Papa John’s Getting High Marks for Hemp

 

You have to give Papa John’s credit to the new team at Papa John’s for changing the PR narrative after the departure of it found John Schnatter.   With sales slumping, customer backlash, and franchisees clamming for new messaging the new team went to work and wall street and the public has forgiven the missteps according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA base Foodservice Solutions®

While not the first chain to put cannabis / hemp products on the menu in a big way, Papa John’s has become the first global quick-service restaurant brand to put superfood hemp seeds on the menu, with the launch of its new limited-edition Hemp Sticks in two key markets. 

Ok, they are not doing it in the U.S. yet, Johnson believes Papa John’s ability to test these new products along with new messaging will prove a valuable asset as the U.S. moves closer and closer to evolving the laws regarding cannabis / hemp nationwide. The trial is now available in the UK and Russia, the launch marks Papa Johns’ first major product innovation of 2022, as it seeks to further strengthen its ‘Better Ingredients. Better Pizza’ commitment to food superiority, a key component in last year’s rebrand announcement.

It already sounds good, handmade using Papa Johns’ fresh never frozen, six ingredient dough, the Russian Hemp Sticks recipe uses Papa Johns’ special garlic sauce and a sprinkle of shelled hemp seeds, while the UK recipe swaps special garlic sauce for garlic butter sauce and also includes mozzarella.

Regular readers of this blog know, Gen Z and millennials have become the biggest purchasers of better-for-you Reasy-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food. Now the halo of grocerant niche fresh food trend has clearly been embraced by Papa Johns.   

The fun part will be watching and listening to the new product launch and its integrated marketing campaign.  Then we will see just how independent nutritionists and media personalities respond to the hemp offering? Do you think they will be able to drive consumer trial of hemp seeds by debunking popular misconceptions? Our Grocerant Guru® thinks they can, as this has proven to be a ground-up not a top-down marketing choice. What consumers want, they get, even if it takes 40 years.

The back story; this latest campaign is also underpinned by new Woodstock-inspired creative to highlight that hemp is high in plant protein, vitamins and other nutrients. PR, social media and paid media promotion will be deployed in both launch markets.

Messaging to Gen Z and Millennials the PR will focus on demonstrating the euphoria of natural highs, executed as ‘highest’ food delivery stunts. The UK stunt stars TV daredevil turned plant-based chef, Matt Pritchard, abseiling down a cliff face to deliver the Hemp Sticks. In Russia, ‘roofer’ influencers, Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus, will receive their delivery by drone, at the top of skyscraper.

Jo Blundell, VP of International Marketing at Papa Johns, stated, “With the launch of Hemp Sticks, Papa Johns has become the first global [quick-service] brand to make superfood hemp available to all. Premium, innovative ingredients are the very core of our pizzas, so Hemp Sticks will offer pizza fans a new way to enjoy our iconic breadsticks and help to dispel some of the misunderstanding surrounding this 100% legal, delicious seed.”  Is your brand looking outside the box for top-line growth and bottom-line profits?

For international corporate presentations, regional chain presentations, educational forums, or keynotes contact: Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions.  His extensive experience as a multi-unit restaurant operator, consultant, brand / product positioning expert, and public speaking will leave success clues for all. For more information visit GrocerantGuru.com, FoodserviceSolutions.US or call 1-253-759-7869

McDonald's bold embrace of the Grocerant Niche

Why is it successful companies seem to pick up all of the right success clues?  Could it be that they listen to customer better than other companies?  That is exactly what Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® believes.

McDonald’s McCafé has introduced its latest beverage innovation targeting a new avenue of distribution that will drive incremental sales and profits for the global fast food retailer according to Johnson. The new product is a line of bottled McCafe Frappés, (grocerant niche Ready-2-Drink), coffee drinks that will be the foundation creating new electricity the McDonald’s brand.  

So, just what is your brands new electricity? According to Johnson, “Brand relevance is in part driven with innovation in new food products in combination with new avenues of distribution all of which are the platform for the new electricity.”

Johnson stated “that in my minds-eye the new electricity must be very efficient for the supply and includes such things as fresh foods, developing brands, unique urban clothing, grocerant positioning, Fresh food messaging, autonomous delivery, cashier-less retail, plates, glasses, cash-less payments, digital hand held marketing.

Foodservice retailers to survive the next generation of retail must embrace the artificial intelligence revolution while simultaneously embracing fresh food that is portable, fresh, with differentiation that is familiar not different.  That will require brands to embrace new fresh food partnerships more now than ever before according to Johnson.

Every generation McDonalds customers will embrace the new avenue of distribution.  For McCafé lovers nationwide they will have another easy way to grab their favorite pick-me-up. McDonald’s launched the line of bottled McCafé Frappé coffee drinks in grocery and convenience stores, as well as mass merchandisers across the U.S.

The drinks are available in three flavors – Caramel, Mocha and Vanilla – bottled McCafé Frappés deliver craveable and delicious café-quality coffee on-the-go. The Coca-Cola Co. manufactures, distributes and sells bottled McCafé Frappé coffee drinks, and combines brand-building and distribution expertise together with McDonald’s to offer a new way for people to enjoy the taste of McCafé. They are made with 100% Arabica coffee beans and blended with real milk, sugar, natural flavors and other ingredients for a smooth, perfectly balanced taste.

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.

Pizza Hut Fills Papa John’s Void

Papa John’s leadership challenges have created an open opportunity one of its chief rivals Pizza Hut.  There is no doubt now that Papa John’s franchisee are paying the price for recent leadership missteps according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

When Pizza Hut announced that they have added the Los Angeles Rams and Chargers to its roster of local team partnerships for the 2018 NFL season it was clear it will take years for Papa John’s to recover from the miscues of its leadership team and that Pizza Hut has found its new electricity to drive top line sales and bottom line profits. . 

Zipporah Allen, chief marketing officer, Pizza Hut stated “Since their return to Los Angeles, Rams fans have ignited a new wave of excitement with NFL fans. We are proud to partner with the team and elevate the fan experience all season long,” Throughout the multi-year partnership, Pizza Hut will team up with the Rams to bring fans exciting new activations in the stadium and give fans watching the game from home the opportunity to win one-of-a-kind prizes every week through a new digital platform launching in September.

Jamie Reigle, executive vice president of business operations for the Los Angeles Rams stated “As Los Angeles gets back to football, we’re thrilled to partner with Pizza Hut to enhance the game-day experience for our fans,”  “We are proud Pizza Hut has chosen to amplify their NFL partnership with us and we look forward to working together to deliver creative ways to bring our fans closer to the Rams all year-round.” 

The multi-year partnership will provide Pizza Hut with an array of marketing rights, benefits and designations that will unmistakably connect the brand with Chargers fans throughout Los Angeles.

Chargers president of business operations A.G. Spanos  “As an organization, everything we do begins and ends with the fan in mind,” “With the start of football season right around the corner, we’re excited to establish a local relationship with league partner Pizza Hut—one that enables the Chargers to bring additional value to our fans while creating fun new ways for them to engage with both brands.”

So, what is your new electricity driving top line sales and bottom line profits?  Are your customer counts growing?  According to Johnson, “Brand relevance is in part driven with innovation in new food products in combination with new avenues of distribution all of which are the platform for the new electricity.”

Johnson stated “that in my minds-eye the new electricity must be very efficient for the supply and includes such things as fresh foods, sports partnerships, coins /currency urban clothing, grocerant consultants, urban farming (produce, seafood, etc.), autonomous delivery, cashier-less retail, , cash-less payments, digital hand held marketing.

Foodservice retailers to survive the next generation of retail must embrace the artificial intelligence revolution while simultaneously embracing new avenues of distribution, fresh food that is portable, fresh, with differentiation that is familiar not different.  That will require brands to embrace new fresh food partnerships more now than ever before according to Johnson.

Foodservice Solutions® specializes in outsourced food marketing and business development ideations. 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, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant/ or twitter.com/grocerant

Dueling Ego’s Threaten Papa John’s Franchisees Future

Success does leave clues and clue one is corporate conflict and infighting amid a public relations nightmare should be avoided at all cost according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Papa John’s franchisees are now and will be paying the price, footing the bill, and capitulating retail momentum the longer John Schnatter Papa John’s founder and largest shareholder and current management egos continue the battle of who should be running the company.

Last week during the earnings call Schnatter was not on the call after he tendered his resignation from the board; befuddling all he then sent out a statement on the company’s performance, laying the blame squarely with the Papa John’s current management.

Now remember that’s the same management that he hired, worked with and praised.  If this sounds like political infighting; it is! By the way that is a bad thing for the company, worst for the franchisee.  Lawyers and the news media will fare better than franchisee’s the longer this conflict continues according to Johnson.  The side are being drawn you have Jim Cramer saying to investors buy Dominos’ Pizza over Papa John’s.

You have University of Louisville taking Papa John’s name off its football stadium. All the while Ball State after seeing a large response after Papa John's decision to remove Schnatter the Trustees at Ball State decided to support the pizza-chain founder, who graduated from the university in 1983

The fact is Papa John’s has maintained a ‘pizza’ sector status quo positioning for too long according to Johnson. Schnatter and his team the current management followed the time tested rule for public companies ‘do no harm’.  When you maintain the status quo at all cost and are not proactive within the retail sector, there is a big price to pay when mistakes come along. 

That price is being paid by the franchisees.  A new marketing / advertising company will create a new message that can deflect from the noise of the internal squabble.  However it will not be enough to drive long term sales and bottom line profits for franchisees.

Domino’s without conflict completed changed their core product taste, look, and texture then revised its menu and now is leading the pizza sector in success.  Marketing messaging is not enough to save Papa John’s franchisee from closing units, capitulating market share and profits. Whoever is going to lead Papa John’s in 2019 has to step-up, and step-away from the status quo.  

If success does leave clues Papa John’s franchisees must get current management and Schnatter on the same page focusing on the consumers need-set not their egos in the mind-eye of Johnson.  

Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing ideations look more like yesterday than today or 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

Why a Wendy’s - Papa John’s Merger Makes Sense

Increasingly in 2018, consumers are finding that the family dinner is a grocerant meal, with 82.7% of family dinners including at least one grocerant niche fresh prepared item. In fact, Americans consume a shocking 350 slices of pizza every second, according to a report from CNBC -- and if that fact does not get you, consider this: 61% of consumers eat a sandwich at least once a week! 

Now, according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®, Papa John’s has the technology to empower delivery that Wendy’s needs.  Wendy’s has burgers - another hand-held food that fits perfectly with consumers’ increasing on-the-go sandwich trends. Then there is the fact that Wendy’s does not sell breakfast system-wide, thus offering a huge opportunity for incremental growth for a combined company.

This new combination could create a platform that encompasses dinner sales, lunch sales, and breakfast sales, given the built-in customer bases and technology platform, according to Johnson.  After all, regular readers of this blog know that since 1991 Steven Johnson has been crafting new non-traditional business relationships edifying legacy brands, while building foundations for start-up and regional chains.

Does your brand need a refresh? If your brand looks more like yesterday than today or tomorrow, it just might be time that you called for outside eyes to help you drive inside results.  What is your new electricity that is driving top line sales and bottom line profits?  Are your customer counts growing? 

So, just what do we mean by a brand’s new electricity? According to Johnson, “Brand relevance is in part driven by innovation in new food products in combination with new avenues of distribution, all of which are the platform for the new electricity.”

Johnson states that “in my mind’s-eye, the new electricity must be very efficient for the supply and includes such things as fresh foods, urban clothing, grocerant consultants, urban farming (produce, seafood, etc.), autonomous delivery, cashier-less retail, cash-less payments, and digital hand-held marketing. This program has all of that.

For foodservice retailers to survive the next generation of retail, they must embrace the artificial intelligence revolution while simultaneously embracing fresh food that is portable, fresh, with differentiation that is familiar, not different.  That will require brands to embrace new fresh food partnerships now more than ever before, according to Johnson.

For international corporate presentations, educational forums, or keynotes contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us, the Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  His extensive experience as a multi-unit restaurant operator, consultant, brand / product positioning expert and public speaker will leave success clues for all. Visit: www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information.

Domino's Pizza Build, Measure, Learn, Repeat = Success

Delivering success is the foundation of what Domino’s has done since its inception.  There is no company today that is better at Ready-2-Eat fresh prepared food delivery than Domino’s Pizza according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

If success does leave clues and it does Domino’s ability to take time testing systems, food, and service to understand the benefits, complications, and outcomes that will drive continue unit level success is one of the foundations of their success.  Foodservice Solutions® team calls this system Build, Measure, Learn, and Repeat and very few are better than it in the fast food sector than Domino’s. 

Domino's Pizza is now conducting a second round of self-driving delivery vehicle testing, with a focus in round two on the customer experience. This new two-month test in Miami, in partnership with Ford, will leverage the learnings of the first round of testing, but will add the element of delivery in a larger, urban setting.

Kevin Vasconi, executive vice president and chief information officer of Domino’s stated “Our first round of testing the customer experience in Ann Arbor provided some great learnings and insights, including the fact that there are customers who are interested in this as a delivery option.” 

Vasconi continued “Our testing is focused on the last 50 feet of the customer experience, between the front door and the car. While we work to refine that interaction, we also need to understand how operating this type of delivery in a more densely populated city will impact the customer experience and the specific delivery challenges it might present.”

In round two, a Ford Fusion Hybrid vehicle manually driven but outfitted to look like a self-driving vehicle will take deliveries from a Miami Domino’s store to customers who have ordered online and chosen to participate in the test. Participating customers will be able to track the vehicle via GPS and will receive text messages as the self-driving vehicle approaches. The texts will also provide them with simple instructions on how to unlock the Domino's Heatwave Compartment inside the vehicle using a PIN code.

“We’re a brand that believes in innovation, continuous improvement and rigorous testing to benefit our customers,” according to Vasconi. “As the automotive world evolves towards self-driving vehicles, we hope to put ourselves in a leading position by bringing our customers the delivery option that best meets their needs, now and in the future.” Are you getting your customers involved and then building, measuring, learning, and repeating? 

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

Pizza Hut Sensing Competitors Weaknesses Targets Larger Share of Pizza Sector

Domino’s CEO announced he will be departing, Papa John’s CEO just left and Papa Murphy’s CEO is still listening to franchisee so the oldest legacy national pizza brand that has capitulated market share for 20 years is stepping up. So what do you think they are doing now?

Well according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® “under the skillful tutelage of Yum! Brands CEO Greg Creed  Pizza Hut will be empowered to leverage product innovation, pricing, and marketing acumen to position Pizza Hut with top-of-mind customer relevance driving top line sales and bottom line profits.

Pizza Hut announced its $5.99 Medium Two-Topping pizza deal, the first of its kind for the Yum! Brands chain.  Pizza Hut is targeting its primary target customers while firing a warning shot to the pizza sector they mean to garner market share in 2018 as they leverage price to gain a larger share of stomach according to Johnson.

Zipporah Allen, vice president of marketing for Pizza Hut  stated "Great tasting pizza at a great price is a no-brainer,” ... “We know our pizza stands above the rest, so we’re excited to give our customers an offer to satisfy their craving.”

According to Johnson, McDonald’s success with deliver help expand the food delivery space all the while empowering consumers to choose something other than pizza as a first choice for the office get together, family meal, or student non-traditional meal leaving the pizza sector a bit flat footed.

The consumer is dynamic not static and clearly Yum! Brands CEO Greg Creed understands that the retail foodservice business model is evolving fast and brands must evolve as fast or fasters according to Johnson. In fact Pizza Hut announced a global partnership with Toyota to look at the future of pizza delivery with a self-driving car the Toyota E-Palette.

Let’s be clear here the foodservice space is evolving very fast, as regular readers of this blog know  department store chain Kohl’s is planning to partner with retailers like convenience stores or grocery stores to lease the white space left by the roughly 300 stores it has “right-sized” over the past several years, CEO Kevin Mansell told CNBC just yesterday.  Let’s admit it, most retailers know that Grocerant niche fresh food is booming.  That was just in case you missed it according to Johnson. That is the a contributing force driving restaurant chains to evolve or fade away if they want to admit it or not.

Johnson believes legacy restaurants must invest in garnering segment market share in 2018 any way they can because the fast evolving retail foodservice business model is going to displace those who do not. By now you know that Walmart & K Mart raised both wage and employee benefits. The increases to $11 per hour while simultaneously expanding maternity and parental leave benefits have elevated the restaurant employee retention and acquisition problem to a new high, one where yesterday’s solutions are today’s quagmire.

The undercurrents conditions impacting the growth of the foodservice sales have been well documented by the team at Foodservice Solutions®.  We ask is your restaurant, c-store, or service deli prepared for today’s retail conditions or yesterdays.  Why do we ask?

Well, recently we spent time listening to many foodservice CEO’s talk about implementing delivery as a strategy.   It’s kind of like thinking restaurant delivery is the answer to sales woes.  Restaurant food delivery is integral and maybe required in-order to maintain customer relevance today.  However we must caution operators that food delivery as a strategy was valuable 20 years ago. Today, food delivery is simply a marketing tactic of yesterday.   

Today food delivery is simply a tactic being implemented by followers who were unable or unwilling to see the forest through the trees back in the day or last year.  It must be noted if a food company is touting food delivery as a strategy the only thing clear is that they still don’t see the forest as the weeds they are standing in are simply too high according to Johnson.

In Q4 2017 restaurant same-store traffic declined 1.9% in the fourth quarter, including a 1.8% decline in December after very weak numbers in 2016.  That my friends is an example once again that the restaurant business model is broken.  Has your brand created a new platform capable garnering incremental customers and sales while driving store cost down edifying the franchisee while driving corporate profit? Why not?

Success does leave clues www.FoodserviceSolutions.us  is the global leader in grocerant niche business development.  We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities.  Has your company had a Grocerant ScoreCard completed a Grocerant Program Assessment, or new Grocerant niche product Ideation?  Want one?  Call 253-759-7869 Email: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us

Wendy's: Delivery Worked for McDonald’s and the Pizza Sector Why Not Us?

There are times when the customer moves and you simply have to move with them according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  Bandwagon marketing / copycat marketing has been around for a long time there are times chains simply have to jump on the bandwagon or risk losing customers, sales, and profits.

The first thing regular readers of this blog will want to know is will the Pizza Sector slip even more?  The simple answer is no.  We will see the Pizza sector sales flatten but they should stabilize a bit as McDonald’s had a greater impact on the pizza sector than will Wendy’s.  That said Wendy’s delivery will show very positive results according to the team conducting grocerant scorecards at Foodservice Solutions®.

By January 1, 2018 Wendy’s expects to offer delivery via DoorDash a close to 2,500 restaurants in 48 markets. Wendy’s president and chief executive officer Todd Penegor said during a conference call Wednesday the chain was “excited about expanding access to our brand further and continue to find new ways to provide convenience to our customers.”

Delivery will help extend same store sales growth at Wendy’s.  This we Wendy’s announced that they had their 19th consecutive quarter of positive same-store sales in North America. The brand opened 42 new restaurants in the third quarter and has opened 110 units year-to-date, which is almost 30 more than this time a year ago. Delivery will help drive top line growth and bottom line profits along with incremental customer relevance.

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.

Facebook’s Mobile App is Pizza Paradise

Integrating technology and food marketing is second nature for technology companies the ilk of Facebook.  What is a surprise to most foodservice industry veterans is the rate of customer adoption of these new avenues of foodservice distribution according to Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru®, Steven Johnson.

Table service restaurants the ilk of TGI Fridays is letting customers pay the bill with Amazon accounts all the while US based pizza chain restaurants are in a every expanding battel for pizza  technology leadership. 

Restaurant industry competition is getting increasingly aggressive about technology, ever sector seemingly has enlist either Facebook or Amazon  in their race to make it easier for customers to order and pay for their food fast and seamlessly.

Recently TGI Fridays began letting customers pay their bill using their Amazon accounts. All the while the pizza sector  chains are locked in an escalating battle to adopt new ordering methods -- a contest that involves chat bots, voice-activated devices and social networks.

Brandon Rhoten, Papa John’s chief marketing officer, recently went so far as to declare itself an “e-commerce company” this month after delivering surprisingly strong results. “We’re much more close, I would argue, to Amazon than we are to a brick-and-mortar restaurant”.

When it seems as if Millennials the most coveted base of consumers for food marketers are living on their phones technology becomes even more important. The fact is 69% of consumer’s look-up restaurant locations, menus, and pricing at least once a month according to B. Hudson Reihle of the National Restaurant Association.

Papa John’s Rhoten noted that “An online ad, for instance, can be turned into an order with a few clicks. Most other restaurant chains are still figuring out how to get customers to do that”, ..It’s a “fundamental shift that most in the category haven’t taken advantage of,”

Papa John’s began accepting orders on Facebook in June, and the feature was an instant hit: Hundreds of orders flowed in during the first few hours. In all forms, digital orders now make up over 60 percent of Papa John’s sales. It must be noted that our own Grocerant Guru® was helping Cybermeals sign Papa John’s as the first national US chain restaurant to have online ordering.

Now both Domino’s and Pizza Hut, are experimenting with chat bots.  Chat bots are a platform that let users maker orders via Facebook Messenger and Twitter Inc.’s service. Through conversation, the bot finds out whether you want to order one of your favorites or see the latest deals. Shake Shack Inc. unveiled a similar chat-bot program in August as part of a push for more online orders.

TGI Fridays has become the first restaurant chain to let people pay with their Amazon accounts -- a new wrinkle in the convenience wars. Rather than fumbling with wallets and finding credit cards, customers use the Amazon app on their phones it’s fast familiar, and friendly.

One company still outshines all others when it comes to technology that company is Starbucks.  The Starbucks app has become so popular that it’s creating new traffic patterns. Customers bypass the registers and bunch up around the pickup area of cafes, creating slowdowns and hassles. The coffee giant has been working to fix the problem this year.

What’s next?  Voice-activated devices are the new frontier with Amazon and Google in a battle with new star-up solutions searching for a way to capture some attention.  Our own Grocerant Guru® believes that voice ordering of groceries, restaurant meals and anything Togo will become the new path to purchase.

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 the clue you need to propel your continued success.