Just Salads Consumer Interactive & Participatory

Was May the month you were going to slim down for summer? Well if it was and you were one of the luck consumers Just Salads may have been where you have been eating.  Just Salad launched an endless salad bowl promotion in May, joining a number of other chains that have debuted recent pay-upfront deals.

The Just Salad’s $99 Unlimited Salad Bowl, which sold out in about six hours entitled the purchaser to one salad each of the 31 days in May. That includes any chef-designed salad or a custom creation with four toppings and one protein. The deal breaks down to $3.19 per salad if purchased each day. The chain will limit sales to 100 Unlimited Salad Bowls.

Just Salads received lots of ‘buzz’ around the pay-upfront endless salad bowl promo according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  However Johnson wondered aloud during his presentation in Chicago during the NRA Show if this could become a new subscription model for many fast casual restaurants?

Just Salad’s Chief Branding Officer Rosalin Siv “This is the first time we’re doing it, so we’re testing the waters,” Johnson ask why not evolve this model? A number of other chains have found success with similar pay-upfront promotions, most notably Olive Garden’s Never Ending Pasta Pass, which typically sells out in less than one second. That’s just a flash in the pan but how could you move this business model forward?

The Unlimited Salad Bowl promotion meshes with Just Salad’s sustainable, earth-friendly mission. The fast-casual chain already sells a $1 reusable bowl, with which customers can get free toppings during each visit. Some 785,000 consumers have used the reusable bowls in the last year, the brand says.

Amazon has it subscription service Amazon Prime which over 100 million customer pay for. Gym membership are growing in popularity among all ages so Johnson asks could a subscription base drive your restaurants top line sales and bottom line profits?

Restaurant punch cards were big back in the day but could a subscription service become the base of a loyalty program; could it become you new electricity? In the minds-eye of Johnson, there is one dominate element that will power success within retail foodservice over the coming years.  Johnson calls it the new electricity that is partnerships specifically strategic partnerships.   

The new electricity must be very efficient for the supply and includes such things as fresh food, sous vide meal components, portable meals, meal kits, subscription services, urban farming (produce, seafood, etc.), autonomous delivery, cashier-less retail, cash-less payments, digital hand held marketing.

Retailers the ilk of Supermarkets, Restaurants, Conveniences Stores, Dollar Stores, and Department Stores that selling food and want to survive the next generation of retail must embrace the artificial intelligence revolution while simultaneously embracing portable prepared fresh food.  That will require brands to embrace new fresh food partnerships more now than ever before according to Johnson.

Are you trapped doing what you have always done and doing it the same way?  Where is your new electricity coming from?  Interested in learning how www.FoodserviceSolutions.us 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.