In 2021 the Restaurants Business Model Must Continue to Focus on Eating-Out While Eating-In

 

The consumer is dynamic not static.  To date there is no indication that consumers want to cook dinner from scratch. In fact, according to recent data, “When asked if they wanted to cook dinner from scratch or assemble dinner from fresh meal components 91.1 % of Gen Z chose assemble from Fresh Prepared Meal Components and Millennials 83.6 chose meal components.   

Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant ScoreCards have found that 81.7% 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.

According to The NPD Group, consumers reported in July, 2020 that 63% of their eating occasions during the COVID-19 outbreak have been atypical, meaning they’re eating and sourcing foods and beverages outside of their normal routines. Johnson ask how much of your menu could be on consumers table tonight for dinner?

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.  Reducing cost of operating with a Virtual Restaurant, Ghost Kitchen, and third-party delivery services is a way to edify your brand with consumers for less, while extending your reach. 

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.

Understand this long before the current pandemic, TSYS a 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.

Battle for Share of Stomach

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

This is a long-term trend, not a stop gap solution during the pandemic according to Johnson. 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

Will Grocery store Fresh Prepared Food Evolve in 2021

 

Once again looking a customer ahead grocery store grab-and-go, Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat grocerant niche fresh prepared food can be the go to platform that takes the stress out of cooking a family dinner in 2021 according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  That is, if grocery stores evolve from 5-gallon shovel ready buckets of prepackaged food, to fresh prepared.

While Foodservice Solutions® recent Grocerant ScoreCards indicate that 88 percent of Americans feel stressed celebrating the holidays, with 30 percent dreading cooking a holiday meal. So, guess where they searched for mix and match meal component options?  Well according to Johnson, consumers are turning to the service deli at their local grocery store, with an undercurrent of disappointment.

Eric Richard, education coordinator for the International Dairy Deli Bakery Association (IDDBA) stated that “Side dishes play an important role in connecting with today’s shoppers, who are looking for prepared foods,” “It’s really important for supermarkets to know what their consumers want in terms of different flavors and tastes from their prepared foods.”

What grocery retailers are now elevating side dishes that complement not only holiday dinners but dinner every night? Mix and Match meal components bundling are key takeout fresh food sales.  If you are a grocery retailer with a desire to garner restaurant customers it’s time to up your fresh food game.

Our Grocerant Guru® 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.  Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® is the global leader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant/ or twitter.com/grocerant

Local Fresh Food Will be a Key Driver of Growth in 2021

 

Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru® Steven Johnson continues to monitor the rise of consumers preference for grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared local food, menu items. According to a new study by A.T. Kearny, entitled Competing in an Age of Multi-Localism. The firm characterizes multi-localism "by preferences for local communities, industries, products and customs."

Courtney Rickert McCaffrey, manager of thought leadership for A.T. Kearney's Global Business Policy Council stated "We are seeing growing demand for local and personalized products gaining momentum," … "Consumers really want a local brand with a story to identify with, particularly millennials and the younger consumer."

It is not just about, local products, overall consumers trust large brands less and less than they did in the past, according to McCaffrey. While Johnson insists that is true, however Foodservice Solutions® findings indicate that there is an increasing desire for fresh food discovery in both flavor and new points of distribution.

American Express continues to support local via its ‘Shop Small’ program saying “you’re not supporting the local business you love –you’re helping share joy’ during the holiday season. When it comes to local food American Express say’s “Eat, drink, and be merry while supporting the local restaurants you love. In fact they offer a curated selection of independently owned eateries in almost every community in the U.S.

Interestingly another driver of localization is the growing attention to environmental concerns and the impact of purchases on sustainability. Local products are not shipped over long distances, so it takes fewer resources to bring them to market — plus local foods and beverages are often seen as fresher in the eyes of consumers.

MCCaffrey continued "In our survey, 89 percent of companies globally are already pursing or considering pursuing localization," That said, how are you positioning your fresh prepared food?

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, www.Linkedin.com/in/grocerant/ or www.twitter.com/grocerant/

Eating-In while Eating-Out becomes a Household Staple

 

Once again, this year 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 and called it the new normal back in the day.  Within retail foodservice Eating-In while Eating-Out it is now a bi-weekly staple for 63.7% of U.S. households according to recent Foodservice Solutions, Grocerant ScoreCards.  

Food research companies the ilk of The NPD Group have concluded 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 over the last 8 years have been shifting toward eating more dinners at home, including those purchased at restaurants” Think about it; eating-in while eating-out.  Yes, the pandemic has elevated this trend.  The point is, it was a well-established trend.

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. 

We ask, are you looking a customer ahead today, or are you looking for the pandemic to end and returning to the past.  Consumers are dynamic not static.  Consumers move forward with technology, expand flavor profiles, seek new avenues of distribution. What new avenues of distribution will your brand be found on in 2021?

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 years ago the undercurrents driving change within retail foodservice today.  That platform has never been more relevant than it is today.  

Here’s our point today there is a reason we have over 381,438 followers on the business social media site LinkedIn alone.  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 15 years.  We just wanted to thank you for flowing us, asking us the best questions, and pushing us to do our best for you and companies that want to move forward by Looking A Customer Ahead.  

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

Rutter’s Joins the Restaurant Sector Me to We Movement in 2021

 

Once again success does leave clues and industry leading companies understand that there is an increased unmet need that consumers are expressing when it comes to their everyday life and food, meals, and beverages. That is food and food packaging that has the ‘halo’ of better for you and a hallmark of the Grocerant niche.  

So, regular reader of this blog know that we have been highlighting food companies that are focused on elevating next year, 2021 in food, as the year the industry focuses on From Me to We” movement in food aka sustainability. That is expanding the ‘halo’ of ‘better for you’ food and food packaging offerings within every sector of retail food.

Around the world consumers are expressing greater sense of urgency around climate change, droughts, wildfires, and increase in intense tropical storms. According to The NPD Group, consumers reported in July that 63% of their eating occasions during the COVID-19 outbreak have been atypical, meaning they’re eating and sourcing foods and beverages outside of their normal routines. That disruption has elevated consumers focus or ‘better for you’ sustainable food and beverage options according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  

 Rutter’s debuted new paper coffee cups, the new paper cups are a change from the current Styrofoam cups and will feature an updated design. They will also feature ThermoTouch double-wall insulation technology, which will eliminate the need for cardboard sleeves or double cupping, helping to reduce waste elevating the halo of better for you.

Rutter’s is the first convenience store chain to introduce dedicated recycling bins at their stores, Rutter’s has always looking for ways to be more eco-friendly. The move to paper cups that are made of 92% renewable resources and non-toxic materials is a continuation of its environmental efforts.

Chad White, Food Service Category Manager stated, “Moving to a paper cup design will help us reduce our carbon footprint, while bringing a new look to our coffee bar as we move into 2021,”

Rutter’s fresh prepared food is at the intersection of restaurant fresh casual Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat and convenience store mix and match family meal component bundling, both hallmarks of the grocerant niche.

Rutter’s is well known for its award-winning coffee bar, which features six standard coffee blends and a rotating seasonal blend. With a wide variety of creamers, flavored syrups and toppings, there is something for everyone. Rutter’s also offers handcrafted beverages such as frappes, lattes and cold-brew coffees, all of which are available to order through the kiosk.

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 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche. Contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or 253-759-7869

While Luby’s lays lifeless

 

Hand held digital Technology could have saved Luby’s.  You know success does leave clues and Luby’s looked more like yesterday than tomorrow there was no reason for that according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  Johnson continued Hand Held Food Marketing is a clear undercurrent driving brand adoption putting a new electricity in brand relevance for many younger consumers.

Today, new partnerships can drive sales in foodservice today as your brand is searching for the new electricity to help drive the brand forward. So, just what is your brands new electricity? According to Johnson, “Brand relevance is in part driven with innovation in new food products in combination with new avenues of distribution all of which are the platform for the new electricity.”

Johnson stated “that in my minds-eye the new electricity must be very efficient for the supply and includes such things as fresh foods, developing brands, unique urban clothing, grocerant positioning, Fresh food messaging, autonomous delivery, cashier-less retail, plates, glasses, cash-less payments, digital hand-held marketing.

All retailers to survive the next generation of retail must embrace the artificial intelligence revolution while simultaneously embracing fresh food that is portable, fresh, with differentiation that is familiar not different. 

Luby’s new many employees continue to work remotely, the traditional company cafeteria model has been broken for years and that they had the perfect platform to drive online sales reaching new consumers with food make for takeout and delivery.  

Employees working at home missed all of those chef-driven onsite foodservice programs—many of which are positioned as a perk to lure workers to companies such as Google, Apple and other corporate giants? Luby’s was the perfect fit to pick-up when they were closed.

Ali Sabeti, CEO of ZeroCater, a corporate catering and snack platform stated “You don’t need a 3,000-square-foot cafeteria or several onsite restaurants when only 20% to 25% of the workforce is there at any one time,” .. Additionally, head counts are going to be unpredictable and can vary greatly from day to day, he believes.”  So, where was Luby’s?  What were they thinking? Let’s keep doing what we always did and keep doing it the same way?

So a couple of weeks ago, Sabeti rolled out CloudCafe, a digital solution for the new hybrid workplace. The platform is populated with hundreds of restaurants and caterers, which prepare meals out of central commissaries in various cities.

“One commissary can feed up to 2,000 people for $6 a meal,” he says, “but groups of any size can sign on.” Like the corporate cafeteria, CloudCafe offers employers the opportunity to pay for all or part of their employees’ meals.

Sabeti said the platform currently offers 120 different cuisines and 35,000 items, but he intends to add more as it evolves. “We’re ramping up offerings to include healthier options and more portable foods, like burritos and bowls,” he says. “There’s a shift from the traditional plate of an entree and sides.”

As businesses and office buildings began reopening after the first wave of the pandemic, onsite feeding options were still limited and many employees turned to third-party delivery platforms.  Sabeti sees CloudCafe as a more economical and efficient alternative for the employee and a way to provide a consistent benefit by the employer.

“Going forward, there won’t be one corporate feeding model, even within one company,” Sabeti believes. “There will be the office evangelists and the work-from-home evangelists. Engineers and finance people may prefer to work in isolation, while those in sales may be more productive in teams.” Luby’s what are you doing?  Do you want to drive top line sales and bottom line profits tomorrow?

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.

 

Tired of Cooking Try Snacking for New Years Eve and New Year’s Day

 

So, Junzi Kitchen recently dropped their first holiday snack box. Hand-picked by junzi team members, the box includes a collection of 12 iconic East Asian snacks a perfect way to change things up in the New Year according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

The box provides a balance of sweet and savory:

·         Chinese Lay's chips

·         Matcha Pocky

·         GGE crackers

·         Master Kang 3+2 crackers

·         Candied hawthorn flakes

·         White rabbit taffies

·         Vita Soy juice box

·         Banana-flavored yogurt drink from Korea

·         Spicy Peanuts

 

This gift box, along with all other Junzi merchandise, will be available on Junzi's brand new online store www.shopjunzi.com/ .

With 2021 its time to think forward, we still have to continue social distancing but we don’t have to cook from scratch every day according to Johnson. 

So, in the meantime, check out Junzi Kitchen on Instagram, Facebook or at their website.  Expand you comfort food zone to try snacking in the New Year. Yong Zhao, CEO and Co-founder of Junzi. "We made this launch to upgrade our system to create a much better online engagement experience. As a brand committed to connecting people from different cultures globally with Chinese culture, this is a great opportunity to extend our offering with interesting food products that we love, including our fan-favorite chili oils handcrafted in our store."

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 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche. Contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or 253-759-7869