Johnson,
identified, quantified, and qualified ‘The
65 Inch HDTV Syndrome’ in 2011 and the cultural evolution driving the undercurrents
of consumers eating habits continue to expand in favor of grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat
and Heat-N-Eat fresh food. Regular reader of this blog know that the food
business is not brain surgery. Odd as it
may seem, chain restaurant trade publications want to profess it is and no one
can do it better than a chain restaurant executive. Well, Ikea,
Costco, Wawa,
7-Eleven, Wegmans, and New Seasons Market
along with Rutter’s are all building
sales off restaurant customers according to Johnson.
Rutter's
Director of Foodservice Ryan Krebs know the food business is not brain surgery.
Krebs understands that developing a standout menu item doesn't have to mean
starting from scratch. It's possible to take a product that already exists,
reposition how it's offered and marketed, and create a success story, as recently
found out.
When “Krebs
began looking into why the convenience store chain's Chicken Pot Pie was
experiencing poor sales. The locally made, 12-ounce item, which was stored in
the cold case and positioned as something to grab and heat up at home, wasn't
moving despite Pennsylvania Dutch-style Chicken Pot Pie being very popular in
Rutter's operating area.
"It
wasn't resonating with customers as something they'd pick up and heat
later," Krebs told Convenience Store News. The rates at which
the packaged pies were being thrown out for reaching spoilage dates would have
justified removing the product, but he decided to experiment first by making a
simple change: heating it up in-store. "I used all my culinary
background," Krebs joked.
Rutter's
began offering the same Chicken Pot Pie as both a made-to-order menu item and a
grab-and-go product from the hot hold. For packaging, the retailer put it in
the soup cups it already used. The difference in format made an immediate
difference.
Virtually
overnight, sales jumped from a couple of cases per week to thousands. Rutter's
distributor even added another line just to keep up with the product demand. "It
elevated the entire program," Krebs said, noting that even the Chicken Pot
Pie's cold version saw increased sales afterward, growing by more than 100
percent compared to what they were before.
Today,
the product "just crush[es] it in fall and winter," he said, and
still sees high buy-in during the spring and summer months. What was nearly a
failed menu item became a success story with dedicated promotional support and
its own TV commercial.
One interesting
and unexpected aspect of the item's spike in popularity is that despite the
recipe being a particular regional style, the Rutter's store that ranks No. 1
in Chicken Pot Pie sales is not located in Pennsylvania Dutch Country.
The
entire experience taught Krebs that format matters as much as the actual
product, and that the right product can stretch beyond cultural barriers. Above
all, he's glad he didn't opt to drop the item and be done with it. When the customer moves retailer must move
with them.
Consumers are dynamic
not static. Does your restaurant brand
look more like yesterday than today or tomorrow? Brand protectionism is dead
according to Johnson. If your brand is
not evolving it is dying?
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
Have you Heard there is a Battle for Share of Stomach
Are you winning or losing new customers?
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