Branded Meal Replacement Snacks are a Success Clue

 

If success does leave clues and it does, PepsiCo has leveraged its brand and is reaping success within the branded meal replacement category with snacks according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Today when consumers are considering what snacks they eat, consumers' preferences are shifting beyond flavor as they place a greater priority on the companies they choose to purchase from.

Once again, according to the latest U.S. Trend Index from Frito-Lay, 90 percent of consumers who snack daily care deeply about the companies whose snacks they're eating. Snack companies' attention to sustainability practices (77 percent), community impact around food access (78 percent), and treatment of employees (87 percent) are among the top values driving purchasing decisions.

Gen Z and Millennials this is particularly as more than half of consumers ages 18 to 34 noted they consider a brand's ethics and sustainability practices when purchasing.

Younger consumers are more likely than consumers older than 35 to be interested in sustainable production and packaging, ingredient integrity and flavor exploration has more influence over food and snack choice for both demographics.

In fact, if they had to choose one snack element, 42 percent of consumers within each demographic stated they would choose flavor combinations such as sweet and spicy, or tangy and salty over familiar, regional flavors (21 percent), texture (21 percent), and international flavors (15 percent).

Flavor does matter, as 35% of consumers say that innovative flavors are most likely to influence what they select, more than recommendations (28 percent), brand recognition (21 percent), packaging (9 percent), or sustainability efforts (7 percent). They also aren't afraid to try new things: 40 percent are most excited to find a snack with a flavor they love but have never had in a snack product before.

Mike Del Pozzo, chief customer officer, Frito-Lay North America, stated, "During the summer, people explore new activities, new places and enjoy new flavors of snacks as they attend more outdoor gatherings," ... "While flavor continues to drive consumers' food-purchasing behaviors, we know how a company behaves matters and that's why I'm proud of Frito-Lay's commitment to sustainability and community impact."

Additional insights include:

What's on the inside counts

·         Roughly two-thirds of consumers are more likely to purchase products that invest in local communities.

·         Sixty-six percent of consumers say purchasing sustainable food products is important.

·         Seventy-four percent of adults are more interested in naturally sourced ingredients than production-related factors like recycled packaging, compostable packaging, or products made with recycled water.

Shifts in long-term eating habits

·         While nearly everyone surveyed enjoys the social aspect of snacking (81 percent), Generation Z and millennials are more likely to prefer to eat in solitude (45 percent).

·         Millennials (19 percent), Gen Zers (20 percent) and parents (20 percent) are slightly more likely than average to snack on-the-go.

Summer snacking

·         More than two in five parents will buy or create individually packaged snacks in advance before traveling this summer.

·         Parents are more likely than non-parents to replace meals with snacks several times per week or more (52 percent).

·         Sixty percent of consumers are most excited to snack at outdoor gatherings with family and friends now that pandemic restrictions have lifted.

The recipe for a perfect snack

·         Americans prioritize a salty/sweet snack combination (42 percent) over texture, international or local flavors.

·         Almost half of all respondents (44 percent) said trying new snack flavors led them to try more foods with those same flavors, while more than half (58 percent) of 18- to 34-year-old consumers have eaten more foods featuring a flavor that they had initially experienced in a snack.

·         Given the choice, consumers are selecting innovative flavor combinations most often (59 percent), including sweet and salty, spicy and sweet and tangy and salty.

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 edify your brand with relevance.  Call 253-759-7869 for more information. 

KFC Edifies the Brand with Relevance

Sometimes legacy brands get off message, off track, and stale in the minds-eye of the consumer according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®. When that happens edifying the core of the brand with relevance is of paramount importance.

In an era of shorter and shorter attention spans Kentucky Fried Chicken’s (KFC) on-going ‘new’ face of its brand is sure to attract incremental attention while driving trial according to Johnson. The newest Colonel Sanders spokesperson is Colonel RoboCop.

Here is how this spokesperson drive value to core of the brands as KFC disclosed its latest and most enhanced security measure taken to date to protect and preserve its founder's secret blend of 11 herbs and spices used to make its world-famous Original Recipe chicken.

The Colonel's secret recipe has been the core of the brand and takes the customer back to the day when differentiation in grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat chicken was the iconic 11 herbs and spices.  What has changed is KFC is not touting delivery after all our Grocerant Guru® has said that KFC’s was the original meal replacement. 

Now edifying that point will help reposition KFC as the leader not only in the chicken space but could very well place it in the top of the restaurant space as a complete meal replacement center. Success does leave clues and What’s for dinner is still the top question for 63.4% of consumers in 2019 at 4PM. 

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 Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant/ or twitter.com/grocerant

Renew Refresh Replant Starbucks Expands the Halo of ‘Better-for-You’

Restaurant companies have been offering BoGo’s (Buy one Get one) for years.  Customers understand BoGo’s and understand that it’s a great deal.  Starbucks is giving consumers a BoGo of sorts a two for one with its new LTO (Limited Time Offer) but the bonus value besides being a great tasking drink it is loaded with protein so it is a meal replacement according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Starbucks new LTO is a 16-ounce Protein Blended Cold Brew drink that is offered in two varieties: almond and cacao. The Almond Protein Blended Cold Brew is made with cold-brew coffee, almond milk, plant-based protein powder, almond butter, a banana-date fruit blend and ice. It has 12 grams of protein. The Cacao Protein Blended Cold Brew, with 10 grams of protein, is made with cold brew, coconut milk, plant-based protein, cacao powder, banana-date fruit blend and ice. Consumers can request additional packets of protein powder.

Ok now you get it this is a meal replacement. A grocerant niche Ready-2-Drink portable meal replacement according to Johnson. This is the first time Starbucks has menued a drink that combines coffee and protein.

Get the while you can as the new nondairy beverages will be available while supplies last, according to a Starbucks press release.

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.