Friday, March 12, 2010

Foodservice customers are dynamic not static! Is your brand stuck in the MUD?


If it is true that foodservice consumers are in fact dynamic not static then over time it would be a natural event if your customer moved on! I recently had a discussion with a CEO of a legacy restaurant brand that boasted his brand has not changed and neither has his customers. His company lost money only due to the economic down turn.

However during the past 10 years he has been forced to refinance an ongoing operating loss three different times? Which many banks were willing to do because of his vast real-estate holding’s. Hedge fund managers are scooping up restaurant operators at will and legacy grocery stores are failing at an alarming rate. Might it be time for some change?

Where are the winners? They are the companies that move with the customers; like Whole Foods check out any of there stores between 4:30 PM and 6:30 PM packed at the food stations. They will develop the proper mix to draw the middle of the store back.

Look at Buffalo Wild Wings hardly a start up, but continuing to innovate and build units and customer frequency. Consumer want freshness and some innovation not copy cat marketing or menu items. Like an old couch some times you have to replace it. If you don’t follow the successful attributes of the grocerant niche you should. It’s the only niche growing in every sector of the foodservice industry.

Consumer’s demand authentic menu progression, not static entrenchment. Retail food brands must find a new/fresh way of doing things. That will also provide a new spirit edifying your team creating a synergy to pull your company too contemporary relevance.

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 visit my blog at:www.grocerants.blogspot.com.

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