Mini-Meals Make Merry Customers

 

At the intersection of breakfast, lunch, and dinner the drive-thru replaces the dining room table elevating mini-meals to a staple for many Americans today according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  Home-meal replacement has become a trend of mini-meal consumption.

Foodservice Solutions® 2020 Grocerant ScoreCards found 83.1% of consumers don’t know what’s for dinner at Noon, and 61.7%.  More important to note is 73% of retail prepared food purchases are taken to go, while 47% of respondents report consuming their purchase immediately rather than saving it to eat later according to Technomic.

Now Americans have been increasingly opting for fruits, nuts and ready-to-eat snack foods throughout the day, according to The NPD Group. In its annual “Eating Patterns in America” study, the market research firm found that over the past five years, U.S. consumers added 25 between-meal snacking occasions per capita, from 505 in 2015 to 530 in 2020, and that consumption of snack foods at meals grew from 21% of eating occasions in 2010 to 26% in 2020.

The grocerant niche ‘halo’ of better-for-you has elevated a platform of Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food that now includes fruit or yogurt being eaten in the morning, more savory snacks like nachos, slice of a fruit pie or a Cosmic Crisp Apple eaten at lunch; and sweeter snacks like chocolate candy and cookies in the evening. 

Yes, sweat and salty still rule the day in mini-meals preferences. The fact is consumers don’t change preference what they change is where they obtain the mini-meal. Today, that preference is via the drive-thru.  Fast food restaurants once ruled that space but convenience store sector is rapidly testing drive thru service as regular readers of this blog know.

Is your menu, fresh food options, or deli case filled with mini-meal options that can be mixed and matched into a meal? Do you have the right balance between sweet and salty? 

Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing ideations 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

Snacking with Fresh Fruit can Drive Fast Food Sales

Consumers have placed a ‘halo’ of better-for-you on grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh food according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  All retailers should remember that fresh fruit is convenient, portable, ‘better-for-you’ on the minds-eye of the consumer according to Johnson.  Don’t let your restaurant look more like yesterday than tomorrow.

In new research from PMA found that “People eat fruit because it’s sweet, juicy, crisp, portable, filling, satisfying, shareable and good for you”.  To increase sales of cut fruit, PMA further recommended offering precut fruit snack packs with a side of dip and adding precut fruits to salad bars to make fruit more accessible to the lunch crowd.

And to capture the younger consumers who tend to snack more throughout the day, consider featuring exotic, nontraditional fruits such as lychee or passion fruit; offer portion sizes geared towards one-person households, and feature ready-to-eat snack options to be eaten on the go or throughout the day.

 Nielsen says in its report Booming Snack Sales Highlight a Growth Opportunity in Emerging Markets. “Consumers are eating up this ‘on-the-go’ snacking subcategory, to the tune of U.S. $1.1 billion,”

Naturipe Farms of Salinas, Calif. is going after the on-the-go market with its Naturipe Snacks fresh fruit cups that include several flavor combinations of blueberries, grapes and apples. “Our fruit cups are packed in a unique cup design with a built-in spork and 5 ounces of fresh fruit,” says Steven Ware, VP of value-added fresh. “Heat-sealed for plastic reduction and a secure closure, these cups are ideal for convenience stores, grab-and go departments and catering operations.”

According to Chicago-based IRI Fresh, while total fresh-cut fruit is up 38% since 2013.  Now think how that number would look if more fast food outlets offered fresh fruit. Regarding the top five fresh-cut fruits adding the most dollars to the category since 2013, IRI finds that berries are No. 1, with 82% in dollar sales growth.

When it comes to increasing sales of fresh-cut fruit, Greg Wilson of Reichel Foods advises grocers to think of their youngest shoppers. “Merchandising fresh-cut products low in the set helps increase sales because they are more visible to children,” he says. “Also, merchandise standing up so the consumers can see what is in the package.” Reichel Foods’ best-selling line is its Dippin’ Stix brand of kid-friendly cut fruit with dips, such as apples and caramel.

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/