Are Food Halls a Destination or a Rest Stop?

 

Food Halls are the darling of legacy food industry publications, new papers, and mall developers looking for readers or for foot traffic.  The question Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® asks is call it a food hall or food court industry buzz will fade and traffic will slip in the focus is not on consumers food and beverage consumption preferences.

Restaurant turn-over in traditional food courts located in malls, airports, and unban-setting have been devesting to many a local start-up brand as the mall traffic slides, airport traffic evolves, or the urban core changes so do the retails that operate in those locations. 

So, the question becomes are food halls a destination location for top line sales and bottom-line profits? We should be asking is the short-term exposure to publicity worth the cost of a ‘high turnover’ within the food court/food hall that has become so inevitable.

So, SAJJ Mediterranean has launched a second SAJJ Kitchen in Palo Alto, CA with partners Local Kitchens, a pioneering micro food hall concept. Located at 369 California Ave, SAJJ Kitchen Palo Alto will be open daily from 11am to midnight, hosting guests for indoor or outdoor dining and fulfilling online orders. Customers will be able to order in-store via kiosks, and online for pickup or delivery through the Local Kitchens website or third-party delivery services. Do you think this is a good fit?

CEO of SAJJ Mediterranean Zaid Ayoub, stated, “We first partnered with Local Kitchens earlier this year with the first SAJJ Kitchen in Cupertino, CA as a way to expand our customer base” … “With the boom of digital ordering and the successful pilot of the Cupertino location, we’re excited to launch our second SAJJ Kitchen location with Local Kitchens in Palo Alto to help meet the needs of SAJJ’s new and existing customers in the area. We’re so impressed with the Local Kitchens team and chefs who will create each meal on-site and continue to wonderfully represent the SAJJ brand.”

We most note that Local Kitchens was founded by former DoorDash colleagues, CEO Jon Goldsmith and COO Andrew Munday, and CTO Jordan Bramble. The entrepreneurs set out to transform the concept of a food hall for the digital age. Local Kitchens’ Palo Alto site features a storefront and a dedicated takeout customer experience with staff from local communities, who have been meticulously trained by restaurant partners to prepare each meal on-site. The micro food hall concept allows customers to mix and match cuisines from different restaurants, like SAJJ Kitchen, in a single order. We ask is that how consumers view the platform?

Jon Goldsmith, CEO of Local Kitchens, stated, “SAJJ's vibrant flavors and customizable dishes have been a very popular choice at our locations - both as standalone menu items, and as a unique component of our guest's combined menu orders," ... "We're beyond excited to include SAJJ Mediterranean in the collection of beloved brands we are bringing to the Palo Alto Community."

If you are focusing in on food hall messaging, your brand might simply be at a rest stop waiting for customers to help you define your brand.

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

Food Hall’s or Virtual Restaurants

 

In a battle for share of stomach, the question most often asked of the team at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® is should we open a retail unit in a food court or should we open a virtual restaurant? 

So, what’s the difference between a ‘food hall’ and a ‘virtual restaurant’ personal contact with the consumer according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  The simple fact is consumer tired of food courts, most have remained closed and virtual restaurants are open delivering meals daily for less. Or at least that is what is happening right now.   

Regular readers of this blog know our Grocerant Guru® has documented many of the up-and downs of restaurants, caterers, and non-traditional food operators since 1991. The turnover at food halls is much more noticeable that of ‘virtual restaurants that are also De facto ‘food hall’s’.

Malls are reopening with limited hours, the food courts will reopen, and ‘normal’ hours will return with the team at Foodservice Solutions® believes better than normal sales as consumers will simply want to go out shopping and eating once again.

That said, it’s at the intersection of technology, food marketing messaging, and convenience that just might be the new comfort zone of today’s Gen Z, Millennials, and even Baby Boomers that will drive virtual restaurants success as national brands, local restaurants and celebrity chefs to a platform Johnson calls the grocerant niche dinner solution. After all it was Johnson who first explained that Eating-out with Eating-In had moved mainstream.

One thing is clear digital food marketing will drive the success of both ‘food hall’s and virtual restaurants according to Johnson.  Right now, the chains will have an advantage in both locations. Moving forward, new third-party marketing solutions will power the growth of virtual kitchens, local brands and grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food.  Food courts will be around garnering customers that are out and about, when they are open.

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 the clue you need to propel your continued success.

Food Hall Restaurant Turnover Just will be just like that of Food Courts

So, what’s the difference between a ‘food hall’ and a food court nothing according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  The simple fact is consumer tire of food courts and the retailers after about 14 months.  That’s the point that retail turnover begins to pick up. 

Regular readers of this blog know our Grocerant Guru® has documented many of the up-and downs of restaurants, caterers, and non-traditional food operators trying this formula. The turnover at food halls  is much more noticeable that of ‘virtual food halls’ which Johnson now thinks will have a longer staying power.

Last year meal-preparation company Alacarte has secured $700,000 in angel financing to form a partnership with UberEats to offer what it said will be a “virtual food hall” experience. The Miami-based company, which opened its first commissary in Miami Beach four months ago, prepares food based on the specs of local restaurants that it’s partnered with, along with concepts developed by Alacarte, allowing customers to order from multiple virtual concepts and delivering it all at the same time.

“So if the wife wants sushi, the husband wants Mexican and the kids want pizza, they can all order it from us and have it delivered at the same time,” said CEO and co-founder Ken Ray. Ray said that this latest round of funding came from family and friends, but he recently visited venture capital firms in Boston and New York to raise additional funds for further expansion in high-density markets.

Alacarte has developed five concepts in its commissary: Bobby Ray’s Famous Fried Chicken, Fresco Mexicano, Miami Poke Co., Mott St. Pizza, and Pollerio (offering Latin-accented roasted chicken with sides such as beans, rice, fries and coleslaw).

It has partnered with local concepts Taekaway, which is Chinese, Maki San Sushi, Rosewood Pizza, Whichchicken Rotisserie, Bottle Box (offering beer, wine and sake) and a Chinese noodle restaurant called Chin Tu Fat.

Customers can currently order from Alacarte via other delivery platforms such as Postmates, GrubHub and Amazon Prime, but their software doesn’t allow customers to order from Alacarte’s multiple virtual restaurants. The funding will help Alacarte work with UberEats to develop software that will allow the “virtual food hall” experience.

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 the clue you need to propel your continued success.