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.
Historically chain restaurant
leaders have denied the credibility of start-up competitors as non-relevant.
The pizza sector is a great example; evolving from family dinning independents
to national chain of “Red Roof” Italian, then to delivery only outlets and now
Take-N-Bake is garnering market share in the pizza sector.
At
the intersection of the consumer, fresh prepared food, and technology we fine
that consumer eating behavior is evolving and is now beyond the control of
traditional food marketers. Evolving culture and lifestyle, demographics along
with the new uncertain economy are all putting pressure on the American food
consumer.
The
demands of work, economic shrinkage, demands of raising a family, commuting,
social interaction, kid’s after-school activities, all contribute to a food
marketplace where convenience vies with price over legacy brands. Recent
advances in food packaging and new points of non-traditional food distribution
have empowered consumer choice, and Americans are embracing these choices even
as legacy marketers cringe. Who’s after restaurant food dollars simply put
everyone.
Why
should you care if Walgreens is selling fresh prepared Ready-2-Eat and
Made-2-Order sandwiches? Why should you care if Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s,
Safeway, and Wegmans are selling Ready-2-Eat and or Heat-N-Eat fresh
pizza? Why should you care if Coinstar
is selling Seattle Best Coffee at 1,000 locations for $1.00?
You
should care because they are selling it, and you are not! The fastest growing
sector of retail food service for the past four years has been the Convenience
store sector. The C-store sectors growth
in large part has been driven by Grocerant niche fresh prepared food.
Non-traditional avenues of distribution are growing, gobbling, and garnering
market share while establishing new patterns of consumption, price points and
customer loyalty.
Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods have created Ready-2-Eat and
Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food items with qualitative differentiation as an
entity with identity that has help propel them into Ready-2-Eat fresh prepared
food leadership.
In fact recent research shows that both Trader Joe’s and
Whole Foods are each known for high quality (restaurant quality) Ready-2-Eat
and Heat-N-Eat foods with distinctive offerings. More important each is leading with
innovative products and package size that create value and have positioned each
chain as a food shopping destination
for meal components customized and personalized for immediate consumption or
mix and matched for a meal time at home. In short they are stealing your
customers.
Walgreens fresh prepared food is restaurant quality and
priced less than Panera Bread or Corner Bakery.
Both Panera Bread and Corner Bakery thrive in urban locations. Walgreens
is now growing price, quality and speed of service advantages over legacy
retailers. Legacy restaurant chains must
reconsider the speed at which they evolve and adapt or non-traditional outlets
will capture profits margins as well.
Traditional
views of meals and mealtime can pretty much be discarded. Legacy retailers
waiting for the “next big thing” to copy simply might be out of luck this
time. Legacy food retailers may not like
to be first movers very much but it may prove that waiting too long will not
work this time.
The
retail food world is evolving at an ever increasing pace filled with innovation
in food, portion size, points of distribution, and quality fresh prepared meal
solutions. The price, value, service
equilibrium is resetting in retail foodservice. In order to edify the brand and reinforce
consumer relevance restaurateurs leverage Foodservice Solutions® 5P’s of food marketing: Product, Packaging,
Placement, Portability and Price.
Many
legacy food retailers continue to practice brand protectionism, stifle the
brand while diminishing consumer relevance.
The consumer is dynamic not static.
Brands must be dynamic, evolving with the consumer. Four years of watching other retail sectors
thrive should be long enough. Success in the restaurant world is no longer
simply about what happens within your 4 walls.
Steven Johnson is Grocerant Guru at
Tacoma, WA based www.FoodserviceSolutions.us , with extensive experience as a multi-unit
restaurant operator, consultant, brand / product positioning expert and public
speaking. Call 253-759-7869 or Email: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us Follow us
at: Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant
No comments:
Post a Comment