Dinners That Delight: How Tech Enhances, Not Replaces, Social Dining for Young Adults

 

In today's fast-paced world, where "What's for dinner?" often starts with a phone swipe, technology undeniably impacts dining decisions. But a recent study by the Culinary Visions Panel's Mindful Dining Initiative reveals a surprising truth: young adults (Gen Z and Millennials) crave both convenience and human connection when dining out.

Key Takeaways:

·         Technology as a Time-Saver: Younger diners appreciate tech that streamlines the ordering process. Nearly half (48%) prefer kiosks or apps for speed, highlighting their comfort with technology.

·         Human Touch Still Reigns: Despite their tech-savviness, young adults (64%) value personalized service. A friendly server who remembers their name goes a long way!

·         Sharing is Caring (and Posting): Dining is a social experience for young adults. They're influenced by friends' orders (50%) and enjoy sharing photos on social media (nearly 60%). Food becomes a way to connect and create shareable moments.

What This Means for Restaurants:

·         Offer Tech Options, But Prioritize Service: Provide self-ordering kiosks or apps, but ensure staff remains attentive and welcoming.

·         Create Instagrammable Moments: Think unique plating, interesting decor, or designated photo areas to cater to the social media-savvy crowd.

·         Facilitate Group Dining: Consider larger tables or communal seating to encourage interaction and sharing.

The Bottom Line:

Technology is a tool, not a replacement for human connection. By embracing tech while prioritizing excellent service and a social atmosphere, restaurants can create dining experiences young adults will love – and share with the world.

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

Why You Need to Know Social Media Influencers

 

Do you know anyone that really likes your brand?  The team at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® bets that you do.  Most of us know that our best customer are not only in our stores often, they tell us why, and just how much that they like us. 

According to Steven Johnson Alicia Kelso, who writes for Nation’s Restaurant News recently wrote a great article about the power of ‘influencer marketing’.  It provides needed insights that the team of Foodservice Solutions® believes can benefit any restaurant of any size independent or chain. The insights can prove valuable for any food retailer particularly those selling grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food.    Here is what Alicia wrote:

“More restaurant brands, big and small, are shifting their marketing dollars away from traditional advertising toward influencer relationships.

Undeniably one of the biggest trends of 2023 was restaurant brands leveraging influencers on social media to sell their products. These influencers resonate with the coveted Gen Z demographic and help position brands top of mind, even if just for a fleeting moment. And apparently, they’re very effective at convincing others to try a menu item. Consider Chipotle’s fajita quesadilla campaign with TikTok influencers Alexis Frost and Keith Lee, for example. The 2023 promotion helped generate two of the company’s top digital sales days of all time.

Influencer marketing is certainly nothing new, but it is reaching a fever pitch and, in fact, the industry has increased by nearly $20 billion in the past seven years. Restaurants in particular are well positioned to capitalize on this trend. According to CreatorIQ, more than 437,000 creators posted about food and beverage brands more than 1.2 million times, driving nearly 75.5 billion impressions, 3 billion engagements and a whopping $4.8 billion in earned media value (EMV). And those numbers are just from the first half of 2023.

It's no wonder brands are shifting their strategies and dollars toward influencer content. KFC CMO Nick Chavez recently described the influencer trend as a “generational pivot” and, as such, the company has adjusted its marketing strategy – and investments – to be more “content-first.”   

“We have absolutely pivoted our conversation from ‘what’s the TV ad’ to ‘what’s the content strategy?’” Chavez said. “We’ve seen that Gen Z uses TikTok as their primary search engine over Google at times, which is remarkable. How it’s informing our strategy is we’ve invested in building our capabilities in our social media management, social content production, and influencer relationships.”

Kate Finley, founder of Belle Communication, has worked with more than 100 brands, including Shake Shack, First Watch, Jeni’s Ice Cream and The Halal Guys, and confirms dollars are moving from traditional ads to influencer relationships.

“We are now seeing major monetary shifts to micro and mid-tier influencers, who come across as authentic – like a peer,” Finley said. “People are no longer counting on their true peers to source recommendations. They’re looking at influencers who feel like them. They bypass the need for a crowdsourced-peer review and jump right into the click. The conversion is stronger.”

As such, several chains from El Pollo Loco to Wendy’s to Wingstop have found plenty of success from this shift. Red Robin CEO GJ Hart told analysts in November that the company’s investments in earned media and social marketing initiatives have positioned the brand well and fostered engagements with guests. That includes a collaboration with Ariana Madix, a celebrity bartender influencer and U.S. Weekly’s TV Star of the Year, whose campaign generated over 500,000 views in its first few days alone.  

In other words, the opportunity is big, and it’s about to get bigger. According to a Morning Consult poll, Gen Zers and millennials believe what influencers are saying more than ever, with the report noting that "trust in social media influencers" rose from 51% in 2019 to 61% in 2023.

“(Influencer marketing) at its core is simply word-of-mouth marketing from a trusted source. From the early days as a blogger to the current state of micro- and nano-influencers, I see this as a marketing practice here to stay,” said Jericho Lopez, director of marketing and public relations at Qdoba. “There is a real opportunity to grow brand awareness on a global scale through this method.”

Importantly, influencer marketing can also level the playing field for smaller brands not seeking to achieve that global scale. Rooster & Rice, a nine-unit fast casual brand, recently tapped two local influencers – Nate and Lily – to promote a grand opening in Irvine, Calif., for instance. Angelina Hong, owner of Gourmand Group, the marketing agency helping Rooster & Rice with its strategy, said the concept has utilized influencers before and with much success.

“The campaigns did a great job raising local awareness. We saw large lines on opening day,” Hong said. “This is a great way to organically spread the word about new locations from trusted sources.”

Hong added that the agency is bullish on influencers in 2024 and beyond. It’s not alone. Pei Wei is also ramping up its influencer strategy.

“Influencers work. When taking to social media, people want to feel like they are talking to a person, and we are more likely to listen to an advocate for a brand than a brand promoting their own agenda. Social media is meant to be a social platform amongst other humans. We want to feel like we are talking to someone about what we are viewing,” said Grace Chao-Isaacs, Pei Wei’s social media specialist.

How to develop an influencer strategy

With a growing case-study-backed belief that “influencers work,” the focus now shifts to how to make them work. Chao-Isaacs said it’s important to utilize influencers as part of a marketing strategy and not the whole strategy. And of course, like every marketing strategy, needs differ based on the size and scope, including budget, of the campaign. Indeed, influencer budgets have a massive range, from nano influencers with 2,500 or so followers for around $100 apiece, to macro influencers, with 500,000 to 1 million followers, that run in the six-figure range. And, of course, there are celebrities, or “mega” influencers, that contract for millions. Though nano influencers can fit most budgets, Finley said her company is seeing a trend toward more mid-tier influencers, which have 100,000 to 500,000 followers.

“You want a little more reach if you can afford it. It is getting more expensive. Most influencers have agents now and not every brand has an agency to manage that relationship,” Finley said.

That said, managing the relationship is critical and requires time and attention versus a more traditional “spray and pray” approach.

“You have to vet influencers very closely and make sure they’re representing what you want your brand to be. Make sure you have a contract in place with value alignment and clear goals,” Finley said. “Working collaboratively is important. Most influencers don’t want to be dictated by brands as they’re leveraging their cultivated audiences and risking their reputations.”

Finley adds that influencer campaigns are no longer a nice to have and are becoming more of a necessity. That means even independents should explore such a strategy.

“Experiment with hyperlocal influencers who may have smaller but highly engaging follower bases. The shift toward micro influencers is more measurable, it’s more cost effective than doing traditional ad dollars,” she said. “People are seeking meaningful connections but they’re on their phones all the time. From that perspective, it’s authentic, targeted, engaged, and gets a better ROI.””

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

Cost of Food Forcing Consumers to Switch Brands

 

With inflation rising at 4.9% which is less than a year ago, all the while, food prices still rose 7.7% between April 2022 and April 2023 consumers don’t like it and are migrating to other food brands or restaurants and that shift aka trial 61.3 percent of time leads to customer migration according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®. Are you selling what you always sold and selling it the same way? How is that working for you?

Now according to industry expert Darren Seifer, food & beverage industry analyst at Circana, “Adding to the impact of food inflation are economic factors like increased consumer credit debt, depletion of savings built during the pandemic, and cutbacks on pandemic-related government credits and subsidies. To manage their food spending, U.S. consumers are finding ways to manage higher food costs by shopping at value retailers, spending less on non-food purchases, switching to store brands and canceling committed expenses, like subscriptions.”

Seifer continued, “Consumers need to eat no matter what and will adapt to higher food costs by finding lower cost options or cutting back on discretionary spending, and that’s what we’re seeing play out now,”.

He went on to say, “Seventy-eight percent of consumers plan to or already have cut overall spending on products due to inflation, and 75% of those report that their reason for cutting spending is higher food costs, according to Circana. The low-hanging fruit for spending cutbacks is to decrease purchases of discretionary retail spending and cancel subscriptions.”

Now then, in April, general merchandise retail sales revenue fell 7% compared to April 2022, and unit sales fell 8%. Over a quarter of consumers said they’ve canceled subscriptions over the past few months, and 66% of those cancelations were for entertainment subscriptions, like streaming services.

The team at Circana reported, “Regarding food and beverage sales in April, revenue increased by 6%, but unit sales fell by 2%. Eighty-six percent of annual eating occasions are sourced from grocers and other retail outlets. This supports data that reflects that at-home spending remains a more significant portion, 60%, of food and beverage sales. The April CPI shows at-home food prices increased by 7.1%. To mitigate higher food prices at retail, 49% of consumers said they shop at food stores that offer lower prices, 42% reported they buy more store brand/private-label food and beverages, and 41% said they buy essential items only and forego impulse purchases.

Food away from home grew 8.6% in April compared to a year ago. In the 12 months ending March 2023, foodservice costs were 4.3 times more than the cost of at-home eating occasions, per Circana. The average cost of an at-home meal purchased from retail was $1.78, and $7.48 away from home. This doesn’t mean that consumers didn’t make use of foodservice. Coming off four consecutive quarters without growth, visits to restaurants and commercial foodservice outlets in the quarter ending March grew by 1% compared to a year ago. Still, the use of foodservice shifted to less expensive dayparts, like breakfast and morning snack or quick-service restaurants rather than full-service restaurants.

“Food manufacturers, foodservice operators and retailers can meet the needs of price-sensitive consumers by understanding the best pricing and promotional strategies,” said Seifer. “Also, consumers have returned to their pre-pandemic routines, and aligning with their shifting needs will increase the value of their offering.” It’s time to try to do things with a little more relevance, or a twist. Youi just might consider doing somethings a bit differently.

Invite Foodservice Solutions® to complete a Grocerant ScoreCard, or for product positioning or placement assistance, or call our Grocerant Guru®.  Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche. Contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or 253-759-7869

Breakfast Can Sales Drive Restaurants Sales and Customer Frequency

 

Insights matter if you are selling food.  Restaurants, Convenience Stores, Service Deli’s, Bodegas all need to know how they are doing compared to others selling meals and meal components for the same dayparts according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Regular readers of this blog remember that The NPD Group and IRI team-up when the food industry turned down, they did evolve and change their name to Circana. Fortunately, they did not have to sell themselves to magazine or newspaper to survive, they continue to serve our industry on the complexity of consumer behavior. Through advanced analytics, cross-industry data and subject matter expertise, Circana provides insights and research that helps clients unlock business growth.

Here is some good news from Circana, “The U.S. restaurant industry continued to recover from COVID-19 pandemic-related losses in February, with traffic up by 2 percent year over year, reported Circana.

Visits to quick-service restaurants, representing 82 percent of total restaurant industry visits, grew by 3 percent during the month of February vs. the year-ago period. Alternatively, full-service visit growth was held back by a 13 percent decline in dinner traffic, the segment's busiest meal daypart. However, the segment increased visits at morning meal and lunch. Overall, visits to full-service restaurants declined by 2 percent in February compared to one year ago. 

Total restaurant traffic at the morning meal, breakfast and a.m. snack has fully recovered from pandemic losses, Circana reported. Morning meal restaurant visits grew by 10 percent in February year over year and are up 2 percent from three years ago. Whereas total restaurant lunch visits were down 1 percent in February vs. one year ago, and dinner traffic was down 3 percent.  

"We're seeing strong customer traffic at breakfast and morning snack, which means consumers are looking for convenience and portable meals and snacks," said David Portalatin, Circana food industry advisor. "On the other hand, dinner and lunch visit growth has been slower due to home-centric behaviors being stickier at these dayparts. At lunch, consumers have other choices, including bringing items from home or going to a workplace cafeteria, offering subsidized pricing or no-cost options. Additionally, the higher average check for lunch and dinner may make them less appealing to some consumers."

Just like convenience is a factor in breakfast and morning snack growth, it is also a factor in off-premise ordering like drive-thru, carry-out and delivery. In February, off-premises traffic represented 72 percent of the total restaurant traffic. Although on-premises visits have increased since the height of the pandemic, dine-in traffic is down double-digits from three years ago. 

"The morning meal growth is a clear sign of what consumers are looking for when using foodservice," Portalatin added. "Moving forward, enticing consumers with convenience, whether portability, ordering ease or speed, appears to be where the demand currently is in the foodservice industry."

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 than 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.

Gen Z and Millennials still in Search of Menu Magic

 

Without ever getting on a ship to sail around the world or getting on an airplane to fly around the world today consumers can taste global regional specialties menu items by simply asking third mobile phones digital assistant to find that menu item ‘close to me’.

According to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® “its second nature for Gem Z and Millennials to simply ask ‘google’ or ‘siri’ where to get ‘rice balls, authentic pumpernickel, or a fresh pierogi.”  

So, most of us know that Generation Z and Millennials are not only the most ethnically diverse generations in terms of their own cultural backgrounds, but they also have very diverse palates

That said Rachel Shemirani, senior VP at Barons Market, stated, “When they are eating out at restaurants, it’s not just Mexican or Italian or American anymore—It’s Vietnamese, Korean, all kinds of Middle Eastern, Ethiopian—it’s a much more cultured palate,”

Shemirani continues, “Interest from consumers in multicultural foods is increasingly driven not only by restaurant experiences, but also by social media like Instagram and TikTok, …“With social media now, people are already familiar with the product, and they know how to use it,” …“It’s just a matter of going to the local grocery store and finding it.”

So, Korean sauces have been especially popular at Barons, as have some African flavors, including harissa. Locally-made tortillas and salsas are also very popular at the Southern California retailer, Shemirani added.

Charlotte Myer, VP of merchandising at New York-based online grocer FreshDirect, stated, “her customers have been particularly interested in Sichuan and Korean flavors, with sales of Sichuan chili crisp and gochujang sauce both gaining sales in the past year, compared with a year ago.” 

FreshDirect plans to expand its selection in both Sichuan and Korean flavors in the coming months. Myer cited increasing consumer demand for a variety of multicultural, shelf-stable sauces, including products from Hillside Harvest, Fly by Jing, New York Shuk, and Mina.

Myer continue, “From Sichuan to Moroccan-inspired sauces, there is a consistent trend of consumers buying a diverse array of sauces to use in various at-home recipes–a mode of culinary tourism that they can enjoy from the comforts of their own kitchen.”

Did you now, that, Brooklyn Delhi, for example, offers ready-made sauces that enable consumers to create dishes such as tikka masala or vindaloo, while noodle kits from Momofuku, which include noodles and a sauce packet, are another standout.

Fly by Jing’s chili crisp and its other sauces have been especially popular, Myer said. “They have been one of the most successful new brands that we’ve launched recently and are already one of the top performers in the category,”…. “Their umami-rich sweet, tangy flavor draws inspiration from the hole-in-the-wall restaurants that dot the streets of Chengdu, the founder, Jing’s, hometown.”

Caribbean flavors have also been gaining traction, Myer said, citing hot sauces from Hillside Harvest, inspired by the flavors of Jamaica, the home of founder Kamaal Jarrett.

“We are seeing more and more product innovation inspired by Caribbean flavors and are looking to build out our selection in these areas as well,” Myer said.

Myer went on to point out that, multicultural frozen meals have been helping drive sales gains among frozen foods, particularly Indian-inspired frozen meals from brands such as Deep Indian Kitchen and Fabalish.

Frozen heat-and-eat meals from a variety of global cuisines have also been performing well at Barons, Shemirani said, noting that the retailer is considering adding even more of these items to its assortments.

Flavor Matters if you Want to

Build a Larger Share of Stomach

Recent data from Nielsen show that several categories of multicultural foods have shown strong dollar sales gains in the past year. Frozen appetizers such as taquitos and wontons were both up in double digits — 19.9% and 38.2%, respectively — for the 52 weeks ending Oct. 29, compared with a year ago, across all food retail segments.

Frozen Latino handheld entrees showed similar gains, with dollar sales of burritos up 14.7% and empanadas up 29.7%.

In the Mexican shelf-stable categories, staple products such as spices and seasonings, condiments, sparkling water, and beans and rice dominate dollar sales volumes, according to Lynda Glass, category manager of kosher, Mexican, Hispanic and Caribbean foods at distributor KeHE.

Asian staples and snacks are also performing well.

“Sales for the Asian category at KeHE are outpacing the market, and we are seeing continued high demand for Asian products,” said Morgan Lee, KeHE’s category manager of Asian, Indian, Thai, frozen Asian, and rice prepared.

Driving the gains are products such as Asian noodles, up 25% at KeHE; Asian snacks, up 45%, and Asian drinks, up 46%.

Lee said health and wellness are key drivers in many Asian food categories, citing research from Mintel showing that 42% of consumers associate Asian foods with healthfulness.

“We’re seeing better-for-you innovations with non-fried ramen, low-carb konjac noodles, and fermented foods like Korean kimchi and doenjang,” said Lee.

Menu Inclusion vs Limited Time Offers (LTO)

What do you do with your meu? Keep adding new flavor profiles or use a LTO to drive trial? One, of the longstanding questions surrounding the merchandising of multicultural products is whether or not to integrate them into the mainstream assortments, or to maintain a separate “international aisle.”

Now in the grocery sector both Lee and Glass said it’s up to individual retailers to determine whether or not to segregate multicultural foods. “It depends greatly on the retailer intention for the category,” said Glass. “In other words, who is the target consumer for the retailer, and how broad or narrow they wish to be.”

Lee agreed, but added that having a “global” section in the store, with multicultural adjacencies, can simplify the consumer experience by creating a one-stop-shop for all their ingredient needs. Shemirani, meanwhile, said Barons’ customers seem to prefer having the multicultural products integrated with the mainstream sets.

What does this mean for a chain restaurant menu or independent restaurant; simple more regional flavors and LTO’s for international holiday periods.  One this is clear menu flavor profiles will increase.

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.