Snacking takes Center Stage

 

There is no doubt that we are in prime time when it comes to snacking.  We have the Super Bowl in February, followed by March Madness and game time turns snacking into a must have as the team at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® first noted in it’s white paper,  the 65 Inch HDTV Syndrome. Once again, the choice between dining-out or cooking at home could be the size of the HDTV.

It is at the intersection of the consumer, technology and retail food sales we find the grocerant niche creating and expanding points of quality food distribution.  It’s at that intersection that Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru® Steven Johnson identified one universal commonality driving consumers buying pattern changes.  Johnson calls it “The 65 Inch HDTV Syndrome” consumer like HDTV’s have invested heavily in them and are using them.

Regular readers of this blog know that, the grocerant niche is the result of the blurring line between restaurants, grocery stores, convenience stores, and drug stores all selling fresh prepared, portable, convenient meal solutions.  Targeted at the time-starved consumer with Ready-2-Eat or Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food components that are perceived “better for you”, and portioned for one or two. Consumers like the Convenient Meal Participation, Differentiation, Individualization / Family Customization that these retailers offer.

Now of the retailers that takes center stage this time of year is Frito-Lay.  In its latest Snack Index Frito-Lay say running out of snacks is worse than their team losing the big game. How many of you agree?

So, according to Frito-Lay's latest Snack Index, half of the country believes running out of snacks is worse than their team losing the Super Bowl.

"The Super Bowl is about more than just football, it's about spending time with loved ones and snacking has become a big part of that ritual," said Denise Lefebvre, senior vice president of research and development for PepsiCo Foods. "That's why we invest in understanding what our consumers want, so they can have the right flavors, variety and snack styles to make their spreads a touchdown everyone can celebrate." Here are highlights of the latest Snack Index:

Recipe for a Perfect Party

·         Stock up early and often: Nearly half of guests (49 percent) note running out of snacks is worse than their team losing the Super Bowl, with three in five guests (62 percent) preferring to make the dash for snack refills during commercials rather than miss any game time.

·         Get the party started: Nearly a quarter of survey respondents say the party should start at lunch or earlier, with millennials (36 percent) and Gen Z (26 percent) most eager for an early kickoff.

·         Add variety: Compared to previous years, three in four consumers (71 percent) say they're more excited to try new flavors or variations of their favorite snacks in 2023.

·         Consider the guests: Millennials (61 percent) are the most eager to try new snack flavors, followed by Gen Z (57 percent) and Gen X (52 percent). On the other hand, baby boomers prefer to stick with tried-and-true classic flavors (38 percent).

Snack Lineup Perfection

·         Though loyal to their favorites, Americans are equally open to new flavor varieties. Half (50 percent) like to try new flavors rather than just keeping to their classics.

·         Gen Z notes a love for flavor "dust," with nearly three in five (59 percent) preferring snacks that leave remnants on their fingers vs. 40 percent overall.

·         A whopping 95 percent of Americans say at least some of their Super Bowl dishes will feature snacks served with the dish or as part of the recipe.

Snacks are Icebreakers

·         Fifty-nine percent of Americans have bonded over snack preferences with people they have struggled to make conversation with, including a partner's friends or family (27 percent), coworkers (24 percent) and even strangers in the checkout line (18 percent).

·         Gen Z (79 percent) and millennials (72 percent) are the most likely consumers to have connected with another person over snacks, followed by Gen X (61 percent) and baby boomers (42 percent).

·         Only three in 10 Americans have gotten into an argument over snack flavors.

What snacks are you selling?  Where and when are you selling them? Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing ideas look more like yesterday than tomorrow? Interested in learning how our Grocerant Guru® 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: us on our social media sites by clicking one of the following links: Facebook,  LinkedIn, or Twitter

Mix & Match Meal Components

Drive Top-Line Sales

Bottom-line Profits

Grocerants The Undercurrent of Foodservice Sales Growth

Back in the day, say during the mid-1980’s Home Meal Replacement was the talk of the retail food industry.  What many legacy grocers failed to understand was the opportunity for fresh prepared food as a daypart meal opportunity.  They could not understand it because they were not really in the meals business. Even more important they didn’t want to be in the fresh prepared meal business according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® with Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Grocery retailers back in the day thought that Home Meal Replacement specifically in store fresh prepared food cost too much to produce. They believed that it threw their labor out of line, created scheduling problems, and had too much waste.  Many still believe that today.  I guess that’s why most grocery stores have failed meet the needs of today’s consumers.  

They simply did not want to deal with fresh prepared food.  So, they cut corners, mass produced product that they called fresh, packaged it like it was a CPG brand, and let it sit on display or under heat lamps way too long.  In short, they blew it, and many still are doing it wrong. So, let's look at five facts that today are turning consumers in grocerant niche consumers.  Here they are:

1.       11% of consumers say convenience is most important in products they eat, up from just 7% in 2013, according to The NPD Group. 

2.       53% of all eating occasions include a desire to avoid spending the time and energy it takes to cook, according to The Hartman Group. 

3.       80% of meals eaten at home are sourced from the pantry or the freezer, according to The NPD Group. 

4.       44% of consumers say they are deliberately trying to avoid artificial color/dyes in their daily diet, according to The Hartman Group

5.       91% of U.S. consumers believe food and beverage options with recognizable ingredients are healthier, according to Innova.

Then they went back doing what they always did, and doing it the same way.  One problem consumer’s are dynamic not static. The grocerant niche continued to grow around the world and our Grocerant Guru® was there helping clients in the U.S., Asia, and Europe are drive top line sales and bottom-line profits with incremental customer adoption.  

Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru® has repeatedly stated that “consumers never take step back in food quality or freshness”.   The food retail industry today is no longer at a crossroad.  The consumer has moved.  It’s simply a question for legacy grocery retailers if they want to move forward with consumer or not. 

It used to be restaurant chefs were the industry tastemakers and retail eventually playing copy-cat caught up with the trends. Today, many tastemakers come from Grocerant niche retailers. Driven by increased demand and customer migration from cook from scratch to Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food.

Everyone from Soccer Mom’s to Senior Citizens are putting pressure on retailers for fresh prepared food.  All retailers are in a fierce battle to garner a larger share of stomach and the battle ground for customers is taking place in the grocerant Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food space.

Grocery stores continue to play catch-up resting with the rise in food sales due to the pandemic.  However we all know that will not last forever, The convenience store sector focusing on Grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food companies the ilk of Wawa, Sheetz, and Rutter’s Farm Stores are all garnering new customers from other legacy channels of fresh food distribution including grocery store and chain restaurants.

Grocery stores over the past decade have lost sales and customers fast food restaurants, C-stores, and dollar stores that have driven Take-Away, Take-Out Grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food from 5% back in the day to near 35% of sales today. 

Trapped in footprint malaise traditional grocery stores are in a time-warp and quagmire of their own creating, capitulating business and it’s time for a new view, and new business model, the grocerant model where mix & match meal component bundling has become a science.  

Invite Foodservice Solutions® to complete a Grocerant Program Assessment, Grocerant ScoreCard, or for product positioning or placement assistance, or call our Grocerant Guru®.  Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche. Contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or 253-759-7869

Taco John’s Price is still a Powerful Touchpoint

In the retail food space, Price, Value, Service combined are top-of-mind with consumers during COVED-10 and the current recession and a very important consumer touchpoint according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Food retailers the ilk of Taco John’s understand the importance of giving consumers what they want and when they want it. Understanding the importance of the price, value, service, equilibrium is pivotal in driving customer relevance today according to Johnson.

So, Taco John’s is extending its brand invitation.  The elevates meal time for the family at an incredible value. Would your family rather enjoy Chicken Street Tacos or Chicken Soft Shell Tacos? There’s no wrong answer because Taco John’s is offering each of these bundles for just $5.

Grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared meals and meal components that can be mix and matched into the perfect family meal is a key driver of customer migration from brand to brand and from food channel to food channel according to Johnson.

With its fusion of distinctive flavors and south-of-the-border spices, the Taco John’s menu offers several signature items that can be mix and matched with the $5 meal bundles, including Meat & Potato Burritos, Stuffed Grilled Tacos and Potato Olés. Taco John’s features signature specials like Taco Tuesday and discounted breakfast burritos on Wake Up Wednesday! The meal bundles are:

1.       Three Chicken Street Tacos – Premium roast chicken, garlic lime sauce and crumbled Mexican cheese.

2.       Three Chicken Soft Shell Tacos – Premium roast chicken, fresh lettuce, cheddar cheese and Taco John’s signature mild sauce served in a soft warm flour tortilla.

Foodservice Solutions® team is here to help you drive top line sales and bottom-line profits. Are you looking a customer ahead? Visit GrocerantGuru.com for more information or contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us Remember success does leave clues and we just may the clue you need to propel your continued success.

Potbelly Sandwich Shop Dinner Solution Mix & Match Meals

Multitasking, time-starve, tired of cooking parents Potbelly has heard your cries for help.  Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® thinks that “Potbelly is doing all the right things to edify their relationship with consumers focusing on grocerant niche Mix & Match meal bunding solutions for the family.”

The new Family Meals from Potbelly Sandwich Shop are a limited-time offer that allow everyone in the family to grab their own customized toasted sandwich, chips and legendary Potbelly cookies starting at $19.99. Regular readers of this blog know that is customization, personalization, that is consumer interactive and participatory.

Need a break from cooking, take a break from cooking. So, get this every member of the family can order their own favorite—so no complaints once it’s time to eat.

Brandon Rhoten, Chief Marketing Officer at Potbelly  stated, “This is hard enough without one of my kids refusing to eat at the dinner table because they’re not happy with the compromise of a meal that was just delivered,” … “Ordering in is supposed to make things easier—so when everyone can choose exactly what they want it makes for a much better meal and happier parents.”  

Feeding between four and six people, Family Meals are available in several options:

·         Family Meal Deal: Four customizable toasted sandwiches, four bags of chips, and four legendary Potbelly cookies

·         Large Family Meal Deal: Six sandwiches, six chips and six cookies

·         Shareable Sides: Two shareable soups, chili or mac and cheese; serves four as a side

·         Shareable Salad: Choose from Potbelly’s list of fresh salads; serves four as a side

·         Short Shakes: Four or six hand-made short shakes topped with whipped cream and a cherry

So, how are you edifying your relationship with consumers? Have you considered entering the grocerant niche?  Success does leave clues.

Invite Foodservice Solutions® to complete a Grocerant Program Assessment, Grocerant ScoreCard, or for product positioning or placement assistance, or call our Grocerant Guru®.  Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche. Contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or 253-759-7869

Kwik Chek Meal Deals on the Menu

Cooking from scratch gets old particularly when you are forced to day after day and that is one of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic that has created an opportunity for food retailers in every sector according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Kevin Smartt, CEO of convenience store chain Kwik Chek Corp., recently stated “The clouds are starting to lift, referring to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on business at the chain’s 46 stores in Texas and Oklahoma.” Smartt also knows that foodservice drive visit frequency and ticket / basket size.

Since very few have been going to work, Kwik Chek has been dealing with decreased trip counts and lower fuel gallons since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. “But inside sales have been pretty resilient,” Smartt told Convenience Store News in a recent interview. “Some of our stores are barely down at all in same-store sales.”

Smartt shared what consumers were buying in the interview, “The winners are beer — larger pack sizes are up tremendously — cigarettes and OTP [other tobacco products], ice cream, and staples, when we can get them,”

Kwik Chek recently launched Family Meal Deals, which Smartt said in the article are “starting to gain traction.” Family Meal Deals come in several different offerings, from chicken tenders to tacos, hamburgers, pizza, and more. Each deal costs less than $20 and serves a family of four and according to Johnson that is a very important price point to hit. Grocerant niche mix & match meal components are a hallmark of grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat success.

At Kwik Chek the Family Meal Deals, and similar Family Kwik Packs that are available in the cold grab-and-go case, are ideal for customers who want to pick up a quick meal, bring it home, and then heat and eat it. Kwik Chek intends to continue tweaking its family meal offerings, and most likely will keep them going after the current COVID-19 crisis, according to Smartt. After all prior to C-19 customer migration to Grocerant niche mix & match meal components was the key drive of growth within every sector of food retail according to Johnson.

Now that he can see a light at the end of the tunnel, Smartt conjectured that many of the activities adopting during the pandemic will have staying power including “Contactless payment will be vastly accelerated.” Kwik Chek is evolving with customer relevant touchpoints.  How are you evolving?

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.

Guerrilla Tacos Grocerant Niche Mix & Match Give Away

Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru®, Steven Johnson want to give a shout-out to the marketing team at Guerrilla Tacos for being elevating consumer touchpoints and highlighting the importance of grocerant niche mix & match bundling.

Why the shout-out well Guerrilla Tacos is selling Emergency Taco Kits, complete with 4 toilet paper rolls and 30 eggs. Now that’s the mix & match bundling that expands customer relevance today. I need not say more.  It is an outstanding promotion.

So, when Guerrilla Tacos had just found out they had to close the inside seating, leaving them with a problem: What to do with the leftover food? Thus, according to CNN, “Co-owner Brittney Valles, chef and fellow co-owner Wes Avila, and other members of the team put their heads together. Valles wanted to do something like a batch meal -- but no Lean Cuisine vibes, she said. Something that felt fun and homey, the rest of the team agreed.”

So, that’s their idea for Emergency Taco Kits.  The kit includes, five pounds of roasted chicken, five pounds of carne asada, a pint of red salsa, a pint of green salsa, tortillas, onions, cilantro, and rice and beans. To help alleviate customers' shopping needs amid coronavirus concerns, the restaurant also decided each kit should include emergency essentials: Four rolls of toilet paper and 30 eggs.  In the battle for Share of Stomach mix & match meal bunding is a fundamental ingredient.

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/

Battle for Share of Stomach

Amazon Go Repositioning

Grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food continues to drive top line sales and bottom line profits in every sector of retail foodservice according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Regular readers of this blog know our Grocerant Guru® was the first visit and blog about it Amazon Go.  We also were first to say that they would have to evolve and sell ‘Fresh Hot Coffee’ if the wanted to drive the AM daypart consistently.  Well, guess what? 

Now according to the San Francisco Chronicle, there is an Amazon Go store in San Francisco’s Financial District is planning to add hot food, espresso and fountain drinks in the next few months.  The paper noted that “an email to customers noted that the store is closed for renovations and will open back up in the spring with "new features and flavors." ​"

In San Francisco by adding hot foods, soda fountain and espresso requires additional permits from the city and the paper noted that Amazon filed for review by the city's department of health on Jan. 21.

Adding grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food and beverages combined with the ‘just walk out’ technology will be a big hit.  Simply put it will provide a One Stop shop for consumer.  So, not only will it save consumer time, it will edify that by fulfilling the consumers expectations for the AM daypart.

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.