Cultivating a positive brand
image is one of the hallmarks US based restaurant chains. Leveraging the emotion of the brand in
non-traditional avenue of distribution is something that they are now about to
exploit at much faster rate.
In the 2012 Restaurant Industry
Forecast, a majority of operators
questioned said they offer merchandise, such as sauces or frozen foods, for
retail sale. Few offer fresh prepared ready-2-eat products at alternative avenues
of distribution. That is about to change
as well.
Hudson Riehle Senior Vice
President of the NRA’s Research & Knowledge Group said “Selling retail
items generates additional sales and in some cases, licensing fees, and that's
important considering that the average pretax restaurant profit ranges in the
modest 3-percent to 6-percent range.”
The study found that in “ the
family-dining segment, 54 percent of operators said they sell retail items,
while 35 percent of casual dining, 37 percent of quickservice and 41 percent of
fast casual restaurateurs said they, too, have merged into the retail fast
lane. The highest percentage, however, was in the fine dining segment, where 59
percent of operators said they also sell retail items.”
While retailers the ilk of
Starbucks, 7 Eleven each have found success leveraging branded fresh food items
in non-traditional avenues of distribution few others have. That will change as
food retailing continues to evolve at ever increasing rate. Do you know which chain restaurant will be
next to offer fresh prepared food at non-traditional outlets?
Steven Johnson is
Grocerant Guru at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions, with extensive
experience as a multi-unit restaurant operator, consultant, brand / product
positioning expert and public speaking. Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant
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