Wendy’s Chicken Flavor Everywhere is a Good Thing

 

Have you tried the new Wendy’s Spicey Chicken Sandwich? Did you like it?  Well, that flavor can be gotten off most any grocery store shelf, and according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®, that is a good thing for Wendy’s and its franchisee.

Wendy’s marketing messaging is about driving new electricity into the Wendy’s brand, garnering customer trial, product adoption, and customer migration. How is your brand building new electricity? According to Johnson, “Brand relevance is in part driven with innovation in new menu related 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, music, developing brands, unique urban hemp 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.  How is your brand building new electricity?

In a partnership with Pringles, Wendy’s has focused on Wendy's original Spicy Chicken Sandwich to garner incremental customer trial.

The result? A new line-item snack that allows you to enjoy the magic of Wendy's Spicy Chicken in a single Pringles crisp that fits just between your fingers, perfect for everyday and everywhere snacking moments and new point of distribution for Wendy’s.

Battle for Share of Stomach

Gareth Maguire, Senior Director of marketing for Pringles, stated "Our partnership with Wendy's is a match made in flavor-heaven, so we're thrilled to have another collab with an equally talked about, fan-favorite menu item". "Following the enthusiasm for Pringles Baconator, we knew we had to challenge ourselves and perfectly capture the flavor of another popular menu item. The debut of Pringles Wendy's Spicy Chicken provides a crunchy, unnecessarily genius way to enjoy the spicy, juicy deliciousness of the #1 hands down best chicken sandwich in the U.S. … in a single crisp."

Each can come’s with a code on the seal that unlocks a free spicy chicken sandwich, available with purchase via mobile order. That should drive trial.

Carl Loredo, Chief Marketing Officer for The Wendy's Company, stated, "Pringles Wendy's Spicy Chicken crisps perfectly encapsulate everything fans have come to know, love and expect from Wendy's iconic chicken sandwich." … "Wendy's fans can now enjoy our insanely flavorful Spicy Chicken Sandwich in their crisps to satisfy taste-buds until their next restaurant visit." The limited-edition Pringles Wendy's Spicy Chicken is available on shelves at retailers nationwide starting in June.

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.

Carl’s Jr. is Leveraging Partnerships to Speed-Up Product Innovation

Restaurant customer acquisition cost continue to go up according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  One sure way to drive brand awareness, garner incremental customer is via new product introductions, sampling, relevant brand messaging. 

Today one of the best ways to speed-up new product introductions is partnering with a brand that has a build in base of loyal customers.  Carl’s is doing exactly that when they partnered with Kellogg’s to help reimage it breakfast line-up and create some new electricity for the Carl’s Jr. / Hardee’s brands.

Carl’s Jr. believes that this strategic partnership will provide new electricity driving incremental sales. What is your new electricity that is driving top line sales and bottom line profits? 

Are your customer counts growing?  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, developing brands, unique urban clothing, grocerant positioning, Fresh food messaging, autonomous delivery, cashier-less retail, plates, glasses, cash-less payments, digital hand held marketing.

Foodservice 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.  That will require brands to embrace new fresh food partnerships more now than ever before according to Johnson.

Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s with the launch of Froot Loops Mini Donuts. In partnership with Kellogg’s Froot Loops Mini Donuts are adding a fresh spin on the iconic breakfast favorite by bringing a pop of color and a hint of '90s nostalgia to consumers nationwide all while extending, edifying ,and exploring new branded messaging.

Carl’s Jr. Froot Loops Mini Donuts taste just like the cereal consumers remember from childhood and are perfect for breakfast, snack time and beyond. This new branded craveable menu item comes in the five-iconic colors of your childhood: red, blue, green, purple, and yellow.

Jeff Jenkins, chief marketing officer for Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s  stated “We’re continuing to look for ways to bring innovative, delicious items to our consumers,” .. “We know today’s consumers are craving nostalgia, and Froot Loops Mini Donuts feature flavors that will bring them back to their childhood, and introduce a little extra fun at snack time.”

The two global brands are also launching #NotMilk, a playful digital campaign with an unexpected twist on the iconic dairy ads, showcasing that milk is not required for these colorful snacks. Partnering with a number of celebrities including '90s heartthrob Mario Lopez, Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s are asking fans across the country to show their best #NotMilk mustache on Instagram and Twitter using the #NotMilk and #FrootLoopsMiniDonuts, for a chance to be featured on the brands’ social channels.

Froot Loops Mini Donuts are in stores now.  So, how are you creating a platform to drive down the cost of customer acquisition?  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 or visit:  www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information.

Did the Egg McMuffin Devastate the Cereal Business?

Consumer packaged goods companies have seen declining sales, mergers, acquisitions and continued customer migration.  When thinking about breakfast many customers fell in love the McDonald’s Egg McMuffin and today prefer a handheld breakfast sandwich to a bowl of cereal according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Customers have mixed feelings on breakfast, with some calling it the most important meal of the day and others skipping it entirely. Packaged Facts recently found that most “breakfast believers belong to the baby boomer generation or families with children.

Now how do legacy CPG companies plan to get back those fast food breakfast customers? In new research by Packaged Facts projects that one way is with “drinkable yogurt”.  The drinkable yogurt market will grow another 13% by 2022. New drinkable yogurt products can capitalize off of the nostalgia young adults may have for products such as Danimals, while also appealing to their more grown-up taste buds, nutritional interests and busy schedules according to Package Facts.

Drinkable yogurt pose a greater threat for restaurants as they for the most part do not sell packaged drinks and that just might be the leg-up legacy CPG retailers have been looking for according to Johnson. David Sprinkle, research director for Packaged Facts stated “There is much room for innovation in breakfast foods,” “With the reputation for the most important meal of the day, maximizing the reputation of a product’s nutrition while highlighting its’ convenience, is critical in appealing to demographics across the board.”

Club stores sales of frozen breakfast croissants, handheld egg McMuffin copycats, and breakfast burritos are up over 123% over the past five years according to Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Scorecards. While cereal remains the most popular breakfast food, parents want kids have a fewer carbs, and more protein for breakfast and they are evolving breakfast buying habits fast. 

How are you going to address the next new wave of breakfast food consumption?  Are you going to continue selling what you have always sold and selling it the same way? How do you think that is going to work for you?

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.

Foodservice Partnerships Matter Moe’s teams with Kellogg

Success does leave clues and Moe’s Southwest Grill, is expanding its brand from the restaurant to the Grocery Stores with Frozen Breakfast Bowls with the help of Kellogg’s the leading breakfast staple for America’s families according to Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru®.

Moe’s Southwest Grill, first-ever grocery line of breakfast products, Moe’s Breakfast Bowls, were developed with consumer products leader, Kellogg Company, to bring bold, authentic Southwest flavors to consumers who want to start their day with a protein-packed meal that is tasty and filling. Moe’s Breakfast Bowls each contain a minimum of 12 grams of protein and feature food you can feel good about, including meats raised without hormones and no artificial flavors or colors.

Look for Moe’s frozen breakfast bowles at the Frozen Food Court at your local grocery including compines the ilk of Walmart, Giant Eagle and Wegmans, and distributing soon to other retailers like Kroger and HEB by July, the new line includes five must-try varieties:

1.       Chorizo & Eggs—Spicy and zesty, this bowl provides a winning blend of fluffy eggs, cilantro lime rice, hormone-free pork chorizo, and black beans; pico de gallo and queso sauce topping take it to another level. MSRP $4.49.

2.       Chorizo Benedict – Mild in spice, intense in flavor, this bowl features fluffy eggs, Yukon gold potatoes, hormone-free pork chorizo, pico de gallo, jalapeno lime hollandaise, and avocado. MSRP $4.49.

3.       Southwest Vegetarian—Enjoyable by all, this meat-free bowl still boasts 12g of protein and features fluffy eggs, pinto and black beans, cilantro lime rice, salsa verde, roasted tomatillo salsa fresco, queso fresco, and avocado. MSRP $4.49.

4.       Chicken Chilaquiles—Medium kick with a whopping 17g of protein, this bowl features fluffy eggs with hormone-free pulled chicken atop a bed of tortilla chips and pinto beans, with salsa, queso and cilantro to seal the deal. MSRP $4.49.

5.       Huevos Rancheros—Featuring a fried egg, corn tortilla and black beans, this bowl provides 14g of protein and mild spice with salsa rojo, pico de gallo, queso fresco on top. MSRP $4.49.

Kat Cole, chief operating officer and president, FOCUS Brands, stated “We are thrilled to increase access to the delicious experience of Moe’s through the debut of Moe’s Breakfast Bowls at supermarkets nationwide,”  “The Southwest flavor profile is growing in appeal, but until now, not widely available in the breakfast category. Moe’s Breakfast Bowls are meeting the demand for better-for-you, flavorful options for a high protein breakfast or breakfast-as-snack option.”

Moe’s has partnered with Kellogg Company, the world’s leading cereal company and leading North American frozen foods company, on the development and manufacturing of the new product line.  We believe that Tony the Tiger thinks they are GREAT!

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.