Time
and time again, retail foodservice clients call and ask the same question: “What’s
new?”
My
answer is usually the same: Differentiation does not necessarily mean
different. It means familiar—with a twist that according to Steven Johnson, The
Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.
Today,
that twist increasingly comes from something retailers and restaurants have
historically treated as an operational necessity rather than a marketing asset:
the package.
From
the perspective of the Grocerant Guru®, packaging is no longer simply what
holds the food. It is part of the foodservice experience, part of the brand,
part of the value proposition—and increasingly, part of the reason a consumer
chooses one meal over another.
The
transformation is particularly important because the lines between grocery,
restaurant, convenience store and home eating continue to blur.
The Package Has Become Part of the Product
Think
about the last restaurant meal you carried home.
Did
the container protect the food? Did it keep hot food hot and cold food cold?
Did it prevent sauces from leaking? Could you eat directly from it? Was it easy
to carry? Could you put it in the refrigerator? Did it look good enough to
photograph?
Those
aren't packaging questions anymore.
They're
foodservice marketing questions.
The
National Restaurant Association's 2025 Off-Premises Restaurant Trends research
found that 90% of off-premises customers would be likely to order a greater
variety of food if upgraded packaging helped preserve temperature, taste and
quality. More than half of consumers—and 60% of Gen Z and Millennials—said they
would pay more for takeout or delivery when packaging helped maintain food
quality.
That
is a remarkable finding.
The
package isn't merely protecting the product.
The
package can expand the menu.
From Mason Jars to Modern Meal Architecture
Several
years ago, concepts such as Ancolie in New York demonstrated the potential of
serving salads, bowls, desserts and other foods in reusable glass jars.
The
appeal was about more than sustainability.
The
transparent container transformed ingredients into visual architecture.
Layers
of vegetables, grains, proteins, sauces and toppings became visible. The
consumer could see freshness, variety and portion before opening the container.
That
idea remains relevant—but the opportunity has evolved.
Today,
foodservice packaging is moving beyond the novelty of a mason jar toward purpose-built
packaging ecosystems designed around portability, visibility, reheating,
stacking, merchandising, delivery and reuse.
The
important lesson isn't that every retailer should put food in a jar.
It
is that packaging should be designed around the occasion.
A
breakfast eaten in a car needs a different package than a family dinner carried
home.
A
lunch eaten at a desk needs a different package than a dinner placed on the
table.
A
salad needs different packaging than fried chicken.
A
meal designed for delivery needs different packaging than a meal designed for
grab-and-go.
Packaging
should follow the consumer—not the other way around.
Grocery Has Become a Restaurant Competitor—and Packaging
Matters
This
matters enormously to grocery retailers.
FMI's
Power of Foodservice at Retail 2025 report found that the share of
consumers choosing deli-prepared foods instead of restaurant meals increased
from 12% in 2017 to 28% in 2025. Even more revealing, 53% of Americans now use
a hybrid approach, combining deli-prepared foods with items from their own
kitchens.
In
other words, the grocery deli isn't simply competing with another grocery deli.
It
is competing with restaurants, takeout, delivery and the consumer's kitchen.
And
the package is increasingly sitting in the middle of that competition.
In
2025, retail foodservice sales reached approximately $52.1 billion, with
prepared meals and items accounting for about $19.6 billion; prepared-food
dollar sales increased 3.7% over the measured period.
Then
came another important signal.
McKinsey's
2026 grocery research found that convenience and saving time were the two
leading reasons consumers purchase prepared foods from grocers, at 74% and 68%,
respectively. Frequency of prepared-food purchases also rose 9% year over year
from August 2024 to August 2025.
Convenience
is no longer simply about where the consumer buys the food.
Convenience
is also about what happens after they buy it.
Can
I carry it?
Can
I store it?
Can
I reheat it?
Can
I eat it without a plate?
Can
I share it?
Can
I reseal it?
Can
I recycle it?
Can
I see what I'm buying?
That
is where packaging becomes a competitive weapon.
Sustainability Is Important—But Performance Still Wins
There
is another major shift occurring in packaging.
Sustainability
remains important, but consumers don't want sustainability at the expense of
performance.
Foodservice
companies are experimenting with molded fiber, recyclable materials, improved
lids, reusable systems and other alternatives. GlobalData's 2025 foodservice
packaging analysis identified plastic reduction and reusable packaging as
continuing areas of innovation, while also noting that reusable systems require
effective logistics to work economically.
The
2026 Foodservice Packaging Institute State of the Industry report reinforces
the complexity of the marketplace: more than 35% of packaging manufacturers and
suppliers reported volume growth, while 65% said profits either worsened or
remained flat in 2025 compared with 2024.
This
is important.
Sustainable
packaging isn't automatically profitable packaging.
The
package has to work operationally.
It
has to protect the food.
It
has to survive transportation.
It
has to merchandise well.
It
has to fit the supply chain.
And
ultimately, the economics have to work.
Packaging Is Becoming a Marketing Medium
One
of the most significant developments in 2025 and 2026 is the recognition that
packaging itself can communicate value.
L.E.K.
Consulting's 2026 packaging research found that foodservice companies are
investing in packaging innovation around sustainability and food safety. The
firm also describes packaging as a compelling investment because it
communicates the brand message while representing a relatively small portion of
total retail value.
That
is exactly how I see it from the Grocerant Guru® perspective.
The
package is a miniature billboard that travels with the consumer.
It
can communicate:
·
Fresh
·
Local
·
Premium
·
Healthy
·
Convenient
·
Sustainable
·
Heat-and-eat
·
Ready-to-eat
·
Shareable
·
Portable
·
Recyclable
·
Reusable
·
Brand identity
And
unlike an advertisement, the package is physically attached to the product the
consumer purchased.
That
makes packaging Hand Held Marketing® in its most literal form.
The Clear Package Advantage
There
is also a psychological component.
When
consumers can see the food, packaging can become part of the merchandising
strategy.
Colorful
vegetables.
Visible
layers.
Sauce
separation.
Premium
toppings.
Fresh
proteins.
Distinctive
grains.
Beautiful
desserts.
A
package can make the food look more abundant, fresh and premium before the
customer ever opens it.
That
matters because grocery retailers still have an enormous opportunity to improve
the visual appeal of prepared foods.
FMI
research found that roughly half of consumers consider their primary grocery
store's deli-prepared foods only "somewhat appetizing."
That
should be a wake-up call.
If
the food looks ordinary in the package, the consumer may assume the food is
ordinary.
Packaging Can Create New Meal Occasions
This
is where I believe the biggest opportunity exists.
Don't
ask:
“What
container should we put this food in?”
Ask:
“What
consumer occasion are we trying to create?”
A
well-designed package can turn:
·
a side dish into a snack;
·
a salad into a complete lunch;
·
a dip into a party solution;
·
a deli entrée into a family dinner;
·
a breakfast item into a commute meal;
·
leftovers into tomorrow's lunch;
·
a dessert into an impulse purchase.
This
is the essence of the grocerant niche: fresh prepared Ready-2-Eat and
Heat-N-Eat foods competing across channels and occasions.
The
package can help bridge those channels.
Three Grocerant Guru® Insights
1. Packaging is no longer a cost center—it is a sales tool.
Retailers
should measure packaging against more than unit cost.
Measure
whether better packaging increases:
trial
+ frequency + menu breadth + perceived value + willingness to pay.
If
90% of off-premises consumers say better packaging could make them order a
greater variety of foods, packaging has moved directly into revenue generation.
2. Design the package around the occasion, not the
department.
The
deli should stop thinking only in terms of "salad container,"
"chicken container" or "dessert container."
Think
instead:
Lunch
Package. Commute Package. Family Dinner Package. Desk Lunch Package. Game-Day
Package. Picnic Package. Late-Night Package.
The
winning package may cross departments because the consumer's meal does.
3. The next grocerant battleground will be the “last three
feet.”
The
first three feet are merchandising.
The
next three feet are selection.
But
the last three feet are what happens between the display case and the
consumer's mouth.
Can
the customer carry it?
Open
it?
Eat
it?
Save
it?
Reheat
it?
Share
it?
Dispose
of it?
Reuse
it?
That
is where packaging converts food into an experience.
And
in the increasingly competitive grocerant marketplace, the experience is
becoming the product.
The Bottom Line
The
old definition of foodservice packaging was simple:
Put
the food in something and get it to the customer.
The
new definition is much more powerful:
Package
the food so the customer wants it, understands it, can use it, can transport
it, can enjoy it—and remembers the brand.
The
future isn't necessarily glass jars.
It
isn't paper.
It
isn't molded fiber.
It
isn't plastic.
It
isn't reusable packaging.
The
future is packaging designed around the consumer's life.
That's
why I believe differentiation doesn't mean different.
It
means familiar—with a twist.
And
sometimes that twist isn't in the recipe.
It's
in the package.
Success
does leave clues.
Foodservice
Solutions® is the global leader in grocerant niche business development. We
help food retailers, restaurants, convenience stores and foodservice operators
identify, quantify and qualify new food retail and foodservice opportunities.
Has
your company had a Grocerant ScoreCard®, Grocerant Program Assessment, or
Grocerant Niche Product Ideation completed?
Want
one?
Contact
Foodservice Solutions®
253-759-7869
Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us
www.FoodserviceSolutions.us
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