Consumers Spiced it up in 2023

 

All food retailers know what their current customers bought from them in 2023.  However, have you wondered just what your customers were buying from your competitors when they were not buying from you?  Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® suggest that you read what recent Grubhub report found consumers were buying from them on their platform.  It’s a snapshot of Americans’ eating and drinking habits as seen through their orders on the platform

In case you did not know, 2022 was tagged “the year of the burrito,” this past year reflected how diners stepped out of their comfort zones and broke with convention. Grubhub characterizes 2023 as “doing it for the vibes.”  Here we go, read on:

“Grubhub analyzed millions of takeout and delivery orders from diners, crunching the data to pinpoint overarching trends as well as specific flavors and ingredients. According to the report, 2023 was all about self-expression, with diners embracing customizations and unlikely food pairings.

Here are some of the platform’s top findings or “vibes.”

• We added a little bit of … spice. Classic favorites like Sriracha were added to orders over 91,000 times, and over 53 million items were ordered with added spice. Condiments such as chipotle sauce and jalapeno cream sauce rose in popularity.

Spicy potato soft tacos, spicy chicken sandwiches, spicy tuna roll, hot and sour soup and drunken noodles were the top five fiery dishes recorded by Grubhub. And Buffalo chicken wings topped the list as the most popular wing flavor.

Casual-dining chain Buffalo Wild Wings is celebrating that win by offering Grubhub users 50% off (up to $10) on wing orders of $30 or more placed on Dec. 12.

• Late-night coffee for caffeine cravers. Customers are getting caffeinated later in the day. Over 10 million coffee orders were placed after 5 p.m. this year. Top choices: Iced coffee, caramel frappe, mocha frappe, cappuccino, and bringing up the rear, regular hot coffee.

• Cows made a comeback. Despite the fact that almost every coffee concept now offers almond, oat and other nondairy milks, cow’s milk rose 20% as an option for coffee orders year-over-year. Whole milk took the lead, followed by 2% milk and chocolate milk. Looks like coffee drinkers are creating their own mochas.

• Workers pause for a fizzy pick-me-up. Diet Coke won out as a refreshment break with the workplace crowd. In-office orders of the soft drink increased by 17% in 2023, and #dietcokebreak trended with over 43 million views on TikTok.

• Fries bring balance for salad fans. French fries were the top-ordered side dish of 2023, but they weren’t only paired with the usual burger or chicken sandwich. Over 600,000 Grubhub customers ordered their salad paired with fries over the last 12 months—boosting the french fry to the most-ordered side of 2023.

But every diner has a favorite style. Classic cut fries earned the No. 1 spot, followed by waffle fries, cheese fries, sweet potato fries and curly fries.

• From food to fashion, pickles were on everything. People placed over 6.9 million orders for pickles in 2023—an increase of 89% over 2022. That was the largest growth of any individual item, with diners ordering them on sandwiches, burgers, pizza and deep-fried on their own. And then there was the pickle sweatshirt that went viral.

• Pineapple earns status on pizza. Pineapple has been a favorite though controversial pizza topping for a long time, but this year its popularity soared 33% over 2022. Seems like people are no longer embarrassed to opt for Hawaiian Pizza.

That said, it came in at No. 5 among the top pizza choices, led off by cheese pizza, followed by margherita, pepperoni and Buffalo chicken in second, third and fourth places respectively.

Grubhub customers can compare their year of orders with these national trends with an individual 2023 Delivered report. Users should receive a customized recap report Tuesday to trace their own takeout and delivery journey of the year.”

Looking for success clues of your own? Foodservice Solutions® specializes in outsourced food marketing and business development ideations. We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities, technology, or a new menu product segment.  Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma WA is the global leader in the Grocerant niche visit us on our social media sites by clicking one of the following links: Facebook,  LinkedIn, or Twitter

Church’s Chicken Customer Relevance Get With-It

 

Maintaining customer relevance is not as easy as it seems at most chain restaurants.  Yes, there are cost involved and there is always someone saying no that cost too much.  So, according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® there are many times chain restaurants go from falling a ’little’ behind to a ‘lot’ behind.  Consumers are dynamic brands must be as well.

Here is a story two years in the making; nearly two years since Church’s Chicken first embarked on a digital transformation focused on reaching new guests with digital media and creating loyalty with engaging experiences at every interaction, all in order to garner incremental customer relevance,

So, guess what? Since they began down the digital path, digital has been a key driver of the brand’s positive sales and growth, with 2020 turning in impressive results from this key focus area. Church’s Chicken saw a 540 percent increase in Order Ahead sales in 2020 compared to the previous year, third-party delivery sales increased by 77 percent in the same period, and web digital conversion rate reached 16 percent.  Johnson say’s strategy focused on customer relevant touchpoints wins.

Alan Magee, Vice President of Digital Marketing & Technology for Church’s stated, “The digital success we are seeing now is because of plans and initiatives first put in place in 2019,” … “The industry has been shifting to a digital-first approach over time and the pandemic has only accelerated this consumer behavior. Church’s digital transformation allowed us to pivot quickly in response to COVID-19 and we even ended the year with six months of consecutive positive sales as a result. Our investment in building both integrated and consumer focused digital platforms continues to allow us to thrive as a brand”

So, at the end of 2020 marked the completion of multiple initiatives all aimed at sales growth, market presence, and operational efficiencies. Let’s take a look at the Highlights:

Relaunch of Churchs.com with a focus on mobile optimization

Nearly 85 percent of guests engage with the brand on a mobile device. A new website, channel strategy, and mobile welcomer (location finder) were rolled out to help guests go from first impression to desired action within three clicks.

Since launching the mobile welcomer, conversion increased 27 percent among mobile users

There has been a 295 percent positive growth in digital restaurant engagements 

CRM Platform Relaunch:

In addition to the revamped web experience, Church’s also made dramatic enhancements to its new mobile app, email platform, and launched a new customer database in order to create more personalized and dynamic communications.

Active loyalty engagement increased by 40 percent in 2020

Expanded Social Media Presence

A new social media playbook, with a focus on community engagement with loyal fans, micro-influencers, and in-market engagement campaigns broadened Church’s footprint across the social media landscape.

Fan engagement grew 63 percent year-over-year between 2019 and 2020

Impressions were up 146 percent from 2019

Church’s successfully executed three engagement campaigns – Drive Thru Graduation, Camp Smokehouse Backyard Giveaways and, most recently, the Church’s Chicken Sandwich Truck

Expansion of E-commerce (Church’s To Go)

Church’s added Google Ordering and Curbside Pick-up to its existing Order Ahead and Drive-Thru options.

Third-party delivery expanded to a total of eight brand partners live in nearly 90% of domestic locations, offering additional reach and faster speed of service

Together, these efforts produced an 87 percent increase in off premise revenue year over year.

One of the significant points within the transformation was the Church’s mobile app. Magee and the digital team performed an end-to-end overhaul to include more robust functionality. Guests can now make contact-free pick up orders, access exclusive app-only promotions, and save favorites for easy re-ordering. Because of this, Church’s saw an uptick in adoption among GenZ and Millennial audiences, particularly following the launch of the new Church’s Chicken Sandwich.

“Most importantly, we translated our increased digital position into sales,” adds Magee. “That is a critical benchmark for us as the digital space becomes more crowded and competitive. We’re out to grow our customer base in ways that drive traffic and create loyalty, because it’s ultimately the experience of Church’s quality food and authentic hospitality that makes people Church’s fans for life.”

Consumers are dynamic brands must be as well. Do you have strategy focused that is focused on customer relevant touchpoints of today or yesterday? Are you looking a customer ahead?

Invite Foodservice Solutions® to complete a 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

Eataly is a Great Grocerant

Recently Bret Thorn of Nation’s Restaurant News wrote about Eataly the only thing that was clear from his article is that the editors and the author don’t have a clue about what Eataly is to consumers.  Simply put it is a Grocerant.  It’s not that hard to say. 

The team at Foodservice Solutions® simply laughed when they read the article.  There is no wonder why our blog gets 25,178 unique views per day.  Regular readers of this blog understand the undercurrents driving customer migration within the Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh food space and legacy foodservice media outlets are too busy protecting their turf to care about year over year customer counts. So for eight years restaurant customer counts continue to be flat or down. We know where the customers are going and why. 

So Bret, no Eataly is not an “Italian supermarket, food hall and restaurant complex” it is a grocerant.  Eataly is consumer interactive, consumer participatory, filled with Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food that edifies customer choice empowering personalization and customization with more mix and match meal components that are customer relevant.

The first of the two New York City locations has sales that have been reported over $60 Million a year.  Now they have two locations in New York City and single outlets in Chicago, Los Angeles and Boston. Eataly also has 13 locations in Italy, as well as outposts in Brazil, Monaco, Turkey, Dubai, South Korea and Japan. Success does leave clues. Here is what success can help you do.

FICO Eataly World is unlike anything the food arena has ever seen: As part of the sprawling, 20-acre complex in Bologna, Italy, there are 108,000 square feet of orchards, pastures, and gardens; six rides; 40 workshops; and 25 restaurants and food stalls from which to pick your pizza, pasta, and polenta. Adding to the grown-up theme park vibe, there will be 500 adult-sized tricycles with shopping baskets, designed especially for the complex by celebrated Italian bike makers Bianchi.

Like our grocerant guru said before Eataly is consumer interactive and participatory. There will be no boring lessons on Excel or how to know you've ordered enough olive oil. Instead, in this $106 Million dollar ‘theme park version of a grocerant visitors will be able to do everything from walk through the prosciutto process to see wheat, stone-ground, turned into flour, and made into several kinds of pasta.  Soon, the Eataly World experience is slated to even get its own a 200-room hotel in early 2018.

Don’t get us wrong I’m not suggesting everyone open a theme park.  What I am saying is that if you’re running a restaurant and your fresh food offering are not consumer interactive and consumers participatory you’re not keeping up with the undercurrents of consumers.  Consumers are dynamic not static brands must be as well. 

Success does leave clues www.FoodserviceSolutions.us  is the global leader in grocerant niche business development.  We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities.  Has your company had a Grocerant ScoreCard completed a Grocerant Program Assessment, or new Grocerant niche product Ideation?  Want one?  Call 253-759-7869 Email: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us

Foodservice Solutions 10 Business Clues

The retail foodservice customer is not fickle they are evolving, dynamic and moving forward searching for ways to many dinner complexity free according to Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru®, Steven Johnson.  I hope you are not the Neanderthal brand marketer we talked about in yesterday’s blog.  

The consumer is dynamic not static and all food retailers and start-up fresh food retailers must strive to create or maintain consumer relevance while evolving their own brand.  Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru® Steven Johnson believes that the following ten clues to build contemporized food brand relevance that will edify your brand while building top-line sales, bottom-line profits and year over year customer counts.  Here are his 10 Clues:

1.       Purpose:   Customer relevance with evolving focus.  The most successful brands are inclusive, include values greater than themselves.  That means they focus on a Lifestyle, a philosophy, an emotion, a point in time.  Today that must include a halo of better for you the consumer as better for the consumer is better for the retailer. 

2.       A story: Most major brands have a story. Examples: If you like Wawa you know the family history, If you line McDonald’s you have heard the story or seen the movie If you like Ford vehicles, you might be familiar with the story of Henry Ford or if you love your Nikes, you probably know how the Nike swoosh logo was created. You get the picture.  What’s your story and where is your story being told?

3.       Consumer interaction:  Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru® firmly believes that within foodservice retail they brand, products, and footprint must be consumer interactive and participatory. When your business is first starting out, don't fool yourself into believing that your marketing efforts are 'brand building' efforts. They're not because to build a real brand, you have to have an extensive track record with consumers. Consumer will build the brand and the story for with you.

4.       Trust:   Establish operating standards that are measurable for every department within your company and each standard must edify a customer facing tactic, communication, service, or product.  When you've consistently delivered for your customers long enough, you'll gain the type of trust that many brands have.  Would you buy a Edsel today? Maybe so, but you are buying to today as a relic not as a product of today.

5.       Consistency:  Consumers today choose a product or service because of brand association.  The consumer is buying an expectation, a promise. Perhaps it's the expectation that the branded product is of higher quality or that the service will be provided in a more efficient manner. The expectation must be met time after time.

6.       Differentiation: Customer migration from a legacy  to an new brand is often borne of differentiation. Many brands offer products and services that are commodities but they're successful in developing some differentiation in the product or the avenue of distribution for their products and services that consumers are sold on.

7.       Imitators: Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and you're probably not a 'brand' until you have competitors trying to copy you. Enough said. (However, we have imitators trying to play catch up and we thank you for edifying our brand and sharing this blog.)

8.       Market leadership: Success does leave clues, collect your clues and own them. Top brands are usually looked at as leaders in the markets they compete in. Own the space, and understand why you do.

9.       Evolve:  The consumer is dynamic not static your brand must be as well.  The best brands are flexible and capable of reshaping and reinventing themselves and their messages over time. Brands are either growing or dying.

10.   A strong marketing presence: The information super highway has evolved into a mobile marketing platform in the palm of your customers hand; your message must follow with the traffic.  Don’t get stuck on the road less traveled.

Success does leave clues feel free to reach out for a private corporate presentation, confidential engagements, educational forums, or keynote. Contact: Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® at: 253-759-7869 Linkedin.com/in/grocerant/ or www.FoodserviceSolutions.us  Facebook.com/Steven Johnson Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us

10 Effective Strategies for a Foodservice Business Plan in 2017

If success does and it does; the team at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® has built a global client relationship, following, and platform that encourages global best within retail foodservice.  One such company is Alsco that has 150 years of history experience with Australian businesses.  Today we have a guest blog from Alsco titled 10 Effective Strategies for a Foodservice Business Plan in 2017:

There are so many restaurants nowadays that having a unique venue, providing an outstanding service, and preparing mouth-watering meals definitely do not mean you are bound to succeed.

But what should you do then? You are already putting in the hard yards, but your restaurant isn’t doing any better? You absolutely do not have a clue what else can help you stand out in the ocean of restaurants? Is there a magic trick?

Fortunately, there is a solution a quick and easy one, indeed. What you need is an adequate restaurant business plan. That’s the main difference between those who succeed in business and those who fail.
Nice, but you have NO idea how to create one? Don’t worry! Alsco has collected these inestimable guidelines for you to follow and prosper.

1. Your Location Matters

Having a house on the corner perhaps doesn’t sound like a great idea, but placing your restaurant there would be a perfect move. If it’s impossible, at least make sure it’s in a busy neighborhood with easy access and enough parking spaces. You don’t want these details hinder your customers from visiting you, right?

2. Comfortable Furniture Is a Must

You wouldn’t spend your precious free time sitting in an uncomfortable wiggly chair, would you? Then, it would not be wise to expect that from your guests. Not only do people go to restaurants to eat, but to relax and enjoy spending their precious moments with their dearest ones, or to close a business deal.
Either way, if your furniture isn’t comfortable enough, they’ll want to leave your place as soon as possible.

3. Don’t Neglect the Colors

Colors are proven to have profound effects on humans. Avoid cold colors such as blue because it’s an appetite suppressant. On the other hand, use colors like red or orange in order to stimulate your visitors’ cravings for food.
All in all, learn how different colors can change one’s appetite and use that powerful weapon.

4. Attract More Guests with Fantastic Design

Never mind if your space is limited! An excellent interior decorator can turn it into a highly functional cozy area and maximize its use almost overnight. What’s more, a renowned designer will wave their magic wand to make your space visually appealing both inside and outside.
You could also check out social media channels including Pinterest, Instagram, and Facebook to find some fascinating restaurant designs for inspiration. The stunning beauty of your space will bring about your customers’ memorable experience they will undoubtedly want to share with others.

5. Get Attractive Tableware

Interesting tableware and table linens together with the perfectly decorated magnetic space will make an enchanting effect on your guests. They simply won’t be able to resist taking photos of them being a part of that dazzling atmosphere.
Moreover, they’ll feel so excited and share those photos on different social media networks and probably tag your restaurant. High standards of hygiene go without saying.

6. Benefit from Your Online Presence

Create your restaurant profile to interact with your staff members and customers. Keep them updated and regularly post photos of your tasty meals, special events, or exceptional staff in action.
Encourage your customers to engage with you online by offering them a unique experience. Make ordering their food hassle-free by accepting online orders or bookings because many modern restaurants do so.
The primary goal is not getting Likes on Facebook but using social media as leading marketing tools to spread the word about your business and show people it’s worthwhile.

7. Make Use of Upselling

People are competitive by nature so why wouldn’t you make a proper use of it? Encourage your staff members to upsell by offering prizes and bonuses. Just make sure they’re not too pushy and obvious. You can even have a competition and make it fun.

8. Listen to Your Employees

It’s recommendable to appreciate your customers, but make sure you don’t forget your employees! On no account should you disregard them! Would you put your mind to a job if your boss underestimated or neglected you?
A lack of open communication can seriously damage your business. So, keep your staff involved in almost every important step you take and ask for their opinion. That’s how you’ll show respect to your loyal employees.

9. Mind To Your Employees’ Health and Safety

Your employees’ health and safety should be your top priority since they’re the cogs that keep the wheel of your business turning.
Provide them with a clean and sanitized working environment from the kitchen to the washroom. Also, always keep a high-quality first-aid kit at hand just in case.

10. Choose Noticeable Workwear

Not only should your space, tableware, and furniture be classy and noteworthy, but make sure your staff members also wear attractive and comfortable uniforms. It will make them look trustworthy and professional for sure.
Those people present your business with their appearance. Thus, it’s vital to keep their workwear spotless at all times.

You’re highly dedicated to your business, so you want to watch its day-to-day improvement. You’d also like to run it as effortlessly as possible? Who wouldn’t? Still, you somehow feel you need more advice?
What are you waiting for? Refer to these 126 expert ideas for your restaurant business plan and start implementing them right away. The sooner you do it, the faster your business will grow.

Cheers, Discover more about Alsco’s 150 year history and service to Australian businesses.
The team at Tacoma, WA based www.FoodserviceSolutions.us wants to thank Katrina McKinnon 
Community Outreach - Alsco www.alsco.com.au  once again for providing today’s guest blog.