Sunday, June 2, 2013

RetailNet Group: Grocerant Niche Solid Solution for Food Retailers


Continued food consumer migration from restaurants and legacy grocery stores to fresh prepared meal components is driving food retail realignment. Legacy big box stores that cannot be shut are now converting legacy CPG space into Fresh Prepared Grocerant niche food space. While full restaurants are increasing meal component offering in Buy one Get one To-Go and QSR’s are focusing on price, speed and new menu offerings.
In RetailNet Groups recent Webinar: Winning Store Formats of the Future found adding grocerants, expanding  to go foods, merchandising more fresh prepared food and less center store while appealing to an ever expanding global palate are just a few of growth platforms legacy big box retailers are employing to maintain profitability and customers.
Meal Component Bundling
Grocerant ready-2-eat and heat-n-eat fresh prepared food is causing significant mix shifts from legacy CPG products to fresh prepared food due increasing customer migration. Today legacy faced with the need to reallocate the space, often replacing it with new services and fresh food experiences that will bring in new traffic to the store. For many legacy big box retailers, adding grocerant fresh prepared food is a good solution to provide a differentiated experience, drive traffic and compete with QSR’s.
Deferral Cooking
Consumers do not want to cook from scratch.  A home cooked meal is comprised of bundled meal components.  The lack of a multi-ethnic cooking skill-set combined with time-starved consumers need for convenience are causing retailers to add or expand prepared To-Go foods departments, add inside seating options, and offering heat-N-eat options. There is a food migration that is occurring that is going from scratch too fresh prepared too To-Go foods all fall under the umbrella of the grocerant niche.
Proximity Shoppers Drives Convenience Store Fresh Food
Since 1991 the number one reoccurring complaint about grocery shopping has been how much time it took. Convenience stores with a small foot print figured that out.  Then they discovered coffee, fresh coffee and fresh food. The RetailNet Group found “factors such as urbanization, an aging population and an increased preference for proximity are driving a fundamentally new convenience store. There will be new multi-destination convenience superstores that will aim to roll up independents and compete directly with QSR. As such, the convenience competitive set is broadening.”
Sheetz, Wawa, Rutter’s and 7 Eleven are all expanding driven by fresh prepared food, meal components, a proximity to customers that elevates a personal relationship through high frequency coffee trips, a differentiated fresh food, and priced to compete with QSR’s.  The retail food space is not brain surgery it is evolving more rapidly today than it has in the past 20 years.  Fundamentally the retail food space remains very much the same, consumers are in control. 

Invite Foodservice Solutions® to complete a Migration Marketing assessment, grocerant program assessment. For brand, product placement, menu positioning assistance simply call Foodservice Solutions® today.  Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant

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