Italian Fresh Food Manufacturing DalMoros is Grocerant Great

 

If success leaves clues and it does; DalMoros Fresh Pasta To Go, has found its place in the center of the grocerant niche with Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh food that will find consumers dinner tables from coast to coast according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Italian food lovers and US customers the ilk of our Grocerant Guru® were glad to hear that DalMoros will open its first US outlet in St. Peterburg, Florida soon. Grocerant niche focused DalMoros Fresh Pasta To Go has a wide variety of fresh pastas and homemade sauces made from scratch right in front of the customers with each meal served in to go boxes and ready within minutes.

The St. Petersburg, Florida outlet is the first franchise in the United States for the popular, fast-casual, fresh pasta concept originating in Venice, Italy in 2012. Italian food lovers will delight in DalMoros St. Pete’s wide variety of fresh pastas and homemade sauces made from scratch right in front of the customers with each meal served in to go boxes and ready within minutes. Delicious toppings, tiramisu, fountain drinks, beer and wine will also be served.

DalMoros St. Pete franchisee David Caruso, stated, “Coming from an Italian heritage, we’ve always had a love for Italian cuisine, especially fresh pasta,” … “Luckily, we were connected with Gabriele Dal Moro, whose fresh pasta to go concept has attracted thousands of people to his pasta shop in Venice, Italy.  It is the first of its kind and truly a revolutionary way to enjoy fresh pasta without the need to sit down at a formal restaurant.  We are very proud to be able to bring this fabulous idea to the United States and finally open.  Everyone loves fresh pasta, but typically it is hard to find outside of the kitchen or a gourmet restaurant – this changes that.”

Fresh food manufacturing companies based here in the US have been slow to adopt too a franchise model. However our Grocerant Guru® believes that the global success of DalMoros St. Pete franchisee David Caruso will hep speed things up here. Are you ready to grow? Great Grocerant Growth Awaits.

Along with Caruso, DalMoros St. Pete’s team includes General Manager and Head Chef Alberto Buniato who hails from Milan, Italy. Their team plans to open more DalMoros first throughout Southwest Florida and then eventually the rest of the United States.  Currently, DalMoros locations include Italy, Canada, Spain, and now St. Petersburg.  Future international openings are scheduled for Singapore, Barcelona and Mexico

Success does leave clues. One clue that time and time again continues to resurface is “the consumer is dynamic not static”.  Regular readers of this blog know that is the common refrain of Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  Our Grocerant Guru® can help your company edify your brand with relevance.  Call 253-759-7869 for more information. 

Del Monte Farm Fresh Restaurant

 

Everyone has heard of Del Monte Produce, most of you have eaten fresh Del Monte fruit and a lot more of you have eaten Del Monte fruit from a jar on the produce cooler, or from a can on the shelf on your local grocery store according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®. Are you a legacy CPG manufacture that looks more like yesterdays retailer than tomorrows?

However how many of you have eaten fresh Del Monte Produce from their new FRSHst restaurant located in Miami?  I’m betting given travel restriction very few of you.  Once restrictions are lifted, and I get my second COVID-19 Vaccination shot, I’m on my way.

FRSHst, is an innovative fresh and healthy dining restaurant experience from Fresh Del Monte Produce has just launched in Miami.  The restaurant focus is about the ‘halo’ of better for you fresh food, “bringing the community whole-heartedly good food that is not just wholesome, but also nutritious, and comes from the soul.”

So, Farmers at heart, the FRSHst concept demonstrates the team at Del Monte’s passion for fresh produce. It is evident in the six delicious food and beverage categories that incorporate the highest quality, best ingredients, including bowls, beverages, coffee, sandwiches, grab and go, and bakery. 

Youssef Zakharia, president and Chief Operations Officer of Fresh Del Monte Produce stated, “We want to create a bond with our consumers by putting them at the center of everything we do,” … “The launch of FRSHst cafes allows us to deliver to our consumers what is important to them: healthy, wholesome and convenient foods.”

Once again industry leaders are focusing on interactive and participatory branded messaging according to Johnson. The FRSHst restaurant menu invites guests to fully customize their fresh-to-order items. Customers can take a trip around the globe for breakfast, lunch or dinner with flavors that range from Asian to Mediterranean and Latin American.

Customers at FRSHst can also make each meal their own by adding signature toppings and sauces, or by pairing their food selection with a fresh, handmade smoothie, or a cup of freshly-brewed, craft roasted coffee. Mix & match meal component bundling as regular readers of this blog know is at the core driving grocerant niche success and customer migration.

Wissam Baghdadi FRSHst Creator and Fresh Del Monte Produce F&B Director stated, “Our mission at FRSHst cafes is to provide an ingredient-first offering to our guests, so they may not only experience the freshest and most flavorful meals that we have to offer, but can also completely tailor each order to their liking and dietary needs,”.

Don’t let your brand relevance slip away.  If your product mix looks as if its managed by a category manager from the 1980’s, and your still paying slotting fees to get product on the shelf.  Well, that’s to bad.

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

Battle for Share of Stomach

Back to Work, Tired, Grocerant Niche Mix & Match Meal Components Help

So, you went back to work. You are now wearing a mask, doing extra daily task, along with all of your old job requirements, worried a client or customer might have CORVID 19, and pass it along. So, once again we ask. Do you know what’s for dinner tonight? 

Are you cooking a family meal for two, three, or four, family members? If so the chances are very good your buying several Ready-2-Eat or Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared meal components according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Grocery stores, convenience stores and restaurants are all bundling fresh prepared meal components for the home cook.  The home cook is responding buying individualized components from different retail channel stores/outlets; then mixing and matching them into a customized family meal according to Johnson.

Recent grocerant scorecards found 83.1% of all family dinner occasions have at lease one grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat or Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared meal component. While 68.4% have two grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat or Heat-N-Eat meal components.

Foodservice branded and private label food manufactures are all vying for your attention. Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat food from the ilk of Swiss steak, Meatloaf, Baked Salmon, Rotisserie Chicken, Pizza and Lasagna fresh prepared, portioned and portable in portions for 1,2, or 5 are all available at most foodservice retail location today.

Most exciting is the opportunity for new start-up’s and regional manufactures to produce sustainable business built on local, fresh and unique flavor profiles.  Legacy national brand manufactures are experiencing an increase in need for repositioning, consolidation and acquisition activities.  Regional start-ups are thriving supplying local restaurants, C-stores and grocery store delis with fresh prepared food.

Consumer are responding buying meal components in new food channels, experiencing new flavor profiles all the while individualizing the family meal.  The foodservice industry is evolving with the consumer.  Those companies looking for opportunity for growth times have never been better. The consumer is dynamic not static are you keeping pace? Are you looking for a new private label manufacture?

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.

McDonald’s ‘PlantWich’ a Millennial Touchpoint

Lead, follow or get out of the way.  In the case of plant-based protein McDonald’s has elected to follow.  So, just what does that mean?  Industry insiders know that no plant-based protein company had enough product supply for McDonald’s to rollout a new plant-based product nationwide.

According to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® McDonald’s is testing of the operational and marketing messaging of a “P.L.T.” sandwich — plant, lettuce and tomato, featuring Beyond Meat patties at 52 southwestern Ontario, Canada, locations for 12 weeks.

Michaela Charette, head of consumer insights at McDonald’s Canada stated “As we expand the test, we’re continuing to listen to our guests across southwestern Ontario and assess the appetite for a plant-based alternative within the McDonald’s menu,”. This test is about edifying customer relevant touchpoints particularly with Millennials who are driving the plant-based protein adoption according to Johnson.

Regular readers of this blog know that McDonald’s also sells an imitation meat burger with a product from Nestle in Germany.  Plant-based proteins are no longer an option.  They have become a menu item of necessity if you want to avoid the “Food Veto”.  (Food Veto don’t have don’t go)

Leaders do not always have to lead.  There are times that they should follow in this case size does matter and filling the supply chain with product is a bigger problem than testing a new product?  The question every food manufacture of plant-based protein should be asking is who is McDonald/s going to buy?

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

Battle for Share of Stomach

Aldi Give the Customers What They Want

Back in the day circa 1989 Willard Bishop Consulting founder and food industry icon Bill Bishop inform all that the number one challenge grocery retailers has to solve was get customer in and out faster.  It was a clear message, simple to understand, but counter to what legacy retail grocery stores companies wanted.

What they wanted to do and were hell-bent on was to keep consumers in the stores longer to drive a ‘larger basket size’.  How did that work for them?  Not so good.  Today, there are 62.9% fewer legacy grocery stores than there were in 1989.  Now consider this one company hear him and did something about it.

That company Foodservice Solutions® and they put their Grocerant Guru®, Steven Johnson to work to do something about it.  He told anyone that was will to listen.  One company got the message somewhere that company is Aldi.

Aldi now with close to 2,000 US stores is touting its stores as easier to shop, and new Kantar research commissioned by the hard-discount grocer finds that consumers agree. Finding “Of 700 customers ages 18 to 64 who participated in the study, 77% agreed that Aldi is "simpler to shop" compared with other grocery stores. Aldi said the findings also show that its stores are “at least 20% faster to shop” versus Kroger supermarkets and Walmart Supercenters.”

So, it does not stop there, “Nine out of 10 respondents who shopped at Aldi also agreed that the retailer is "more cost-effective" than other grocery stores, according to the study. Aldi added that a 2019 Dunnhumby report ranked it as the No. 1 grocery retailer for price and Market Force Information has recognized Aldi as the value leader for eight consecutive years.”

Scott Patton (above), vice president of corporate buying for Aldi U.S. stated "Today's shoppers are pressed for time and money. We pioneered a model that gives people more of both,”, … “If you ask me, this is a winning combination for grocery shopping."

Is your brand developing a sales platform as dynamic as today’s consumers? Or, is do your stores and sales platform look more like yesterday than today or tomorrow?

For international corporate presentations, regional chain presentations, local educational forums, or keynotes contact: Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions.  His extensive experience as a multi-unit restaurant operator, consultant, brand / product positioning expert and public speaking will leave success clues for all. For more information visit www.GrocerantGuru.com , www.FoodserviceSolutions.us or call 1-253-759-7869

OtaJoy Foods Meal Kits Expand Flavorful Fresh Foods into your Home

Success does leave clues and at OtaJoy (Otafuku Foods, Inc.) success comes from listening to consumers and focusing on consumer touchpoints according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®. I recently cooked at home a new grocerant niche fresh prepared meal kit from OtaJoy and I must say that it elevated my cooking skill-set at home much to the delight of my family.

Food manufacturing today is about selling food to consumers that they want.  Consumers are dynamic not static and OtaJoy is expanding its brand’s reach, impowering consumers to cook fresh food fast, utilizing flavors they have come to like but do not have the skill-set to prepare at home.

OtaJoy says they goal is to share the foods we know and love in a way that's good for our customers. That's why we're constantly educating ourselves on the latest advancements in food science and manufacturing. Our Research and Development team works to source ingredients responsibly and eliminate filler ingredients from our recipes, while our production team strives to operate in the most environmentally-friendly way possible and their new meal kits do just that.

Consider this, Otafuku Foods, Inc. goes back to 1922 when Sasaki Shoten opened for business as a sake and soy sauce wholesale/retail store in Hiroshima, Japan. The rice vinegar brewery started operations in 1938, and the company lost everything when the atomic bomb hit the city of Hiroshima. Vinegar production had to be restarted from scratch after the war.

So, during WWII, a savory "pancake" with readily-available ingredients became popular due to a widespread shortage of rice. In 1950, "Otafuku Worcestershire Sauce" was introduced as the dish became even more popular, followed by "Otafuku Okonomi Sauce" in 1952. A lot of arduous research and development went on behind the scenes, but soon Otafuku had one of Japan's best-loved sauces. As Japan's passion for okonomiyaki grew, so did Otafuku Sauce Co., and they quickly expanded their line of sauces to include yakisoba, tonkatsu and takoyaki. Today, Otafuku is continuing to expand its reach testing grocerant niche fresh meal kits!  I for one think that they taste great, are simple to prepare and will help drive Otafuku to the next level.

When times hand you a lemon, or the tide is turning on your product line are you focusing on the consumers, the past, or not at all. Customers are dynamic not static.  Do you need help expanding? Visit www.FoodserviceSolutions.us or call our Grocerant Guru® at: 253-759-7869.

Food Manufactures Evolving into Grocerant Fresh too Drive Sales

Regular readers of this blog know Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® has for years encouraged legacy food manufactures to evolve in grocerant Niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh food branded manufactures. Well that day has come when a nationally known brand has stepped-up and now stands out according to Johnson.

Helping consumers achieve their goals is proving good business at WW, formerly known as Weight Watchers.  Focused on the consumers desire for ‘better for you’ fresh food WW Fresh Quick Prep Meals are now at more than 200 Hy-Vee locations across the Midwest. The chef-inspired meals are nutritionist-approved and ready to eat in 10 minutes or less.

Stacey Mowbray, president of North America at New York-based WW  stated “People are looking for nutritious meals that they can put together quickly at home, work or even on the go,” … “Our WW Fresh meals feature quality ingredients inspired by WW Freestyle, our most livable and effective program ever, making it easier than ever to enjoy delicious meals without spending time prepping and cooking.”

WW Fresh meals serve two people and range in price from $14 to $20. With all ingredients pre-prepped and proteins pre-cooked, meals are ready in three simple steps: combine, heat and eat. The following six meals are rolling out at Hy-Vee grocery stores now:

·         Beef Baja Bowl with Fire-Roasted Corn and Black Beans: Mexican flavors define this beef and veggie-loaded dish with green and red peppers, beans, onions, and corn topped with pico de gallo and crispy tortilla strips. (Six SmartPoints value per serving)

·         Grilled Chicken Tacos with Roasted Chipotle Sauce and Pineapple Slaw: With a roasted-chipotle sauce as well as a lime salsa, these chicken tacos have just the right amount of kick. Enjoy them with the sweet slaw on the side or loaded into the tacos for crunch. (Five SmartPoints value per serving)

·         Two-Cheese Butternut Squash Rotini with Bread Crumbs: A healthier version of mac-n-cheese with butternut squash, cheddar, parmesan and a crispy panko bread crumb topping. (12 SmartPoints value per serving)

·         Dragon Bowl with Thai Peanut Sauce: A hearty vegan meal packed with nutritious ingredients — quinoa, butternut squash and baby broccoli — and dressed up with a bold and flavorful spicy-sweet peanut sauce and a spritz of lime. (Eight SmartPoints value per serving)

·         Creamy Cavatappi with Parmesan, Chicken and Mushrooms: Rich like classic pasta Alfredo, this dish adds chicken breast, earthy mushrooms and asparagus to the mix. (Seven SmartPoints value per serving)

·         Lemon, Chicken & Kale Salad with Parmesan and Almonds: This dinner salad starts with greens and layers in chicken, cherry tomatoes and carrots. Honey-lemon dressing, parmesan and almonds are the finishing touches. (Seven SmartPoints value per serving)

WW required a new partnership with Blue Apron to drive success.  Today, new partnerships can drive sales in foodservice today as your brand is searching for the new electricity to help drive the brand forward. So, just what is your brands new electricity? According to Johnson, “Brand relevance is in part driven with innovation in new food 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, beer, developing brands, unique urban 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. 

Are you looking for a new partnership to drive sales? Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing ideations look more like yesterday than tomorrow? Interested in learning how www.FoodserviceSolutions.us can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization?  Email us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us