Restaurants capitulate $32.45 Billion in ready-2-eat food sales and more market share.

The restaurant industry is not an industry known for trying to be first as in fastest to market with an ideation, food or technology advance. In the United States the larger the chain in almost all cases the more slowly they are to adopt something than a smaller chain or independent restaurants will. Chain restaurants goal is simple feed one meal at a time in the restaurant while protecting and edifying the brand.  The problem is that others in the retail food space have been thriving selling ready-2-eat food all the while restaurateurs continue doing only what they have done in the past and do it the way they did 30 years ago.

On the other hand Supermarkets, grocery stores and convenience stores have focused on restaurateur’s specialty of selling ready-2-eat food and have captured $32.45 Billion in salesin the U.S. alone from what was once the selling advantage of the restaurant sector as reported by Packaged Facts. 

Seemingly without missing a restaurant sector Supermarkets, Convenience Stores, Grocery Stores and now Drug Stores are selling fresh prepared store made / assembled meals and meal components including Rotisserie Chicken, Pizza both hot and take-N-bake, Asian including (Chinese buffet style and Sushi made to order), Sandwiches ( hamburgers, sub’s, hot-dogs, hoagie’s, penne’s), Salads, Soups, and Deserts.

While McDonalds has the “Big Mac”, Supermarkets, Convenience Stores, Grocery Stores and now Drug Stores have begun creating distinctive differentiated food consumable’s as an entity with identity by day part in an area of their own. Sheetz, Wawa, Whole Foods are leveraging private label advantages to garner price advantage while creating fresh prepared ready-2-eat food positioning equilibrium with restaurants.

Success does leave clues and one clue is the retail food space is not static.  Ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat fresh prepared food continues to expand in non-traditional locations.  Are you expanding?  We can help.

Since 1991 retail food consultancy Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche for more on Foodservice Solutions® Bing or Google Grocerants or visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant, twitter.com/grocerant Email: grocerant@q.com