Here are the most popular foods for those watching NCAA Basketball Tournament

 

There is but one problem in the Grocerant Guru’s house this time of year.  That problem is a desire to consumers some of all the top popular foods for watching NCAA Basketball Tournament every game! Even with family and friends visiting, watching are rooting for teams they some never even heard of all of the popular food at one sitting is simply too much.  I will note he and his friends are now old!  No matter how much they don’t want to be this time of year.

The question is which of these popular food items are you selling, delivering, or bundling to edify your customers experience watching the game at home or at your location? 

All that said, while there isn't an official ranking of the top ten, here are some popular foods for NCAA Basketball Tournament gatherings according to recent grocerant scorecards and google:

Pizza: A college staple, perfect for feeding a crowd with various topping preferences

Wings: A game day favorite, though maybe get boneless for less mess

Nachos: A build-your-own crowd-pleaser with chips, cheese, and various toppings

Dips and Chips: Easy finger food, with options like queso, guacamole, salsa, or hummus with various chip options

Burgers: Great for grilling or a fancier option with toppings like bacon and guacamole

Cheesy Appetizers: Crowd favorites include mozzarella sticks, cheese fries, or jalapeno poppers

Snack Mix: A customizable mix of salty and crunchy snacks like pretzels, popcorn, nuts, and Chex Mix

Sliders: Mini burgers perfect for party portions

Appetizer Sampler Platter: Offer a variety of finger foods like veggies and dip, mini quiches, or pigs in a blanket

Local or Themed Food: Show team spirit with regional favorites or dishes inspired by the teams' mascots

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

 

Tijuana Flats Enjoy March Madness with US

 

It’s that time a year that our colleagues, friends and family ask us to join their March Madness ‘pool’ and compete just for fun or for a little bet on the side. With the freshness of each new spring March Madness is the one time spots fans, non-sports fans simply come together to play ball according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Success does leave clues and family, friends, and colleagues combine to make March Madness the perfect event to drive top line sales and bottom-line profits according to Johnson.  Restaurants are designed to bring consumer together and Tijuana Flats is doing just that. No matter what team you support Tijuana Flats is going to help you enjoy the game.

Tijuana Flats is helping its guests tip off Selection Sunday and the opening weekend of March Madness with two mouth-watering deals. Guests can choose from taco, burrito or wings take-home meal kits and receive a free gallon drink and dessert with their order on March 13 and 14. In addition, all DIY Bar catering orders for 10 or more people on March 14 will receive a free gallon drink and dessert.

To receive their free gallon drink and dessert, guests must use the code MMTH7521 at checkout. The offer includes the choice of a gallon of iced tea or lemonade, and one dessert, either the new churro bites or the Flathead favorite, cookie dough flautas. Taco, burrito and wings take-home meal kits feed 4–6 people and are available for curbside pickup, to-go, or delivery, and are not available for dine-in.

For larger parties, guests can order a DIY catering bar for 10 or more people, and receive free drinks and dessert. Drink options include iced tea or lemonade and dessert options include churro bites or cookie dough flautas. Guests must mention the promotion to receive the offer, which is not valid with any other offer or promotion and is not available through third party delivery services. Orders must be placed by calling (844)-4TFLATS (483-5287) by March 13, 2021.

Success does leave clues. One clue that time and time again continues to resurface is “the consumer is dynamic not static”.  Regular readers of this blog know that is the common refrain of Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  Our Grocerant Guru® can help your company edify your brand with relevance.  Call 253-759-7869 for more information. 

Live Sports, Snacking, and Food Sales Success

With the Superbowl just concluded maybe we should look at how much is was spent and who is buying what?  One thing is clear that is live sports on TV drives incremental consumption of snack foods and if you are not offering consumers a package of snacks you are missing out, according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

So, who is spending what on ‘super bowl’ game day? Well, biggest spenders are those “ages 35-44 at an average $123.26 while the lowest are those 65 and older at $40.97. Viewers in the Northeast plan to spend the most, at an average $94.89, followed by the West at $84.01, the South at $79.09 and the Midwest at $69.24”.

Frito-Lay North America unveiled its inaugural U.S. Snack Index, a poll asking consumers what they plan to snack on during this year's big game.  Key insights from the U.S. Snack Index include:

1.       Nine out of 10 viewers plan to have at least one snack during the game. In addition, 80 percent of Americans will have potato chips or tortilla chips. 

2.       No two cities are exactly alike when it comes to Super Bowl snacking preferences. Chicago's top pick is popcorn. Los Angeles had the highest percentage of potato chip lovers, while Boston chose tortilla chips as their top pick.

3.       Nearly half of Gen Z and millennials selected cheesy snacks as a top pick. In addition, spicy snacks fared best with these age groups.

4.       Salsa was the overall top dip choice. French onion dip was the most popular dip for potato chips, while both salsa and guacamole came in high for tortilla chip dipping.

5.       More than one-third of those polled planned to share their photos on social media.

6.       More than half of viewers prefer to prepare simple recipes when they are attending a partly or hosting their own gathering.

Sporting events occur all year long.  How are you edifying your fresh food offering to garner a larger share of stomach?

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.

March Madness and Pizza Hut Pie Top IIs

Talk about doing all the right things Pizza Hut is doing just that according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  In fact Pizza Hut has found the fuel to drive new electricity to drive top line sales and bottom line profits according to Johnson.

In the minds-eye of Johnson, there is one dominating element that will power success within retail and foodservice over the coming years and that is partnerships and as the Official Pizza of the NCAA March Madness and the Final Four Pizza Hut will drive branded relevance to new levels in 2018.

Johnson calls partnerships the new electricity that new electricity is partnerships specifically strategic partnerships.   The new electricity must be very efficient for the supply and includes such things as fresh food, grocerant consultants, urban farming (produce, seafood, etc.), autonomous delivery, cashier-less retail, cash-less payments, clothing, shoes, plates, cups  digital hand held marketing of which Pizza Hut is doing with this partnership.

Retailers the ilk of Pizza Hut 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.

Pizza Hut did not stop with the March Madness they also partnered with famed sneaker designer, the Shoe Surgeon, on a second iteration of the first-and-only shoe ever created that orders pizza at the push of a button. Talk about the ability to create buzz, garner attention, all while creating customer brand relevance. 

This year not only do the Pie Top IIs order pizza, but this year’s version—comes in two colorways (red and wheat)—also pauses live TV. Yes, a button inside the tongue of the other shoe will pause the game so March Madness fans do not have to miss a minute of the action.

The technology highlights the Pizza Hut special offer for this year’s tournament—two topping medium pizzas for $5.99 each when you order two or more. Thus the fresh food component!

Zipporah Allen, Chief Marketing Officer, Pizza Hut  stated “This year, the Pie Tops II were created to showcase our focus on giving customers the best delivery experience while making sure that tournament fans can feed their pizza craving without missing a moment of the action,” .. “It’s called March Madness for a reason. We don’t want anyone to miss a play while answering the door to get their pizza.”

In addition to the new color scheme and ordering/pause capabilities built into the tongue, the shoes have plenty of unique features, including:

·         Extreme marinara splash

·         Cheese grater mesh

·         Branded Pizza Hut lace tags

·         Extra “cheese pull” laces

·         Branded inner soles

·         Mixed material upper—patent, suede, nubuck and gum

Success does leave clue and an integrated branded platform can work for any company.  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.