El Pollo Loco Commended for Moving Forward with Consumers

 

Foodservice Solutions® team along with the Grocerant Guru®, Steven Johnson based in Tacoma, WA have been providing success clues on how to off-set the rising cost of food, beverages, supply chain, technology along with labor cost.

Johnson, has invested his time focusing on the fastest growing undercurrent of change with ever sector of food retail, the grocerant niche, filled with Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food that has the ‘halo’ of better-4-you in the minds-eye of the consumer.

While grocery stores and convenience stores have been expanding into everything from pots and pans, candles, lightbulbs, and laundry soap.  Restaurants for the most part seem unwilling to look beyond service one meal to one customer at a time according to Johnson.

There is no doubt that grocery stores now want to sell everything to everyone.  There is no doubt that is not working.  The unintentional consequence has been a blurring of channel relevance for most grocery store banners in the minds-eye of the consumer.  That clearly is not a viable solution however an integrated branded value-added messaging and products can help restaurants garner customer loyalty while building top-line sales and bottom-line profits.

Let’s consider one company that is moving in the right direction, El Pollo Loco who last month launched its first-ever merchandise store, selling branded shirts, totes and even skateboards designed by Latino creators. El Pollo Loco, SVP of Marketing Andy Rebhun, stated, “The online Loco Gifts and Gear shop is a branding opportunity for the fast-casual chain”.

Rebhun continued, “It really is core to our brand, in general, to make an impact in the communities we serve,” “This is something truly unique outside of what we’ve usually done.”

Currently, the items are only available for sale online. But Rebhun said there might be an opportunity to sell some of them inside El Pollo Loco restaurants in the future, much like Starbucks does with its merchandise line. Just think about that.  Yes, that is just what Starbucks does driving-up ticket size, while simultaneously driving incremental dollars to the bottom-line. Every reader of this blog knows that, yet so few branded restaurants have yet to understand the consumer facing brand relevance, or the value to be derived at each location. 

To create this new line, El Pollo Loco reached out to Latino artists such as skateboard designer and muralist David Flores. Flores designed three skateboards, two trucker hats, two t-shirts, a pair of board shorts and a tote bag for the chain.

So, custom lowrider designer, Manny Silva crafted an El Pollo Loco lowrider bike, as well as custom shirts, a hoodie and trucker hat. The La Flamba lowrider bike, which went for $7,500, sold almost immediately, Rehbun said. Members of the chain’s digital rewards program received early access to the online shop.

“We did a pretty wide search, in terms of looking for people who embodied El Pollo Loco’s spirit and Hispanic heritage,” Rebhun said.  

How are you expanding customer relevance while driving top-line sales and incremental bottom-line profits for consumers?  Are you looking for a new partnership to drive sales?

Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing tactics look more like yesterday that tomorrow?  Visit GrocerantGuru.com 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.

In a Battle for Share of Stomach

Are you a Top-of-Mind Brand?

Are Flytex Drones the Next Gen Restaurant Delivery Platform

 

Are you still looking for drivers to delivery your meals?  Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®, stated, “third party delivery companies can elevate you brand on the informational digital highway for much less than you can hire a driver. Drone delivery will be the next big thing in many suburbs, cities, and at malls.” 

Did you know that Flytex has been working with restaurants including It's Just Wings and El Pollo Loco and plans to keep expanding?  Do you have a problem getting drivers to deliver meals?

So, drone delivery company Flytrex has raised $40 million to help expand its service throughout the U.S. Restaurants including El Pollo Loco and Brinker International's virtual restaurant concept, It's Just Wings brand have been using autonomous Flytrex drones to deliver food in some locations. It also works with retailers including Walmart, and plans to use the funding to recruit more partners.

The Tel Aviv-based Flytrex began operating in North Carolina in September 2020 and now has three launch stations there. It has completed thousands of deliveries in the state, and its order volume has increased tenfold since February.

Flytrex was also operating in Southern California through a pilot with El Pollo Loco, dubbed Air Loco. Recently Flytrex said its drones can deliver food more efficiently than a person in a car. It's especially focused on suburbs, where traditional delivery is less efficient because of the longer distances.

CEO Yariv Bash, stated “You have a human being driving a 1-ton car to bring you a hamburger and some fries,” ... “As you can imagine, that’s pretty expensive.” El Pollo Loco said it believed drones would reduce the cost of delivery by as much as 30%.

Flytrex started delivering chicken wings from It's Just Wings in Holly Springs, N.C.so if you live near give it a try.

Brinker CEO Wyman Roberts, stated, "You go online, you order your wings and it shows up what, 100 feet above your backyard?" … "This drone stuff is very interesting, and it's getting commercialized. And we're at the front end of it, and we'll see." Consumers are dynamic not static.  Your customers are moving forward, are you?

Drone delivery is still highly regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Flytrex has been collaborating with the agency to help ease some of those limits. Our delivery options are expanding. 

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

El Pollo Loco joins the Me to We Movement

 

El Pollo Loco, is the latest company joining Burger King, McDonalds, Starbucks, and many more in understand the importance of edifying consumer relevant touchpoints, driving new electricity into the brand. The Me to We movement was identified as the restaurant sectors 2021 call to arms the “from me to we” is where restaurants will focus on sustainability driving the message that we are here and we are getting better for you.”

According to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®, “brands that are getting ‘better for you’ are bettering themselves as well.”

Now El Pollo Loco, is eliminating its use of Styrofoam and continuing its improvements to customers’ off-premises dining experience with a system-wide rollout of clear, eco-conscious Thermo-To-Go packaging that keeps food hotter for a fresh-from-the-grill taste in every bite. This will drive new electricity into customer relevance and its brand according to Johnson.

El Pollo Loco President and Chief Executive Officer Bernard Acoca, stated, “El Pollo Loco is committed to enhancing the convenience and overall experience of off-premises dining, which continues to grow exponentially and currently comprises the bulk of our business,”   “Not only is our new Thermo-To-Go packaging better for the environment, but it’s also sturdier and has an appealing aesthetic that showcases our delicious food while preserving heat and quality.”

So, the transition to the Thermo-To-Go containers, which are made from partially recycled materials, will remove 1.9 million cubic feet of Styrofoam — the equivalent of 21 Olympic-size swimming pools — from the national waste stream annually.

Get this, El Pollo Loco’s off-premises business has grown since 2019, with delivery sales jumping by 250 percent and its already robust drive-thru business growing by 43 percent. In the last year, El Pollo Loco has introduced GPS-enabled curbside pickup, drive-thru enhancements and other improvements to its off-premises offerings as part of its ongoing digital transformation strategy; however, the pandemic-induced growth in off-premises business served as further incentive to accelerate the rollout of additional upgrades, including the move to better packaging. Regular readers of this blog know consumers ‘love’ the halo around all things ‘better-4-you’.

This new Thermo-To-Go packaging is a continuation of El Pollo Loco’s commitment to being an industry leader in safe and reliable off-premises dining, which it kicked off with its switch to tamper-free, sealable delivery bags at the start of the pandemic. It also aligns with El Pollo Loco’s recent adoption of a modern, design-forward approach that complements its high-quality food and offers customers an exceptional and enjoyable experience at every touchpoint.

El Pollo Loco’s Tostadas switched to Thermo-To-Go packaging in late April and the restaurant’s famous Fire-grilled Chicken will be sold in the new containers system-wide by the end of May. How is your brand building new electricity?

According to Johnson, “Brand relevance is in part driven with innovation in new menu related 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, music, developing brands, unique urban hemp clothing, grocerant positioning, fresh food messaging, autonomous delivery, cashier-less retail, plates, glasses, cash-less payments, digital hand-held marketing.

All 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.  How is your brand building new electricity?

Don’t over reach. Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing ideations look more like yesterday than tomorrow? Interested in learning how Foodservice Solutions® 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 us on our social media sites by clicking the following links: Facebook,  LinkedIn, or Twitter

El Pollo Loco’ New Year New You

Timing is everything.  Looking a customer ahead is the top job requirement for legacy brands in a world that is evolving faster than brand messaging or customer relevance according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  

It’s January and El Pollo Loco has a new menu item with relevance helping consumers with a New Years Resolution to ‘get fit”.  The new line of Pollo Fit Bowls, are Keto Certified or Paleo Friendly. They start with fresh organic spinach and is topped with an abundance of real, better-for-you ingredients and house-made citrus vinaigrette for flavorful taste and to help fuel an active lifestyle. Here they are:

1.       Double Chicken & Avocado [Keto Certified] – Chopped fire-grilled chicken breast, sliced avocado, organic spinach, made-from-scratch pico de gallo, queso fresco, lettuce, and red cabbage and carrot blend.

2.       Double Chicken & Queso Fresco [Keto Certified] – Chopped fire-grilled chicken breast, organic spinach, made-from-scratch pico de gallo, black beans, queso fresco, and lettuce and red cabbage blend.

3.       Double Chicken & Mango [Paleo Friendly] – Chopped fire-grilled chicken breast, organic spinach, fresh mango salsa, sliced avocado, and lettuce and red cabbage blend.

Hector Muñoz, Chief Marketing Officer at El Pollo Loco stated “We know our customers are increasingly looking for varied approaches to healthy living, so it made sense to introduce a better-for-you culinary innovation in advance of the New Year that not only delivers on taste, freshness and high-quality ingredients but is also accessible to everyone,” “This is only the beginning for our growing better-for-you menu and look forward to debuting additional offerings customized for varying lifestyles in 2020.”

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.