FriendShip Food Stores, Exploit Chicken, Pizza, and the Roller Grill for Growth

 

In 2022 once again garnering new customers is and art and those food retailers that focus on Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared grocerant niche fresh food will have a distinct advantage according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®. 

FriendShip Food Stores, Kirk Matthews, vice president foodservice and marketing, stated, “We are chicken-centric, and tenders are the drivers, making up 80% of our chicken sales,” Matthews explained. “At an ounce-and-a-half in weight, twice the size of our competitors’ tenders, ours are an exceptional value.”

Ready-2-Eat the Double hand-breaded for extra crunch, cooked in small batches and always hot and fresh, chicken is “the champion” in the foodservice category at FriendShip Food Stores. The proprietary program, which is available in 21 of the company’s 30 Ohio stores, was launched about four years ago and sales have grown substantially every year.

So, it was during COVID, that FriendShip introduced chicken bundles and family meals. Since then, the stores are running targeted promotions such as snack boxes for lunch and bigger take-home packs after 5 p.m. (“Feed a family of four with chicken, dinner rolls and sides for $10.99.”)

Families want more than just chicken, so FriendShip has also been successful expanding its foodservice offering with its proprietary pizza program, which like the chicken, has been available for about four years. The signature crust features a savory blend of garlic and other spices and in addition to the traditional toppings, the stores offer buffalo chicken, chicken bacon ranch varieties and a breakfast pizza with sausage gravy.

On the run or for the whole family, FriendShip offers slices, which are priced at $2.99 for one and $5 for two, are the best sellers, FriendShip is making a strong effort to sell more whole pies, according to Matthews. To drive trial and demonstrate value, the stores offer discounted prices on whole pies on weekends, on special days such as Tax Day and Father’s Day and through the company’s loyalty program.   

I want you to understand that giving customers what they want is not exploiting them.  It is the art of grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food.

Foodservice Solutions® team is here to help you drive top line sales and bottom-line profits. Are you looking a customer ahead? Does your messaging 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 the clue you need to propel your continued success.

FriendShip Food Stores Cooking-Up Growth

Evolving a convenience store with relevance demands a keen focus on the needs and wants of your consumers and no one does it better than FriendShip Food Stores according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®. 

Regular readers of this blog are aware that FriendShip Food Stores' journey into the grocerant niche filled will Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food has been success step after success step. Foodies now known them as FriendShip Kitchen. The newly positioned FriendShip Kitchen looks the part of a c-store customers can trust to provide a fresh and tasty bite to eat but consumers consider it a ‘restaurant’ or describe it as having ‘restaurant quality food’.

Retail food sales success starts with consistent fresh quality food at FriendShip it the Famous Chicken, which is double hand-breaded and prepared in small batches, is one of the main draws of the chain's proprietary foodservice offerings as regular readers of this blog know.

However, its pizza program is the most enticing visual inside the FriendShip Kitchen store according to CSnews. The different varieties of freshly baked pizza are on display behind glass in the style of a New York pizzeria, giving customers a look at what they can expect when they purchase by the slice or as whole pies.

The displayed pizzas are held under strict timelines until ordered, when they are then reheated and served piping hot. Remodeled FriendShip Kitchen stores with limited space use a pizza spinner instead, where the pizza is prepared and held hot.

The display kitchen enables ‘food transparency’ and the team at explained that the FriendShip Kitchen remodeled/rebranding has allowed the company to:

·         Effectively communicate to customers exactly what the retailer offers; 

·         Maintain consistency in preparation and finished products; and

·         Ensure staff are able to follow a single set of procedures. 

Have you empowered ‘food transparency’ in your retail operation? Success does leave clues. Now you have one more clue from our Grocerant Guru®.

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 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche. Contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or 253-759-7869

Congratulations FriendShip Stores, aka FriendShip Kitchen Grocerant Fresh Food

No one can be surprised that time and time again food industry awards and recognition are going to retailers that focus on consumer touchpoints of relevance.  The number one area of relevance for consumers today is Grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food that is ‘better for you’, according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Johnson wants to commend CStore Decisions for recognizing FriendShip Stores for a “Best Foodservice Launch” designation for its FriendShip Famous Chicken, a rapidly growing part of its new FriendShip Kitchen brand and foodservice program. 

Since June of 2018, with the opening of its first new-to-market FriendShip Kitchen location, FriendShip rolled out its proprietary hand-breaded chicken brand. The chicken is “fresh, never frozen,” and cooked in small batches. Chicken sales were up double-digits year-over-year for 2019. 

The plan is to complete the conversion of all stores to the FriendShip pizza program by mid-2020. The pizza is made in-store and is baked fresh. Slices and whole pies appeal to lunch guests, or those seeking a meal for dinner or an event. Success does leave clues.  Fresh food fast in small batches.

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