traffic trails of more than 2.5 million Americans for the study no small feat.  Here are the top 10 chains, ranked.

 Starbucks,  McDonald’s,   Dunkin’ Donuts  Tim Hortons  Chick-fil-A,    Whataburger,  Sonic Drive-In,   The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf,   Taco Bell, and  Panera Bread. 

Consumers are dynamic not static the only way Starbucks can lead in customer loyalty after 46 years is they continue to evolve.  Recently Starbucks closed it online retail store, do you know why?  Online Starbucks consumer touchpoints were rated some of the best in the industry.  So why did they close it?  What have you changed up lately?  Where is your growth coming from?  Is your brand FIRST in any category?

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.

Bingo Box Copycats Driving Cashier Free Adoption

Back in the day the U.S. was filled with cutting edge venture capitalists who would drive innovation in retail foodservice and the world watch, copied and U.S. branded innovative foodservice grew.  Today foodservice innovation and venture capital is center stage in China and Asia according to Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru®, Steven Johnson. 

Consumers in China are just as time starved as anywhere else in the world and retailers looking to reduce consumer time in the stores think going ‘cashier-free is the way to go.  The question is this the next big thing or are retailers and venture capitalist throwing money at China’s cashier-free convenience stores?

First does the technology in a cashier free store work?  Will the retailer actually make money, or learn once again that retail, even tech-driven retail, is a brutal business of low margins, low barriers to entry and high fixed costs? Our Grocerant Guru® asks how much would your margins improve without cashiers? 

This year alone in China there are eight start-ups in the space have raised a total US$385 million. The investment premise seems simple: tap into an ongoing retail revolution in a nation with 1.3 billion potential shoppers with a track record of embracing new retail experiences.

The fact is China’s cashier-free stores are very different from Amazon Go, the fully automated checkout-free stores launched by Amazon, something all of the Chinese start-ups tried to copy but found it too difficult. Amazon Go has delayed it’s rollout due to ongoing technology and operational glitches according to Amazon.  

Most of China’s cashier-free stores fall into two types. The first looks like traditional convenience stores with row of products displayed like in a 7-Eleven, or with product images displayed on a computer screen. Shoppers scan a QR code or their faces to enter the store. They then scan the products they want and check out via mobile payment. In other cases, they are clicking pictures of products and pay via mobile payment.

The products are then dispensed like from a vending machine. Bingobox, Bianlifeng and Xiaomai belong to this category, with most placing box-like stores “in the wild”, such as in parks or on the sidewalk.

The other type are essentially a vending machine, or shelves, placed in office buildings and powered by mobile payment and QR codes. The only difference between this type and a traditional vending machine is the addition of mobile payment enabled by easy scan of QR codes. Guoxiaomei and Citybox are examples of this type.

Here is the point international retailers are expanding into new points of fresh food distribution, that may very well save them lots of money while driving top line sales and bottom line profits?  So we ask does your company look more like yesterday than tomorrow? Will you brand be replaced by a new start-up from Europe, Asia, or the U.S.? 

Success does leave clues www.FoodserviceSolutions.us  is the global leader in grocerant niche business development.  We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities.  Has your company had a Grocerant ScoreCard completed a Grocerant Program Assessment, or new Grocerant niche product Ideation?  Want one?  Call 253-759-7869 Email: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us