Chain Restaurant Quagmire What are you a Fine Fast, Fine Casual, Fast Casual or Fast Food retailer?

Business models have to evolve as the customer evolves but the blurring of the lines within the restaurant sector leaves more and more customers asking does that restaurant meet my needs today? Consumers are focused on flavor, portability, meal components, price, mobile payment, mobile ordering, and delivery more and more according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  So is your restaurant evolving or is your brand messaging like Kodak of the 1970’s?

 Most of us of a certain age remember that that Kodak is nearly out of business. Growing up in the 1960’s and ‘70’s, every family had a Kodak Camera and I still have one of mine. Those yellow boxes were everywhere and getting your very own Kodachrome camera was seemingly a rite of passage, heck, Paul Simon even wrote a song about it.

Battle for Share of Stomach 

As digital cameras gained popularity, Kodak stuck to what they believed. They sneered at digital’s quality, righteous in their knowledge that Americans would NEVER give up shiny pictures for their photo albums.

Today, cell phone cameras take most of the pictures and they are rarely printed. Kodak will shut the doors, correct in their assertion that professionally developed pictures look better than low-resolution versions uploaded to Facebook.

Being dead and correct is not a great strategy.  Today chain restaurants are either growing or dying much the same as Kodak. Simply look at restaurants that filed bankruptcy of late: Claim Jumper, Mr. Pita, Friendly’s, Chevys, Sbarro, Perkins.  They are not all dead but they have been far from right.

These are statements frequently heard from legacy restaurant operators. Like Kodak, crystal clear that what has always worked will continue to work.

• Our executives have 30 years of experience and know how to run the business.
• We never use coupons, nor do we deliver.
• We don’t allow our brand to wander, we protect our brand.
• We don’t use online ordering, I-pad ordering or voice screen ordering.
• We don’t advertise on Google, Twitter or Facebook.
• We don’t open for breakfast.
• We like the umbrella approach each store different personality but under one umbrella.
• Video menus and video signage is visceral gimmickry.
• We don’t measure ingredients, we create daily specials and simply show employees how to make it
• We can’t raise our menu prices.

How did a dominant brand and sector leader like Kodak, in a rock-solid consumer staple lose everything? Simple, they determined the market, the direction of that market and took the steps to conquer it.  If that sounds like your restaurant, retail food sector or niche leader, you better keep reading.

There is little about today’s market, the consumer or food marketing / promotions that was predictable 3 years ago. In the next three years the rate of change will continue to increase. So let’s look at the above list:

Reliability and a comfortable working relationship is correctly a key to success.  However, if you find your team is blaming the economy, minimum wages increases, cost of health care and rising food cost for disappointing results. Do not forget that many restaurants companies are growing both the top and bottom line, number of units and garnering market share.  It might be time for Outside Eyes. 

We always/never use coupons – coupons and promotions are very complicated today. Add the online aggregators the ilk of Livingsocial and Groupon and how can you know what works. Here is the point, what you measure you manage. All advertising must have a objective that is clear and measurable to insure a proper marketing ROI.

We don’t deliver – face it, convenience is a driving reason why foodservice is popular. If you do not want to deliver, consider outsourcing.  Delivery is not about you. That’s right it is about the consumer.

We protect the value of our brand and its integrity for the consumer, our shareholders and stakeholders.  We know the consumer is dynamic not static, but our customer’s comeback because we have a brand promise and they trust in us to keep that promise. Sounds a lot like Kodak, don’t you think?

We don’t use online ordering our food does not “carry” well.  Think about this if you don’t have a way to connect your menu to computers and mobile devices, your competition will woo your customers. Consumers are time starved, and hooked on technology, make it easy.

Google or Facebook – as above, set up a Facebook page, it costs nothing. Have someone help if you need it and then monitor your page 5 minutes a day.  Don’t think about it get started today.

We don’t open for breakfast – you pay rent 24/7, find ways to increase the utilization of your “factory”. Considering catering or school lunch program, contract out your kitchen.  Don’t become the next Kodak of chain restaurants.

Different store brands / personalities under one large corporation and all expected to operate utilizing a uniform set of metrics.  Worked well in the 70’s, 80’s but you have the answer.  Let me know just how well that works out.

Visceral gimmickry does not replace high quality food and great service ever.  Who defines quality service? You via your brand promise or the consumer?

We don’t measure ingredients; my employees know how much to use – why have menu prices, let customer pay whatever they want. If you don’t care what your product costs, you CAN’T make money.
We can’t raise our menu prices – tell that to the gas station owner on the corner, or the farmer growing your food. Costs are up, you must raise your menu prices or you will not exist.

Kodak management, smart and hard working as they were, did not see the world changing, fortunately you do. Realize that change is good and necessary. Act now to challenge your assumption, create new revenue streams and increase profits.  Success does leave clues, Disney movies leave you with a smile, being dead and correct is not a great strategy.

For international corporate presentations, educational forums, or keynotes contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us  the Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  His extensive experience as a multi-unit restaurant operator, consultant, brand / product positioning expert and public speaking will leave success clues for all. Visit: www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information

Long John Silver’s a wants Seafood Lovers to be their Friend

Do you like seafood?  Well if you do like seafood Long John Silver’s, the country’s largest quick-service seafood brand, wants to be your friend.  Integrating Price as a branded invitation Long John Silver’s is sure to catch new customers looking for the ‘halo’ of ‘better-for-you’ that seafood lovers and consumers are looking for today according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Talk about leveraging price as its new branded electricity Long John Silvers (LJS) has a new Catch of The Day promotion. “Each day of the week, guests are invited to catch a hot and fresh $1 deal at a participating Long John Silver’s Restaurant” according to the press release. .

Monday through Saturday, LJS customers can enjoy a wide variety of popular LJS menu items for only $1. Menu offerings will include $1 Crispy Fish Slider, $1 Baja Fish Taco, $1 Crispy breaded all-white meat Popcorn Chicken, and many other $1 deals.

Stephanie Mattingly, LJS vice president of marketing  stated “We are excited to offer so much variety at such a great price. With our new line-up we are able to offer customers something unique and different compared to other value menus out there,”  “From our new Crispy Fish, Chicken and Crab Cake Sliders to our new signature Cinnapups™, only for $1, we think our customers will be delighted.”

Extend the value proposition LJS also launched an All You Can Eat Sunday promotion back in March, and has seen great success at participating restaurants. On Sundays, guests are invited to stop into their local Long John Silver’s, and enjoy the fan favorite battered-fish or chicken tenders with sides & hushpuppies, at an incredible value of just $7.99. The promotion will continue to run from 11am – 7pm at participating locations and is Dine-In only.

The daily deal lineup includes:

Sunday: All-You-Can-Eat Fish or Chicken with Sides and Hushpuppies, $7.99

Monday: Crispy Fish, Classic Chicken or Crab Cake Sliders, $1/each

Tuesday: Baja Fish Taco $1/each

Wednesday: Crispy Breaded Shrimp with classic Crumblies, $1/each

Thursday: Popcorn Chicken $1/each

Friday: Crab Cake $1/each

Saturday and Sunday: 10-piece Cinnapups or Deep Fried Twinkie, $1/each

What is your brands new electricity? Your brand should be an invitation.  According to Johnson, “Brand relevance is in part driven with innovation in new food products in combination with new avenues of distribution all of which are the platform for the new electricity.”

Johnson stated “that in my minds-eye the new electricity must be very efficient for the supply and includes such things as fresh foods, pricing, urban clothing, grocerant consultants, urban farming (produce, seafood, etc.), autonomous delivery, cashier-less retail, cash-less payments, new placement, digital hand held marketing.

Foodservice retailers to survive the next generation of retail must embrace the artificial intelligence revolution while simultaneously embracing fresh food that is portable, fresh, with differentiation that is familiar not different.  That will require brands to embrace new fresh food partnerships more now than ever before according to Johnson.

Grocerant Growth continues to fuel Foodservice Customer Migration

Regular readers of this blog remember that restaurant sector customer migration that continues today began in 2005. That was the first year in 35 that spending on food for home increased over food away from home. 

Non-traditional retailers have exploited consumers desire for fresh prepared food expanding grocerant niche food offerings while leveraging the FIVE P’s of Food Marketing garnering share of stomach from the restaurant sector; according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®. 

While legacy industry consulting companies and research firm simply missed this shift in consumer focus, the team at Foodservice Solutions® did not.  These same firms to save face and protect turf want you to believe there is a universal consumer convergence within the “fast casual” sector.  Guess what?. 

Nothing could be further from the truth. If you are a food retailer and think that you only compete with restaurants, get over it.  There is a race for share of stomach in retail specifically within fresh prepared Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat sector by well-financed competitors. They want your customers.  The fresh prepared food sector is booming according to Nielsen’s Volume 3 of the Total Consumer Report fresh prepared food sales were up 108% last year alone. The retail food world knows it and restaurateurs you should too.

Its 4 PM: your customers are just beginning to think about what's for dinner a June 2018 FMI report found that. 65% of American consumers are unsure about what's for dinner. Time Starved Consumers are looking for high quality Ready-2-Eat foods and or Heat-N-Eat meals. Today's time starved consumer want to purchase meal components that they can bundle into a customized family meal that will please everyone without spending time cooking.  The one universal commonality driving customer trial and migration is fresh prepared Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat food aka Grocerant niche food.

If you’re company is spending money on outdated legacy focus information based on yesterday’s metrics you will continue to lose share of stomach and share of wallet to those focused on the consumer. Fast Casual, Casual and QSR restaurant chains have all lost share to new non-traditional retailers. Don’t be fooled trying migrate into a place defined by groups that simply missed the fork in the road the consumers took.

New non-traditional points of distribution and retail food competition are opening daily and it important to be mindful of the migrating consumer. Do you know how to build sales with a grocerant focus?  We do.

Are you looking for a new partnership to drive sales? 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 have the clue you need to propel your continued success.

Domino’s Smooth Technology Integration is ‘Better-for-You’

Integrating marketing with the ‘halo’ of better-for-you is hard to do for most food marketing teams.  However at Domino’s Pizza it stated with branded oven loaded delivery cars and today it is  driving saving pizza sales, one pothole at a time garnering attention, elevating differentiation, all while elevating branded messaging according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

We all know that cracks, bumps, potholes, and other road conditions can put good pizzas at risk after they leave the store. Now Domino’s is hoping to help smooth the ride home for our freshly made pizzas. Domino’s is asking customers to nominate their town for pothole repairs at www.pavingforpizza.com

Russell Weiner, president of Domino’s USA. “Domino’s stated “Have you ever hit a pothole and instantly cringed? We know that feeling is heightened when you’re bringing home a carryout order from your local Domino’s store. We don’t want to lose any great-tasting pizza to a pothole, ruining a wonderful meal,” Domino’s cares too much about its customers and pizza to let that happen.”

Domino’s has already worked alongside four municipalities to help repair roads that directly affect their customers, including Bartonville, Texas; Milford, Delaware; Athens, Georgia and Burbank, California. Customers interested in nominating their town for a paving grant from Domino’s can enter the zip code at pavingforpizza.com. If their town is selected, the customer will be notified and the city will receive funds to help repair roads so pizzas make it home safely.

Customers can celebrate smooth roads with Domino’s carryout special, featuring large three-topping pizzas for $7.99 each. Customers can order the carryout deal over the phone, in-store, at dominos.com, via Domino's mobile ordering apps or any one of Domino’s AnyWare platforms, including text, tweet, Google Home or Apple Watch.

Are you trapped doing what you have always done and doing it the same way?  Where is your new electricity coming from?  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.

C-store Maverik’s Private Label BonFire Drives Sales

Brand messaging is very important and consistency in messaging not only edifies the customer to the brand it drives incremental value to new product introductions according to Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®, Grocerant Guru® Steven Johnson.

Rich Green, director of foodservice for Maverik understood that Maverik BonFire brand launched in 2009 alongside a revamp of Maverik's coffee program, BonFire tied Maverik's food items together under a single identity with an adventurous theme and color-coded labels based on the type of product, such as a red flame for high-traffic hot items and a green flame for fruit and salads.

Consumers were moving on buying Grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food and the team at Maverik knew it was time elevate BonFire to the next level. Enter Maverik’s new BonFire Grill made-to-order program provided a platform to capture customers searching for fresh food.

Maverik’s, BonFire Grill concept, "That effort, particularly in new stores, definitely swung the pendulum more toward foodservice," Green.  Just as the team at Maverik’s had anticipated. Here are a few of the things Maverik did to build up its foodservice program:

1.        Experimenting with creative, "out of the box" limited-time offers (LTOs), some of which became mainstays on the menu, like the M.O.A.B. (Mother of All Burritos).

2.        Reexamining what went into its products and improving the quality to become a more ingredient-based operation

3.        Hiring a new corporate chef who brought a different perspective to the business. Chef Kyle Lore spent much of his career working in fine-dining restaurants.

4.        Creating a taste profile that is spicier and more flavorful — something that differs from its competitors, which include quick-service and fast-casual outlets, as well as other convenience stores.

So, just what is next Maverik may include a made-to-order beverage program, which the company is in the initial stages of exploring. Green acknowledges that such a program is a "tough one" for the company, describing how he's observed sudden beverage orders like a made-to-order milkshake disrupt the rhythm of the kitchen.

Then Delivery as Maverik is working with third-party delivery services, such as Uber Eats or DoorDash, is also something the company is exploring. However, the logistics are more complicated than they seem, particularly when taking into account the multiple delivery services customers use and the labor necessary to fulfill delivery orders during all dayparts, Green explained. Are you ready for grocerant niche fresh food?

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

H-E-B faces the Grocery store Conundrum Restaurant or Fresh Prepared Food

Many legacy grocery stores simply do not understand the consumer according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  Regular readers of this blog know that Johnson believes that category managers have destroyed the grocery shopping by looking at what was sold in the store and its profitability while ignoring what customers are buying and at what price in other retail foodservice channels. 

Consumers in Texas where H-E-B is located are just like the consumer around the US according to Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant ScoreCards.  The team at Foodservice Solutions® was wondering out loud why in the word did H-E-B open a restaurant ‘taco shop’ inside one of their stores.  As outside observes they speculated that H-E-B opened the restaurant because their store are simply to damn big and/or the category managers can’t find enough food to sell customers or slotting fees to break even.

The “grocerant” trend is not just about restaurant sales it is about Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food that consumers can buy in single, or family sized portions and mix and match meal components into a perfect family meal. 

It just might be time to talk about Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food.  That is not food that is made in a commissary and scooped out of a bucket for two weeks and sold a fresh.  Today consumers can tell the difference.  Fresh is onsite or a regional kitchen that makes and distributes fresh food daily.  It is not meant to come in sealed plastic buckets, sit on the shelf for 6 weeks then be scooped out. That is not grocerant fresh food too consumers today.

Restaurants sales per square foot range on average from $525 to $580 dollars per square foot.  Yes, there are exceptions but it does not make much of a difference if it is a fast food format, fast casual, or full service the sales per square foot remain within those average.  My point is we have no problem with what the concept is we have a problem with the fact that most grocery stores don’t first make a serious effort to integrate a quality fresh prepared food program selling meal components before opening a restaurant.

Most regular readers of this blog remember what we said when Hy-Vee opened Wahlburgers. You have to understand that Hy Vee also has very large stores kinds makes you wonder just how Hy-Vee will integrated Wahlburgers brand values into their store.  We ask after one year will Walhburgers in Hy-Vee exceed the volumes of those outside / not in Hy-Vee?

In the last 12 years there are now 47% fewer traditional grocery stores in the US.  At the same time there are now 31 restaurants in the US for every grocery store.  Restaurants have problems of their own and restaurant customer counts remain flat.  Restaurants are not the solution to solving grocery store customer migration.  Success does leave clues and the team at Foodservice Solutions® has the clues and understand that a new business model is required if legacy grocery stores intend to regain foodservice importance.  Are you looking at what you sell or do you know what your customers are eating and where and why?

So just what is your New Electricity? 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

Salsarita’s Fresh Mexican Grill Picking up all the right Clues

The restaurant industry can prove to be a difficult platform to find success.  The simple fact of the matter is give the customers what they want and how they want it and you will find success according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Consumers will tell you what they like by their actions.  If you open a restaurant and sales continue to climb you are most likely doing all the right things.  However consumers like more than just going in to a restaurant and sitting down and enjoying dinner.  Here is one example from North Carolina based Salsarita’s Fresh Mexican Grill.

Recently a Salsarita’s Fresh Mexican Grill franchisee, Steve and Pam Stallings added a drive-thru window to their existing location in Louisville’s Middletown neighborhood. It features the chain’s new drive-thru model which also offers Mexican favorites such as five flavorful house-made salsas, custom burritos, tacos, nachos and salads made fresh to order with an extensive selection of proteins, toppings and fillings.

This location marks the third Salsarita’s drive-thru added or built to a new restaurant. Salsarita’s drive-thru’s now generate 22 percent of restaurant sales. “The Stallings have been great partners all along,” stated Phil Friedman, president and CEO of Salsarita’s Fresh Mexican Grill. “They are the highest producing sales volume franchisees in our system. The drive-thru concept will enhance sales even further and make the dining experience more convenient for their guests.”

“We’ve been really excited to grow the brand in Louisville, and this turned out to be the perfect time for us to add a drive-thru option to our existing restaurant,” said Steve Stallings. As deeply rooted residents of Louisville, the Stallings are active in their local community and host regular fundraisers at their Salsarita’s locations to benefit local charitable organizations and sports teams. 

The simple fact is drive-thru’s are not new to consumers they are increasingly in demand however. If you have a sit down, fast casual, fine fast, or full service restaurant you just might want to expand your service by giving consumers what they have grown to expect, like and even demand according to Johnson. 

Are you trapped doing what you have always done and doing it the same way?  Where is your new electricity coming from?  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.