Food Sales Channel Blurring Myth

Where do you sell your food?  Having spent all of my career in the foodservice niche, never have I seen a study that says there is any channel blurring.  Simply put channel blurring is a myth. All studies on the contrary see more advantages than disadvantages too selling branded food in multi-channels according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Brand protectionism is a relic of brand marketers of the 1980’s, 1990’s according to Johnson. Does your sales building strategy look more like 1980 than tomorrows strategy?  The real question brand marketers should be asking is not how to protect the brand or isolate the brand but how to best bridge the challenge of established customer deferred buying.

Consumers are dynamic not static brands must be as well if not they will slowly capitulate customers until they get to the point they can not survive according to Johnson.  Do you believe that if the consumer is in a different channel of foodservice, then should your brand be available as an option? This includes retailers that are selling grocerant Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared, portable foods in new non-traditional avenues of distribution.

We continue to call this the “brand experience gap”, that is to say the gap in time between customers visiting their restaurants and enjoying a great meal within the four walls. Restaurants today need to strongly consider entering new food channels with branded product which includes some legacy products revisited, revived, and renewed if cultivating brand relevance is important to them according to Johnson.

Understanding how Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared portable branded food sales can edify your customer base, drive top line sales and bottom-line profits might just require a grocerant opportunity assessment. http://www.FoodserviceSolutions.usof Tacoma, WA is the global leader in the Grocerant niche providing Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat Grocerant ScoreCards. 1-253-759-7869

Restaurant Sector Customer Traffic Continues in the RED Its time to Wake-up

The restaurant sector continues to bleed customers.  Just in-case you don’t understand the consequence of capitulating year over year same store customer counts for six years, well; it’s not a good thing according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

The simple fact is consumers food consumption patterns have evolved and many restaurant menu’s look more like a restaurant of the 1980’s, 1990’s, or 2005.  That my friends is a long way from what a fresh food restaurant will look like five years from now according to Johnson.  Something has to change.

Clearly the restaurant industry leadership of today is comprised of the ‘unwilling to evolve’ as they continue to follow the old CEO adage / first rule of a new CEO ‘do no harm’.  That simply has not worked and will not work moving forward. There is a clear and present danger for many legacy restaurant brands.  That danger is an increasing lack of customer relevance according to Johnson.

Restaurant sector same-store sales rose 1% in November, according to the latest Black Box Intelligence index.  Victor Fernandez, vice president of insights and knowledge for Black Box parent TDn2K, stated “same-store takeout sales are up nearly 9% year to date, according to Black Box, while dine-in same-store sales are negative.”  Just stop and think about that. 

 Back in the day the team at Foodservice Solutions® was first to identify, quantify, and qualify The 65 Inch HDTV Syndrome, and few chain restaurants were willing to evolve.  They hunkered down and practiced brand protectionism.   However, those in the foodservice that did are garnering incremental customers today.

If success leaves clues and it does restaurant brands that embrace change, evolve with consumers will do well moving forward.  If not many will continue to capitulate customer traffic, lose sales, and close stores.  Are you driving top line sales, bottom line profits, and building customer counts?

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/

Dollar General Targets Restaurant Customers with Small-Format Concept

Chain restaurants have been slow to evolve their business model and other sectors of food retail have noticed according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  Johnson believes Dollar General by gearing up for expansion of its DGX small-format concept, as the discount retailer puts urban, millennials shoppers at the focus of its growth is a direct target on restaurant customers.

DGX clocks in at about half the size of Dollar General’s regular 9,000-square-foot store. Dollar General’s CEO Todd Vasos sees a huge opportunity in urban, millennial shoppers, who are starting to settle down and look for reliable, affordable places to shop.

It is reported that about a third of the company’s locations are currently in metro markets, and are moving toward 40 percent. Dollar General continues to open its standard stores at a furious pace, with a record 1,315 last year in 2017, but is deliberately taking it slow with DGX. So, we ask how many restaurant chains opened 1,315 stores last year?  Restaurant customers are on the move.  Here is a success clue follow the growth. Is it time for your company to evolve?  What are you selling and where? 

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

Cowboy Chicken Grocerant Niche Growth Continues

Expanding points of distribution is a success clue no retail can over look but when you have the ability to place your brand on the holiday table in a customer’s home that is what they called back in the day a Win, Win according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®

Cowboy Chicken allowing solving one more pain point for consumers by answering the questions who is cooking Thanksgiving dinner? For Cowboy Chicken it simple they will cook it for your allowing you all the time in the world to watch football and entertain your family and friends.

 This year the Wood-Fired Rotisserie Turkey Holiday Package feeds eight to 10 guests with one 10-12 lb. wood-fired rotisserie turkey, Twice Baked Potatoes, choice of Wild West side, country-style stuffing, 12 fluffy dinner rolls and peach or apple cobbler, all for $99.99 (tax not included). Guests can also order the turkey à la carte for $44.99 (whole turkey) and $49.99 (sliced).

“Preparing a holiday meal can be incredibly time-consuming, so we’re taking all that hard work off the table,” says Sean Kennedy, president and CEO of Cowboy Chicken. “Our wood-fired rotisserie turkey is prepared with our own special Cowboy seasoning over a wood-burning fire - just like our famous rotisserie chicken. Our guests are guaranteed to love it and the extra time they’ll have to enjoy a delicious meal with loved ones.”

Guests are encouraged to order their Wood-Fired Rotisserie Turkey Holiday Packages early, as this popular Thanksgiving Day staple sells out every year. But they don’t have to wait until Thanksgiving or Christmas Day to enjoy this bountiful feast; the holiday package is available Oct. 1 and can be ordered at all Cowboy Chicken locations through the end of the year. Orders require at least 48 hours’ notice, and availability is limited on Nov. 21 and Dec. 24. Cowboy Chicken is closed on Nov. 22 (Thanksgiving Day) and Dec. 25.

To make this limited-time promotion even sweeter, Cowboy Chicken is also serving hot apple cobbler made fresh daily and honey orange tea (a simple black tea married with orange and finished with subtle hints of honey and spices) through Dec. 31.

Cowboy Chicken is expanding it brand to the center of its customers holiday table.  How are you expanding your brands reach? How are you solving a customer pain point while selling more food? Success does leave clues and expanding your brand with Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared grocerant niche food is one of the clues you should not overlook.

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

Del Taco Looks to Differentiate With Two Tier Pricing and Fresh Food Fast

Fresher, faster, and more flavorful Del Taco is rebranding itself to out-position the competition in the minds-eye of the consumer before Taco Bell or Chipotle according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Del Taco’s new tagline is Fresh Mexican Grill just like McDonald’s Del Taco is betting that when you combine a two tier pricing strategy with freshness and innovative new products customer trial and migration will follow

Del Taco unveiled its system wide brand refresh which included implementing a combination of new back-of-house and guest-facing initiatives to further differentiate and separate itself in the crowded quick-serve and fast casual landscape. Initiatives included in the brand refresh are:

1.       Reimagined packaging, with a more contemporary design and color palate inspired by the brand’s Southern California heritage

2.       Hospitality initiatives, including a focus on creating more personalized interactions, such as calling guests by name vs. order number, as well as team members introducing themselves by name

3.       Redesigned panels of interior and drive-thru menu boards7

4.       Quesadilla equipment innovation designed to provide a more caramelized exterior and melty interior8

5.       Crew uniforms that celebrate the fresh preparation Del Taco teams do everyday in each restaurant

6.       New concept tagline—Fresh Mexican Grill

7.       New holistic advertising campaign, “Celebrating the Hardest Working Hands in Fast Food,” reinforcing fresh ingredient preparation, including chopping, grilling, slicing and shredding, which is prevalent across the brand’s menu items

8.       Fresh Produce Chalkboard posted in each restaurant, showcasing where produce is sourced from, when it was picked, and which team member prepared it that day

M. Barry Westrum, Del Taco’s chief marketing officer stated “The $1 Chicken Quesadilla Snacker is a perfect example of our barbell menu strategy, which highlights ingredients that are prepped fresh across our entire menu, from value to premium. It’s a Del Taco differentiator, and an attribute we’re fully leveraging, while empowering our team members to deliver a service experience that is on par with leading fast casual concepts,”

Are you trapped doing what you have always done and doing it the same way?  Where is your new electricity coming from?  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.

What’s For Dinner Tonight “My mom made two dishes: Take it or Leave it.”

It’s 4PM and 65% of consumers do not know what’s for dinner.  So if you are wondering just what is for dinner you can understand why we see restaurant customer migration increasing? “My mom made two dishes: Take it or Leave it.”  Is a line made famous by comedian Stephen Wright?  Today restaurants need to battle the 65 inch HDTV’s demand for time and attention according to the Grocerant Guru® Steven Johnson of Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®

Brands must offer food on multiple channels or consumer will simply dial out when selecting what’s for dinner according to Johnson. Take it or leave it has come and gone. Today all food consumers are empowered with choice driven by preferences in flavor profiles, portion size, packaging, and portability. Below are 5 clues to consider when considering how to ebb customer migration.

1.       U.S. consumers under the age of 25 spend an average of 40.9% of their food expenditures on food away from the home focus on Gen Z and Millennials.

2.       Americans ages 23-34 spent 45.2% of food expenditures away from home the same report found.3.

3.       Here is the kicker, those ages 75 and up spent the least at 31.8%.  Grocerant niche prepared fresh food is evolving just how and where consumers shop for dinner.

4.       Restaurants in France are increasingly offering “café gourmand,” a desert dish featuring an espresso and multiple small desserts on a single plate.  Mix and Match bundling anyone is a key driver of retail success.

5.       The U.S. Census found that 47.6% of U.S. adults over the age of 18 are single. Start focusing on meals and meal components for one person rather than trying to sell a package of 14 pork chops.

The grocerant niche is filled with Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh and prepared meal components.  Around the world consumers are refocusing how, where and when they chose to buy food. Are you positioned within your niche to build sales? 

Steven Johnson is the President and Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®, with extensive experience as a multi-unit operator, consultant and brand/product positioning. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche. Email: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us for more.

Complexity Free Food is Food Authenticity

Restaurants at times elevate complexity in menu items to create differentiation.  That however was back in the day today complexity free food is more than just transparency in food according to Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru® Steven Johnson.

Grocerant niche ‘Better-for-you’ fresh prepared food that is portable and portioned for one or two continues to drive demand in every sector of retail foodservice. Consumers today are seeking ‘better-for-you’ fresh prepared food as meal components that can be bundled in to a customized family meal according to Johnson. Does your team have the wrong definition for Grocerant? Do you understand the Grocerant niche?

Grocery stores of a bygone era thought they could responded to consumers demand to drive sales simply by opening more stores, larger stores, or ‘scale’ a fresh food department that looked like 1980’s rather than today. 

That did work when most food choice came from a can, a jar, or a box that could sit on a shelf for years and slotting fees paid for the shelf space. Simply put was a mindset of yesterday’s food retailers the ilk of A&P and others still taking slotting fees.

Johnson continued “retailers back in the day felt that all they need was more scale to compete successfully with other grocery stores. Today consumers demand fresh grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat prepared food can be found at companies the ilk of Wegmans, Green Zebra Grocery, New Season Market, Wawa, Sheetz, KFC, McDonald’s, and Papa Murphy’s.

Complexity free in the minds-eye of the consumer according to the team at Tacoma, WA based FoodserviceSolutions.us means, less meal preparation time, little or no cooking, less food waste, less time shopping, less packaging, local, fresh fast food, in-season food, and portions for one or two. In fact one of the key findings was no matter the size of the household fresh was best and the ability to mix and match meal components was crucial.  Does your company look more like yesterday or tomorrow?

Foodservice Solutions® team is here to help you drive top line sales and bottom line profits. Are you looking a customer ahead? Visit www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information or contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us Remember success does leave clues and we just may the clue you need to propel your continued success.

The Restaurant Customer Migration Quagmire Can Be Fixed

Restaurant customer migration is the one constant the restaurant sector would like to displace.  Once again TDn2K data through The Restaurant Industry Snapshot reported that restaurant sector, same-store sales fell 0.8 percent in February, a 0.5-percentage-point decline from January and the weakest month since last September.  All the while the bigger problem was year over year customer traffic that fell 3.1% in February. 

According to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® this multi-year downturn in customer traffic is an indication that consumers path to purchase for meals and meal components is evolving faster than chain restaurants ability to adopt a new business model. Is your brand evolving as fast as consumers? 

 If your company looks more like Yesterday than Tomorrow you are moving to slow. 

Regular readers of this blog know that you can’t simply continue to raise prices of your menu items to show top line sales and bottom line profits. Simply put you need to put butts in seats, meals in stomachs, food on the table according to Johnson. 

Branded foodservice operators need to recreate customer relevance with a new electricity to drive top line sales and bottom line profits.   In the minds-eye of Johnson, there is one dominate element that will power success within retail and foodservice over the coming years and that is partnerships.

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, manufactures, packers, grocerant consultants, urban farming (Produce, Beef, Pork Chicken Seafood, etc.), non-traditional points of distribution, and technology including autonomous delivery, cashier-less retail, cash-less payments, digital hand held marketing.

Branded restaurants to survive the next generation of retail must embrace the artificial intelligence revolution while simultaneously embracing fresh food that is portable in some form.  That will require brands to embrace new fresh food partnerships more now than ever before according to Johnson.

Are your year over year customer counts up? Outside-eyes can drive inside results.  No one understands retail foodservice customer adoption like our Grocerant Guru®.  Are you looking for a partnership to drive sales of meals, meal components, and profits? What is your new electricity ,is it  a non-traditional location, incremental customer relevance?  The quagmire of customer counts can be turned around.

Are you trapped doing what you have always done and doing it the same way?  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. 

What’s For Dinner Tonight Take-Out or Delivery

At the intersection of restaurants, grocery service deli’s, C-stores Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru® Steven Johnson stated “retailers are driving top line sales and bottom line profits as customer momentum for grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food accelerates.

Regular readers of this blog were not surprised to learn that it is Fast Food Restaurants that now account for 79% of all restaurant visits according to the NPD Group and they are the most popular for but take-out and delivery as well.

Technomic found that “takeout and delivery from fast casual, family restaurants, traditional casual dining as well as in the retail sector all showed significant gains over the least three years. Johnson explained that consumer momentum for Take-Out and Delivery has been driven in large part by new technology, in mobile ordering and adoption of the technology by Millennials.

The Technomic report found that “Consumers aged 18-34 are the biggest users of takeout and delivery, with half saying they order food to go more often than they did three years ago, the report found. Among all age groups, the availability of nearby takeout and delivery options and simply getting into the habit of ordering in or picking up food are the factors driving most of the growth.”

Chain Restaurants, Grocery Store Deli’s, and Convenience stores all have entered the catering space focusing on offices, events, and homes according to our Grocerant Guru® who stated “Corner Bakery Café, Publix Grocery stores, and Casey’s General Store are three great examples”. 

All three of those companies focus on the customers to ensure order accuracy, food freshness, quality, and on-time delivery.  Third party delivery companies have entered the fray advertising and garnering incremental business for the retailer.  Companies the ilk of Postmates, Caviar, Amazon Prime (Restaurant), Grubhub, DoorDash and UberEats who is working with McDonald’s for delivery. 

What is important is that the retail foodservice customer is evolving faster and faster.  Is your company evolving faster and faster or are you watching to see where the customer goes.  Grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food is the fastest growing sector of every sector of retail foodservice today.  Where are you selling food? Who are you selling fresh food?  Are your customers migrating?

Are you trapped doing what you have always done and doing it the same way?  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.

Foodservice Channel Blurring Garners Attention as Wawa Wins

Channel blurring only exists in the BLIND eye of Neanderthal chain restaurant and Grocery Stores brand managers according to Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru®, Steven Johnson as he stated back in 2010 and it has never been more evident than today.   

The line between foodservice channels exist only in the minds-eye those protecting their own jobs not those interested in the evolving consumer, path to purchase, retail sales growth according to Johnson.   A new study shows consumers regard the service provided by Wawa  (a state of the industry convenience store retail chain), as superior to what they get at Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse. Simply put brand protectionism is dead once again our Grocerant Guru® said that first back in 2009 but so much for understanding the undercurrents driving our evolving foodservice sectors.  

Retail foodservice today is about Share of Stomach, and you are either capitulating share of stomach or garnering share of stomach customer by customer.  Is your retail foodservice brand garnering year over year customer counts or capitulating customers?

Edifying Foodservice Solutions® findings recent research by White Box Social Intelligence found “Wawa is more likely to meet service expectations than all 619 restaurant brands the researcher monitors on a constant basis. Closest to the c-store chain in positive service evaluations was Papa Murphy’s, followed by Seasons 52, Fleming’s and Wienerschnitzel.” The consumer knows best.  Is it time you began rethinking how to integrate Foodservice Solutions® FIVE P’s of Food Marketing?

White Box Social Intelligence also revealed “consumers’ intentions of visiting the monitored restaurant chains have continued to wane, by a hefty 6.4%, and that they believe the food quality of those brands has slipped from a year ago. Yet their estimation of restaurant service rose by 10.2% year over year. Wawa was one of the brands that scored high in customers’ intention to return, with only Qdoba and Carvel ranking higher.

This information will form a new monthly benchmarking report from White Box’s parent company, TDn2K, the source of People Report and Black Box Intelligence data. The Restaurant Guest Satisfaction Snapshot scores chains on six attributes: service, food, propensity of customers to return, beverage and value.

Wawa’s top rating on service was indeed a surprise, says Victor Fernandez, TDn2K’s executive director of insights and knowledge. “It all depends on expectations, whatever the expectation of what good service is,” he says. “Obviously people expect something different from Wawa than they do from Fleming’s.” But they’re more likely to have those expectations satisfied at the c-store chain, he indicated. While Victor was surprise no one on the Team at Foodservice Solutions® was after conducting over 7,790 Grocerant ScoreCards.

The 1.2% dip in consumers’ estimation of chains’ food quality was also a surprise, Fernandez said. It could be a statistical blip that’s reversed in the May Restaurant Guest Satisfaction Snapshot, he suggested, or it could be the result of two more persistent factors.  So, Victor we think it is time for you and others to look at some of those persistent factors aka consumer facing grocerant niche valued attributes.

The fact of the matter is the consumers have moved on and channel blurring only exists in the BLIND eye of Neanderthal chain restaurant and Grocery Stores brand managers not in the minds-eye of the consumer.  Restaurants, Grocery stores, must evolve or risk capitulating incremental customer counts to other retailers that are addressing the attributes that are relevant to consumers today. 

Are you trapped doing what you have always done and doing it the same way?  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.