Papa John’s Please Don’t Call Our Stores

Technology has replaced the phone almost.  Papa John’s in an effort to drive operational efficiencies wants to take the phone out of the restaurant and replace it with more relevant technology. Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru®, at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® knew this day would come when he sold the first 7 national chain restaurants cyberslice / Food.com online ordering back in the day and Papa John’s was the first.

Today, about 30% of orders at a typical Papa John’s now come in through the old-fashioned method, but it’s still disruptive enough that the company is introducing a call center to take those orders in a system called Papa Call.

CEO Rob Lynch said in an interview with Restaurant Business, “Phone answering is almost always a secondary piece of the operating model,”. “It can be something that takes away from what a driver is supposed to be doing and it can increase delivery time by a few minutes. Or it may increase the time it takes to get a pizza in the oven. This removes all that.”

Here is the point, the Papa Call center eliminates the need to take phone orders inside the restaurant, which frees up employees to do deliveries or make pizzas. The company is rolling it out to all company restaurants and plans to have it available systemwide by the second half of the year.

 More than just the phone there is a new piece of equipment. A new dough spinner that they tested inside of its company restaurants.  It reduces about 80% of the labor involved in flattening and stretching out pizza dough. That saves time and money driving incremental operational efficiencies.

Are you looking a customer ahead?  What steps are you taking to drive customer relevance and operational efficiencies?  Interested in learning how Foodservice Solutions 5P’s of Food Marketing 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:  www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information.

Virtual Restaurants / Ghost Kitchens Food Marketers Dream Job

New Year’s resolutions include looking for a new job for many foodservice professionals according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  2020 brings with it new employment opportunities for food marketers looking to make a change.  Unburdened with legacy brand ‘luggage’ from yesterday, Ghost Kitchens / Virtual Restaurants are a platform driving relevant brand adoption and looking for good brand marketers.

Consider the opportunity to work in a cross-functional setting leveraging your food knowledge while edifying that with consumer facing technology and the results you could get credit for driving. Here is an example: Soupboi is the first virtual restaurant, delivery-only concept in St. Louis, MO with On-Point Hospitality in partnership with DoorDash.

On Point Hospitality’s Soupboi is available for delivery-only via DoorDash, Soupboi will be available for lunch throughout the winter, featuring a menu of chef-prepared vegan soups. The cost to operate a lunch only concept, with delivery in a catering setting can’t be matched by most legacy food outlets.

The fact is virtual restaurants, are a popular trend in larger markets the ilk of Chicago, New York and San Francisco. Virtual restaurants that allow restaurant operators to use existing restaurant facilities or commissary kitchens to offer unique concepts via delivery only. For Soupboi, the On Point Hospitality team will be utilizing the Yellowbelly kitchen for cooking the soup. How is your brand expanding? Can you control quality while driving incremental sales?

Tim Wiggins, co-owner of On Point Hospitality and brainchild of Soupboi stated “It’s the time of year that I crave a comforting bowl of soup, but we know that people don’t want to leave their office or house for lunch. With Soupboi, they don’t have to. The soup-focused menu didn’t really make sense for our existing concepts, but we utilized the idea and created its own Soupboi brand, menu and experience. There is no storefront or dining area so guests simply order online or via the app on their phone, and your DoorDash delivery driver brings your soup right to your door.”

So, the Soupboi menu of soups with seasonal ingredients and craveable, healthy options. Soups available include: Cauliflower Red Curry Soup with white rice and crispy chickpeas; Tortilla Soup with cashew crema with crispy tortillas and cilantro; Coconut & Ginger Soup with crispy garlic, turmeric and barley; and Miso Mushroom Soup with grilled bread. “Rice Crizpy Treats with Fruit Specks” will also be available for purchase.  Are you looking for a new Job? Do you want to drive top line sales and bottom line profits?

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 www.FoodserviceSolutions.us  of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche. Contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or 253-759-7869

Burger King gets Consumer Interactive & Participatory Marketing

Success does leave clues and global brands have a distinct advantage in food marketing simply because they have more marketing professionals around the world exposed to more and more good ideas according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®

So, here is one example; have you ever heard of the Stevenage Football Club? Probably not—they play in the English soccer fourth division. But the Burger King brand has heard of them. In fact, the brand sponsors the soccer club and is launching the “Stevenage Challenge,” a series of challenges for soccer fans that, if completed, will reward participants with menu favorites like the Whopper sandwich, Chicken Sandwich, and Chicken Fries for free only through Uber Eats.

The goal? To turn possibly the smallest team in the real world into the biggest club in the online gaming world. Now that is a big goal.  It is also filled with consumer relevance and consumer facing touchpoints according to Johnson. All the more reason that Johnson said Burger King just might meet their goal!

The challenges range from simply scoring a goal to the nearly impossible, scoring from a corner kick. All with the new Burger King sponsored Stevenage F.C. shirt on. Soccer and Burger King fans alike can complete the set of challenges listed at www.stevenagechallenge.com. All they have to do is share footage on Twitter of their great soccer feats, and in return they’ll get a free menu item, while delivery code supplies last.

Whether fans take on the “A Nutmeg for Nuggets” or “Impossible for Impossible Whopper” challenge, some have proven to be difficult, forcing fans to find other, more creative ways to complete them.

Fernando Machado, Global CMO of the Burger King brand, stated “It’s almost 2020 and the Internet community is still surprising me,”.  When Machado found out fans have already been sharing their new Stevenage Kit online. "The “Stevenage Challenge” is here to welcome everyone, because thanks to technology, this could be everyone’s team too,” adds Machado.

The team at Foodservice Solutions® wants to congratulate Machado and his team for expanding its partnership with Uber Eats while expanding its brand invitation. Soccer continues to be the fastest growing sport in the world, combine that with BK fresh food and Uber Eats and you have marketing interactive participatory success with happy customers. 

Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing ideations look more like yesterday than tomorrow? Interested in learning how www.FoodserviceSolutions.us 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:  www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information.

Piccadilly Elevates Customer Relevance with Grocerant Niche Location

Evolving a restaurant brand with relevance today includes expanding the brands reach into grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food if you don’t want your brand to look more like yesterday than today or tomorrow according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Piccadilly Restaurants menu was a perfect complement for its entrance into grocerant Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food.  Regular readers of this blog know that 83.2 % of dinners service at home include at least one grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat or Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared item according to Foodservice Solutions® most recent Grocerant ScoreCard. 

New points of distribution provide increased consumer interest while elevating ‘fresh food discovery’ for many dinners today according to Johnson. Piccadilly’s new “Piccadilly’s To Go will have about 1,320-square-foot, offer convenient online, call-in and walk-in orders for Piccadilly’s freshly made classics. Every day Piccadilly To Go will feature a large selection of classic favorites, prepared on site and served behind a traditional serving counter inside the restaurant. As a To Go facility, there is no dining room or seating inside.

The new units will focus on speed and convenience including featuring a full-service, drive-thru window, where guests can order and pick up fresh meals. Drive-thru orders can be placed online, by phone or at the window for quick pick up.  At the new Baton Rouge location delivery is available through the Waitr mobile app and Uber Eats.

Piccadilly To Go menu offers classic favorites like chopped beef, fried chicken, chicken tenders, Southern fried fish and more. New recipes and menu items rotate daily, including baked fish, grilled chicken, soups and more. Favorite sides such as carrot soufflé and macaroni and cheese will be featured daily. Pecan pie, red velvet cake and a selection of freshly prepared sweets will also be available.

 Piccadilly CEO Azam Malik stated “We are very excited about the response to our first Piccadilly To Go, and we are planning to open multiple new Piccadilly To Go restaurants next year,” “Families want fresh, affordable, homestyle meal options, even though they don’t always have time to shop and cook. That’s what Piccadilly To Go provides.” Success does leave clues and grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food drive incremental top line sales and bottom line profits.  Are you ready to move forward? 

Foodservice Solutions® specializes in outsourced business development. We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities or a new menu product segment and brand and menu integration strategy.  Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma WA is the global leader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, www.Linkedin.com/in/grocerant/ or www.twitter.com/grocerant/

Is the Starbucks & Alibaba Partnership a Global F&B Play

Success does leave clues and when Starbucks Coffee Company and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. announced a deep, strategic “New Retail” partnership the team at Foodservice Solutions® took notice.  Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® stated that this partnership may be the most significant foodservice /technology partnership of 2018.

Johnson noted that both Starbucks and Alibaba are continually looking a customer ahead and that this partnership as it evolves will be the platform for growth that each of these companies is looking for it will become the new electricity that enables a seamless Starbucks Experience and transform the coffee industry in China.

This partnerships is more than delivery according to Johnson.  It is a relationship that will help Starbucks deliver coffee in China but most important it is a relationship about reciprocal technology sharing.  Alibaba Group plans to grow sales in the ‘West’ and Starbuck’s proprietary software might just the be tool to speed up that expansion according to Johnson.

Daniel Zhang, Chief Executive Officer of the Alibaba Group, believes that this partnership is again a testament to the success of our New Retail strategy. So is your company looking a customer ahead?

What is the new electricity that is driving your top line sales and bottom line profits?  Are your customer counts growing?  According to Johnson, “Brand relevance is in part driven with innovation in new food products in combination with new avenues of distribution all of which are the platform for the new electricity.”

Johnson stated “that in my minds-eye the new electricity must be very efficient for the supply and includes such things as fresh foods, urban clothing, grocerant consultants, coins /currency, autonomous delivery, cashier-less retail, cash-less payments, digital hand held marketing. This program has all of that.

Foodservice retailers to survive the next generation of retail must embrace the artificial intelligence revolution while simultaneously embracing fresh food that is portable, fresh, with differentiation that is familiar not different.  That will require brands to embrace new fresh food partnerships more now than ever before according to Johnson.

Are you trapped doing what you have always done and doing it the same way?  Where is your new electricity?  Interested in learning how www.FoodserviceSolutions.us 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:  www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information.

Why a Wendy’s - Papa John’s Merger Makes Sense

Increasingly in 2018, consumers are finding that the family dinner is a grocerant meal, with 82.7% of family dinners including at least one grocerant niche fresh prepared item. In fact, Americans consume a shocking 350 slices of pizza every second, according to a report from CNBC -- and if that fact does not get you, consider this: 61% of consumers eat a sandwich at least once a week! 

Now, according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®, Papa John’s has the technology to empower delivery that Wendy’s needs.  Wendy’s has burgers - another hand-held food that fits perfectly with consumers’ increasing on-the-go sandwich trends. Then there is the fact that Wendy’s does not sell breakfast system-wide, thus offering a huge opportunity for incremental growth for a combined company.

This new combination could create a platform that encompasses dinner sales, lunch sales, and breakfast sales, given the built-in customer bases and technology platform, according to Johnson.  After all, regular readers of this blog know that since 1991 Steven Johnson has been crafting new non-traditional business relationships edifying legacy brands, while building foundations for start-up and regional chains.

Does your brand need a refresh? If your brand looks more like yesterday than today or tomorrow, it just might be time that you called for outside eyes to help you drive inside results.  What is your new electricity that is driving top line sales and bottom line profits?  Are your customer counts growing? 

So, just what do we mean by a brand’s new electricity? According to Johnson, “Brand relevance is in part driven by innovation in new food products in combination with new avenues of distribution, all of which are the platform for the new electricity.”

Johnson states that “in my mind’s-eye, the new electricity must be very efficient for the supply and includes such things as fresh foods, urban clothing, grocerant consultants, urban farming (produce, seafood, etc.), autonomous delivery, cashier-less retail, cash-less payments, and digital hand-held marketing. This program has all of that.

For foodservice retailers to survive the next generation of retail, they must embrace the artificial intelligence revolution while simultaneously embracing fresh food that is portable, fresh, with differentiation that is familiar, not different.  That will require brands to embrace new fresh food partnerships now more than ever before, according to Johnson.

For international corporate presentations, educational forums, or keynotes contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us, the Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  His extensive experience as a multi-unit restaurant operator, consultant, brand / product positioning expert and public speaker will leave success clues for all. Visit: www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information.

Yum Brands Consolidated Catering Platform

Success does leave clues and regular readers of this blog know that Steven Johnson, our Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® has been speaking highly of YUM! Brands and Greg Creed since 2015 as Yum Brands has been evolving with consumers, address grocerant niche customer migration and taking positive action steps.

Regular followers of this blog also know that Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® thinks there is one dominate element that will power success within retail foodservice over the coming years.

 Johnson calls it the new electricity that is partnerships specifically strategic partnerships.   The new electricity must be very efficient for the supply and includes such things as fresh food, sustainable packaging, local beer & wine, urban farming (produce, seafood, etc.), autonomous delivery, cashier-less retail, cash-less payments, digital hand held marketing. Yum Brands GrubHub partnerships is all of that.

Food companies the ilk of Restaurants Supermarkets, Conveniences Stores, Dollar Stores, and Department Stores selling food that want to survive the next generation of retail must embrace the artificial intelligence revolution while simultaneously embracing Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh food.  That will require brands to embrace new fresh food partnerships more now than ever before according to Johnson.

In a move to garner incremental customer relevance across all of Yum Brands banners CEO Greg Creed  made a power move in fast food’s delivery this week announcing an expansive U.S. partnership with third-party giant GrubHub. 

Partnerships that work are good for both companies first KFC and Taco Bell’s ability to offer online ordering,” in all existing GrubHub markets is a win for both brands.  However with a $200,000 Million Dollar investment into GruHub clearly the partnership begins with plenty of respect on both sides.  The cash inflow will allow GrubHub the ability to build out new markets for expanded delivery service with building restaurants waiting for the taking. 

Close to y half of YUM!’s 45,000 restaurants already offer pickup and delivery via online ordering. Greg Creed, CEO of Louisville, Ky.-based Yum, said KFC delivery is being tested in several markets, citing Indianapolis, Ind., Louisville and Omaha, Neb.

What GurHub and Yum Brands have done is take legacy delivery programs and integrate a platform for branded consolidated catering to be offered market by market.  Yum Brands consolidated catering program now has Take-Out, Online-Line Ordering, Mobile Ordering and Delivery.  Today Yum Brands marketing strategy looks more like tomorrow than yesterday.  What does your marketing strategy look like Yesterday, Today or Tomorrow?

Once Greg Creed shows he understands the mind-set of the grocerant consumers and he is doing all the right things according to Johnson. Proof YUM! is purchasing $200 million of common GrubHub stock, enough said. What’s under your catering umbrella, yesterday’s tactics or tomorrow’s strategy?

Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing tactics look more like yesterday that tomorrow?  Visit www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information or contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us Remember success does leave clues and we just may have the clue you need to propel your continued success.

Beef on Wheels Lion’s Choice Launches Food Truck

There is a reason some companies have been around a long time.  In the case of Lion’s Choice, the St. Louis-based quick-service restaurant chain the reasons are very clear they evolve with consumers according to Tacoma, WA, based Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru®, Steven Johnson.

Mike Kupstas, CEO of Lion’s Choice stated “For 50 years our loyal customers have been coming to us, and now we’re hitting the road to come to them,”… “Creating the ‘Lean Roast Beef Machine’ is something our customers have been asking for, and we’re excited to bring our friendly service, legendary roast beef, fries and signature soft-serve custard to locations all over St. Louis.”

The first food truck for Lion’s Choice is called “The Lean Roast Beef Machine”.  It is a 29-foot, custom-built truck has taken to the streets, serving the chain’s famous roast beef sandwiches, natural-cut fries and flavor burst custard at locations throughout the St. Louis metropolitan area.

New truck new sandwich called ‘The Butcher Block sandwich’ which combines Lion’s Choice’s famous roast beef, hickory smoked ham and oven roasted turkey stacked high on a brioche bun with Swiss cheese, honey horseradish sauce and romaine lettuce.

Kupstas continued “While we are best known for our roast beef sandwiches, customers also have come to love our ham and turkey sandwiches….The Butcher Block is a great way to experience all three of our quality meats with one satisfying sandwich. It’s the perfect solution for those customers who can’t decide which sandwich to choose, and the honey horseradish provides a perfect little kick.”

Consumers are dynamic not static are you evolving with your customers? Foodservice Solutions® specializes in outsourced business development. We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities or a new menu product segment and brand and menu integration strategy.  Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma WA is the global leader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant/ or twitter.com/grocerant

Want Football Food Dickey’s Delivers

It’s that time again when the undercurrents of college football and NFL football bring old friend together and this year Dickey’s Barbecue Pit can deliver a grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat tailgate party pack for $99 that everyone will enjoy according to Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru®, Steven Johnson.

Dickey’s Barbecue Pit is offering guests a more convenient way to order, deliver, set-up, clean-up and perfect football fan food.  The Tailgate Party Pack can feed up to 12 adults, boasting four pounds of Dickey’s most popular slow-smoked meats and enough classic barbecue sides to satisfy a defensive line. The Tailgate Party Pack includes:

·         2 lbs Brisket

·         2 lbs Pulled Pork

·         64 oz Potato Salad

·         64 oz Coleslaw

·         64 oz Barbecue Beans

·         12 Buttery Rolls

·         Serving utensils & plates

Want more you can also order or add Dickey’s new Rack N’ Roll Platter ($26), which includes a full rack of ribs and six buttery rolls, to satisfy your crew well into overtime.

Laura Rea Dickey CEO of Dickey’s stated “Barbecue and big games are a perfect match. We think folks will find our Tailgate Party Pack is a win for parties and a much higher quality alternative to wings or pizza for a similar price,”… “Plus, the Tailgate Party Pack can be ordered for delivery, so no one misses any football. We’re excited to bring slow-smoked barbecue into the delivery space, giving guests more time to enjoy the season.”

Both the Tailgate Party Pack and the Rack N’ Roll platter, along with Dickey’s full menu, can be ordered at dickeys.com. The majority of Dickey’s Barbecue Pit locations are also launching delivery directly through the restaurant or through a third party delivery partner. Orders may also be placed by calling 866-Barbecue.

Dickey’s Barbecue Pit has partnered with more than 50 delivery services across the United States to ensure guests can enjoy Texas-style barbecue without leaving the comfort of their homes. Most Dickey’s Barbecue Pit franchises have partnered with vendors like GrubHub, DoorDash, UberEats, Postmates and Amazon, amongst many others. Through Dickey’s newly redesigned website, guests have the ability to easily place online orders for what is most convenient to them whether it be delivery through these partners or in-store pickup.

Interested in learning how Foodservice Solutions 5P’s of Food Marketing 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:  www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information.