Sheetz Anything Restaurants can We Can Do for Better

Restaurants concern over the increase competition from Convenience Stores is well founded according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  Convenience stores expanded fresh grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat food is restaurant quality and often priced for less than chain restaurants can or do offer.

If chain restaurants test something that works, according to Johnson convenience stores follow with the added benefit of incremental meal component mix and match meal bundling offers that drive additional customer migrations.

So, when Sheetz partnered with Beyond Meat to become the first continental U.S. convenience store chain to introduce the Beyond Burger at its 587 Sheetz stores once again the competitive forces have created a platform for disruption.

Since the Beyond Burger ‘features a protein-heavy’, 100-percent plant-based meat alternative with the same taste and texture of a traditional beef burger that millennials have been shown affection for. Sheetz offers customers the ability to customize their Beyond Burgers with more than 47 options than most chain restaurants, including seven different bread choices, seven different cheese choices, 20 different toppings and 13 different spreads.

Mix and Match bunding is a hallmark of successful grocerant niche offering and even our Grocerant Guru® believes that Sheetz may have reached the tipping point on options.  However, those options are driving incremental customer migrations according to recent grocerant scorecards.

Dan Coffin, lead chef and assistant vice president of culinary development at Sheetz stated "Sheetz is constantly innovating and adding new menu items to give our customers what they want, when they want it, 24/7," … "As demand for healthier, diverse protein options increases, we are excited to add the Beyond Burger to our menu in our continual mission to be the ultimate one-stop-shop."

The fast-casual restaurant sector is uniquely vulnerable as the price of the Beyond Burger at Sheetz starts at $6.99 and varies by customization and toppings. Sheetz ability to elevate a product with incremental mix and match meal components is a clear advantage.

So, we ask, why do chain restaurants look more like yesterday’s food retailers than todays or tomorrows? Why are chain restaurants so slow to evolve? Is it that they have lost track of what is relevant to customers today? 

Foodservice Solutions® team is here to help you drive top line sales and bottom-line profits. Are you looking a customer ahead? 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.