Fast Food and Fresh Fruit Drive Sales

For all the talk about McDonald’s recently few remember that back in 2004 Mc Donald's added apple slices to Happy Meals in 2004.  That one event has simply put has been a sales driver like no other for apple growers. According to Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru™ fresh fruit is fast food and regular readers of this blog know that.

Restaurant foodservice has fueled Apple sales since 2004, said John Rice, president of Rice Fruit Co. “Fresh sliced apples was a category that was growing rapidly when all the fast-food chains were following McDonald’s lead in offering fresh sliced apples in a number of menu options,”

7-Eleven trying to enter the fresh fast food niche has started selling single whole bananas, apples and other whole fresh fruit however has not received the recognition, customer adoption or sale bump that McDonalds has from sliced apples.

Our own Grocerant Guru™ was one of the first to break the news about McDonald’s offering mandarins ‘cuties’ and yogurt in kids’ meals instead of offering only apple slices. Fresh fruit is a natural for McDonalds and other retailers trying to attract the ‘better for you’ consumer.

Fresh fruit is a great alternative to french fry’s or legacy CPG deserts.  It is a great snack any time of day and the ability to get ‘better for you’ food via a drive-thru will only continue  drive top line sales and bottom line profit for both fruit growers and retail outlets. 

As on McDonald’s operator told us “an apple a day keeps the drive-thru bustling’. Today the halo around fresh apple cider is ‘better for you’ and Foodservice Solutions® team expects to see retailers selling single portion fresh cider soon as well. 

Are you trapped doing what you have always done and doing it the same way?  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

Portability is Key to Foodservice Solutions® Five P’s of Fresh Food Marketing

When Technomic validated portability as a key driver to successful fresh food sales Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru™ was not surprised. Hand Held, Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared Grocerant niche food with portability is a key driver in the undercurrents of change evolving within the retail foodservice sector today.

There is little doubt now that success within the food industry today can be traced back directly to Foodservice Solutions® 5 P’s food marketing. Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru™ Steven Johnson in 1994; identified, quantified and qualified The 5 P’s of Fresh Food Marketing.  

Then Johnson introduced, implemented, and integrated to foodservice companies including Full Service Restaurants, Chain Drug Stores, Grocery Stores, QSR’s, and C-Store clients.  The 5 P’s are:

The four key pillars  Build, Measure, Lean and Repeat validated results.  After repeated successful retail food industry adoption of Foodservice Solutions® 5 P’s of Fresh Food Marketing, Technomic conducted qualitative and quantitative research then compiled the following infographic highlighting the importance and consumer relevance that portability play’s today.  The infographic is entitled Pertinence of Portability:

The fact highlighted by Technomic that 51% of the U.S. consumer order Food-2-Go once a week or more. When ordering breakfast On-The-Go 56% of consumers say portability is important. Were additional key elements in validating our success moving forward.

In addition Technomic found from 2012 to 2014 consumers ranking the importance of portability for snacks jumped from 55% to 60%. We are delighted that Technomic has highlighted the growing important role that portability plays with food consumers today.

Foodservice Solutions®  excels at vertical brand product positioning, marketing strategy, and business development specifically identifying, quantifying and qualifying niche opportunity for global foodservice related activity specifically Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food. Call: 1-253-759-7869 today to learn how the 5 P’s can Drive Sales at your retail outlet.

Visit: www.FoodserviceSolutions.us  if you are 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 or you can learn more at Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant or Contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us

 

Is now the time to be Selling your Franchise Back to the Franchisor?

The rules of the franchising industry are changing. The landscape of food retail industry is evolving as well. We ask.  Is now the time to be selling your franchise back to the franchisor? 

This week the National Labor Relations Board has paved the way for franchisors to be held responsible for the employment practices of franchisees, ruling that a party doesn't have to actively supervise a staff to be regarded as a "joint employer."  So we ask should you?

Here is some background first. Last week, the NLRB blocked McDonald’s challenge of a preliminary ruling that stated a franchisor should be viewed as a joint employer.  To redefine large franchisors as joint employers would challenge longstanding protocols of restaurant franchising, as franchisees are generally responsible for employee recruitment, training, wages and working conditions, as well as a number of daily activities central to maintaining their staffs.

Deeming franchisors joint employers would hold parent corporations legally accountable for those employees, making them more vulnerable to lawsuits and a slew of other regulatory actions enacted on workers’ behalf.  So are you an independent owner operator or not?  That is the question at the heart of the issue.  

However here at Foodservice Solutions® we think that restaurant franchising is still a viable model if and only if the franchisor  is doing the right things including:

1.       Abandoning brand protectionism.

2.       Expanded franchisee rights in new non-traditional avenues of distribution.

3.       Focusing on merchandising verses category management?

Consumers are dynamic and brands must be as well.  If your franchisor is doing the same thing they did 20 years ago and doing it in the same way, then it just might be time to sell it back.  As a franchisee you have helped build the brand value?  

Now as new exciting avenues of distribution are opening up are you going to be able to share in the opportunity?  If your company is still relying on category management techniques over merchandising techniques you might be look at other options. 

Invite www.FoodserviceSolutions.us to help ease your company into the retail fresh food success. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® a Tacoma, WA based retail foodservice consultancy has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche. For product or brand positioning assistance contact Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us  or  Grocerant on Twitter

Sheetz Driving Top Line Sales Focusing on “better for you’

Sheetz, with over $6.9 Billion in annual revenue continues to drive innovation, engaging customers with ‘better for you’ products. Sheetz is one of America's fastest growing family-owned chain restaurants that also sell’s gasoline. 

You don’t have sales close to $7 Billion a year by doing the same thing over and over again.  Sheetz is a dynamic not a static company always evolving with the consumer. This week Sheetz announce the “launch of its new Sheetz Bros. Coffee rolling out in over 500 stores companywide. The coffee features four signature blends with a light to dark progression, freshly ground in every store and served in a new environmentally-friendly cup.”

Ryan Sheetz, Director of Brand Strategy stated: "This new premium coffee elevates the sensory experience for our customers," …"With four blends, seventeen creamer and flavor options and a full line of latte and mocha beverages, Sheetz customers have over 1,000 different ways to customize their coffee." 

Just as important Ryan Sheetz went on to say; "The updated cups are fully recyclable, BPA-free and made out of #5 polypropylene – one of the safest materials used to package foods,"  with this implementation we  will divert approximately 2,300,000 cups from landfills every year."

With a continued and growing focus on ‘better for you food’ Sheetz will be able to garner additional customers with these new products as it continues to build upon its award-winning menu of  Made Too Order (MTO) sandwiches and salads, which are ordered through unique touch-screen order point terminals expanding customer relevance according to Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru™.

Since 1991 we have assisted companies grow, expand, and excel within the grocerant niche.  Are you ready for Outside Eye’s for inside profits?  Have you completed a Grocerant ScoreCard for your company?  Are you ready for a Grocerant program assessment? Call: 253-759-7869 today.