Gen Z and Millennials Find Discovery in Snacking

 

There is not a regular reader of this blog that does not know that both Gen Z and Millennials drive for food discovery is the number one undercurrent driving new avenues of fresh food distribution and branded customer migration according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®. 

If success does leave clues and it does The Hartman Group is one of the very best at picking them up and refining the detail within those clues. So, now The Hartman Group’s new research indicates that as younger populations with more exposure to new global flavors and a desire to seek them out, Generation Z and millennials are more likely to see snacking as an avenue for discovery of new taste experiences.

According to the firm's Snacking: Emerging, Evolving and Disrupted report, 56 percent of Gen Z and 56 percent of millennials agree that snacking allows them to try new global flavors vs. 42 percent of Gen X and 20 percent of baby boomers.

Now consider the New Korean BBQ Chicken Taquito Rolls at 7-Eleven Stores.  For most foodies 7-Eleven is not top of mind for new flavors, fresh food, but when you think food discovery and full- flavored Korean BBQ Chicken Taquito Rolls on a roller grill?  Well, it that is not a platform for discovery for new foodies, nothing is.  Our Grocerant Guru® believes it will be a hit.  Once again nice job Joe! (Joseph DePinto CEO 7-Eleven)

So, the Hartman Group's Modern Snacking Framework helps explain how consumers approach and think about snacking today.

It is presented in four pillars.  We think you will like this, and will share an article about it it with you.

“As the report captures how snacking motivations and needs shift according to the occasion, context and individual.

The four pillars are:

1.       Nourishment: Snacking that meets needs for daily sustenance, long-term wellness and health management

2.       Optimization: Snacking that helps one fulfill physical and mental performance demands

3.       Pleasure: Snacking that fulfills emotional desires for enjoyment, reward and discovery

4.       Distraction: Snacking that arises from the need to distract, whether due to stress, boredom or other reasons

The report found that more than half of all snacking (51 percent) reflects some need for pleasure — a driver that intentionally addresses consumer needs for enjoyment, sensory engagement, taste exploration, and permissible indulgence.

A top motivation in this pillar is discovery and play. With a growing number of food types, provenances, preparation methods, and food purveyors, discovery has never been greater or more accessible. Cultural values that embrace diversity and new experiences have further heightened the desire for food exploration. Snacking occasions involving smaller quantities, lower price points, and fewer nutritional, social, or cultural expectations provide a way to discover and play with food through lower-risk occasions, according to The Hartman Group.

Many pleasure-oriented snacking occasions tend to showcase sweeter flavors, and though some seek out bold or unusual flavors, familiar tastes and formats remain important. Key attributes of the pleasure snacking driver include:

·         Good taste

·         Distinctive flavor/texture/aroma

·         Iconicity & nostalgia

·         Surprise & delight

·         Product design & aesthetics

·         Global flavors

·         Interactive characteristics

·         Convenience

Want more information on from the Hartman Group? Click this link: Snacking: Emerging, Evolving and Disrupted”

Success does leave clues. One clue that time and time again continues to resurface is “the consumer is dynamic not static”.  Regular readers of this blog know that is the common refrain of Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  Our Grocerant Guru® can help your company edify your brand with relevance.  Call 253-759-7869 for more information. 

Evolving Grocer’s Deli to Restaurant Delivery

 

Technology has changed our world. Automatic bank deposits, self-breaking cars, drone delivery, and now the ability of grocery stores to delivery grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared meals, meal components, and beverages within an hour or less in many cases. 

According to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® stated, “the meal delivery business changed the day Instacart acquired FoodStorm.” Technology that can be disruptive is nothing new, however this particular tie-up can elevate the grocery store service deli like no other; if legacy grocery companies are ready to evolve as well.  If not, there will be new non-traditional fresh food retailers ready to jump into the mix according to Johnson.

So, with this acquisition, Instacart says it is expanding its enterprise technology portfolio to further support its retail partners’ digital foodservice, investing in more technology solutions that aim to help retailers grow, compete and better meet the evolving needs of their customers. 

Instacart Chief Technology Officer Mark Schaaf, recently stated in an interview, "People eat 21 meals a week, give or take, and we want to help our retail partners create more opportunities for their customers to get more and more of those meals from the grocery store,".. "We think for customers, this helps unlock a healthier, more affordable alternative than grocery delivery, and creates an easier way for people to order prepared foods online, directly from their favorite retailers that they shop from already today. And so that's another really exciting aspect of this acquisition."

Get this, FoodStorm offers a comprehensive SaaS solution that covers multi-channel ordering — e-commerce, phone or in-store kiosk — order management and payment and fulfillment. Its technology also integrates with a large variety of third-party systems, including point of service systems (POS), and offers CRM capabilities that help grocers collect feedback, market their offerings and leverage promotional features according to the article. Which translates to it’s ready-set-go for legacy grocery retailers.

In case you did not know, FoodStorm, founded 14 years ago in Australia, has developed strong partnerships with a number of Instacart’s existing retail partners including Albertsons Cos. banners Balducci’s, Kings Food Markets, Bi-Rite Market, Mollie Stone’s Markets, Uncle Giuseppe’s and Roche Brothers.  Instacart will make FoodStorm’s technology available to more retailers through Instacart’s enterprise technology offering. That said none of those retailer’s are using FoodStorm’s to its full potential according to Johnson.

What is it grocery stores don’t understand? Is it that the order-ahead technology solutions provide grocery retailers with a significant growth opportunity? On the Instacart platform, customers who purchase prepared foods and catering items like hot and cold side dishes, cakes and sushi from the grocery store have significantly larger baskets and shop more frequently than those customers who do not, the company said. Regular readers of this blog know that mix & match meal component bunding is a hallmark of grocerant niche success.

Schaaf continues, "Prepared foods are very big at all these retailers and a huge growth area for these retailers,"…. "But we want to help retailers provide the best possible experience for their customers, which means bringing their entire catalog of products and services onto the marketplace, which they don't have the best experience right now on Instacart. And we want to make that better."

I wonder if grocery stores understand that, order-ahead items and prepared foods are also typically more profitable than traditional groceries like produce and package goods.  

Schaaf had even more insights to share in the article, "Grocers see this as an incredible growth area for their business,"... "We've seen that ‘customer’ baskets on the Instacart platform that include meals are significantly higher than baskets without prepared or premade foods. We've also seen customers who purchase meals order more frequently than customers who do not purchase grocery meals, and today meals are in I think 21% of customer baskets. And we think there's a large opportunity of growth for our retailers in this space."

In case you did not know, Instacart’s enterprise technology today powers the e-commerce platforms of more than 175 local, regional and national grocers across North America, including Costco Canada, Heinen’s, Sprouts, The Fresh Market and Wegmans.

Instacart first began offering enterprise technology to grocery partners in 2017. Since then, the company has continued to make significant investments in its enterprise business, scaling its engineering team and developing new technologies for grocers.  Instacart’s platform is available to over 85% of U.S. households and 80% of Canadian households.

Invite Foodservice Solutions® to complete a 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

Wawa Fall is a Good Time to Test Pizza

 

Regular readers of this blog know that Foodservice Solutions® Five P’s of grocerant marketing were perfected, developed and tested over time utilizing the Grocerant Guru’s time-tested formula: Build, Measure, Learn, Repeat. Those Five P’s of Grocerant marketing have evolved.

Wawa understands that operational excellence combined with customer relevance will drive sales. Pizza is relevant to consumers without any doubt.  Regular readers of this blog know that Wawa tried Pizza once before but did not have it quite right.  So, knowing that:

1. Americans down about 3 billion pizzas each and every year.

2. The typical person takes in 46 slices of pizza per year. That adds up to about 23 pounds of pizza eaten annually.

3. Estimates put the number of pizza slices sold each second at 350, which comes out to about 21,000 per minute. That's about 1.26 million per hour and 30 million each day.

4. Men are more likely to eat pizza, accounting for 15% of total consumption, versus 11% for women. Kids between the ages of 2 and 19 prove to be the biggest pizza eaters, with 20% grabbing a slice compared to 11% of adults.

5. How much pizza is consumed at home? While there are thousands of pizza restaurants to choose from in the U.S., 59% of Americans opt to have theirs at home instead.

6. How does income affect pizza consumption? Households with an income between $75,000 and $99,000 tend to spend the most on pizza annually.  (Source: https://www.creditdonkey.com/pizza-statistics.html)

While it has been seven years since Wawa tried pizza; we know that Wawa will be using this formula to get things right, build, measure, learn, and repeat. So, the are trying a 16-inch pie, available plain or with pepperoni, can be ordered at two stores only for now and only after 4PM? Seems odd to us but that is part of the learning we guess.

Wawa spokesperson Lori Bruce, stated, "It is a test, and will help our innovation teams learn and assess whether or not to continue the offer," "We are currently offering one size, a 16-inch in both cheese and pepperoni. This is a completely different pizza than any other we've tested in the past."

Wawa tested a smaller pizza on a bagel-style crust that could be topped with a variety of ingredients in 2014, but discontinued the offering. We have the picture below and you can understand why it faded away.

Signage at the test stores indicates that the new Wawa pizza will be available for a limited time only. The convenience store retailer has not commented on the possibility of rolling out the new pizza beyond the initial test stores.

Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Don’t let your food marketing tactics look more like yesterday that tomorrow?  Visit GrocerantGuru.com for more information or contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us Remember success does leave clues and we just may have the clue you need to propel your continued success.

Gen Z Still Eating Fresh Food Fast

 

Who did not know that teenage males liked fast food? One person that was not sure was Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® who stated “eating habits are evolving in such a way that the undercurrents of daypart menu choice are not clear.”

In a new expansive Piper Sandler survey titled, “Taking Stock With Teens” in which a poll was based on responses taken between August 17th and September 16th from 10,000 teens across 44 U.S. states, with an average age of 15.8 years found for the fourth year in a row that Chick-fil-A was the number one pick of all teens.

Starbucks came in at No. 2 for teens, followed by Chipotle which tied with McDonald's at 5%. Surprisingly to Johnson, Olive Garden came in as the fifth favorite.  Now, interestingly, food remained the most important category for upper-income male teens — capturing 21% — followed by clothing at 16% and video games at 14%. 

Get this for females, clothing remained the top choice at 29%, up a whopping 200 basis points compared to last fall, followed by food at 21%, then personal care with 10%. One most note however that teen females second choice was food at the same percentage as males at 21% in the Piper Sandler survey.

What was the value of teen spending? Well, it was up 6% compared to fall 2020, with the average teen spending approximately $2,274 dollars per a year. 

Talking about teens there is one more interesting survey that found the plant-based protein market is slowly gaining young consumers' attention. According another new survey conducted by Tastewise, 14% of teens consume plant-based meat, down one percentage point from Spring of 2021, with Impossible Foods as the No. 1 choice for teens with 40%, followed by Beyond Meat) at No. 2 with 31%, then Kellogg's Morningstar Farms capturing 22% of plant-based meat eating teens.

Now pay attention to this there are still lots more opportunity to grow however, of the 86% of teens who do not consume plant-based meat, 38% are willing to try it, slightly up from 35% in the fall of 2020.

According to Alon Chen, Co-Founder and CEO of Tastewise, this is just the beginning for the plant-based market. He sees a "$14 billion opportunity over the next decade, where the question is not 'if' every foodservice business must offer plant-based alternatives, but 'when' and which technology will prevail."

Looking for success clues of your own? 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 us on our social media sites by clicking one of the following links: Facebook,  LinkedIn, or Twitter

 

Walmart Stores Excel Selling Branded Food Products

 

Famously Walmart revived frozen food sales by creating the ‘frozen food court’ filled with branded restaurant products.  Now it’s time to try and put some life back into the ‘center of the store’.  So why not do what works, sell customer craveable comfort foods from their favorite chain restaurants? 

Well according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solution® that is exactly what Walmart is doing.  Starting this month, fans of Jimmy John’s Jimmy Chips will be able to purchase the savory snacks for the first time at over 3,000 Walmart stores nationwide.

The chips will be Sold in new, large 8-oz bags, two fan favorite flavors of the chips – Regular and BBQ – will be sold alongside other premium brands of kettle-style chips at the world’s leading retailer starting at $2.98 per bag.

Darin Dugan, Chief Marketing Officer at Jimmy John’s, stated, “This is a huge moment for Jimmy Chips fans because for the first time, they will be able to shop for their favorite crunchy, flavorful chips at Walmart,” ... “We’re excited to be able to partner with America’s largest retailer to expand the Jimmy John’s portfolio and extend accessibility to consumers across the U.S.”

It gets even better as, each Jimmy Chips bag features a QR code to access the Freaky Fast Rewards program and enroll to earn tasty loyalty perks — like sandwiches, sides, drinks, and exclusive first-taste access to new products— on an ongoing basis. Once again regular readers of this blog know that is consumer focused integrated interactive participatory food marketing, and it works.

Invite Foodservice Solutions® to complete a 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

New Seasons Market Partnerships Drive Customer Loyalty

 

When New Seasons Market partnered up with Afresh the goal was simple, give the customer what they want at the price they want while providing the freshest products they can.  According to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® who stated, “edifying the customer relationship will always add incremental value too the brand while driving new electricity with consumers.”

Technology matters to consumers and regional foodservice companies according to Johnson.  So, when regional natural grocer New Seasons Market partnered with Afresh Technologies, to bring the tech company’s AI-driven technology company’s Fresh Operating System into select stores in the Pacific Northwest, it was clear both the customer and company would win.

In a press release from company, stated, “The partnership will help New Seasons Market reduce complexity within its stores, optimize produce operations, increase sales and deliver fresher produce to consumers.” 

In case you did not know, New Seasons Market, is a Portland, Ore.-based operator of 19 stores in Oregon, Washington and Northern California, is joining with Afresh as part of its commitment to supporting the regional food economy, honoring local farmers, ranchers and growers, while ensuring delivery of the freshest foods available.

In short, New Seasons goal working with Afresh’s AI-powered solution to create more efficient truck-to-shelf ordering, reducing back stock, and increasing the longevity of fresh produce before it even leaves the store.  

New Seasons Market is going to pilot Afresh software through 2022 to learn how to achieve significant reductions in food waste, reach superior freshness and in-stock rates, and increase operating margins.

New Seasons Market CEO, Nancy Lebold, stated, “New Seasons Market was founded with the vision of cultivating good for generations by taking care of our staff, our communities, regional producers, and the environment,” ... “Partnering with Afresh allows us to support these goals by leveraging technology that makes our food fresher and less wasteful. I’m excited for the game-changing impact Afresh will bring to the customers we serve, our sustainability efforts, and our bottom line.”

New Seasons Market CFO Karen Molis, stated, “We’re always working to be more sustainable and looking for new ways to reduce waste and give back to the community. As a member of the Pacific Coast Collaborative, we’re working with other companies toward a shared ambition to effectively prevent and reduce food waste along the West Coast,”  

Molis continued, “New Seasons Market will pilot Afresh software through 2022 to learn how to achieve significant reductions in food waste, reach superior freshness and in-stock rates, and increase operating margins. Stores using Afresh have reduced food waste by 25%, minimized out of stocks by 80%, and increased sales by an average of 3% month over month.”    

CEO and co-founder of Afresh, Matt Schwartz, stated, “Working with New Seasons Market is a natural fit for Afresh, as our corporate missions are so well aligned in our shared goals to eliminate food waste and increase access to fresh food,” … “Through our AI-driven approach built specifically for fresh, we will help New Seasons Market transform its fresh departments so that they can continue to build and nourish the communities they serve.”

How are you driving new electricity into your brand?  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.”  That said, what are you waiting for?

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, AI, 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. 

Looking for success clues of your own? 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 us on our social media sites by clicking one of the following links: Facebook,  LinkedIn, or Twitter