Ron Paul Rest in Peace, you spent a Lifetime Standing tall in Foodservice.

 

If success leaves clues Ron Paul Founder, CEO, and President of Technomic has left many for all of us to follow.  His legacy of successful tutelage will continue providing information services, consulting to retail food manufactures, chain restaurants, food marketing companies, equipment manufactures, and Grocerant consulting companies. He may be gone now but he will never be forgotten.    

When it came to understanding the big picture, Ron was the best.  From food industry manufactures to defining every niche in the restaurant industry.  Ron understood niche relationships and the how to assist each focus on the consumer. 

His contributions have contributed to the success of more companies than I can count.  Ron Paul was an industry supplier of Fact Based information that has help drive QSR sales alone from 2 billion when he started to over $ 387 billion today.

While Ron and Technomic were early to focus on the Home Meal Replacement niche as industry focus shifted so did Technomic. However, with his tutelage, encouragement and prompting, I dug in and thus evolved the grocerant niche my practice. Success does leave clues and if being a gentleman, a professional and are not enough Ron Paul was a friend to many in our industry and that is a clue to his success.

Steven Johnson

Grocerant Guru®

Foodservice Solutions®

Del Monte Farm Fresh Restaurant

 

Everyone has heard of Del Monte Produce, most of you have eaten fresh Del Monte fruit and a lot more of you have eaten Del Monte fruit from a jar on the produce cooler, or from a can on the shelf on your local grocery store according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®. Are you a legacy CPG manufacture that looks more like yesterdays retailer than tomorrows?

However how many of you have eaten fresh Del Monte Produce from their new FRSHst restaurant located in Miami?  I’m betting given travel restriction very few of you.  Once restrictions are lifted, and I get my second COVID-19 Vaccination shot, I’m on my way.

FRSHst, is an innovative fresh and healthy dining restaurant experience from Fresh Del Monte Produce has just launched in Miami.  The restaurant focus is about the ‘halo’ of better for you fresh food, “bringing the community whole-heartedly good food that is not just wholesome, but also nutritious, and comes from the soul.”

So, Farmers at heart, the FRSHst concept demonstrates the team at Del Monte’s passion for fresh produce. It is evident in the six delicious food and beverage categories that incorporate the highest quality, best ingredients, including bowls, beverages, coffee, sandwiches, grab and go, and bakery. 

Youssef Zakharia, president and Chief Operations Officer of Fresh Del Monte Produce stated, “We want to create a bond with our consumers by putting them at the center of everything we do,” … “The launch of FRSHst cafes allows us to deliver to our consumers what is important to them: healthy, wholesome and convenient foods.”

Once again industry leaders are focusing on interactive and participatory branded messaging according to Johnson. The FRSHst restaurant menu invites guests to fully customize their fresh-to-order items. Customers can take a trip around the globe for breakfast, lunch or dinner with flavors that range from Asian to Mediterranean and Latin American.

Customers at FRSHst can also make each meal their own by adding signature toppings and sauces, or by pairing their food selection with a fresh, handmade smoothie, or a cup of freshly-brewed, craft roasted coffee. Mix & match meal component bundling as regular readers of this blog know is at the core driving grocerant niche success and customer migration.

Wissam Baghdadi FRSHst Creator and Fresh Del Monte Produce F&B Director stated, “Our mission at FRSHst cafes is to provide an ingredient-first offering to our guests, so they may not only experience the freshest and most flavorful meals that we have to offer, but can also completely tailor each order to their liking and dietary needs,”.

Don’t let your brand relevance slip away.  If your product mix looks as if its managed by a category manager from the 1980’s, and your still paying slotting fees to get product on the shelf.  Well, that’s to bad.

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 us on our social media sites by clicking one of the following links: Facebook,  LinkedIn, or Twitter

Battle for Share of Stomach

Einstein Bros. Bagels Following Customer Migration

Regular readers of this blog know that the consumer is dynamic not static and when the customer moves you have to move with them. Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® stated “consumer relevance requires a keen focus on all relevant consumer touchpoints including which channel they are spending more money today.

Einstein Bros. Bagels is going to be opening its first-ever convenience store locations through a five-store development deal with Spring, Texas-based King Fuel. All of the planned stores will be located in the Houston metro area.

The first c-store is projected to open in September at 15605 Aldine Westfield Road, followed by the November opening of a store at 108 W. Green Road. Both stores are located in Houston.

King Fuel locations are optimized for c-stores and will serve as a smaller version of the classic Einstein Bros. Bagels bakeries. They will offer a simplified, easier-to-operate breakfast platform while still delivering a culinary and convenient customer experience, which will drive branded food sales of Einstein Bros.

Nick Schaefer, senior vice president, Bagel Brands Development, Einstein Bros. Bagels stated, "We're witnessing more consumers looking to c-stores as morning destinations and the demand for bakery and breakfast products continue to increase," … "We are aiming to fill the gap with a simplified menu in a location many are already visiting and are excited to bring Einstein Bros. Bagels favorites to King Fuel consumers."

The menu will include breakfast favorites such as select bagel and shmear flavors, egg sandwiches and cold brew coffee, as well as hot Pizza Bagels for lunch.

"Einstein Bros. Bagels is a perfect fit for King Fuels as both companies share a commitment to excellent service and providing exceptionally convenient options," said Zaki Niazi, president and CEO of King Fuel. "We are thrilled to provide the Houston market with another convenient way to fuel up with a delicious fresh-baked breakfast or lunch."

Success does leave clues. One clue that time and time again continues to resurface is “the consumer is dynamic not static”.  Regular readers of this blog know that is the common refrain of Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  Our Grocerant Guru® can help your company 253-759-7869. 

OtaJoy Foods Meal Kits Expand Flavorful Fresh Foods into your Home

Success does leave clues and at OtaJoy (Otafuku Foods, Inc.) success comes from listening to consumers and focusing on consumer touchpoints according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®. I recently cooked at home a new grocerant niche fresh prepared meal kit from OtaJoy and I must say that it elevated my cooking skill-set at home much to the delight of my family.

Food manufacturing today is about selling food to consumers that they want.  Consumers are dynamic not static and OtaJoy is expanding its brand’s reach, impowering consumers to cook fresh food fast, utilizing flavors they have come to like but do not have the skill-set to prepare at home.

OtaJoy says they goal is to share the foods we know and love in a way that's good for our customers. That's why we're constantly educating ourselves on the latest advancements in food science and manufacturing. Our Research and Development team works to source ingredients responsibly and eliminate filler ingredients from our recipes, while our production team strives to operate in the most environmentally-friendly way possible and their new meal kits do just that.

Consider this, Otafuku Foods, Inc. goes back to 1922 when Sasaki Shoten opened for business as a sake and soy sauce wholesale/retail store in Hiroshima, Japan. The rice vinegar brewery started operations in 1938, and the company lost everything when the atomic bomb hit the city of Hiroshima. Vinegar production had to be restarted from scratch after the war.

So, during WWII, a savory "pancake" with readily-available ingredients became popular due to a widespread shortage of rice. In 1950, "Otafuku Worcestershire Sauce" was introduced as the dish became even more popular, followed by "Otafuku Okonomi Sauce" in 1952. A lot of arduous research and development went on behind the scenes, but soon Otafuku had one of Japan's best-loved sauces. As Japan's passion for okonomiyaki grew, so did Otafuku Sauce Co., and they quickly expanded their line of sauces to include yakisoba, tonkatsu and takoyaki. Today, Otafuku is continuing to expand its reach testing grocerant niche fresh meal kits!  I for one think that they taste great, are simple to prepare and will help drive Otafuku to the next level.

When times hand you a lemon, or the tide is turning on your product line are you focusing on the consumers, the past, or not at all. Customers are dynamic not static.  Do you need help expanding? Visit www.FoodserviceSolutions.us or call our Grocerant Guru® at: 253-759-7869.