Food Demographics Indicate Customer Migration

 

Yes, the times they are changing once again. Looking a customer ahead many times means just looking at today’s consumers path to purchase and follow the customer the according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®. At other times it requires taking a look back then you can look forward according to Johnson.

If you want to make inroads with Gen Z the customer of tomorrow. UNiDAYS recently found attitudes and behaviors of Gen Z consumers while stifled like all other by the pandemic, they found four key themes food retailers should pay attention to and our team they deserve a second look now:

1. Move Past the Broke Student Mentality

According to the report, 78 percent of Gen Z’s spend the majority of their money on food. However, Gen Z has already proven to be more financially savvy than their Millennial counterparts. So, even though they have the money to spend, they want to be careful about how they spend it.

2. Community-Based Incentives Are Key

Nearly 93 percent of Gen Z’s say they “are more likely to try a restaurant that offers discounts.” UNiDAYS recommends creating a personalized experience for students in a scalable way. Out of the Gen Z-er’s surveyed, 41 percent said they learn about new menu items in the restaurant, and the remainder rely on social media networks (20 percent) and friends (19 percent). The best way to market these local offers are through community-based platforms that build brand affinities.

3. Embrace Spontaneity

Gen Z’s are spontaneous by nature. Only five percent of them said they plan their meals in advance while 48 percent said they try a new quick-service restaurant chain every month. Restaurants can take advantage of their willingness to try new things by using real-time tactics such as mobile push alerts for promotions of menu items and pricing geared towards Gen Z. Since they often communicate in images, it’s critical to dedicate “resources to leverage images and video snippets of your food across social and in promotions targeted at Gen Z.”

4. What Gen Z is Craving: It’s Not About the Meal Plan

Almost 48 percent of students don’t have a campus meal plan, and UNiDAYS says, “if they’re not coming to you, then they’re checking out your competition - which includes local and independent restaurants.” Students share that almost half of local eateries provide special offers for them and 78 percent are taking advantage.

Success does leave clues www.FoodserviceSolutions.us  is the global leader in grocerant niche business development.  We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities.  Has your company had a Grocerant ScoreCard completed a Grocerant Program Assessment, or new Grocerant niche product Ideation?  Want one?  Call 253-759-7869 Email: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us

Restaurants Online Sales Need to include Snacks

Restaurant chains have been trying to attract both Millennial and Generation Z consumers as they are the current base customer and future growth driver according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Restaurants need to understand that both millennial and Gen Z consumers are more likely to search for meals, menus, snacks online, via mobile devise; then use mobile pay. One problem is driving the incremental add on snacking item to the order to increase ticket size and profitability. 

New research from Euromonitor International have that found consumers are making fewer unplanned, impulse snack purchases in the last five years because of the shift to e-commerce. While

Online grocery sales are forecast to reach $100 billion by as early as 2022, and 70% of shoppers will at least occasionally shop for groceries online by that time, according to the Food Marketing Institute and Nielsen.

The fact is consumers still like snacks. According to market research firm IRI, sales in snacking rose to $89 billion in 2016, posting an annual growth rate of 3%. Nielsen found the growth has not been confined to just one area, with all individual snacking categories posting sales increases — led by bars, jerky, cookies and crackers — from 2013 to 2016. In fact, for younger generations, snacking has begun to replace the three-square-meals-a-day model. Grocerant niche mix & match bundling is a key solution to garnering incremental snaking daypart sales.

According to a report from Packaged Facts, members of Gen Z are more likely than millennials to snack between meals and prepare simple meals when they slow down enough to do so.

Millennials think of small meals = snacks they are looking for more sustenance and a way to nourish the body, as evidenced by the rising demand for organic, plant-based and natural foods without additives.

It’s at that intersection that grocerant niche mix & match meal bundling that you can find your solution to building top line sales and bottom line profits according to Johnson. Understanding the challenge and beginning to invest more heavily in multi-meal dayparts on your digital platform is a success clues few should forget.  

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.

Gen Z want Thrifty Fresh Food Fast with Flavor

Once again, a new generation of food shoppers are having their say in the retail foodservice market place this time it is Generation Z meaning those born between 1981 and 1996.  The oldest members of Gen Z have already graduated college and are now in their early 20s.  

Considered a thrifty generation, Gen Z has not shown an allegiance to food brands like past generations and are open to all avenues of food distribution and food channels according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Today, Gen Z accounts for 27 percent of the U.S. population.  Unlike Millennials seeking food discovery, Gen Z is seeking Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh food fast that cost less and has a ‘halo’ of better for you.   Here are some findings from our latest Grocerant ScoreCards on Gen Z’s:

1.       Food retailers and brands should offer these second generations digital-native’s mobile invitations and in-store interactive displays with a focus on appealing to Gen Z's passion for unique products.

2.       Food retailer need to expand your brand messaging reach to include non-traditional digital platforms, the ilk of Twitch, video game streaming services, and all other Esports platforms as they have high engagement among Gen Z

3.       Food with full-flavor and flavors from around the world not just around the block.  They are price sensitive and balance price with speed of service and that ‘halo’ of better for you.

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/

Kids Meals, Kids, Big Kids Meals including Millennials, Gen Z Meals

Price, value, service, fast food retailers battle for customer counts according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® the battle for customers become complexity free when Price drives trial, and then the key driver in brand customer adoption. 

Once again Burger King is in the chicken nugget war the favorite fast food menu item according to recent Grocerant ScoreCards with 67.6% or respondents ranking nuggets first or second.  Burger King is now selling 10-piece Chicken Nuggets for just $1.  That is a price point few can pass up. If you want to order lunch for the office a limited edition 100 piece Chicken Nuggets will be available exclusively on Postmates with free delivery using the promo code NUGGS.

Chris Finazzo, President, North America, Burger King Corporation stated "We know how much our guests love our delicious chicken nuggets,”… “They are crispy, they are golden, they are tender, there are 10 of them, and they are now just a buck.” Foodservice Solutions® FIVE P’s of food marketing once again are playing a key role in who shops where and when.

Burger Kings Chicken Nuggets offer empowers customer choice pair perfectly with any delicious signature Burger King restaurant dipping sauce including BBQ, Honey Mustard, Ranch, Zesty, Buffalo and Sweet & Sour. Dip them 10 times, 10 different ways.

The team at Foodservice Solutions® is going to try them for lunch to test the Free delivery applied at checkout when ordering 100 piece Chicken Nuggets and using promo code NUGGS between 10/11 and 10/14. Promotion ends on Sunday, 10/14 at 11:59 PM PST. Offer available at participating locations and subject to product availability. Free delivery limited to 1 redemption per customer. So, how are you garnering new customers?

Interested in learning how Foodservice Solutions 5P’s of Food Marketing 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.

Food and Generation Z is your Brand Selling what they Want

Each generation of consumers seems to elevate demands on food retailers.  There are a set of common undercurrents including increased speed of service, delivery, bolder flavors, and foods with a ‘halo’ of better-for-you’ that have been and will continue to drive change in food retailing according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®. 

Since Generation Z will make up more than 40 percent of buying power by the year 2020 if you are not focusing on them now you should start soon according to Johnson.  The generation after millennials, is Generation Z.   Gen Z is made up of those born from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s.  Gen Z accounts for 25 percent of the U.S. population, making it a larger cohort than baby boomers or millennials.

The first thing that is different about this group is they like shopping in stores vs online. So I guess differentiation discovering what on the shelf. Gen Z, or Pivotals as consumer trends consultancy FutureCast also calls them, range in age from pre-tween to 21, and they already claim more than $40 billion in buying power.

Bharat Rupani, president of Interactions, which recently released its Next Generation of Retail study."Generation Z is constantly connected to technology, which retailers may find intimidating to overcome when it comes to in-store engagement. However, our study found that this group is longing for retailers to provide an engaging in-store experience. In fact, when given the choice, the majority prefer shopping in-store vs. online," 

The Interactions study continued finding that Gen Z consumers are very price-conscious and prefer to spend money on experiences vs. material items, and they are not brand loyal (81 percent are willing to switch from their favorite brand if they find a similar product at a higher quality).

Convenience Store News polled various retail, consumer and convenience industry experts and here’s what they had to say how retailers could best garner Gen Z consumers:

1.        First off, treat this consumer group like valued customers despite their young age. Go after low-hanging fruit like free Wi-Fi and clerks who greet them.

2.        Creating engaging in-store experiences are a good way to hook Gen Z. Think along the lines of snacks they can’t find anywhere else.

3.        Bolster your business with Gen Z by creating newsworthy pop-culture events around a wide variety of ethnic and international foods; Gen Z is a very diverse group.

4.        Leverage technology in ways that appeal to Gen Z, such as the availability of Apple Pay at the counter. The idea is to create a journey whereby they can get in and out without looking up much from their phones.

5.        Promote and advertise through social media; work with "influencers" as part of the strategy. Don't waste time on TV advertising as they're not really watching.

6.        Present the very best mobile shopping experience possible; pay attention to content and image guidelines from outsourced professionals, if necessary.

7.        Brace yourself and your store for 2020 when the Zs are predicted to be the driving force of the consumer world.

In a digital world retail foodservice discovery at each store is important to Gen Z.  For the retailer to win Johnson believes that retailers need to make the inside of each store digitally inclusive, interactive, and participatory.

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, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant/ or twitter.com/grocerant

The Melting Pot Generation or Gen Z are in search for ‘Clean’ Food

Generation Z is a multicultural population is younger than millennials born after 1997 that just might disrupt food manufactures of the past, the current supply chain, and food retailer focus according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Generation Z represent 27% of the U.S. population, and a majority view “clean eating” as improving quality of life, according to the market researcher The NPD Group. Households with at least one consumer who falls into the Gen Z demographic account for some of the heaviest use of organic and non-G.M.O. foods.

Gen Z are the first digitally native generation, that is they grew up with easy access to information through handheld devices. They demand fast transparency, and will look things up on an smart phone or tablet.

Gen Z view personalized marketing efforts more favorably than millennials or Gen X, and they seek experiences through the products they buy. The number of unique universal product codes purchased in households with Gen Z children is significantly higher than those without, according to the market research company I.R.I..

Gen Z’s interest in organic food, mitigating the impact of climate change, and their willingness to rapidly embrace new technologies and technology platforms may one day resonate far more deeply across the food and beverage supply chain. “(Gen Z) see windows where others see walls. They are not afraid to create those things that they want but cannot find.” — Lynne Gillis, I.R.I.

 As Gen Z ages into adulthood, they have an increased comfort with and ability to seamlessly switch between digital and brick and mortar will lead to the full blossoming of the omnichannel marketplace. Gen Z consumers will seek value and variety on-line, and frictionless experiences in store.

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 www.FoodserviceSolutions.us 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.

Generation Z Tomorrow’s Customers Will You be Ready to Feed Them?

Children of Generation Z growing up in America today are living in a world adults are working hard to cope with some homes are cutting the cord (cable) so there is no traditional TV, political chaos abounds, and picking up dinner  is more common that cooking at home according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®. 

According to the study titled Understanding Tomorrow's Tastemakers Today, that explores the dining culture, attitudes and behaviors of more than 900 K-12 consumers, ranging in age from 8 to 18, toward traditional foodservice segments. 

"Today's kids' expectations for dining outside the home are extremely high and will continue to increase as they become young adults," said Sharon Olson, executive director of Y-Pulse. "Certain trends, such as culinary adventure and healthfulness in food, typically accelerate as younger consumers grow older."

Food media, peers and the need for community heavily influence the current food culture in young consumers, according to the study. It identified five things food companies and restaurants need to know about Gen Z consumers' dining preferences:

1.       They enjoy contradicting food trends. Young consumers enjoy culinary adventure and comfort foods with equal zeal. Seventy-one percent of those surveyed like trying new dishes and flavors at restaurants, while 91 percent of kids like ordering their favorite foods or foods that they are familiar with.
 

2.       They want the feeling of community. Despite their love for smartphones and convenience, young consumers are not immune to the need for community feeling. Their choices in restaurants reflect this priority. Two-thirds (66 percent) surveyed like restaurants that offer shareable food and three-fourths (76 percent) of kids said they like to hang out with their friends at a restaurant.
 

3.       They are heavily influenced by food media. Young consumers have a healthy appetite for food media consumption, as 56 percent said they like to watch the Food Network and 52 percent of these consumers said they like to watch "Tasty" style videos on Facebook and Instagram.
 

4.       They are influenced by perceptions of healthy food. Much like their predecessors, Gen Z consumers care very much about eating healthy food and are influenced by perceptions of healthy eating. When asked about their perspective on eating healthy, 40 percent said that the snacks offered in school vending machines are healthy.
 

5.       They crave independence in food. When it comes to the Gen Z consumer segment, kids are growing up with a strong sense of independence and decisions in food. Fifty-eight percent said they like to cook for themselves and 50 percent of them said they like to get snacks from the convenience store.

How are you preparing to sell food to Gen Z consumers?  Outside eyes can drive inside results.  Don’t react to customer migration.  Become a proactive retailer and understand how the grocerant niche can help you drive top line sales and bottom line profits.

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, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant/ or twitter.com/grocerant

Generation Z Steps Forward

The foundation of retail foodservice growth has come from innovation in shipping, packaging, service Deli design, restaurant design, speed of service, quality of fresh prepared food too name but a few drivers of the industry according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Regular readers of this blog know that time and time again Johnson has documented that consumers never take a step backward in food retail they always keep migrating to retail environments that offer fresh, faster, or more flavorful options.  In the case of Generation Z (Gen Z) that is the case as well.

Recently the NPD Group found in a new report, entitled “Make it Happen for Gen Z,”  much of the same things.  In case you have forgotten Gen Z refers to those born after 1997, some of whom are now in their late teens and early 20s and therefore beginning to have an impact on the marketplace.

NPD noted that “The important distinction drawn between the two generations is that Gen Z has been raised on organic food by its Generation X parents and has therefore been taught since a very young age to see food in terms of function and nutrition rather than merely taste and flavor.”  The Foodservice Solutions® team notes while true those some parents have opted for more ‘bold flavored food”.

While NPD noted “Gen Zs are similar to Millennials in that they demand authenticity, freshness, and purity in the products they use, but even more than Millennials, Gen Z consumers say clean eating improves their quality of life and fresh foods play a large role in this lifestyle,”

The Washington Post noted in an article titled “9 Ways Millennials Are Changing the Way We Eat,” Millennials are “redefining healthy” by moving past nutritionism to see the healthfulness of whole, sustainably produced food. They also make food choices based on the impact they have on the world, showing the importance they place on the health of the environment, and the planet.”

The Post story continued “Millennials, are more adventurous eaters than previous generations. “Millennials are described as open-minded and curious,” “They like trying new flavors, love ethnic cuisine and won’t shy away from vegetarian and vegan options. As menu choices expand and you try new things, know that’s driven by Millennials.”

Millennials also demand that brands live up to their high expectations; as a group, they are more likely to “punish” brands who don’t fulfill these standards than previous generations” On the other hand NPD, found “ it is important for marketers to “fine-tune their messages” in order to reach Gen Z. “

Gen Z consumers “think of themselves as having a personal brand with a story and values by which to live.” This generation will support brands that fit with that story regardless of size of the company. Regular readers of this blog will know the team at Foodservice Solutions® noted in 2010 it is about personalization & customization.

One undercurrent that continues to prevail is consumers will over time favor price over all else.  While the top 5% may not focus on price all most of the time, the 95% of consumers will more often than not refocus on price. Our team has found that price it is one of the top three key drives within all demographics.

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, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant/ or twitter.com/grocerant