Denny’s CEO’ and the Hypocrisy of Do No Harm

The retail landscape denial at Denny’s by the CEO John Miller simply mirrors restaurant industry trade magazines last gasp at retaining a following while denying that restaurant sector brand protectionism has become boring, yesterday’s news, and a food positioning disadvantage for consumers according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Consumers are dynamic not static.The fact is consumers are moving from the restaurant sector where company after company touts their brand power all the while year over year customer counts continue to dwindle.

Regular readers of this blog know consumers are migrating from the restaurant sector to C-store foodservice that is expected to grow another 6% in 2019. They are also going to new points of fresh food distribution the ilk of IKEA, Nordstrom, Ralph Lauren, and Club Store Costco as fresh food and coffee as preferred destinations. O’ yes recently legacy grocery sector service deli’s with redefined missions have elevated meals and meal components from bucks to fresh prepared food garnering customers.  

So, let’s look at what Denny’s CEO said and you will then get our view.  Miller said:

1.  Grocery stores like Whole Foods and Kroger have restaurants 'beating each other's brains out'

2.   Restaurants are competing to keep prices as low as possible and offering more deals, even as labor costs rise.

3.  "We're beating each other's brains out," Denny's CEO John Miller said of the restaurant industry's attempts to undercut rivals' prices.

4.Low grocery prices are contributing to restaurants' drive to keep prices cheap.

The fact is Denny’s and most U.S. legacy chain restaurants including the ilk of TGI Friday’s, Olive Garden, McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Carrols, Burger King and Pizza Hut look a lot like they did in 1989 than with the exception of a new furniture, paint, some technology that was add late in the cycle much still frustrates consumers according to Johnson.

Restaurant sectors CEO’s moto of do no harm has created a retail platform of yesterday, lacking the attributes of an evolving consumer.  Restaurant sector CEO’s are not “beating each other’s brains out” as Miller said.  They simply are acting like Neanderthals doing what they did in 1980, 1990, and 2000 and expecting that business model to work.  Customers have move on.  Today’s restaurant sector needs to evolve with a customer focus not a focus on Wall-Street metrics of the past according to Johnson.

All the while over-priced C-stores have put the roller grill on the back burner, lowered prices, introduced fresh food fast, at competitive price garnering consumers attention driving incremental customer migration from both the grocery sector and restaurant sector. 

The consumer price, service, value equilibrium has evolved the problem with many in the restaurant sector they are raising prices on yesterday’s products, refusing to innovate, rather than evolve their brands with customer relevance they continue to practice brand protectionism.

Our Grocerant Guru® has spoken at leading restaurant industry events including MUFSO, NRA and the National Restaurant Show has a ‘NRA Grocerant’ section.  Restaurant sector leader are well aware of the undercurrents of the evolving retail food market place.  However, it is easier for a Restaurant sector CEO to blame someone else or a competitor than to drive change within an outdate labyrinth of a legacy chain restaurant apparently.

The grocerant niche products and service provide the restaurant sector with a platform of options to deal with an impending increase in the minimum wage, for product stagnation, day-part customer malaise, and edifying the brand with customer relevance.

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/

10 Clues to Fuel the New Electricity Driving Restaurant, C-Store, and Grocery Foodservice Sales

Mediocrity, Compliancy, and the Status Quo be dammed. Regular followers of this blog  know that Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® thinks there is one dominate element that will power success within retail foodservice over the coming years.

 Johnson calls it the new electricity that is partnerships specifically strategic partnerships.   The new electricity must be very efficient for the supply and includes such things as fresh food, sustainable packaging, local beer & wine, urban farming (produce, seafood, etc.), autonomous delivery, cashier-less retail, cash-less payments, digital hand held marketing.

Food companies the ilk of Restaurants Supermarkets, Conveniences Stores, Dollar Stores, and Department Stores selling fresh food that want to survive the next generation of retail must embrace the artificial intelligence revolution while simultaneously embracing Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh food.  That will require brands to embrace new fresh food partnerships more now than ever before according to Johnson.

The retail foodservice customer is not fickle they are evolving, dynamic and moving forward searching for ways to make dinner complexity free according to Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru®, Steven Johnson. 

The consumer is dynamic not static and all food retailers and start-up fresh food retailers must strive to create or maintain consumer relevance while evolving their own brand.  Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru® Steven Johnson believes that the following ten clues to build contemporized food brand relevance that will edify your brand while building top-line sales, bottom-line profits and year over year customer counts if you partner with companies that help you edify these 10 success clues:

1.       Purpose:   Customer relevance with evolving focus.  The most successful brands are inclusive, include values greater than themselves.  That means they focus on a Lifestyle, a philosophy, an emotion, a point in time.  Today that must include a halo of better for you the consumer as better for the consumer is better for the retailer. 

2.       A story: Most major brands have a story. Examples: If you like Wawa you know the family history, If you line McDonald’s you have heard the story or seen the movie If you like Ford vehicles, you might be familiar with the story of Henry Ford or if you love your Nikes, you probably know how the Nike swoosh logo was created. You get the picture.  What’s your story and where is your story being told?

3.       Consumer interaction:  Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru® firmly believes that within foodservice retail they brand, products, and footprint must be consumer interactive and participatory. When your business is first starting out, don't fool yourself into believing that your marketing efforts are 'brand building' efforts. They're not because to build a real brand, you have to have an extensive track record with consumers. Consumer will build the brand and the story for with you.

4.       Trust:   Establish operating standards that are measurable for every department within your company and each standard must edify a customer facing tactic, communication, service, or product.  When you've consistently delivered for your customers long enough, you'll gain the type of trust that many brands have.  Would you buy a Edsel today? Maybe so, but you are buying to today as a relic not as a product of today.

5.       Consistency:  Consumers today choose a product or service because of brand association.  The consumer is buying an expectation, a promise. Perhaps it's the expectation that the branded product is of higher quality or that the service will be provided in a more efficient manner. The expectation must be met time after time.

6.       Differentiation: Customer migration from a legacy  to an new brand is often borne of differentiation. Many brands offer products and services that are commodities but they're successful in developing some differentiation in the product or the avenue of distribution for their products and services that consumers are sold on.

7.       Imitators: Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and you're probably not a 'brand' until you have competitors trying to copy you. Enough said. (However, we have imitators trying to play catch up and we thank you for edifying our brand and sharing this blog.)

8.       Market leadership: Success does leave clues, collect your clues and own them. Top brands are usually looked at as leaders in the markets they compete in. Own the space, and understand why you do.

9.       Evolve:  The consumer is dynamic not static your brand must be as well.  The best brands are flexible and capable of reshaping and reinventing themselves and their messages over time. Brands are either growing or dying.

10.   A strong marketing presence: The information super highway has evolved into a mobile marketing platform in the palm of your customers hand; your message must follow with the traffic.  Don’t get stuck on the road less traveled.

Success does leave clues feel free to reach out for a private corporate presentation, confidential engagements, educational forums, or keynote. Contact: Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® at: 253-759-7869 Linkedin.com/in/grocerant/ or www.FoodserviceSolutions.us  Facebook.com/Steven Johnson Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us

Selling Fresh Food to Gen X, Gen Z, and Millennials

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

Recently Acosta shed light on the five distinct generations of shoppers, and their distinct shopping characteristics, in the recently released 14th edition of its The Why Behind the Buy report.  The team at Foodservice Solutions® found it extremely valuable and we think you will too. See the breakdown below:

Gen Z: Emerging Influencers (Ages 12-21; Gen Z Shoppers Ages 18-21)

• Not being in the working world yet, Gen Z shoppers (18-21) reported spending the least on groceries each month, averaging $269.
• Gen Z has never experienced life without the internet and 42% of Gen Z shoppers indicated they use a digital grocery list.
• Gen Z and millennial shoppers averaged the most grocery shopping trips each month across generations, with Gen Z making 4.5 routine grocery trips a month.

Millennials: Selective Spenders (Ages 22-36)

• Millennial shoppers spend an average of $298 monthly on groceries.
• This generation is not yet brand loyal—48% agreed they don’t care which brand they buy, and will switch when they find a better deal. 
• Sixty percent of millennial shoppers use mobile apps for grocery coupons or discounts, significantly higher than any other generation.
• Forty-six percent of millennial shoppers have children under 18 in their household. Millennial parents spend an average of over $100 more per month on groceries than millennials without children.

Gen X: Spending Big & Digital Adapters (Ages 37-52)

• Gen X shoppers reported spending the most each month on groceries, averaging $380.
• Many Gen X shoppers have embraced digital grocery tools—70% reported redeeming a digital or mobile grocery coupon within the past month.
• Two-thirds of Gen X shoppers indicated they enjoys preparing new dishes and 60% agreed they often check out new items in a grocery store.

Boomers: Still Driving Change (Ages 53-71)

• While this generation is downsizing, they still spend an average of $314 each month on groceries.
• Boomer shoppers are brand loyal, and are buying 82% of the same brands that they bought in the prior year.  
• These shoppers are also loyal to their grocery stores—93% of boomers reported shopping most often at the same grocery retailer as last year.

                
Silents: Spending on Groceries (Ages 72+)

• Silent shoppers reported spending an average of $287 monthly on groceries, which also reflects the highest household grocery spending per person across all of the generations.
• This generation also spends the least amount of their total monthly food budget on eating out.
• Silent shoppers focus on value and are big redeemers of coupons, as nine in 10 reported redeeming a paper coupon for a grocery item within the past month.

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 www.FoodserviceSolutions.us  of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche. Contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or 253-759-7869