At Eatzi’s, Innovation with Customization and Personalization Drive Success

 

Alice May Brock once famously said, “Tomatoes and oregano make it Italian, wine and tarragon make it French, sour cream makes it Russian, lemon and cinnamon make it Greek, soy sauce makes it Chinese, garlic makes it good.” At Phil Romano’s Eatzi’s, you can get all of that—and more—thanks to its pioneering approach to customization and personalization.

Phil Romano, the visionary behind Eatzi’s, revolutionized the food industry by creating what Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru®, Steven Johnson, dubbed the first grocerant. Johnson, who coined the term "Grocerant Niche" in 1996, recognized Eatzi’s as the trailblazer of this now-booming sector of retail foodservice. With chef-inspired Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food, Eatzi’s set the gold standard for quality, interactivity, and portability in the grocerant niche.

The Grocerant Niche: A Growing Phenomenon

Grocerants like Eatzi’s empower customers to curate meals that reflect their unique tastes and preferences. Whether it’s sustainable American, Italian, French, Russian, or Greek cuisine, consumers can mix and match meal components to create personalized dining experiences. This flexibility aligns perfectly with the modern American meal, which has evolved into a melting pot of flavors and choices.

The grocerant niche continues to thrive, with major players like Central Market, Wawa, Corner Bakery Café, Whole Foods, Olive Garden, Wegmans, Denny’s, and 7-Eleven entering the fresh-prepared, better-for-you space. According to recent food marketing data, the U.S. food retail industry generates over $1 trillion annually, with fresh-prepared meals driving significant growth. Additionally, 65.7% of American households consist of one or two people1, underscoring the demand for portion-controlled, customizable meal options.

Social Media: A Catalyst for Success

Social media has transformed the food industry, enabling brands to connect with consumers in unprecedented ways. Platforms like Instagram and TikTok have popularized food photography and viral trends, such as baked feta pasta, which led to a 20% spike in feta cheese sales. For Eatzi’s, leveraging social media to showcase its vibrant, chef-inspired creations has been instrumental in attracting a diverse clientele and reinforcing its reputation as a leader in the grocerant niche.

Customization and Personalization: The Eatzi’s Advantage

From its inception, Eatzi’s understood the importance of portion size and bundling meal components. By offering customizable options, Eatzi’s caters to the needs of modern consumers who value convenience, differentiation, and individualization. Whether it’s a family meal or a solo snack, Eatzi’s allows customers to create distinctive, personalized dining experiences.

The Future of Grocerants

As the grocerant niche continues to expand, Eatzi’s remains at the forefront of innovation. By combining chef-inspired meals with customization and personalization, Eatzi’s exemplifies the sights, sounds, and scents of food and retail success. With the food industry projected to grow steadily, driven by trends like online grocery sales and plant-based proteins, Eatzi’s is well-positioned to lead the way in redefining how America eats.

Success Leaves Clues—Are You Ready to Find Yours?

One key insight that continues to drive success is this: "The consumer is dynamic, not static." This principle is the foundation of our work at Foodservice Solutions®, where Steven Johnson, the Grocerant Guru®, has been helping brands stay relevant in an ever-evolving market.

Want to strengthen your brand’s connection with today’s consumers? Let’s talk. Call 253-759-7869 for more information.

Stay Ahead of the Competition with Fresh Ideas

Is your food marketing keeping up with tomorrow’s trends—or stuck in yesterday’s playbook? If you're ready for fresh ideations that set your brand apart, we’re here to help.

At Foodservice Solutions®, we specialize in consumer-driven retail food strategies that enhance convenience, differentiation, and individualization—key factors in driving growth.

👉 Email us at Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us
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Want a Larger Share of Stomach

Try 

A New Business Model 

GROCERANTS 

Portable Meal Components are for Eating-In while Eating-Out

 

Where are you selling meals and meal components? No one will dispute the fact that consumer like Eat-Out while Eating-In as documented many times over the past eight years by our own Grocerant Guru®.  In fact is the team at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® after identifying, quantifying, and qualifying Eating-In while Eating-Out has called it the new normal within retail foodservice and has become a mainstay of food retail in all retail food sector 2023 according to Steven Johnson.

Food research companies the ilk of The NPD Group have decided the team at Foodservice Solutions® was dead right, spot-on, and correct last year in their National Eating Trends Report NPD found that “Unlike recent generations, consumers today are shifting toward eating more dinners at home, including those purchased at restaurants” Think about it; eating-in while eating-out.  Have you connected with the team at Foodservice Solutions® on LinkedIn yet? Here is the link: https://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant/

Regular readers of this blog know that, NPD found “the trend toward incorporating foodservice items from restaurants or retail into a “blended” in-home dinner is on the rise, NPD found. Consider just why this is some important. The NPD report found adults under age 40, which includes Millennials and Gen Z, as the primary consumers of the trend.   

Regular readers of this blog are also familiar with Foodservice Solutions® FIVE P’s of Food Marketing.  The Five P’s were vetted, when they were identified, quantified, and qualified. The FIVE Ps outlined seven years ago the undercurrents driving change within retail foodservice today.  NPD is catching on and catching up all the while doing a very good job.  

NPD went on to say “The lower cost to eat at home and higher cost to eat at restaurants, combined with the ability to order and have delivered just about anything online, are among the reasons consumers are eating more at home. Additionally, there are fewer Americans in the workforce today, due in part to a larger retirement-age population.”

Here’s our point today there is a reason we have over 355,000 followers on the business social media site LinkedIn.  Industry professionals know the team at Foodservice Solutions® and our Grocerant Guru® have been the leading foodservice insight, market positioning, and trend undercurrents experts for the past ten years.  We just wanted to thank you for flowing us asking us the best questions that push us to do our best for you and companies that want to move forward by Looking A Customer Ahead.  

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

Eatzi’s is A Grocerant

 

Foodies most likely know this famous quote by Alice May Brock: “Tomatoes and oregano make it Italian, wine and tarragon make it French, sour cream makes it Russian, lemon and cinnamon make it Greek, soy sauce makes it Chinese, garlic makes it good.”  At Phil Romano’s Eatzi’s you can get all of that plus customization and personalization in full flavored Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat meals and meal components.

It was Phil Romano who opened what Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru®, Steven Johnson called the first grocerant.  Johnson identified, quantified, qualified, and named the what is now the fastest growing sector of retail foodservice the ‘Grocerant Niche’ back in the day (1996) in an article in titled CALL THEM GROCERANTS published in Foodservice Director and Nation’s Restaurant News after visiting Phil at Eatzi’s whom he had worked for previously at Fuddruckers which Phil also founded.  

Today, no one disputes that Phil Romano developed the first Grocerant for the United States Eatzi’s.  Filled with chef inspired Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food that is consumer focused, interactive, and participatory with portability built in Eatzi’s continues to set the standard for quality in the grocerant niche according to Johnson.

Grocerants allow customers to select from local sustainable portable American, Italian, French, Russian, Greek meals or meal components and utilize the components at home any way they like.  The new normal for a family meal can be a composite of any fresh prepared food component that the individual may want according to Johnson. 

Today’s consumers can mix and match components then pair them as a family meal, individual meal or snack any way as well.  Our society is a composed for people from all over the world, with different cultures, traditions and flavor preferences.  The new normal an American meal is a melting pot of flavor and choice. 

Eatzi’s from the beginning understood the significance of portion size and bundling of meal components. Today when 65.7% of Americans households are comprised of one or two people there is very little need for anyone to buy a package of 14 porkchops. Instead, what is a key drive of consumer fresh food sales is the ability for consumers to mix, match, and bundle customized meals for the home according to Johnson. 

The grocerant niche continues to grow with companies like Central Market, Wawa, Corner Bakery Café, Whole Foods, Olive Garden, Wegmans, Denny’s, and 7- Eleven entering the fresh prepared better for you space.   Meal time is now becoming a time of convenient meal participation, with differentiation and individualization for the entire family.

Creating and bundling distinctive differentiated food consumables as an entity with identity by day part in a mix and match meal component format is what Eatzi’s does best.  At Eatzi’s, the sights, sounds and scents of food and retail success abound. 

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 us on our social media sites by clicking one of the following links: Facebook,  LinkedIn, or Twitter

Food Branded retail space food sales Urban vs Suburban

Consumers that work in urban centers are inclined to make more money, eat out more often, and pay a higher price for both food and beverages according to the US. Census Bureau. Today, new grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh food retailers are targeting those centers in a ‘land grab’ according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Johnson continued “legacy brands may end up being valued brands in the suburbs and in rural location fighting for survival while ‘new’ retailers deliver a new value add urban relevant set of fresh food offerings.

Recently, urban convenience-store retailer Foxtrot received a $17 million growth funding round co-led by Imaginary and Wittington Ventures and has two new locations slated to open soon, the company has announced.

So, Foxtrot’s stores represent “a digitally native evolution of the corner store/cafe that marries the best of neighborhood retail and e-commerce technology to offer a thoughtfully curated collection of daily essentials, coffee and prepared foods available in-store or delivered in under an hour,” the Chicago-based chain said..

Nick Brown, co-founder and managing partner of Imaginary  stated “Foxtrot has built a brand that redefines the perception of what convenience stores can and should be for today’s consumers by marrying its digital roots with brick-and-mortar, focusing on community and bringing people into the stories around their product,”  “Seeing the loyalty of their customers over the past few years and how they’ve grown with Foxtrot, it’s clear to us that Mike and his team have created a unique omnichannel experience that we’re eager to partner with and take to the next level.”

Note: Foxtrot has seen 150% year-over-year growth of its e-commerce customer base, 250% year-over-year growth of its corporate team head count and two-times year-over-year revenue growth, the company said. Loyalty program customers shop at Foxtrot 10 times per month on average across both retail and e-commerce channels, it said.

Each Foxtrot retail location features hand-selected local and heritage products such as craft beer, wine, spirits, food, gifts and everyday essentials, as well as Foxtrot-branded and private-label items including coffee and prepared food, which account for 50% of sales. Consumers can also order in-store products through the Foxtrot app and e-commerce site and select on-demand delivery.

Grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh food retailers edified with technology, fresh fast local food, and beverage the ilk of Eatzie's and Foxtrot will continue to garner urban locations displacing legacy branded food and beverage retailers that continue to do what they have all ways done and keep doing it the same way according to Johnson.

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.

Eatzi’s Success Timely Comfort Food

Success does leave clues and Eatzi’s grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food is where Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® coined the term GROCERANT back in the day.

Eatzi’s Market & Bakery, ‘chef-crafted’ meals, and meal components is expanding its points of distribution to now include the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW). Opening an outlet at DFW is perfect way to edifying its brand messaging while building customer loyalty according to Johnson.

Eatzi’s CEO, Adam Romo stated “Expanding into the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport is a strategic way to introduce Eatzi’s high quality, customizable meals to a broader market without leaving our Texas roots,” … “Our chef-prepared meals can be enjoyed by travelers looking for a convenient, gourmet meal in between flights or those picking up food for their drive home. It is a perfect fit for our brand—offering travelers a variety of quality and quick meals.”

For any of you who have rushed to DFW to get your flight and then been ‘stuck’ at DFW in the summer due to thunderstorms or delayed during the winter to congestion, canceled flight doe to and weather around the country will understand just how comforting Eatzi’s mix & match comfort food will be.

It goes without saying that the entire staff of Foodservice Solutions® likes Eatzi’s, its meals, meal components, respects and thanks both Phil Romano, and Lane Cardwell for all of the lessons, insights, and tips on professionalism.   If success does leave clues and it does our tip of the day is keep learning form Eatzi’s.

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 Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, www.Linkedin.com/in/grocerant/  or www.twitter.com/grocerant

Grocery Store Share of Stomach Set to Shrink Again in 2020

Year after year we read about traditional grocery stores closing stores, all closing a spun with justifications that seem endlessly the same according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

While our Grocerant Guru’s personal favorite Dallas based Eatzis Market & Bakery announced plans to continue to open new units in 2020, it is Eataly, that most grocery retailers need to worry about according to Johnson. There is a battle for share of stomach and the undercurrents of consumer discontent with legacy grocery stores is driving dramatic customer migration to new non-traditional channels of fresh food retail.

Eataly is the Italian grocery chain that offers groceries, restaurants, cafés, bars and a variety of educational food experiences all under one roof, creating a platform for consumer interaction and personalization according to Johnson elevating meal choice or meal component mix and match bunding too new heights.  

Eataly’s second California location will be in San José, CA and will mark the ninth North American location of the Italian company, which has 40 stores worldwide. The new Silicon Valley location is part of Eataly’s aggressive growth strategy of two openings per year with a focus on North America and Europe.

Since 2007, the company has gone from one location in Italy to 40 locations across 11 countries in 2019, and has plans to go public in the future. 2020 will mark 10 years since its U.S. entry, in New York City.

Companies the ilk of Ikea, Eatzis, and Eataly all elevate the fresh food meal options for consumers and shoppers today.  The interactive participatory aspects of each concept empower consumers choice. While legacy grocery stores continue to accept slotting fees, equating change with pain, other are moving forward with new non-traditional formats with increasing relevance for today's consumers. In the battle for Share of Stomach is your brand looking a customer ahead?

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.

Battle for Share of Stomach

Can a Grocery Store Beat a Restaurant at Entertainment

Success does leave clues and regular reader of this blog know that restaurants that are consumer interactive and participatory continue to garner incremental customers. From TGI Friday’s wait staff, Texas de Brazil’s protein presentation, Inn & Out Burger, and Benihana we could go on for hours but interactive participatory entertainment drives sales according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®

Most of you have visited Eatzi’s and understand how a one-time restaurateur turned groceranteur found success.  Well, at Stew Leonard’s, combining interactive participatory customer engagement since 1969.  and entertainment.

If you run a restaurant and have not been to Stew Leonard’s you should. “There are aisles filled with animatronic singing poultry and vegetables, stuffed creatures that flip and, in a modern twist for today's consumer, there’s a selfie station where customers can pose with Clover the cow in a replica of Stew’s milk truck.

The simple fact is the zaniness of the stores can overshadow how vital customer service and product scouting is to the growing company. There are six Stew Leonard’s locations now in New York and Connecticut, with a seventh planned for New Jersey in the fall.

The store has a traditional motto: The customer is always right. But here this basic principle of retail gets the Stew Leonard treatment: outside of each store sits a three-ton granite rock etched with the saying: “Rule #1—The Customer is Always Right" and “Rule #2—If the Customer is Ever Wrong, Re-Read Rule #1.” 

Today, many of you may take believe that but there is a reason that particular old adage is still around. Stew Leonard, Jr., the president and CEO who took the business over from his dad in the 1990s. “You’ve got to listen to the customers really and hear what they have to say,”.

Customers’ opinions are a big part of “Stew’s Tank,” a new program the grocery is rolling out. It’s Stew Leonard’s take on “Shark Tank,” the reality TV show where entrepreneurs compete for funding. For Stew’s Tank, New York-based food entrepreneurs will compete to have their products sold at the newly opened East Meadow, Long Island, location of Stew Leonard’s. The company plans to choose about 24 products to demo and sell for the month of June. Based mostly on sales and customer feedback, the grocery will pick about six new products to sell at all their locations.

Stew Leonard’s has no slotting fees, which makes it easier for companies to get their food in the door by selling only what customer want.  Not what food manufactures are paying you to place on the shelf.

Leonard said. “We deal with a lot of local, small vendors, and a lot of them can’t afford to have a slotting fee. Maybe that's one reason we get so many [new products]. There's really not any barriers to entry, I would say.”  Is your restaurant brand creating a platform of fresh food discovery?  How are you extending your brand invitation?  Grocery stores can be better entertainment retailers if you take your eye of the consumer.  Are you Looking A Customer Ahead?

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 Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, www.Linkedin.com/in/grocerant/  or www.twitter.com/grocerant

Are you Winning the Battle for Share of Stomach