Are Your Restaurant Brand Attributes Still Relevant in 2026—or Frozen in Time?

 

Once upon a time, Eastman Kodak owned memory-making. In the 1960s and ’70s, birthdays, vacations, Little League games—if it mattered, it went through a yellow box. Even Paul Simon immortalized the ritual in a song.

Kodak believed image quality would protect the franchise. Consumers, they insisted, would never trade glossy prints for digital convenience.

They were right about quality.

They were wrong about behavior.

Today most photos live on phones, get shared instantly, and are rarely printed. Being technically correct did not save the company.

Foodservice is walking that same tightrope.

 

Legacy thinking vs. today’s consumer reality

Operators still repeat versions of the same refrains:

·       “Our leadership has decades of experience.”

·       “We don’t discount.”

·       “We don’t deliver.”

·       “Our food doesn’t travel.”

·       “We don’t need digital ordering.”

·       “We can’t raise prices.”

·       “Guests come for the brand promise.”

Experience matters. But market velocity now outpaces institutional memory.

Food fact:

More than 70% of restaurant traffic now involves an off-premise component (pickup, drive-thru, or delivery). Convenience is not an add-on; it is the product.

Food fact:

Digital ordering is no longer experimental. For many fast-casual brands, app/web orders generate higher average checks because of modifiers, upsells, and frictionless payment.

Food fact:

Consumers continue to trade between price tiers. Value leaders are winning frequency; premium players are winning on experience and differentiation. The squeezed middle is where unit counts are shrinking.

 

What “we don’t” really means in 2026

“We don’t deliver.”

Your guest already decided they want delivery. The only question is who gets the order. If it isn’t you, it is a competitor.

Look at Domino's. They are as much a logistics and data enterprise as a pizza company. Ordering ease, GPS tracking, saved favorites—these are brand attributes now.

“We don’t need online ordering.”

Friction kills intent. Brands like Chipotle Mexican Grill built a second make-line and re-engineered kitchens because digital demand justified operational redesign.

“We don’t discount.”

Perhaps. But your guests are members of ecosystems that reward them anyway. Starbucks drives frequency with loyalty mechanics, personalization, and stored value. That is targeted economics, not blanket discounting.

“We can’t raise prices.”

Everyone else in your supply chain has. The winners communicate value, bundle smartly, and provide tiered options so the guest chooses their spend.

“Our brand is our promise.”

Correct. But the consumer now co-authors that promise through ratings, social proof, and digital discovery. Your brand lives where your customer scrolls.

 

The utilization question

You pay occupancy costs all day. If peak demand is narrower while fixed costs rise, idle capacity becomes the enemy.

Dayparts are blurring. Snacks replace meals. Retail grocery steals restaurant occasions; restaurants steal retail trips. Hybridization is accelerating.

That is the grocerant economy.

 

Measurement is oxygen

If you cannot attribute sales lift to a tactic, you are funding hope.

Modern marketing demands closed-loop accountability:

·       traffic source

·       conversion

·       ticket

·       repeat rate

Without instrumentation, opinion wins. With data, strategy wins.

Technology is not the strategy—removing friction is

Self-order, AI suggestive selling, digital menu boards, kitchen automation: these matter only if they increase throughput, consistency, and satisfaction.

Guests reward ease.

 

The competitive truth

Some chains are growing traffic, units, and margins in the same macro environment others cite as impossible.

What is different?

They adapt faster than their nostalgia.

The modern Kodak test

Ask yourself:

If you opened today, would you design the business exactly as it operates now?

If the honest answer is no, evolution is overdue.

 

Insights from the Grocerant Guru®

1.       Convenience has become cuisine. Access, speed, and certainty influence choice as much as flavor.

2.       Data beats tradition. The guest you remember is not the guest who is arriving.

3.       Relevance compounds. Small, continuous adjustments outperform heroic, late reinventions.

If change feels uncomfortable, remember: comfort rarely creates growth.

Tap into the Foodservice Solutions® team for greater understanding of New Electricity or for a Grocerant Program Assessment, Grocerant ScoreCard, or for product positioning or placement assistance, or call our Grocerant Guru®.  Since 1991 www.FoodserviceSolutions.us  of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche. Contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or 253-759-7869