Irving Oil Foodservice with Transparency

Driving customer relevant touchpoints since 1924 Irving Oil continues to innovate driving customer relevance with foodservice transparency with a new store format that’s designed specifically to provide innovative customer experiences according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

The new format called ‘The Irving’ is a leap from the past and present of convenience store foodservice as ‘The Irving’ is looking a customer ahead according to Johnson.

The Iriving blends elements of a market-style café with freshly prepared comfort food offerings, indoor and outdoor seating areas with free Wi-Fi, self-checkout options and clean restrooms — all sporting a modern and refreshing aesthetic.

Tyler McLaughlin, director of retail operations for Irving Oil stated “Across our company, we are always looking for ways to enhance our offer and explore growth opportunities in the areas we serve and in new markets,”… “The opening of The Irving supports our desire to develop innovative strategies for our growing retail network, while leveraging technology and continuing to offer the very best to our customers, including our dealers and distributors.”

Front and center of The Irving’s are grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh food with a distinct local unique freshly prepared, “feel-good food.” Featuring local ingredients wherever possible, the menu includes sandwiches, salads, soups, flatbread pizzas and gourmet hot dogs, along with all-day breakfast and smoothies.

Focused on food you can use on the go or at home, menu items can be ordered at two self-serve kiosks, in-person at the counter or from the takeout menu. Fresh doughnuts, muffins, cookies, pastries and more are available from the bakery.

There is a hot beverage counter, meanwhile, brews up a variety of coffee roasts from New England’s Baronet Coffee. Also offered are organically sweetened frozen drinks for cooler consumption.

McLaughlin continued “We know that people’s lives are busier than ever and one-stop shopping is important to families and commuters alike. We designed our offer to make our customers’ lives easier by making traditional convenience store products available while also elevating the fresh food offer with both made-to-order and grab-and-go options, all prepared onsite,”

New technology help The Irving make good on its promise of a seamless customer experience, multiple touchpoints for enhanced convenience are showcased at The Irving. For example, two self-checkouts enable customers to quickly and easily get in and out. Additionally, Irving Rewards members can pay at the pump with Irving Debit Pay using the mobile app’s Mobile Pay feature. Do you locations look more like yesterday than today or tomorrow?

Invite Foodservice Solutions® to complete a Grocerant Program Assessment, Grocerant ScoreCard, or for product positioning or placement assistance, or call our Grocerant Guru®.  Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche. Contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or 253-759-7869

AB InBev, La Lorraine Bakery, Delhaize, Partnership Drives New Electricity

Success does leave clues.  Consumers are dynamic, impatient, innovative and companies must be as well according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®. So, when Delhaize, La Lorraine Bakery Group, and AB InBev hooked up to assist ‘vulnerable’ people in Belgium in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic our grocerant guru knew it was a success step he should share with all of our regular readers in search of that ‘new electricity’ to drive sales and brand loyalty.

This unique three retailer partnership has resulted in the introduction of the 'à la Leffe' bread, made with beer. So, if that isn’t good enough, the three brands donate an 800-gram family loaf to Belgian food banks for every five 'à la Leffe' loaves sold in Delhaize stores. How are you driving brand awareness and new electricity into you brand?

Simply put the managing director of the Belgian Federation of Food Banks, Jozef Mottar, stated “Since bread is an important commodity for everyone, the initiative aimed at supporting us in the noble cause can only be applauded. ..This beautiful gesture of solidarity is heartwarming and motivates us even more to continue our commitment to the fight against hunger in our country, which unfortunately is still increasing in this coronavirus crisis."

The bread is available in two variants - Leffe Blond bread and Leffe Bruin multigrain bread. It is made of pure Belgian ingredients, in a traditional way, with beer replacing water in the recipe.

Expanding the ‘halo’ of better-4-you’ Guido Vanherpe, CEO of La Lorraine Bakery Group, said, “For La Lorraine Bakery Group, reducing food waste is an absolute priority in our sustainability strategy. Thus Vanherpe continued "When AB InBev informed us that they were looking for a destination for the Leffe that was unused due to the closure of the catering industry, we immediately implemented the idea to use the beer to make bread!”

In a Battle for Share of Stomach

Good Will Matters

Charlotte De Vroey, head of sustainability at Delhaize, noted, "For many years, Delhaize has been organising a major annual food collection for the 9 Food Banks and their 618 affiliate local associations that distribute free food to the more than 170,000 people in need. We wanted to strengthen this support at this particular time through this project."

Driving new electricity into a legacy brand with a partnership is a good move and will accelerate the marketing messaging for all companies involved according to Johnson. How is your company positioning to grow your brand, the top, and bottom line?

Johnson stated “that in my minds-eye the new electricity must be very efficient for the supply chain and includes such things as fresh foods, online ordering, delivery, plant based foods,  sampling, toy’s, beer, developing brands,  grocerant positioning, fresh food messaging, autonomous delivery, cashier-less retail, plates, glasses, cash-less payments, digital hand-held marketing.

All food and beverage retailers to survive the next generation of retail must embrace the artificial intelligence revolution while simultaneously embracing fresh food and beverages that are portable, fresh, with differentiation that is familiar not different.  Does your retail path forward look more like yesterday than tomorrow? Why? This new partnership does all of that.

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