Dollar General Fresh Food Sells Should Grocers Worry

When Dollar General began to expand its format to include fresh food Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® stated ‘traditional grocery stores have never faced a more formidable competitor.

Now Dollar General is expanding its remodeling to include more stores that will include extra refrigerated space and a fresh produce section and step up its “Better-For-You” initiative to offer customers healthier consumables,

Consider this as well for fiscal 2019, Dollar General is looking to open 975 new stores, remodel 1,000 mature stores and relocate 100 stores. Now of the 1,000 planned remodels, about 500 will be conversions to the DGTP format and about 200 will add produce according to the company report..

Currently approximately 2,700 Dollar General stores now carry Better-for-You products.  Over the last four-week period of the third quarter Dollar General reported that “half of our top 10 unit movers within Better-for-You were Good & Smart-branded items,”

So, grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat food is rapidly finding its way on the shelves of the dollar store sector.  How will you differentiate?  Are you ready to have a Grocerant ScoreCard completed?

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

Foodservice New Concept, New Technology, New Experience and Your Customers

When the customers move retailers must move with them.  When they don’t someone else will go fill the unmet need and your brand will fast become the brand of yesterday rather than a brand of today or tomorrow according to Tacoma, WA based global grocerant foodservice consultancy Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru® Steven Johnson.

Well there is a new foodservice start-up doing just that.  It’s doing what start-ups do exploiting all of the consumer hot buttons. Today foodservice consumer is more dynamic than ever and this start-up called Choice it’s a new convenience store format that is focusing on the consumer’s consumption and adoption of Omni-channel experiences, digital ordering, pay via online or mobile device. 

Choice CEO Mike Fogarty stated “Choice will provide an Omni-channel user experience through its state-of-the-art technology platform.  Customers will have the opportunity to order from self-serve kiosks within the store, order and pay via an online/mobile device, and/or utilize self-checkout terminals.”

Choice has also partnered with Uber Eats to offer 24-hour food delivery and Instacart to provide grocery delivery. Fogarty continued "As sales from fuel and cigarettes continue to decline, convenience stores are quickly becoming a destination for food, but the product selection at most stores does not align to consumers’ growing preference for fresh and healthy options,…That's when the opportunity for Choice really clicked for me. At Choice, we're reimagining what a convenience store can and should be in today’s modern era."

The goal at Choice is to create a one-stop shop for customers, “Choice will offer made-to-order meals, coffee, snacks and drinks in addition to toiletries and daily essentials. Choice plans to offer freshly prepared sandwiches, salads, bowls, lattes, organic smoothies, and coffee drinks, all covering a wide range of diverse flavors, ingredients and dietary needs. “

Choice is about consumer local empowerment as it wants to have the look and feel of “a small community market that customers can trust, feel welcome, and know they're getting great products that meet their needs,". "We’re advocating for a more healthy lifestyle, but not dictating it. Choice offering more choices, and empowering customers to choose what works best for them” in a digital world according to Fogarty. 

Is your brand evolving fast enough?  Who is targeting your customers?  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