The Grocerant Gold Rush — How Chain Restaurants Are Fighting for Share of Stomach This Holiday Season

 

The grocerant era—where restaurant-quality meals are sold everywhere food is sold—is no longer emerging. It is here, reshaping traffic patterns, loyalty loops, and consumer occasions in real time according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®

. In 2025, U.S. consumers purchase 34% of prepared meals outside traditional restaurants, according to Foodservice Solutions® proprietary research. Retailers know it. C-stores know it. And now… major restaurant chains know it too.

This holiday season proves one unmistakable truth: chain restaurants are aggressively repositioning themselves as grocerant brands—blending restaurant flavor with retail convenience. Whether through scaled catering, premium seasonal meal kits, or CPG-style brand extensions, the message is the same:

“If consumers won’t come to the restaurant as often, the restaurant must go to the consumer—anywhere, anytime.”

Below, we highlight three quantifiable 2025 examples demonstrating how chains are staking real ground in the grocerant landscape.

 

1. Catering Becomes a Grocerant Power Play

Walk-On’s, Lazy Dog & Biscuitville show how restaurants can out-retail retailers.

Holiday catering is no longer a side business—it is the fastest-growing grocerant category, up 18.4% YOY in revenue across U.S. chains (Foodservice Solutions® 2025 Catering Index).

Walk-On’s Sports Bistreaux

·       New Louisiana-themed catering: Devils on Horseback, Bayou Pasta, Voodoo Shrimp & Grits

·       Adds boxed lunches—an essential for the corporate grocerant occasion

·       Grocerant impact: Walk-On’s catering is projected to exceed 12% of total 2025 revenue, up from 7.5% in 2022

Walk-On’s demonstrates what every grocerant operator has learned: protein-centric, culturally distinctive menus outperform generic holiday trays by more than 22%.

Lazy Dog

Lazy Dog leans into preset lunch/dinner menus, mirroring retail meal bundles.

·       Signature entrees & seasonal LTOs

·       DIY Gingerbread House Kits sold in-store and online

·       100% of proceeds to Habitat for Humanity (purpose-driven selling)

Lazy Dog’s gingerbread kit is a grocerant masterstroke: retail-priced, low-labor, high-margin, kid-friendly, and shoppable online.

Biscuitville

Biscuitville goes full sensory-branding with:

·       Party-sized build-your-own biscuits

·       Scratch-made sausage balls (a high-frequency Southern party item)

Biscuitville’s catering SKU count has grown 42% since 2021, and breakfast catering overall has grown 23.7% YOY, making it one of the most profitable dayparts in the grocerant ecosystem.

Why it matters:
Catering turns restaurant brands into occasion-based retailers, inserting themselves into office events, holiday gatherings, school functions, and in-home celebrations traditionally dominated by grocery-store delis.

 

2. Retail Crossovers & CPG Extensions Hit Hyperdrive

Panda Express, Starbucks, Moe’s & Dunkin’ embrace grocerant channel blurring.

If 2022–2024 were the years of menu expansion, 2025 is the year of brand expansion. Restaurants are launching retail-ready specialty products, a category projected to reach $38.7B in sales in 2025, up from $27B in 2020.

Panda Express × Compartés Chocolate Bars

This luxury chocolate collaboration functions like a CPG-first strategy:

·       Four flavors inspired by menu icons

·       $11.95 each; $49.95 gift box

·       Sold online—far outside restaurant dining occasions

Panda’s chocolate line targets the $7B premium gifting segment, extending the brand into grocery-adjacent retail without ever entering cold-chain distribution.

Starbucks Seasonal Beverage Add-Ons

Cold foam and customized toppings mimic the “add-on retail value stack” used by CPG beverage companies.

·       Chestnut Praline cold foam

·       Protein cold foam

·       Eggnog Cream Cold Foam topping

Customization SKUs at Starbucks now drive 18% of holiday beverage upsell revenue, functioning like micro-CPG offerings layered onto the core menu.

Moe’s OG Menu at 2000s Prices

Moe’s reintroduces nostalgia-driven value meals at $5.99, directly competing with both:

·       Grocery meal kits (now averaging $6.22 per serving), and

·       C-store hot-case burritos (average $4.69 but smaller portions)

This is a volume-driving grocerant strategy packaged like a retail “rollback.”

Dunkin’ Limited-Edition Holiday Munchkins

Dunkin’ mimics seasonal retail candy SKUs with limited-time “Holiday Sprinkle” Munchkins—priced and portioned for impulse retail buying, not in-restaurant dining.

Why it matters:
Restaurants are behaving like packaged goods companies. When restaurant brands show up on desks, in kitchens, at office parties, and inside gift boxes, they shift the battleground from “menu share” to retail share-of-stomach.

 

3. Premium Holiday LTOs Turn Restaurants into In-Home Celebrations

STK, Momofuku, Burgerville & Another Broken Egg use flavor-forward LTOs to compete with premium grocery delis.

The grocerant market thrives on premium seasonal indulgence. Retailers like Wegmans, Whole Foods, and Lunds & Byerlys have owned this space for two decades—until now.

Restaurant chains are countering with restaurant-quality premium LTOs priced for at-home sharing:

STK Steakhouse

·       A5 Wagyu Potstickers

·       Colossal Lobster Tail

·       Holiday Martini & Toasted Marshmallow Old Fashioned

STK is essentially selling a luxury grocerant celebratory meal without the grocery store.

Momofuku Noodle Bar – Truffle Ramen

With six grams of shaved Burgundy truffle, Momofuku’s holiday ramen competes directly with premium retailer kits priced $22–$26—except Momofuku offers the chef halo grocery stores can’t replicate.

Burgerville Seasonal Menu

Cranberry Brie Bacon Burgers, Candy Cane Shakes, and Stumptown Cold Brew innovations turn Burgerville into a local premium grocerant brand, not just a restaurant.

Another Broken Egg & Ruby Slipper

Both chains deliver upscale breakfast/brunch experiences through seasonal dishes like:

·       Peppermint Mocha Waffles

·       White Chocolate Cranberry Stuffed French Toast

Breakfast is the new grocerant battleground, with 36% of all weekend breakfast consumed off-premise.

Why it matters:
Restaurant brands know consumers expect “holiday indulgence experiences” at home—so they’re delivering high-margin LTOs designed to steal occasions from grocery bakery, deli, and premium meal kits.

 

The Grocerant Guru®: Four 2025 Takeaway Insights

1. If a restaurant can be eaten anywhere, it becomes a retail brand.

Chains that treat off-premise occasions as retail channels—not simply delivery—will win the next decade.

2. Catering is the grocerant Trojan Horse.

Once a chain feeds an office or party, brand familiarity skyrockets and customer migration follows. Catering is the new trial channel.

3. Seasonal LTOs now define brand relevance.

Holiday menus are no longer “special”; they are core revenue drivers. Expect chains to offer monthly retail-style seasonal SKUs by 2027.

4. Restaurants aren’t entering the grocerant space—they are becoming grocerant companies.

The line between store, restaurant, and brand continues to blur. The winners will be those who sell meals everywhere consumers want to eat them—not only inside their four walls.

Gain a Competitive Edge with a Grocerant ScoreCard

Unlock new opportunities with a Grocerant ScoreCard, designed to optimize product positioning, placement, and consumer engagement.

Since 1991, Foodservice Solutions® has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche—helping brands identify high-growth strategies that resonate with modern consumers.

📞 Call 253-759-7869 or 📩 Email Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us