Grocerant Growth Food Options Speeds New Concept Dash In Forward

Success does leave clues and retailers are evolving from Convenience Stores and Restaurants to Grocerant niche fresh food concepts that are garnering incremental customer loyalty, driving food retail migration, expanding disruption within legacy retail food sectors according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Dash In a new concept store by the Willis Group created a platform where time stared consumers can get a fresh meal and or meal components or eat a fresh prepared meal according to Johnson. Dash In has 5,600 sq. ft. and blurs the lines between restaurant and C-store by combining a neighborhood bar and grill format with the self-service gas station and car wash layout that is familiar to consumers.

To appeal to consumers’ on-the-go lifestyles, the store stocks fresh, made-in-house grab and go menu items such as artisan sandwiches and salads, in addition to locally sourced snacks such as Good Earth Peanuts, grown in Skippers, Virginia, about one hour south of Richmond.

The bar and grill features of the Dash In store include indoor bar and communal seating, and outdoor seating. An open kitchen will prepare items from the store’s “Craveable” menu which includes Memphis pulled-pork sandwich made with slow-cooked pork in a maple brown sugar barbecue sauce and topped with caramelized onions, as well as a cranberry chicken croissant that Willis Group noted is a customer favorite. The sandwich is made with chicken breast, dried cranberries, red onion, and a hint of lime.

Julian B. Wills, president of Dash In  stated “Our newest Dash In is a demonstration of our commitment to creating a store design that offers an elevated brand experience for our customers,” Dash In capitalizes on several strategies food industry research company Nielsen identified as necessary to remain competitive in a saturated food retail market most of which mirrors Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant ScoreCard data.

In an Insight report from 2017 Nielsen noted that convenience stores have many sources for inspiration. “In the QSR realm, speed has become an essential service element,” Nielsen reported. “Convenience stores need to follow suit, ensuring that customers looking for a quick meal can get in and out swiftly.”

The Dash In concept store offers all-day breakfast, as a nod to the quick-service restaurant (QSR) channel and a direct invitation to customers. Nielsen also recommended restaurant-style seating, broad menus for in-store service and premium product offerings as strategies for elevating the customer experience.

Here is what was different “Digging deeper, Nielsen data shows that subcategories like enhanced water, import, super premium and craft beer, ready-to-eat (RTE) meals, e-cigarettes, tools and housewares and sparkling wine all delivered mid-to-high double-digit sales growth for convenience stores last year,” Nielsen said in its Insight report.

Darleen Nascimento, director of brand marketing for Dash In  “We are delighted to support the craftsmanship of local purveyors and breweries throughout the region within this new Dash In experience,”  “Dash In’s commitment is to make life more rewarding for time-stretched people — we look forward to transforming necessary errands into engaging experiences.”

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

Convenience Stores Sales are Higher Restaurants Sales are Flat

While U.S. convenience stores experienced a 15^th straight year of record in-store sales and a 4^th straight year of $10 billion-plus in pretax profits, according the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS). Restaurant sales remain flat overall according to TDn2K Black Box Intelligence.

C-store sales attract 165 million customers a day -- half of the U.S. population and stores account for one in 31 dollars spent in the country. The rest of the story is that restaurant customers continue to fuel foodservice growth within the S-store sector according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

U.S. convenience stores sales overall surged 9.3% to $601.1 billion in 2017.  Put another way, one of every 30.9 dollars spent in the country was spent at a convenience store in 2017.

Meanwhile, in-store sales increased 1.7% to a record $237.0 billion. Foodservice, as a broad category that mostly includes prepared food (69% of both category sales and profits) but also commissary foods and hot, cold and frozen dispensed beverages, continues to be a key focus for growth in the convenience store channel.

Foodservice sales overall in 2017 were $53.3 billion, accounting for 22.5% of in-store sales in 2017 and 33.9% of gross profit dollars. The category also was the biggest differentiator in terms of profits: top-quartile performers had prepared food sales that were 3.6 times greater than bottom-quartile stores; coffee sales at top performers were 5.2 times greater that than those of the bottom quartile.

Convenience stores sell 23.8% of packaged beverages in the United States per Nielsen and saw a slight 0.4% sales increase in 2017. Within the category, enhanced water saw the strongest sales increase (9.1%); ready-to-drink iced teas (3.5%), alternative beverages (3.5%) and bottled water (0.6%) also posted sales increases. Mix and Match meal component bundling is the key advantage C-stores have according to Johnson.  Wonder how you can elevate your branded meals component options?

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 www.FoodserviceSolutions.us 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.

Complexity Free Food is Food Authenticity

Restaurants at times elevate complexity in menu items to create differentiation.  That however was back in the day today complexity free food is more than just transparency in food according to Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru® Steven Johnson.

Grocerant niche ‘Better-for-you’ fresh prepared food that is portable and portioned for one or two continues to drive demand in every sector of retail foodservice. Consumers today are seeking ‘better-for-you’ fresh prepared food as meal components that can be bundled in to a customized family meal according to Johnson. Does your team have the wrong definition for Grocerant? Do you understand the Grocerant niche?

Grocery stores of a bygone era thought they could responded to consumers demand to drive sales simply by opening more stores, larger stores, or ‘scale’ a fresh food department that looked like 1980’s rather than today. 

That did work when most food choice came from a can, a jar, or a box that could sit on a shelf for years and slotting fees paid for the shelf space. Simply put was a mindset of yesterday’s food retailers the ilk of A&P and others still taking slotting fees.

Johnson continued “retailers back in the day felt that all they need was more scale to compete successfully with other grocery stores. Today consumers demand fresh grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat prepared food can be found at companies the ilk of Wegmans, Green Zebra Grocery, New Season Market, Wawa, Sheetz, KFC, McDonald’s, and Papa Murphy’s.

Complexity free in the minds-eye of the consumer according to the team at Tacoma, WA based FoodserviceSolutions.us means, less meal preparation time, little or no cooking, less food waste, less time shopping, less packaging, local, fresh fast food, in-season food, and portions for one or two. In fact one of the key findings was no matter the size of the household fresh was best and the ability to mix and match meal components was crucial.  Does your company look more like yesterday or tomorrow?

Foodservice Solutions® team is here to help you drive top line sales and bottom line profits. Are you looking a customer ahead? Visit www.FoodserviceSolutions.us 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.

Who Wins Millennials vs Restaurants, Grocerants, Grocery Stores

Millennial's relentless quest for fresh food discovery has created brand migration, new food sector trial, and migration from well-established ‘path-to-purchase’ paths not so well worn according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®. 

Eating-In while Eating-Out is more common with Millennials than any other cohort. FMI’s Power of Foodservice at Retail looks at trends in retail foodservice and details how millennial shoppers look at meals they prepare at home, eat in restaurants, take out and have delivered to them. Here are some top findings that can help inform your foodservice at retail strategy:

·         Millennials (ages 19 to 37) average fewer weekly dinners that require some level of preparation. But that doesn’t mean they care any less about nutrition or variety than those who prepare more of their own meals.

·         To a greater extent than other shoppers, older millennials (ages 28 to 37) are interested in nutrition information. Older millennials value good nutrition when it comes to making meal selections that they don’t prepare themselves. The nutrition of the item almost as important as speed of service. They expect the retailer to tell them how fresh a product’s ingredients are and to provide them with information about any artificial ingredients that are used as well.

·         Older millennials also want to know about your food safety measures and detailed calorie information. They want healthier alternatives when selecting meals from a retailer’s foodservice department, things like low-calorie salad dressings and turkey meatloaf. In addition, this group also wants more organic options.

·         While younger millennials (those 18 to 27) are also interested in nutrition, they are even more interested in variety and the ability to select from a number of different cuisines. Younger millennials expect you to give them a better drink selection in foodservice, and that includes a good selection of different beers and wines. Among the options they would like to see are more vegetarian choices and chef-inspired meals. They demand more than just chicken when it comes to your deli meat selection and they like to see menus change with the seasons.

·         Millennials of all ages want to experiment more with the world’s cuisines. Their favorites include Mexican, Mediterranean, Japanese/sushi, Thai and Vietnamese.

Does your brand look more like yesterday than tomorrow? Grocerant niche is a platform that invites discovery.  Is it time to call the experts?  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 www.FoodserviceSolutions.us  of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche. Contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or 253-759-7869

Win Free Breakfast for a Year Just Listen to McDonald’s New Jingle

There is no food retailer today better than McDonald’s at consumer focused interactive and participatory brand marketing according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®

McDonald’s is celebrating the iconic Egg McMuffin on the menu for 45 years with a breakfast jingle and giving one lucky fan free breakfast for a year. The new breakfast jingle, created in partnership with Roger Greenaway, the Songwriters Hall of Fame member behind the “Buy the World a Coke” jingle and highlights how the company is building a better McDonald’s by giving our customers freshly prepared breakfast sandwiches, like the Egg McMuffin.

This is a fun way to kick start the day, pulled inspiration from the mouthwatering sounds of McDonald’s breakfast, such as:

·         Grade A, freshly cracked eggs

·         Extra-lean Canadian bacon, sizzling on the grill

·         McCafé premium drip coffee, made from 100 percent Arabica beans

·         The soft scrape of real butter spread on toasted English muffins, biscuits and bagels

Breakfast enthusiasts everywhere can sing along to the new jingle on McDonald’s social channels, including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Customers also have the chance to win free breakfast for a year and a limited-edition vinyl by commenting their favorite menu item and @-tagging a friend on the video.

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.

Virtual Grocerants & Restaurants are the undercurrent of industry restaurant sector Disruption

Once again the restaurant sector is facing challenges from outside the restaurant sector and inside the sector just as pizza store fronts (delivery only) branded outlets displaced many Italian restaurants, they also replaced themselves companies the ilk of Pizza Hut once had over 2,000 ‘red roof’ full-service restaurants.  According to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

All regular readers of this blog have driven by a virtual restaurant, Pizza Hut, Domino’s, Papa John’s and most of you have virtual restaurant meals delivered right to your door from companies the ilk of Hello Fresh, Blue Apron, Plated sure you have to prepare them at home but time and time again Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant ScoreCards indicate consumers consider them first to be ‘restaurant quality or better’ and second ‘a restaurant meal replacement’ and third ‘special occasion dinning’. Now for the undercurrents of disruption:

1.       HelloFresh said it more than doubled its number of active customers, meals delivered and orders in the U.S. in 2017. The number of active customers increased 105.7%, to 890,000; the number of orders rose 118.6%, to 3 million; and the number of meals delivered increased 114.4%, to 20.7 million.

2.       Hudson Riehle, senior vice president of the National Restaurant Association's research and knowledge group stated “There were 189.8 restaurants for every 100,000 Americans in 2016. In 2001, that number was 165.1”.

3.       According to the Nielsen report, in-store meal kits generated $154.6 million in sales in 2017, an increase of more than 26% over year-ago results.

4.       Hudson Riehle believes ‘Booze delivery is inevitable’ and this is why: “Half of all 21- to 34-year-olds would use it,” he said. “What the consumer wants comes to fruition.”

5.       The market for meal kits is not very saturated as companies the ilk of UberEATS, DoorDash and Postmates continue to delivery from new non-traditional fresh meal delivery companies like Whole Foods, IKEA, McDonald’s, Chipotle, Taco Bell, etc.

Just as the lines between retail sectors have grown thinner so have storefronts.  Today a storefront and can include your neighbor’s kitchen, Pop-Up shipping-container-size kitchens, grocery stores, convenience stores, dollar stores, and restaurants the ilk of Red Robin, Carrabba’s Italian Grill.

In a world where meal component assembly has become the new form of meal preparation with 83.7% of family meals having at least one fresh prepared meal component, the facts are clear cooking from scratch is a bygone era.  Our question today is does your food retail outlet look more like yesterday or tomorrow?

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 Solutions® Steven Johnson identified, quantified, qualified, and named the Grocerant Niche.  Our teams global efforts have been noted around the world.  We now know what’s happening in this niche next do you?  Are you prepared for success?

Grocerants Fresh Fast Flavorful vs Grocery Stores Cook & Do Dishes

Grocery stores, Conveniences stores, Restaurants, and Dollar Stores are all evolving, expanding or exploiting the undercurrents of fresh food, halo of ‘better-for-you food’, and food experiences that are customized, personalized, or create a new point of distribution according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Whole Foods is growing oyster mushrooms right in the store, Domino’s Pizza has voice ordering via Amazon’s Alex.  Even Kroger is testing Scan, Bag and Go technology. Fresh food, fast service with digital marketing, with a halo of ‘healthy’ offerings will drive customer migration from legacy grocery stores to food retailers that evolve in every retail sector. Here are a list of findings from two different studies that were conducted recently: 

1. 88% of those we surveyed desire more healthy offers.

2. 52% of shoppers say they always read the labels.

3. A surprising 20% strictly follow special diets like gluten-free, Paleo or vegetarian.

4. Shoppers are looking for keywords on the labels like all-natural, heart-healthy, sugar-free, low-sodium, low-fat, or clean.

5. 60% would love digital scanning for nutritional information.

A. They want you to reward their loyalty with exclusive offers. And their desire for more personalization has increased over the previous year. If they are your loyal customers, they feel you should truly know them.

B. For many shoppers, true personalization and convenience would equate with one click-option to select all the available digital coupons.

C. They want stores to provide new offers on a regular basis.

D. Shoppers prefer stores to provide information in a way they want it, whether that is by mobile or online/offline.

E. 32% of shoppers want bundled offers that naturally go together. Shopper data can provide insights into items that are frequently purchased together.

F. 86% of shoppers want stores to highlight the coupons and deals for them.

G. Many shoppers enjoy the convenience of digital coupons so that they don’t lose them and find it easier to track them in a digital wallet. But 43% report they forget to redeem their digital coupons. Geo-location technology has the potential to identify shoppers on their shopping journeys so timely reminders can be sent.

Fresh products sit alongside convenience and price as top desires of today’s shoppers. Beating out assortment, cleanliness and high-quality products, freshness is now in the top three most important characteristics for a grocery store today.

H.77% of our respondents said they typically go no further than 5 miles to get their shopping done. These trips are not fill-in trips but stock-up trips. And while they’re out, they visit on average two stores to get everything they need — choosing to shop at supermarkets and mass merchandisers.

I. 45% know what they are going to buy before they go to the store. 89% create shopping lists and 62% purposely look at store circulars and pair offers with digital coupons. In fact, 79% use the physical or online store circulars on a regular basis.

Evolving what type of food you sell and how you sell it is evolving with consumers.  Does your retail brand look more like yesterday than tomorrow?

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

McDonald’s is Winning the Price, Value, Service Equilibrium

Gas prices at the pump continue to rise just as consumer’s paychecks carry home a little more cash from the tax rebate.  Unfortunately once again the line between foodservice sectors continues to get thinner and thinner as consumers have become ‘meal price transactional’ according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Back in 2002 in an early effort to combat customer migration from the restaurant sector to grocery stores and C-stores McDonald’s introduced its popular Dollar Menu and gave the restaurant sector a success platform to regain customer traffic and drive top line sales and bottom line profits. The simple fact is the food Price, Value, Service Equilibrium continues to evolve and reset.

Grocery store deli operations continue finding incremental day-part meal sales success as do convenience stores according to recent Grocerant ScoreCards. The success within both of those sectors has put pressure on the restaurant sector according to Johnson. 

Food industry research icon Bonnie Riggs of the NPD Group stated “Value menu traffic was up 10 percent for the first three months of 2018, while value menu sales chalked up a 13 percent gain”. ..The results lifted value menu traffic 1 percent for the fiscal year ended March 2018, reversing three consecutive years of declines, according to NPD.”

“It’s clear that major restaurant chain operators are pulling out all of the stops to get consumers to visit this year,” said Riggs, author of a new report titled “Value Wars 2.0: The Value Menu Strikes Back.”

Taco Bell, known for its low-priced food and “Dollar Cravings” value menu, appears to have an edge in the latest price war. It sold a record 53 million orders of its new $1 Nacho Fries in five weeks during the first quarter, contributing to outsized value menu sales gains, NPD said.

There is a battle for share of stomach underway within the foodservice sector according to Johnson and new non-traditional companies the ilk of IKEA, CostCo continue to garner customers with fresh prepared meals, meal components that are Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat offering with price points that are disruptive for most restaurant operators.

Are your customers becoming ‘meal price transactional’?  Do you know how to elevate your branded menu without capitulating on Price?  Does your current business model look more like yesterday than tomorrow? The team at www.FoodserviceSolutions.us can help. Contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us

Sneak a Peak at Panera’s Undercurrents of Customer Attraction

Success does leave clues and regular readers of this blog know that integrating the Foodservice Solutions® FIVE P’s of food marketing drives top line sales, brand awareness, and bottom line profits according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

The line between retail channels has nearly vanished as it gets thinner and thinner brands must edify their relationships with consumers by extending an invitation in new non-traditional channels of distribution. Panera Bread said that its retail sales for Panera at Home’s refrigerated soups exceeded $100 million in 2017. Its retail sales grew by nearly 27 percent in 2017, according to company press releases.

Mike Bufano, Panera at Home’s senior vice president and general manager stated “Consumers are gravitating towards the perimeter of grocery stores, looking for food with our cafe-fresh taste, made with real ingredients,”…“Across categories, Panera at Home delivers on this consumer need for food that is not only 100% clean, but convenient and craveable too, from a brand they love and trust. It is a true extension of the Panera Bread brand beyond the bakery-cafe.”

It’s not a surprise to anyone that Panera’s strong growth in refrigerated soups can be attributed to the company’s commitment to 100 percent clean food, which is free from artificial preservatives, sweeteners, flavors and colors, according to Bufano.

Did you know that the Panera at Home portfolio, consists of approximately 100 products available at grocery retailers, supercenters and club stores nationwide. Panera at Home offers more than 15 varieties of soup, including broccoli cheddar, kale & quinoa and turkey sausage. The broccoli cheddar soup is Panera’s best-seller across its restaurants and grocery retailers, the company said.

In addition to soups, Panera at Home also includes mac & cheese, salad dressings, sliced sandwich bread and ground coffee. So we ask you what are you selling and where?  Are you ready to sell fresh prepared food in a new non-traditional, non-grocery, non-conveniences store outlet?

Are you trapped doing what you have always done and doing it the same way?  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.