Zoës Kitchen Menu Expanding Customer Touchpoints

Regular readers of this blog know that 2018 was touted the year of the partnerships in retail foodservice by our own Grocerant Guru®.  Here once again is another example of a chain restaurant company doing all of the right things to drive incremental relevance with consumers as Zoës Kitchen partnered with American Airlines to sell its  signature sandwich The Grüben with sliced turkey, Manchego cheese, crunchy Mediterranean slaw and feta spread layered on marble wheat bread, served with a Zoës chocolate chip cookie.

When Zoës Kitchen and American Airlines have teamed up to introduce a new food-for-sale menu for customers seated in Main Cabin Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® noted “adding new points of relevant distribution creates more relevant customer touchpoints.”

Looking a customer ahead the new menu, designed in collaboration with Zoës head chef and Vice President of Culinary Innovation Antonio Iocchi, includes items unique to American as well as signature dishes found in Zoës restaurants, such as its signature hummus and The Grüben sandwich. The new items will be available for purchase on most domestic flights longer than three hours beginning December 1.

Janelle Anderson, Vice President of Global Marketing for American Airlines stated “Zoës mission to deliver goodness from the inside out and their ‘simple, tasty, fresh’ offerings made it an easy decision to partner with the fast casual, healthy restaurant group,” .. “Our customers have asked for lighter tasty food choices. This collaboration with the expert chefs at Zoës provides an innovative, fresh approach to onboard offerings.”

Kevin Miles, president and chief executive officer of Zoës Kitchen went on to say “Together with American, we are excited to elevate the inflight dining experience and deliver goodness to millions of customers by offering our chef-inspired menu items, in a fresh, new way,” “Our goal in our restaurants is to provide delicious, wholesome food, inspired by the flavors of the Mediterranean and for our guests to feel good and motivated to live life to the fullest after dining with us.” The new items launching December 1 include:

1.        Breakfast Sandwich: Turkey bacon, egg slices and tomato topped with baby arugula on a waffle brioche bun with Calabrian pepper aioli

2.        Continental Breakfast Box: Belgian waffle, hazelnut spread and fresh berries

3.        The Grüben: Zoës signature sandwich with sliced turkey, Manchego cheese, crunchy Mediterranean slaw and feta spread layered on marble wheat bread, served with a Zoës chocolate chip cookie  

4.        Chicken Wrap: Grilled chicken wrap with mozzarella, roasted tomatoes, arugula and artichokes, served with a Zoës chocolate chip cookie 

5.        Hummus Duo: Zoës signature hummus duo, including their classic flavor topped with Kalamata olives and basil pesto hummus, served with pita bread, cucumber and carrots

How are you looking a customer ahead? Throughout 2019, American and Zoës will continue to collaborate and introduce additional items in Main Cabin as well as domestic first class service. 

Foodservice Solutions® specializes in outsourced business development. We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities or a new menu product segment and brand and menu integration strategy.  Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma WA is the global leader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant/ or twitter.com/grocerant