Portability Is a Key Component of Fresh Food Marketing

 

Fresh Hand-Held meals are driving the growth of the Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat segments within the food sector according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®. Fresh food with portability is more than a trend — it is a cornerstone in the undercurrents of change reshaping the retail foodservice sector today.

There is now little doubt that success in the food industry can be traced back directly to Foodservice Solutions®’ 5 P’s of Fresh Food Marketing. Grocerant Guru® Steven Johnson first identified, quantified, and qualified these 5 P’s—and then helped foodservice operators (full-service restaurants, chain drug stores, grocery retailers, QSRs, c-stores) to implement them. The 5 P’s are:

1.       Positioning

2.       Packaging

3.       Product

4.       Pricing

5.       Placement

Johnson’s process is powered by a continuous cycle: Build → Measure → Lean → Repeat—a method he has proven time and again in real-world retail food operations.

After repeated successful adoption by operators, Technomic conducted qualitative and quantitative research validating the critical importance of portability. Their infographic Pertinence of Portability showcased insights reinforcing what the Grocerant Guru® has long taught.

·       Technomic found that 51% of U.S. consumers order food-to-go at least once a week.

·       When ordering breakfast on-the-go, 56% of consumers ranked portability as a key consideration.

·       Between 2012 and 2014, the consumer ranking of portability importance for snacks climbed from 55% to 60%.

These findings offered early validation for applying the 5 P’s framework in the context of consumer mobility and convenience.

 

Portability in 2025 — Evolving But More Vital Than Ever

Fast-forward to 2025, and the data landscape has shifted—but portability’s prominence has only increased.

·       Technomic’s Off-Premise Dynamics research underscores that takeout, pickup, and delivery remain essential for foodservice growth — placing portability front and center.

·       Faced with consumer uncertainty, operators are leaning heavily on LTOs and value-focused offerings to drive traffic.

·       While overall industry growth is constrained (1 % real, 1.8 % operator-level), foodservice operators are eyeing rebound opportunities.

·       The Technomic TIndex has hit 2025 highs, signaling improving performance in foodservice.

·       In State of the Menu 2025, Technomic highlights that LTOs are now embracing mini-sized, multiprotein, hybrid dishes—formats ideally suited for on-the-go consumption.

·       From Grocerant Guru’s perspective:

o   Portable fresh meals are now mainstream, not niche.

o   Retailers enhancing experience (e.g. AI kiosks, predictive inventory) report foot traffic uplifts of up to 20 %.

o   Approximately 83.2% of meals served at home now include at least one Ready-2-Eat or Heat-N-Eat component.

o   Screen-mediated eating habits (“65-inch HDTV Syndrome”) continue to exert influence over portable food design and consumption.

This wealth of updated evidence only reinforces the original premise: portability is now a strategic condition for relevance rather than a supplementary benefit.

 

How Portability Fits into the 5 P’s — Updated Through the 2025 Lens

P	Evolved Role in 2025	Implications for Retail Foodservice
Positioning	Portability must be baked into the brand promise (e.g., “fresh, handheld, just-for-you”)	Brands that communicate portability clearly will connect better with on-the-go consumers
Packaging	Intelligent, modular, temperature-retaining packaging (smart films, freshness indicators)	Packaging becomes a profit center, not just a cost
Product	Micro-portables, multi-protein bowls, fusion handhelds, snack-meal hybrids	Flexibility in format is key to meeting micro-moment demands
Pricing	Dynamic pricing, modular add-ons, micro-portion pricing	Precision in pricing enables value perception and margin protection
Placement	Grab-and-go display zones, in-aisle pods, transit pop-ups, micro-fulfillment lockers	Spatial and logistical optimization will drive distribution advantage

By threading portability across all 5 P’s, retailers and operators can create a self-reinforcing growth engine built around consumer mobility.

 

Three Future-Driven Insights from the Grocerant Guru®

1.       Micro-portables will replace macro containers
The next frontier is not just handheld meals, but ultra-compact, modular, snack-size formats — and they will displace bigger packaged meals in many contexts. Expect consumer adoption of mini wraps, single-serve layered jars, or collapsible trays. Retailers who reformat their merchandising for micro-portables (denser displays, modular cross-sells) will capture more frequent buyer occasions.

2.       Portability + Personalization is the growth nexus
Portable formats will increasingly become “choose-your-own” structures. AI-driven kiosks or mobile apps will let consumers build a compact, portable meal from protein, carb, sauce, and side modules — optimized in real time for price and margin. The moment of choice becomes your most powerful P.

3.       Portability will emerge as a competitive barrier
Over time, portable capability will become a differentiator hard to replicate. Operators with scale in logistics, packaging innovation, and real-time inventory systems will create a moat around portable fresh food offerings. Brands that delay adopting high-efficiency portable formats risk losing shelf and footprint access to more nimble, portable-first competitors.

Call to Action

Foodservice Solutions® remains uniquely positioned to help retailers and operators turn portability from a feature into a growth engine. If you're ready to evolve your fresh-prepared strategy—and embed the 5 P’s of Fresh Food Marketing into your DNA—contact us:

Phone: 1-253-759-7869
Website: www.FoodserviceSolutions.us
Email: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us

Let’s design portable, differentiated, and profitable fresh food solutions together — and ensure your brand thrives in this new era of convenience-driven consumption.