Lidl & Aldi Went to School Listened, Learned, now Lead

Within every business sector there are winners and there are losers.  One sure way to determine who is winning is to look within a sector and see just who is growing, expanding by building new units while expanding into new geographic territories simultaneously.  There are two standout companies globally, and in the U.S., they are the same two Aldi & Lidl according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  

A new study by Bain found 30% of shoppers at mass and traditional grocery stores also regularly shop at Lidl and Aldi.  Why, well as regular readers of this blog know the leadership of both Aldi & Lidl have listened to the consumer, learned, and then gave the consumer the experience they wanted from a grocery store according to Johnson. Here is more of what they found:

“The figures were especially strong for Aldi, which the survey indicated was gaining customer acceptance along with its move to expand assortment to premium tiers. Its consumer advocacy rose to 55% in 2018 from 46% a year earlier and outperformed in the two areas that according to Bain customers care about most: “best everyday low prices” and “best value for the money.”

Winning the Battle for Share of Stomach

Consumer advocacy is a predictor of future success, because promoters—or a company’s biggest fans—tend to spend more, purchase more frequently and devote a higher share of their overall spending to retailers than do detractors, or consumers giving company a low rating. Aldi had the third-best NPS of 25 retail brands in the Bain study, while Lidl ranked 12th in that group. Bain did not identify the companies in the provided rankings but said the group included supermarkets, mass merchants and warehouse clubs, and excluded convenience stores and dollar stores.

Lidl, which entered the U.S. less than two years ago, is still tinkering to find a profitable model, but has captured 3% or greater share in five of the seven markets studied in summer 2018, gaining spending from traditional grocers, Bain said.”

The simple fact is Aldi & Lidl have given consumer what they asked including price, value, service, and discovery according to Johnson. They did that while edifying operational efficiencies giving them a competitive advantage over traditional grocery retailers who take pride in doing what they have always done and doing in the same way according to Johnson.  We ask Why?  Success does leave clues and giving the consumer what they want should be you first clue every day. 

For international corporate presentations, educational forums, or keynotes contact: Steven Johnson 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. For more information visit www.GrocerantGuru.com , www.FoodserviceSolutions.us or call 1-253-759-7869

Chick-fil-A has a halo of ‘better-for-you’ and Employees know it.

Time and time again food retailer’s success is based on ‘buzz’ and Chick-fil-A buzz includes better service, fresher food, and better trained employees that are happy.  Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® stated that Chick-fil-A franchisees have elevated employee training and food quality to a point that simply that out pace’s competitors.  

Now Chick-fil-A is increasing its investment in educational scholarships for restaurant Team Members in 2019, awarding $15.3 million to more than 6,000 deserving Team Members across the country. As part of Chick-fil-A’s Remarkable Futures education initiative, this increase in scholarship funding reflects Chick-fil-A’s continued commitment to Team Members and their futures, and it remains one of the highest unrestricted per-employee scholarship investments in the industry.

Throughout March local Chick-fil-A Franchise Operators will present $2,500 Leadership Scholarships to 6,016 Team Members across 47 states. Through Chick-fil-A’s annual scholarship application process, students employed by the company’s local franchise Operators can apply to receive up to $25,000 in scholarships to pursue the higher education opportunity of their choice.

The initiative is unique in that the scholarships can be applied to any area of study at any accredited institution, including any two- or four-year college and university, online program or technical/vocational school. Here the thing you help them they help you.  Now isn’t that the way it should work?

Chick-fil-A’s Remarkable Futures initiative includes three opportunities:

·         True Inspiration Scholarship: In 2019, 12 Team Members will receive an individual, one-time award of $25,000. Unlike traditional scholarships which are based solely on academics, the True Inspiration Scholarship is for students who also demonstrate financial need, leadership and community involvement. This year’s True Inspiration Scholarship recipients logged an average of 596 hours of community service each during the previous 12-month period. 

·         Chick-fil-A Leadership Scholarship: In 2019, 6,016 Team Members will receive a $2,500 scholarship for the 2019-2020 academic year. Team Members may re-apply for up to four years for a potential total of up to $10,000 for college while working at a Chick-fil-A restaurant. These scholarships are awarded to Chick-fil-A Team Members based on leadership, academic achievement and community involvement. 

·         Educational Assistance Opportunities: In addition to scholarships, Chick-fil-A offers all 120,000 restaurant Team Members access to tuition discounts of up to 30 percent and other educational benefits at more than 100 colleges and universities across the country. The benefits can be combined with either of the above scholarships.

To be eligible for these opportunities, applicants must be employed by a Chick-fil-A Franchise Operator, a Chick-fil-A, Inc.-operated restaurant or an S. Truett Cathy (STC) brand restaurant at the time of application and award.

Chick-fil-A began awarding scholarships in 1973 based on founder S. Truett Cathy’s desire to empower team members to further their education. Since then, more than 53,000 Team Members have received scholarships from Chick-fil-A, Inc., bringing the total amount funded to more than $75 million, applied at more than 3,200 schools nationwide.

Foodservice Solutions® specializes in outsourced food marketing and business development ideations. We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities, technology, or a new menu product segment.  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

Corner Bakery is Doing Lots of things Right

Alice May Brock said:” Tomatoes and oregano make it Italian, wine and tarragon make it French, sour cream makes it Russian, lemon and cinnamon make it Greek, soy sauce makes it Chinese, garlic makes it good.” 

However; the Corner Bakery is edifying it market positioning as it extends it branded menu offering with grocerant niche success clues according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® with Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

The fresh prepared new menu items have bold flavors, are perfectly crafted straight from the kitchen and can be eaten-in or taken-out. Complementing consumer desire to Eat-In while Eating-Out.

Corner Bakery's seasonal items address all day-parts:

·         Carved Ham & Swiss Egg Bowl: fluffy scrambled eggs topped with pecan wood smoked ham, roasted red peppers, green onions and Swiss cheese finished with a drizzle of garlic cream sauce served with sourdough toast 

·         Bacon Avocado Egg Bowl: fluffy scrambled eggs topped with Applewood smoked bacon, diced tomato, chopped baby spinach, cheddar cheese and avocado served with sourdough toast 

·         Pesto, Egg & Cheese Panini: fluffy scrambled eggs, tomato, fresh Mozzarella and pesto on grilled sourdough 

·         Shrimp Scampi Linguine: garlic roasted shrimp and linguine tossed with garlic butter, tomato, fresh parsley, lemon juice and Parmesan cheese 

·         Power Greens Shrimp Caesar Salad: garlic roasted shrimp, shredded Parmesan cheese, and homemade croutons on our power greens blend of baby kale, spinach, and arugula with classic Caesar dressing 

Guests can also enjoy new Cake Truffle Bites, available in lemon, salted caramel pecan and carrot cake.

Corner Bakery CMO Donna Josephson  Stated "We are always looking for new ways to bring our guests fresh and innovative dishes,"  "We are excited to introduce our guests to these fresh and flavorful new dishes."

While Alice May Brock said it first ”Tomatoes and oregano make it Italian, wine and tarragon make it French, sour cream makes it Russian, lemon and cinnamon make it Greek, soy sauce makes it Chinese, garlic makes it good.”  Today Corner Bakery Café is giving consumers what they want according to just the way Alice May Brock envisioned it. 

Foodservice Solutions® specializes in outsourced food marketing ideations and business development partnerships ideations. We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities, technology, or a new menu product segment.  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

Wendy’s Waves Customers Welcome

Limited time offers (LTO’s) are a great way for food brands to extend a welcome to consumers and stimulate sales.  However, when you add an LTO with the word FREE the branded invitation welcome mat is greatly enlarged according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

You don’t hear the words bacon and free very often.  This week Wendy’s has distinguished itself by creating a point of differentiation win the battle for share of stomach by offering free ‘baconator fries’.  

So you can now bring home the bacon with Wendy’s latest offer “free Baconator Fries daily with an in-restaurant purchase through Wendy’s mobile app, available now through February 17. The free Baconator Fries with purchase offer will refresh daily within the app, because a day without Baconator Fries is a day wasted.” 

The team at Wendy’s says “of course, the only fries worthy of the Baconator name are made with natural-cut, skin-on, sea-salted fries topped with warm, creamy cheese sauce, shredded cheddar, and crispy Applewood smoked bacon.” How do you plan to expand your brand messaging?

Interested in learning how Foodservice Solutions 5P’s of Food Marketing 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

Battle for Share of Stomach

‘Better-for-you’ Superfood Chain Everbowl Sets Sail

The ‘halo’ around grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh food continues to expand garnering attention from consumers and private-equity groups creating a platform for continues innovation and growth according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

If you are looking for an example of how to grow your ‘Superfood’ brand you need only to look at how Everbowl has done it according to Johnson with plans to add 45 units after private-equity injection the success clues are right there.

Recently San Diego-based superfood and smoothie chain Everbowl secured $3 million in funding from a Toronto-based private-equity group. The 17-unit Everbowl said the company plans to use the investment from International Franchise Inc., or IFI, a subsidiary of Serruya Private Equity, or SPE, to accelerate growth. By the end of 2019, the company said it plans to open as many as 45 locations.

Jeff Fenster, Everbowl founder and CEO stated “We are thrilled to be working with SPE and IFI to help fuel our growth. They have a proven track record of massive success working with other brands,” … “Our brand identity and company culture remain vital to our success, and we are thrilled that this partnership will allow us to facilitate our expansion, achieve our long-term business goals, while remaining true to our core vision.”

For those of you who do not know; Everbowl launched two years ago as a counter-service shop serving a menu of bowls and smoothies made with superfood bases such as acai, pitaya, graviola and acerola.  Sixteen-ounce smoothies and 24-ounce bowls cost $8 to $9. Everbowl, quickly expanded to 17 locations in Southern California ranging from San Diego to Riverside.

Aaron Serruya, CEO of IFI stated “We’re proud to be a part of a brand that continuously serves high quality, thoughtfully crafted, great tasting treats and snacks that are not only delicious and refreshing, but also good for you,”

Serruya’s other investments include Pinkberry, Yogen Früz and Cold Stone Creamery.  In late 2018, Serruya and London-based Lion Capital LLP bought Global Franchise Group, whose brands include Great American Cookies, Hot Dog on a Stick, Marble Slab Creamery/MaggieMoo’s, Pretzelmaker and Round Table Pizza.

Aaron Serruya and his brother, Michael Serruya, founded the Yogen Früz frozen-yogurt chain in Canada in the mid-1980s. They acquired a controlling interest in Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Kahala Brands Ltd. in 2013, bringing such brands as Cold Stone Creamery and Blimpie under the Serruya umbrella.

They sold Kahala to MTY Food Group Inc., a publicly traded Canadian company, in June 2016 for about $310 million.

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

10 Grocerant Niche Success Clues for 2019

Digital hand-held technology specifically smart-phones have driven a decline in traditional network TV viewing driving change in how and where consumers eat according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  The value of a product or brand at times diminishes in consumer relevance as consumer evolve as well. The team at Foodservice Solutions® understands that the consumer is dynamic not static. Here are 10 clues to keep your brand dynamic:

1. Symbolism. Why you are there! The most successful brands are inclusive include values greater than themselves. A lifestyle, a philosophy, an emotion a point in time.

2. A story. Most major brands have a story. Examples: if you like Ford vehicles, you might be familiar with the story of Henry Ford or if you love your Nikes, you probably know how the Nike swoosh logo was created.

3. A track record. When your business is first starting out, don't fool yourself into believing that your marketing efforts are 'brand building' efforts. They're not because to build a real brand, you have to have an extensive track record with consumers.

4. Trust. When you've consistently delivered for your customers long enough, you'll gain the type of trust that many brands have. Case in point: a friend of mine always reminds people that he won't buy an automobile that isn't a BMW. He's had a good experience with his and trusts so much in the company that he doesn't believe there's a better-made car.

5. Expectation. When a consumer chooses a product or service because of brand association, he or she is buying an expectation. Perhaps it's the expectation that the branded product is of higher quality or that the service will be provided in a more efficient manner.

6. Differentiation. Expectation is often borne of differentiation. Many brands offer products and services that are commodities but they're successful in developing some differentiation for their products and services that consumers are sold on.

7. Imitators. Imitation is the sincerest of flattery and you're probably not a 'brand' until you have competitors trying to copy you.

8. Market leadership. Top brands are usually looked at as leaders in the markets they compete in.

9. Adaptability. The best brands are flexible and capable of reshaping and reinventing themselves and their messages over time. Coca-Cola is a good example of a brand that has never abandoned its core product but has evolved its message over time to keep up with changes in the marketplace and society at large.

10. A strong marketing presence. Although it's nice to believe that you can market yourself for free on Facebook and Twitter, the reality is that brands aren't advertising on television and radio because they're dumb. Building and maintaining brand equity requires awareness and awareness requires broad marketing efforts.

Steven Johnson is Grocerant Guru at Tacoma, WA based www.FoodserviceSolutions.us , with extensive experience as a multi-unit restaurant operator, consultant, brand / product positioning expert.  www.GrocerantGuru.com  Office: 1-253-759-7869

No Beef as consumers focus on Protein

Where’s the beef? Was the tagline made famous by Wendy’s back in the day.  In an era of transparency consumers are looking at labels and asking for products with protein not just beef according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Millennials continue to seek food discovery and greater innovation is taking place with plant based protein’s and the industry is marketing them as NOT just for vegetarians and vegans anymore.

“Growing consumer interest in health, sustainability and ethics is propelling plant-derived ingredients and products into high popularity, according to Innova Market Insights. Gravitation toward plant-based diets in general, along with interest in vegan, vegetarian and flexitarian lifestyles and concerns over animal welfare, are contributing factors.”

Four in 10 U.S. consumers increased their consumption of meat substitutes/alternatives during 2017, according to The NPD Group. And plant-based dairy alternatives are expected to comprise 40 percent of the total dairy/dairy alternatives market by 2021, reports market research firm Packaged Facts.

David Sprinkle, research director for Packaged Facts  stated “Vegetarians and vegans together account for less than 15 percent of all consumers and their numbers do not grow very rapidly, but a growing number of consumers identify themselves as flexitarian and lessitarian, meaning they’ve cut back on their consumption of animal-based foods and beverages,”  “It is this group that is most responsible for the significant and ongoing shift from dairy milk to plant-based milk.”

Battle for Share of Stomach

In-home consumption of plant-based proteins has grown by 24 percent since 2015, according to NPD. The heaviest users of plant-based foods are more convenience-oriented than others, the global information company found.

“The plant-based foods industry has gone from being a relatively niche market to fully mainstream,” said Michele Simon, executive director of the Plant Based Foods Association (PBFA), which represents plant-based food companies.

2018 marked the second year that PBFA released Nielsen retail sales data. In July, the trade association that represents 114 of the nation’s leading plant-based food companies released new data showing robust sales in the plant-based foods industry, with dollar sales growth of 20 percent over the last year and sales now topping $3.3 billion. Comparatively, overall food sales growth is around just 2 percent.

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, www.Linkedin.com/in/grocerant/ or www.twitter.com/grocerant/