Drive Customer Engagement with These 2025 Consumer Food Trends

 

One thing is very clear to start the New Year according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®, Restaurants, convenience stores, and service delis can unlock consumer engagement by tapping into the trends highlighted in Grubhub's annual "2024 Delivered Report."

This report offers a treasure trove of insights into consumer ordering behaviors and preferences that are reshaping the foodservice landscape. The Grocerant Guru®, renowned for exploring consumer behavior in Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh food spaces, underscores the value of these findings to amplify customer loyalty through mix-and-match meal bundling.

Key Trends from Grubhub's 2024 Report:

Made-to-Order Favorites Hotdogs, bananas, and sodas were the top convenience store orders in 2024, with Dr Pepper emerging as the most-ordered soda. This signals strong demand for affordable, easy-to-grab comfort items.

Protein Preferences Chicken reigned supreme, featuring in nearly 40% of restaurant orders and dominating grocery store orders nearly three times more than beef. Innovations like protein-dense dishes, including double-protein orders at Chipotle, and trendy cottage cheese creations further underscored protein's role in meal decisions.

Espresso and Caffeine Trends Espresso orders spiked with the popularity of Sabrina Carpenter’s hit song "Espresso." Grubhub delivered nearly 15,000 unique latte variations, and energy drink orders soared during the midterm season at college campuses.

Swicy Movement The sweet and spicy combination reached new heights with hot honey purchases up 30%, affirming America’s love for bold flavor pairings.

At-Home Entertaining 2024 saw 1.6 million family meal orders from restaurants, highlighting consumer reliance on meal solutions for social gatherings.

Grocerant Guru’s Insights: Five Ways to Leverage These Trends into Mix-and-Match Meal Bundling

1.       Customized Protein Pairings

o    Insight: With chicken leading consumer preferences, mix-and-match options featuring grilled chicken, marinated chicken wings, and chicken salads can appeal to diverse palates.

o    Actionable Strategy: Offer bundled family meals with interchangeable protein options such as chicken, beef, and plant-based alternatives to align with dietary needs and preferences.

2.       Flavored Beverages and Creative Pairings

o    Insight: The rise of Dr Pepper and hot honey trends points to flavor experimentation.

o    Actionable Strategy: Bundle unique drink offerings like craft sodas and energy drinks alongside popular items such as birria tacos or espresso-infused desserts.

3.       Elevating At-Home Entertaining

o    Insight: With over 1.6 million family meals ordered, convenience is king for social gatherings.

o    Actionable Strategy: Introduce themed mix-and-match meal kits, such as Mexican fiesta bundles with birria, elote, and churros, allowing customers to curate meals that fit their occasions.

4.       Promoting ‘Swicy’ Bundles

o    Insight: The swicy trend is here to stay with hot honey’s growing appeal.

o    Actionable Strategy: Include swicy elements such as hot honey chicken, sweet-and-spicy pickle sandwiches, or hot honey-drizzled cheese boards in bundled meals to create memorable flavor experiences.

5.       Office and Hotel Delivery Solutions

o    Insight: Corporate lunch orders and hotel meal deliveries saw a resurgence in 2024.

o    Actionable Strategy: Offer mix-and-match meal deals tailored for group orders, including breakfast-to-dinner kits with add-ons like espresso beverages and champagne for elevated convenience and luxury.

Capturing Consumer Loyalty

Convenience stores, restaurants, and delis can thrive by embracing Grubhub’s data-driven insights. The rise of mix-and-match options not only deepens consumer engagement but also fosters a seamless integration of branded meal solutions into consumers’ lives. Whether curating ready-to-eat protein-packed combos or meeting swicy cravings, retailers stand to build stronger customer connections and grow incremental sales.

Grubhub’s platform spans 375,000 merchants across 4,000 U.S. cities, exemplifying the potential reach for innovative bundling strategies. By aligning with these consumer-driven trends, businesses can elevate their offerings and reinforce relationships with today’s dynamic food enthusiasts.

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 than 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.

Consumers Spiced it up in 2023

 

All food retailers know what their current customers bought from them in 2023.  However, have you wondered just what your customers were buying from your competitors when they were not buying from you?  Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® suggest that you read what recent Grubhub report found consumers were buying from them on their platform.  It’s a snapshot of Americans’ eating and drinking habits as seen through their orders on the platform

In case you did not know, 2022 was tagged “the year of the burrito,” this past year reflected how diners stepped out of their comfort zones and broke with convention. Grubhub characterizes 2023 as “doing it for the vibes.”  Here we go, read on:

“Grubhub analyzed millions of takeout and delivery orders from diners, crunching the data to pinpoint overarching trends as well as specific flavors and ingredients. According to the report, 2023 was all about self-expression, with diners embracing customizations and unlikely food pairings.

Here are some of the platform’s top findings or “vibes.”

• We added a little bit of … spice. Classic favorites like Sriracha were added to orders over 91,000 times, and over 53 million items were ordered with added spice. Condiments such as chipotle sauce and jalapeno cream sauce rose in popularity.

Spicy potato soft tacos, spicy chicken sandwiches, spicy tuna roll, hot and sour soup and drunken noodles were the top five fiery dishes recorded by Grubhub. And Buffalo chicken wings topped the list as the most popular wing flavor.

Casual-dining chain Buffalo Wild Wings is celebrating that win by offering Grubhub users 50% off (up to $10) on wing orders of $30 or more placed on Dec. 12.

• Late-night coffee for caffeine cravers. Customers are getting caffeinated later in the day. Over 10 million coffee orders were placed after 5 p.m. this year. Top choices: Iced coffee, caramel frappe, mocha frappe, cappuccino, and bringing up the rear, regular hot coffee.

• Cows made a comeback. Despite the fact that almost every coffee concept now offers almond, oat and other nondairy milks, cow’s milk rose 20% as an option for coffee orders year-over-year. Whole milk took the lead, followed by 2% milk and chocolate milk. Looks like coffee drinkers are creating their own mochas.

• Workers pause for a fizzy pick-me-up. Diet Coke won out as a refreshment break with the workplace crowd. In-office orders of the soft drink increased by 17% in 2023, and #dietcokebreak trended with over 43 million views on TikTok.

• Fries bring balance for salad fans. French fries were the top-ordered side dish of 2023, but they weren’t only paired with the usual burger or chicken sandwich. Over 600,000 Grubhub customers ordered their salad paired with fries over the last 12 months—boosting the french fry to the most-ordered side of 2023.

But every diner has a favorite style. Classic cut fries earned the No. 1 spot, followed by waffle fries, cheese fries, sweet potato fries and curly fries.

• From food to fashion, pickles were on everything. People placed over 6.9 million orders for pickles in 2023—an increase of 89% over 2022. That was the largest growth of any individual item, with diners ordering them on sandwiches, burgers, pizza and deep-fried on their own. And then there was the pickle sweatshirt that went viral.

• Pineapple earns status on pizza. Pineapple has been a favorite though controversial pizza topping for a long time, but this year its popularity soared 33% over 2022. Seems like people are no longer embarrassed to opt for Hawaiian Pizza.

That said, it came in at No. 5 among the top pizza choices, led off by cheese pizza, followed by margherita, pepperoni and Buffalo chicken in second, third and fourth places respectively.

Grubhub customers can compare their year of orders with these national trends with an individual 2023 Delivered report. Users should receive a customized recap report Tuesday to trace their own takeout and delivery journey of the year.”

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

Grubhub Joins the Navy

 

The U.S. Navy wants it sailors, sailor’s families, employees to be happy and adding relevance to their lives makes them happy. Steven Johnson who once work the with the Naval Personal Command to refresh and renew relevance to the ‘club’ system thinks is first step is a great step for Naval Personal and their families.

You may not know this but more than 100,000 military personnel, their families, and people living and working on the base can now skip the line at restaurants in the Norfolk Main Navy Exchange food court and on base by ordering food items and beverages through the Grubhub app for pickup.

Rob DelaCruz, vice president and general manager of Onsite at Grubhub, stated, "Taking time to enjoy a meal shouldn't be a stressful part of anyone's day, and we're proud to support the Navy community and their families with a convenient dining ordering experience," …. "Grubhub's Onsite platform technology was built to support an array of ordering environments, and we're honored to bring this ordering capability to the Naval Station Norfolk."

Now personnel on base can choose from restaurants such as Panda Express, Firehouse Subs, Burger King and Raising Canes. They can place an order on Grubhub by affiliating with the base via geolocation in the Grubhub app or from QR codes around the base. Once affiliated with the base, available restaurants will populate for ordering.

Additional dining venues on the base will continue to become available throughout the year.

Dennis Wilkerson, vice president of NEXCOM's enterprise food service, stated, "The Navy Exchange Service Command [NEXCOM] continues to seek business concepts that support our sailors and military families with convenient and accessible food options," …. "Particularly at Naval Station Norfolk, expediting the availability of a warm meal for Sailors on duty strengthens Navy readiness and quality of life mission."

The opportunity is large,  NEXCOM is one of 11 commands under Commander, Naval Supply Systems Command and oversees seven business lines. Its mission is to provide authorized customers quality goods and services at a savings and to support Navy quality of life programs for active-duty military, retirees, reservists, veterans, Department of Defense civilians and families.

Grubhub Onsite allows diners to order their favorite meals and convenience items via the Grubhub Marketplace outside of traditional residential environments, including at hotels, in stadiums and hospitals, and on college campuses. Grubhub Onsite is built to handle high-traffic and high-order volume environments, and showcases available restaurants in a branded space within the Grubhub app.

For international corporate presentations, regional chain presentations, 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 GrocerantGuru.com, FoodserviceSolutions.US or call 1-253-759-7869

Restaurants Don’t Miss Out on Amazon’s Prime Day

 

Regular readers of this blog know that Amazon has now invested in GrubHub and Amazon Prime members can get one year of GrubHub+ for free. Yes, free restaurant meal delivery. Branded, full flavored, craveable menu items delivered to their home. 

If you are not offering your meals on GrubHub you just might want to consider it becaue Amazon Prime Day is a big thing according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  Johnson, stated, Prime Day edifies Amazon Prime with consumers and a year of GrubHub+ reinforces the ‘halo’ of all things Amazon does that consumer’s like.”

Here is some of what you should know, it's not just electronics, and gifts that Amazon customers will be looking for during this summer's Prime Day event, happening July 12–13: Data tracker,  Numerator says that for the first time, Amazon is "poised to capture a record-high 20%-plus CPG share this Prime Day." More than half of U.S. households—53%—have an Amazon Prime membership, according to Numerator, and in a survey, 65% of Amazon customers said they plan to shop on Prime Day.

Think about this, Amazon’s CPG share has grown across every Prime Day event in the past three years, Numerator reported, from 16.2% on Prime Day 2019 and 18.3% on Prime Day 2020 to 19.1% during Prime Day 2021. Additionally, according to Numerator, Amazon’s CPG share increases four to five times on Prime Day: In 2021, it was 4.7% the month before Prime Day, 5.7% the month of Prime Day, and 19.1% during the two-day Prime Day event.

In a trend accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, consumers today "are more accustomed to buying their everyday goods online," Numerator CEO Eric Belcher said in a statement. "This year on Prime Day, consumers will be looking for deals on essential goods in addition to electronics and gifts," he stated.

Prime Day also has an impact on in-store sales for both small and large retailers. In 2021, smaller retailers experienced a 10.5-point CPG share decline from the prior month while Prime Day was taking place. Walmart saw an in-store sales share decline of 2.1 points; Kroger and Costco saw smaller share-of-sales declines of 1.4 percentage points and 1.2 percentage points, respectively.

Within the household and baby product sectors, Amazon sees share gains of 3.8 points in household and 3.7 points in the baby on Prime Day, taking share of sales primarily from Walmart, which sees its share of sales decline 1.4 percentage in household goods and 1.7 percentage points in baby products during Prime Day. 

Amazon leads Walmart in awareness of its members-only deals event, too: In Numerator's late June poll—still weeks ahead of this year's Prime Day—47% of Amazon shoppers said they were aware of Prime Day 2022, with more than a quarter saying they found out about it the day the event was announced. That compares with 33% of Walmart.com shoppers who said they knew about the Walmart+ Weekend sale event as it was taking place June 2–5.

Amazon’s Prime day will be top of mind for well over 50% of Americans.  Fresh Meals are top of mind for all Americans daily and with Amazon Prime you get a year of GrubHub+.  Think about it.

For international corporate presentations, regional chain presentations, 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 GrocerantGuru.com, FoodserviceSolutions.US or call 1-253-759-7869

Grubhub Will Survive and Thrive for Years to Come

 

Grubhub is setting the stage for long term success according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  Regular readers of this blog know that that Grubhub was recently bought and is owned by one of the most successful online ordering platforms in the world, Eat Takeaway, based in the Netherlands.

Focusing on Gen Z and Millennials as primary customers there are three essential words explain their values. These words are: care, lead, and deliver, which explains their undeniable desire to ensure that their customers receive satisfaction. Each are hot button consumer touchpoint for the restaurant and the consumer. That will add value over time when executed.  

Recent research shows that Grubhub has the highest sales in America when it comes to online food ordering and delivery compared to other delivery services. According to research, consumers spend seven percent extra when using the app than when ordering in person. Therefore, Just Eat Takeaway is more expensive. However, using the app provides you with many venues to select from, which may be time-consuming if you decide to do it on your own.

Now Grubhub and Cartken, a technology startup that specializes in self-driving, AI-powered robotics and delivery operations, announced a partnership to bring robot delivery to college campuses. This delivery was piloted at Ohio State University this spring, and a full roll out is expected when students return to campus this fall as we pointed out here previously.

So, Grubhub partners with more than 250 college campuses across the United States to give students the ability to integrate meal plans directly into their Grubhub account and access restaurants both on- and off-campus for delivery and pickup. The partnership with Cartken for autonomous robot delivery builds on Grubhub's existing campus offering and is a seamless fit for campus environments, which are notoriously difficult for cars to navigate.

Eric Harper, senior director of campus environments at Grubhub", stated, Robot delivery is exciting for students and helps provide even better service and innovative solutions to our campus partners," ... "We've worked with Ohio State University for years on the campus dining front, and they are always an early adopter of solutions that create efficiencies for their operations and improve the student experience. We look forward to supporting our university partners and responding to their unique delivery environments as we roll out this technology at other campuses in the coming months."

Cartken's robots navigate pavements, crosswalks and pedestrian paths within the campus area without human guidance. The robots use Cartken's artificial intelligence (AI) and camera-based navigation and mapping technology, which the company developed for small autonomous vehicles to safely operate around pedestrians. Human override remains an option if necessary – for instance when a path is blocked – guaranteeing reliable operation and minimizing delivery delays. Cartken's robots operate at up to three miles per hour on campus and handle various weather conditions, including rain and snow.

Christian Bersch, CEO of Cartken, stated, "We're thrilled to be working with Grubhub to delight students and campus staff with robot delivery," … "This collaboration perfectly aligns with our mission to use robotics and AI technology to provide friction-free and environmentally sustainable delivery, and have robots serve the community. We are excited to scale alongside Grubhub and offer robot delivery to students on campuses across the country."

Zia Ahmed, senior director of Student Life Dining Services at Ohio State University, stated,  "Robot delivery has been very popular on campus this past school year, validating our prediction that students would appreciate autonomous mobile delivery," ... "We are excited about the return of robots to campus, and we have been testing the Cartken robots during the spring semester with the same vision to lower the cost of delivery, reduce the time it takes to deliver food and enhance sustainability."

For international corporate presentations, regional chain presentations, 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 GrocerantGuru.com, FoodserviceSolutions.US or call 1-253-759-7869