Foodservice Solutions: Looking A Customer Ahead

What’s for Dinner?  Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru®, Steven Johnson stated “At 4 PM: your customers are just beginning to think about what's for dinner. Fully 83.2 % of all American consumers are unsure about what's for dinner at 11:30 AM and 63.1% don’t know what’s for dinner at 4PM in the United States according to our recent Grocerant ScoreCards.”

What are you selling to your customers?  What avenues of distribution is your brand doing the best? In a survey of U.S. diners conducted by Technomic showed that over a three-month period, “85 percent enjoyed a meal at a restaurant and 95 percent had a restaurant meal at home. Not surprising, but that same survey showed that nearly as many diners had a meal of grocery prepared foods (57 percent) as drive-thru restaurants (63 percent) and carryout restaurants (53 percent).”

New avenues of fresh food distribution continue to open.  New companies the ilk of Everytable, Hello Fresh, Snap Kitchen, Green Zebra Grocery, and Starbucks offer meals, meal components all that can be mixed and matched into a cohesive family meal according to Johnson.  

Consumer’s today rate grocery store service deli food as restaurant quality according to data compiled from Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant ScoreCards they are increasing saying the same thing about fresh food offered at convenience stores. 

Retailers and consumers are beginning to use the work, invoke, and request “grocerants” when referring to or requesting fresh food fast according to the team at Foodservice Solutions®.  The NPD Group reported that ‘Grocerants, “received higher ratings for variety, healthy options, freshness and quality than traditional quick-service restaurants.”

In addition to increasing convenience and variety, a key area of opportunity lies in offering more healthy options. The majority of consumers purchase foods with “health halo” claims more often at grocery stores than at restaurants, and as more consumers look for more healthful prepared foods, retailers should consider offering more fruit and vegetable dishes as well as utilizing more healthful preparations. Emphasizing healthfulness could help retailers position their offerings as a nutritious replacement for home-cooked meals.

Invite Foodservice Solutions® to complete a Grocerant Program Assessment, Grocerant ScoreCard, or for product positioning or placement assistance, or call our Grocerant Guru®.  Since 1991 www.FoodserviceSolutions.us  of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche. Contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or 253-759-7869