Independent Restaurants Rejoice Uber Meal Shipping is Here

 

While consumers are returning to work, and that’s creating opportunities for restaurant operators to refine their menus and add flavorful, satisfying snacks that also meet demands for portability. According to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® “most consumers have found ‘new’ favorite restaurants, meals or meal components that they would like to share.”

Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared meals, meal components and snacking were already trending upward before the pandemic, but accelerated as consumers tended to snack throughout the day while working from home. Since many of those snack foods during the pandemic were sourced from retail, operators now face the challenge of attracting customers back with craveable snack items that are suited for Grab-N-Go and On-the-Go consumption.

In a new report by Technomic, called the 2022 Snacking Occasion Consumer Trend Report. They found One in five consumers (20%) reported that their snacking frequency increased during the pandemic. The report also found that portability is increasingly important to consumers when it comes to snacks. More than half (55%) of consumers said in 2021 that they typically consumed snacks while they were en route to another location, compared to 49% who said they did so in 2019.

The most common motivators that consumers cite for snacking include hunger between meals (cited by 37% of consumers) and the desire to treat oneself (33%). In addition, consumers often snack to alleviate stress or boredom and to elevate their mood.

Now consumers can share the meals, meal components and snacks they found over the past two years as well. Uber is launching Nationwide shipping - a new product that allows consumers to Get anything from beloved merchants in NYC, Miami, and Los Angeles (with more cities to come soon).

·         To place a Nationwide shipping order, open your Uber Eats app, select “Home” and scroll until you see Nationwide shipping.

·         Once you’ve selected the merchant you want to order from, select the item(s) you’d like to purchase and add them to your cart.

·         Confirm your order by viewing your cart and going to checkout. 

·         Review your order details and place the order.

·         You’ll receive an email with tracking information from the carrier (FedEx) soon after placing the order.

Don’t over reach. Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing ideations look more like yesterday than tomorrow? Interested in learning how Foodservice Solutions® 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 us on our social media sites by clicking the following links: Facebook,  LinkedIn, or Twitter

Learning How to Grocerant is Step One