Mini Meals or Snacks Gen Z and Millennials Love a Good Crunch

 

Looking a customer ahead is a key factor for all food retailers today.  Selling what a customer want when they want it is important, so is giving them the flavor, texture, and size of meal or snack that they want according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Frito-Lay know that when it came to finding the perfect snack over the past year, more than 70% of consumers said they reached for a food with a crunch.  That finding come from the latest insights from Frito-Lay’s U.S. Snack Index. Looking ahead to 2023, Frito-Lay found that people will continue seeking out crunchy snacks, but that generational differences will play a bigger role in snacking.

So, Frito-Lay’s survey found that beyond crunch, the next important factors behind choosing a snack were sweet, salty and filling, respectively. Some 49% of consumers said a perfect snack is also nostalgic and reminds them of a specific moment in time.

Now looking at generational differences, the Snack Index showed that about half of Gen Z is most satisfied by nighttime snacking, and Gen Zers are twice as likely as other generations to order delivery when they’re craving a snack.

Millennials, on the other hand, generally satisfy their late-night snack cravings with a trip to the grocery or convenience store, while 64% of GenXers and 62% of Baby Boomers are most likely to prepare something at home.

Once again, Frito-Lay also took a look at holiday snacking, and found that it is most often associated with good feelings. The index shows that 65% of adults crave snacks the most when they want to treat themselves and 61% are unlikely to crave snacks when they are feeling down during the holidays. Additionally, 55% of those surveyed said they crave snacks most when they smell them and 52% crave snacks when they see them.

Here we go with food discovery a favorite of both Gen Z and Millennials, finally, 45% of consumers say they look for a flavor that is available only for a limited time and 49% grab variety and party packs during the holiday season. Some 55% of respondents also look forward to sharing snacks with friends and family, 62% of GenZers and 52% of Millennials will be turning to social media to find new holiday recipes.

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.

Circle K & Cheetos Create New Electricity

Insights, innovation, and customer involvement via strategic partnerships create a platform of new electricity and Circle K has the right partnership to drive incremental success according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®. 

CircleK has found its new electricity to drive top line foodservice sales and bottom line profits in its relationship with Cheetos.   Frito Lay owns the Cheetos brand and is very good at expanding its brand and brand relevance according to Johnson.  Brand relevance is in part driven with innovation in new food products and new avenues of distribution all of which are the platform for the new electricity, according to Johnson; partnerships specifically strategic partnerships are driving retail success today. 

Johnson stated that in my minds-eye the new electricity must be very efficient for the supply and includes such things as fresh foods, grocerant consultants, urban farming (produce, seafood, etc.), autonomous delivery, cashier-less retail, cash-less payments, digital hand held marketing.

Retailers the ilk of CircleK 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.  That’s exactly what CircleK is doing. That will require brands to embrace new fresh food partnerships more now than ever before according to Johnson.

So when Circle K Stores and PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay's Cheetos brand joined forces to launch Sweetos Cinnamon Sugar, a Froster flavor inspired by the brand’s Sweetos cinnamon sugar puff which is was alimited-time frozen beverage flavor.

Circle K's Florida division drummed up support for the Sweetos Cinnamon Sugar flavor through a sweepstakes, which ran from March 9-23. Five $25 gift cards were awarded to consumers who entered by replying to a March 9 Facebook update from Circle K Florida explaining where they would go with a Cheetos Sweetos Froster. Thus, the platform for continued customer engagement via strategic partnerships.

CircleK  teams up with Frito-Lay regularly for exclusive product launches and promotions. In fact last year, Circle K has partnered with the manufacturer to run a campaign spotlighting rookie players and its Ruffles potato chips, as well as a "Dew Inner Circle" promo, in which shoppers earned points for each Mountain Dew or Doritos SKU purchased. Where is your new electricity?  Are you looking a customer ahead?

Are you trapped doing what you have always done and doing it the same way?  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 or visit:  www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information.