Tuesday, January 7, 2020

Food Channel Blurring Bah Humbug Customer Migration is On


Who moved?  Consumers are dynamic not static and they are in search of food discovery, new fresh food products, packaged in new avenues of distribution, that have the ‘halo’ of better-for-you around them according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®. Consumers have not moved.  Consumers today want Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh food fast.
Having spent all of my career in the foodservice niche, never have I seen a study that says there is any channel blurring consumers think meals, food, and eating-out or eating-in.  In the minds-eye of the consumer it is not about what channel the food is sold. 
It is about when the consumer wants to eat, what they want to eat and where they want to eat. Increasingly consumers want to Eat-Out while Eating-In.  At the retail level the question is not about what channel to sell a product but how do we increase our ‘Share of Stomach’ according to Johnson.
Brand and channel protectionism are relics of brand marketers of the 1980’s, 1990’s according to Johnson. Does your sales building strategy look more like 1980 than tomorrows strategy?  The real question brand marketers should be asking is not how to protect the brand or channel but how to not isolate the brand in a footprint or channel of a bygone era.
Consumers are dynamic not static brands must be as well if not they will slowly capitulate customers until they get to the point they cannot survive according to Johnson.  Do you believe that if the consumer is in a different channel of foodservice, then should your brand be available as an option? This includes retailers that are selling grocerant Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared, portable foods in new non-traditional avenues of distribution.
The “brand experience gap”, that is to say the gap in time between customers visiting their restaurants and enjoying a great meal within the four walls of their homes or autos. Restaurants today need to strongly consider entering new food channels with branded product which includes some legacy products revisited, revived, and renewed if cultivating brand relevance is important to them according to Johnson.
Do you have a Grocerant niche understanding? Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared portable branded food sales can edify your customer base, drive top line sales and bottom-line profits might just require a grocerant opportunity assessment. http://www.FoodserviceSolutions.usof Tacoma, WA is the global leader in the Grocerant niche providing Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat Grocerant ScoreCards. 1-253-759-7869

Battle for Share of Stomach


No comments:

Post a Comment