In 2019 Eating-In while Eating-Out Will Take Center Stage

Consumer like  Eat-Out while Eating-In as documented many times over the past eight years by our own Grocerant Guru®.  In fact is the team at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® after identifying, quantifying, and qualifying Eating-In while Eating-Out has called it the new normal within retail foodservice and it will become a mainstay of food retail in 2019 according to Steven Johnson.

Food research companies the ilk of The NPD Group have decided the team at Foodservice Solutions® was dead right, spot-on, and correct last year in their National Eating Trends Report NPD found that “Unlike recent generations, consumers today are shifting toward eating more dinners at home, including those purchased at restaurants” Think about it; eating-in while eating-out. 

Yes, NPD found “the trend toward incorporating foodservice items from restaurants or retail into a “blended” in-home dinner is on the rise, NPD found. In the year ended in February 2017, 18 percent of in-home meals included at least one ready-to-eat item from foodservice, up from 15.5 percent in 2015.” The report found adults under age 40, which includes Millennials and Gen Z, as the primary consumers of the trend. 

Regular readers of this blog are also familiar with Foodservice Solutions® FIVE P’s of Food Marketing.  The Five P’s were vetted, when they were identified, quantified, and qualified. The FIVE P’s outlined seven years ago the undercurrents driving change within retail foodservice today.  NPD is catching up.

NPD went on to say “The lower cost to eat at home and higher cost to eat at restaurants, combined with the ability to order and have delivered just about anything online, are among the reasons consumers are eating more at home. Additionally, there are fewer Americans in the workforce today, due in part to a larger retirement-age population.” However to the Team at Foodservice Solutions® it  looks a lot like our work back in 2010.

Here’s our point today there is a reason we have over 275,000 followers on the business social media site LinkedIn.  Industry professionals know the team at Foodservice Solutions® and our Grocerant Guru® have been the leading foodservice insight, market positioning, and trend undercurrents experts for the past ten years.  We just wanted to thank you for flowing us asking us the best questions that push us to do our best for you and companies that want to move forward by Looking A Customer Ahead.  

For international corporate presentations, educational forums, or keynotes contact: Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions.  His extensive experience as a multi-unit restaurant operator, consultant, brand / product positioning expert and public speaking will leave success clues for all. For more information visit www.GrocerantGuru.com , www.FoodserviceSolutions.us or call 1-253-759-7869

Walking in Circles in a Grocery Store Looking for One Item or Buy Groceries On-Line

Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru®, Steven Johnson stated “for 20+ years legacy grocery stores have been acutely aware that consumers dislike going to the grocery store and spending 20 minutes just to pick up one or two items.” Consumers have options and saving time is at the top of most consumers shopping list according to Johnson.

What’s even worse most legacy grocery stores continue to utilize category managers whose sole job it is to ‘trick, fool, or confuse’ consumers into buying one product over the other depending of the profitability of the product.  News alert consumers have figured that out.  It is just another reason that consumers are migrating to new forms of fresh food distribution while avoiding legacy grocery stores according to Johnson.  

A new study from Brick Meets Click online grocery spending patterns of U.S. consumers forecasts a 15% growth rate in 2019, driven by an increase in the overall share captured by online in 2019 to 6.3%. While that number is still small considering the size of the marketplace.  It is important to remember that the convenience store sector is growing at roughly 3% in new stores per year and c-stores have 3.5 times as many stores as there are grocery stores.

David Bishop, partner with Brick Meets Click, noted in a release “Increasing the number of households who have access to online grocery shopping services with home delivery or pickup could add almost two points to the percentage of U.S. households who buy groceries online, pushing the 2019 monthly rate past 25% at the national level,"  The simple fact is consumers simply dislike spending so much time in a grocery store and then they still have to go home cook, and do dishes. 

Ok, it is just that simple grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh food saves time and in most cased there are no dishes to do.  If you are a food retailer and your year over year customer counts are not going up its time to edify your grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh food platform.

Are you looking for a new partnership to drive sales? Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing ideations look more like yesterday than tomorrow? 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.

Kombucha is Hot

Customer relevance is important to maintain.  It does not matter what industry you are in consumers are dynamic not static and when the customer evolves retailers must as well according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Let’s face it Kombucha is the hot beverage and when Peet’s Coffee announced that bought a majority stake in kombucha maker Revive Kombucha, with promises to bring the company’s drinks to more grocers and its own coffee shops everyone knew that Peet’s Coffee was keeping pace with consumers.

Revive Kombucha offers bottled and on-tap kombucha and has more than doubled in size over the past year. Peet’s said that its financing will enable the brand to grow its operations and increase its distribution through the coffee company’s network.

Peet’s operates well over 200 coffee shops, mostly out West, and has a considerable retail business inside grocers and its e-commerce platform. The company said that it expects to expand Revive’s market into those channels.

Eric Lauterbach, president of Peet’s consumer division, stated “Kombucha is a natural adjacency to ready-to-drink coffee and our consumers tend to love both,”… “Adapting our growth strategy to extend access and trial of superior beverage choices across channels in new and convenient locations is key.”

The deal continues a trend in which coffee chains are looking to expand into tea and other beverage products. Starbucks, for instance, closed its Teavana shops to focus instead on expanding that brand at grocers and other retail locations as well as its own coffee shops.

So, we ask how are you expanding your brand with relevance?  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

Meal Components with Portability are Driving Food Sales

In a world full of choice consumers are opting to spend more time playing games on their computers, watching sports on their 65 Inch HDTV or phone, texting, talking, and shopping on a device rather than cooking according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

The simple fact is consumers do not have the skill set to cook the full-flavored meals or meal components that they have grown up with. Consumers want fast, fresh and flavorful easy meals for dinner.

As long as multi-generational family's gather for meals together, the demand for more divergent flavors continues to permeate. Grocerant mix and match bundled meal component offerings allow for increased family integration, understanding and acceptance in less time without a required cook from scratch skill set.

In the 1940's cooking from scratch was the normal. The average home cooked meal took 150 minutes to prepare. Everyone sat down at the table and enjoyed it or not but they all ate the same thing. Today's "home cooked meal" takes on average less than 30 minutes to prepared. In most cases at least two different entrées are served.

The average time spent inside a McDonalds in the 2,000 was 11 minutes. Today 65+ percent of all McDonald's food is sold via the drive-thru. U.S. fast-food chains are increasingly remodeling restaurants in an effort to garner additional drive-thru customers inside and increase sales, simple because the drive-thru can't hold all the cars.

Are you selling grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food that is portable?  How many items on your restaurant menu could be sold as a meal component?  How many items is your store could be prepared fresh and sold as Ready-2-Eat or Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared item?  Does your retail food-print look more like 1990?  Where is your customer relevance in the past, in today or in tomorrow?

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.

Foodservice Demographics Matter

Looking a customer ahead many times means just looking at today’s consumers path to purchase and follow the according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®. At other times it requires taking a look back then you can look forward according to Johnson.

Today we do both last yeat  UNiDAYS, uncovered some interesting information in its Gen Z study: “What Restaurant Need to Know,” highlighting key tips for restaurants to make inroads with Gen Z. Exploring the attitudes and behaviors of Gen Z consumers. They found four key themes restaurants need to pay attention to and our team thinks you should look at as well:

1. Move Past the Broke Student Mentality

According to the report, 78 percent of Gen Z’s spend the majority of their money on food. However, Gen Z has already proven to be more financially savvy than their Millennial counterparts. So, even though they have the money to spend, they want to be careful about how they spend it.

2. Community-Based Incentives Are Key

Nearly 93 percent of Gen Zs say they “are more likely to try a restaurant that offers discounts.” UNiDAYS recommends creating a personalized experience for students in a scalable way. Out of the Gen Z-er’s surveyed, 41 percent said they learn about new menu items in the restaurant, and the remainder rely on social media networks (20 percent) and friends (19 percent). The best way to market these local offers are through community-based platforms that build brand affinities.

3. Embrace Spontaneity

Gen Z’s are spontaneous by nature. Only five percent of them said they plan their meals in advance while 48 percent said they try a new quick-service restaurant chain every month. Restaurants can take advantage of their willingness to try new things by using real-time tactics such as mobile push alerts for promotions of menu items and pricing geared towards Gen Z. Since they often communicate in images, it’s critical to dedicate “resources to leverage images and video snippets of your food across social and in promotions targeted at Gen Z.”

4. What Gen Z is Craving: It’s Not About the Meal Plan

Almost 48 percent of students don’t have a campus meal plan, and UNiDAYS says, “if they’re not coming to you, then they’re checking out your competition - which includes local and independent restaurants.” Students share that almost half of local eateries provide special offers for them and 78 percent are taking advantage.

Success does leave clues www.FoodserviceSolutions.us  is the global leader in grocerant niche business development.  We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities.  Has your company had a Grocerant ScoreCard completed a Grocerant Program Assessment, or new Grocerant niche product Ideation?  Want one?  Call 253-759-7869 Email: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us

Food Hall Restaurant Turnover Just will be just like that of Food Courts

So, what’s the difference between a ‘food hall’ and a food court nothing according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  The simple fact is consumer tire of food courts and the retailers after about 14 months.  That’s the point that retail turnover begins to pick up. 

Regular readers of this blog know our Grocerant Guru® has documented many of the up-and downs of restaurants, caterers, and non-traditional food operators trying this formula. The turnover at food halls  is much more noticeable that of ‘virtual food halls’ which Johnson now thinks will have a longer staying power.

Last year meal-preparation company Alacarte has secured $700,000 in angel financing to form a partnership with UberEats to offer what it said will be a “virtual food hall” experience. The Miami-based company, which opened its first commissary in Miami Beach four months ago, prepares food based on the specs of local restaurants that it’s partnered with, along with concepts developed by Alacarte, allowing customers to order from multiple virtual concepts and delivering it all at the same time.

“So if the wife wants sushi, the husband wants Mexican and the kids want pizza, they can all order it from us and have it delivered at the same time,” said CEO and co-founder Ken Ray. Ray said that this latest round of funding came from family and friends, but he recently visited venture capital firms in Boston and New York to raise additional funds for further expansion in high-density markets.

Alacarte has developed five concepts in its commissary: Bobby Ray’s Famous Fried Chicken, Fresco Mexicano, Miami Poke Co., Mott St. Pizza, and Pollerio (offering Latin-accented roasted chicken with sides such as beans, rice, fries and coleslaw).

It has partnered with local concepts Taekaway, which is Chinese, Maki San Sushi, Rosewood Pizza, Whichchicken Rotisserie, Bottle Box (offering beer, wine and sake) and a Chinese noodle restaurant called Chin Tu Fat.

Customers can currently order from Alacarte via other delivery platforms such as Postmates, GrubHub and Amazon Prime, but their software doesn’t allow customers to order from Alacarte’s multiple virtual restaurants. The funding will help Alacarte work with UberEats to develop software that will allow the “virtual food hall” experience.

Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing tactics look more like yesterday that tomorrow?  Visit www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information or contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us Remember success does leave clues and we just may the clue you need to propel your continued success.

Happy Holiday Meals are Grocerant Niche Fresh Prepared and Delivered

One thing that continues to right true within the food sector is the fact that the undercurrents of a cultural holiday shift in family traditions is underway as more and more families opt for actives over hours in cooking, cleaning, and doing dishes according Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®. Skiing, walking, running, shopping, binge-watching TV or sports are preferred over cooking from scratch according to Johnson.

Cooking from scratch is but a distance memory for most Americans.  In fact, our most recent Grocerant ScoreCard revealed that 83.2% of meals service at home for dinner included at least one grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat or Heat-N-Eat fresh food item.

Consumers are forgoing the traditional home-cooked Thanksgiving feast in return for something less time consuming and panic-inducing specifically grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food.  Today as regular readers of this blog know restaurants, grocery stores, liquor stores,

The National Restaurant Association says about nine percent of consumers ate Thanksgiving dinner out, four percent said they would buy a complete meal prepared locally. According to our Grocerant Guru® 83.2% of ‘home cooked’ meals with have at least one fresh prepared item on the table from either a grocery store, restaurant, bakery, or mail order. 

Sure most of you know that our team identified the 65 Inch HDTV Syndrome first but this holiday shift holiday’s is an undercurrent that progression from Thanksgiving plans even just six years ago has moved the needle even more.

So where did the NRA survey say consumers were going to go to eat dinner?  According to the NRA survey, 31 percent of diners eating out said they go to a local restaurant for dinner with another 30 percent saying they will head to a restaurant they usually go to for general special occasions. Eighteen percent said they will try a restaurant they have never been to before.

The team at Foodservice Solutions® wants to wish everyone a happy holiday season and no matter if your off skiing, boating, running, shopping, binge watching your 65 Inch HDTV, or cooking from scratch we wish you well. 

Success does leave clues www.FoodserviceSolutions.us  is the global leader in grocerant niche business development.  We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities.  Has your company had a Grocerant ScoreCard completed a Grocerant Program Assessment, or new Grocerant niche product Ideation?  Want one?  Call 253-759-7869 Email: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us

2019 Top 10 Prepared Food Trends at Convenience Stores

No longer do consumers drive by a C-store to go to a fast food restaurant according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  In fact, Johnson says that grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food has become destination dining for many of the 65.4% of American households that have one or two members.

In new research from Datassential, found the following 10 trends are having the greatest impact on the category right now and will sustain into 2019:

1. Find the Right Balance Between Taste & Nutrition

The shift to healthy eating continues to hit the foodservice market, and that includes c-stores. Taste is the top driver for away-from-home purchases. However, health and wellness was the fastest-growing driver between 2012 and 2016.

2. Customization Counts

C-store customers value a wide variety of choices in how they can top a prepared food product. According to Datassential’s Keynote Report: C-Stores, condiments serve as an indicator of quality and can be a way to both increase the perceived range of offerings and allow for more consumer customization.

3. Simplicity Satisfies

Some of the highest-rated limited-time offers (LTOs) are basic concepts, like QuickChek’s Salt & Pepper Fries, which was recently featured in Convenience Store News' "What Hot on C-store Menus?" department. 

4. Global Flavor Adds Variety

Ethnic items such as egg rolls, empanadas and sushi are craveable to c-store consumers. Adding global flavors to ubiquitous items is another way to add a taste of the world and increase variety. 

5. Take Advantage of the Impulse Buy 

Forty-three percent of c-store visitors buy something they hadn't planned on purchasing.

6. Continue to Use the F Word: Fresh

Don't just add the callout; have fresh food available — fruits, veggies, salads, etc.

7. Put Pizza in the Breakfast Plan

According to Datassential's 2018 SNAP! Keynote: Pizza, breakfast pizzas are trending on menus. Grab the morning-rush crowd by offering a fresh, hot slice.  

8. Market Desserts as a Snack

Mini desserts have potential as a c-store snack that people will grab on the go. Forty-three percent of consumers are interested, but only 27 percent of c-stores offer them (as of 2017).

9. Make It Mini 

In 2016, 62 percent of consumers were interested in seeing hot appetizer/finger foods at convenience stores. That was up from just 19 percent in 2012.

10. Snacking Is Big for C-store Food

As a snacking source, c-stores rank higher than vending machines in purchase history and consideration.

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.

Dave & Busters from Big & Bold to Fresh & Fast

Consumers are dynamic not static and restaurant companies need to be as well according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®. When Dave & Buster's announced that they were opening a smaller concept called T&T Tacos it was clear that they understood today’s customers have evolved and as a brand they need to do the same according to Johnson.

Dave & Buster's CEO Brian Jenkins stated “We recently initiated a quick-casual test in our Dallas store,” call T&T Tacos… We have converted one of our special-event party rooms adjacent to the arcade into a highly visible area where guests can order street tacos and drink,” Jenkins said. “The interior includes a three-dimensional food truck façade.”

The fact is Dave & Busters is downsizing according while creating a brand with price points for today’s consumers according to Johnson.  T&T Taco prices range from $4 to $5.50 each and include three traditional versions like carne asada and chicken fajita as well as “twisted” takes that include an Oktoberfest with beer cheese.

Expanding the brand even more there is a plant-based seventh taco that uses Impossible-branded protein with onion, cilantro, aji crema and fresh lime. The T&T Tacos outlet also offers adult beverages, such as beers for$5, fruit cocktails for $5 and frozen margaritas for $8.

How is your brand evolving to become more customer relevant?  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

Restaurants Business Model Must Focus on Eating-Out While Eating-In

Foodservice Solutions® recent Grocerant ScoreCards have found that 83.2% of family meals consumed at home have at least one grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat or Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food item according to Tacoma, WA based Grocerant Guru® Steven Johnson.

Recently, an Ohio State study founded that 80 percent of new restaurants failing within the first five years. That same study suggested about 60 percent don’t make it to year 2.  

According to Johnson the new norm for a success restaurant business model must include ‘takeout, to-go, meals and meal components as consumers want to be ‘Eating-Out’ while Eating-In”.  Selling more food does not mean filling more seats according to Johnson.

TSYS, a global payment provider that generated revenue of $4.9 billion in 2017 while processing more than 27.8 billion transactions, conducted a payments study of more than 1,000 U.S. consumers to take the pulse of this sector.

Here are some key takeaways from the study:

Customers are still dining out. As competition from to-go, more restaurants, delivery, and C-stores squeeze the restaurant sector from all sides, there’s no evidence to prove America’s affection for dining out is waning to any considerable degree. TSYS’s study showed that 75 percent of respondents say they eat out at least once a week, with nearly half (42 percent) eating out at least three times a week.

But let’s get to the payment part.

For those diners who eat out two-plus times a week or more, this was their preferred payment at the restaurant. It’s important to note this is paying at the table. So you can scratch the pay-ahead through an app or site factor.

·         46 percent prefer to swipe their debt/credit card

·         41 percent prefer to insert their debit/credit chip card

·         10 percent prefer to pay with cash

·         3 percent prefer to pay with their phone

The simple fact is the day of the mom & pop restaurant using a cigar box as a cash drawer are all but a distance memory.  If success leaves clues and it does.  Restaurants are food manufacturing plants.  If a restaurant wants to become successful, they must sell food in more than one channel and that food must be branded. 

Foodservice Solutions® specializes in outsourced food marketing and business development ideations. We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities, technology, or a new menu product segment.  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

Hy-Vee Testing Every Format WHY

Lost in a quagmire of yesterday’s messaging and today’s consumers Hy-Vee stores are all to large for today’s consumers according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Many of the legacy Hy-Vee store footprints are about 85,000 Square Feet even the new ‘Fresh & Fast’ concept is 10,000 Square Feet?  We ask why? Just how fast can it be to wander around within 10,000SQFT looking for one or two items?

Here is a conundrum I get asked all of the time.  What is it retailers so desperately seeking to move from selling food that consumers want to stock a pantry to food for customers dinner don’t get? The answer is very simple.  It’s all about time for the consumer.  Consumers are attracted to fresh and fast.  Let’s face it a 10,000SqFt store is not about fast. 

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