Partnerships Power Peapod

Time and time again our own Grocerant Guru®, Steven Johnson based in Tacoma, WA with Foodservice Solutions® articulates how partnerships drive sales creating a new platform, new electricity, to garner attention, drive sales and edify legacy brands. 

Now picking up on success clues left by our Grocerant Guru® Peapod created a new Fast Pho meal kit is the result of a collaboration between the e-grocer and food writer Mark Bittman. In fact, Peapod has formed a partnership with influential food writer Mark Bittman, author of the new cookbook “Dinner for Everyone.”

Peapod will be spotlighting several of Bittman’s recipes in a shoppable, click-to-cart format, in addition to an exclusive meal kit, Fast Pho, a Vietnamese-inspired dish with pre-measured fresh ingredients, available in serving sizes for two or four.

Bittman, sounding a lot like our Grocerant Guru® as regular reader of this blog will notice asked  “The inevitable, daily question, ‘What's for dinner?’ is one that everyone has asked themselves more times than they can count,”. “I want cooking dinner at home to make people happy, not stressed, and Peapod gets that, too. Cooking – and likewise shopping for the ingredients – doesn't have to be tedious or time-consuming, and I'm excited to share this Fast Pho meal kit in partnership with Peapod that proves exactly that.”

According to Peapod’s third annual meal-planning forecast, 77 percent of Americans say they would rather eat a homemade meal than go out for dinner, and more than 40 percent of Americans value meal kits as a tool to make cooking at home easier, with other welcomed shortcuts including pre-measured ingredients and grocery delivery.

Spencer Baird, SVP of merchandising at Peapod,  stated  “we work to simplify grocery shopping, menu planning and meal time,” said  “Meal kits allow us to introduce shoppers to inspired international flavors and dishes without any intimidation, as every ingredient is selected and packed ready-to-cook. The partnership with Mark and collaboration on the meal kit is another way we want to support making dinner time enjoyable and approachable for shoppers.” Are you looking a customer ahead building new electricity for you business?

According to Johnson, “Brand relevance is in part driven with innovation in new menu related 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, plant based  foods,  sampling, toy’s, beer, developing brands, unique urban clothing, grocerant positioning, Fresh food messaging, autonomous delivery, cashier-less retail, plates, glasses, cash-less payments, digital hand-held marketing.

All food 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

For international corporate 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 www.GrocerantGuru.com , www.FoodserviceSolutions.us or call 1-253-759-7869

Peapod Beef’s Up

Differentiation does not mean different when it comes to food retail it means familiar but with a twist according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  One online food grocery delivery company stepped up to the plate creating a point of differentiation from itself any Amazon Fresh, Walmart /Jet.com, and all others by leveraging beef as its new electricity  to garner incremental customers with a qualitative point of differentiation.

That company is Peapod who entered an exclusive distribution partnership with meat purveyor Meats by Linz. The deal marks the first time Meats by Linz products will be available at grocery retail, with Peapod serving as the only distribution channel for direct-to-consumer purchase. The Grocerant Guru® has no beef with that. OK, so much for the pun.  This is great positioning that is all there is to it according to Johnson.

Meats by Linz  is a third-generation family-owned company, that provides high-quality meat for high-end steak houses throughout the Midwest, including Maple and Ash Restaurant, Ditka's Restaurant Chicago and Michael Jordan's Steak House.

Spencer Baird, SVP of merchandising for Peapod stated "Peapod is continuously looking to add new sources of high-quality products to our lineup, and that is what initially brought us to Meats by Linz," …"As another Chicago-based company, we saw the immense potential not only to distribute their products, but also collaborate in a full partnership that gives the Peapod customer a truly unique experience delivered right to their door."

In addition to the partnership, Peapod has in fact introduced a Virtual Butcher Shop, offering a variety of resources to connect its online grocery shoppers to its meat products including an Ask the Butcher Q&A section and a Dry Aged Steak Room, where shoppers can view the aging process in real time; once again adding a qualitative point of differentiation according to Johnson.

Meats by Linz owner Fred Linz stated "Consumers hear a lot about 'dry aged steak,' but not a lot of shoppers actually know what that means," .. "This partnership with Peapod gives us a way to not only share our amazing products with consumers, but also provide an educational component that will help them purchase items best suited for any occasion"; which is a win for Peapod, a win for Meats by Linz and a win for the consumers according to Johnson.

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.”  That is why this is such a great partnership according to the Grocerant Guru®.

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.

Are you looking for a new partnership to drive sales? Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing ideations look more like yesterday than 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.

Older and Wiser than Competitors Peapod is Pushing Price

Since our blog in March about Peapod was a big hit with the second most views of the month we saw this article by Jon Springer and will share some of it with you. As most of you know Jon works at Winsight LLC and understands the undercurrents within the grocerant niche better than most according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® Tacoma WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Peapod is probably the best grocery delivery service today in the US according to the team at Foodservice Solutions®.  That does not mean they can be complacent as many of the new delivery entrants have discounted pricing to garner market share Peapod has done delivered quality and consistency over time that still provide them an edge according to Johnson.

Nevertheless PRICE maters and customers will migrated to a lower price competitor.  So Peapod wants to drive incremental sales and will leverage price with quality and consistency to do that. Below is part of Jon Springers article.

“When planning the reductions, we began with one important question: What do our customers care about the most? It sounds simple, but we wanted to ensure we are giving our customers exactly what they want at the value they expect,” said Spencer Baird, Peapod's SVP of merchandising, in a statement. “Initial feedback has shown shoppers are very happy with the new value Peapod is delivering.”

The new offerings come as Peapod fights to regain growth momentum amid a wave of online competition, including more grocers offering click-and-collect and delivery options. Though the company posted U.S. sales of around $1 billion last year, officials of parent Ahold Delhaize in late 2017 said increasing competition in the space had slowed its relative growth, and that it would reinvest in the offering this year.

Since then, Peapod has debuted a text-to-order service, a new line of meal kits and integration with meal planner Dinner Daily. Last year, it debuted voice ordering through Amazon’s Alexa device……

Peapod is also offering a discounted version of its PodPass delivery subscription to incentivize shoppers to receive midweek deliveries only. PodPass MidWeek is less than half the price of the regular subscription and offers a year of deliveries on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday for $55.

“This is just the beginning for us,” Baird said. “We'll be lowering prices and offering additional special promotions throughout 2018 based on seasonal purchasing and priority products. We want to keep delighting our customers every time they shop. Customers should know our commitment to value is permanent.”

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

Grocery Shopping There is a New Path to Purchase

Regular readers know that customer migration and adoption of Grocerant Niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food continues disrupt traditional avenues of fresh food distribution.  In fact Steven Johnson the Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® stated the key driver of consumer adoption of grocerant niche migration is saving TIME.

Time continues to be the key driver of customer adoption of online grocery shopping. In fact new research from the IFIC Foundation finds that in 2018 over one-third of the time, consumers are shopping for groceries online. Retail is evolving fast are you? Check out a summary of the IFIC findings:

Who Grocery Shops Online?

1.        Women are more likely than men to say they shop for groceries online most of the time (32% vs. 26%, respectively).

2.        Those who are under 45 are more likely to buy food online most of the time, especially compared to those over 65 (34% vs. 23%, respectively).

3.        Minorities are also more likely to shop for food online most of the time, compared to whites (35% vs. 27%, respectively).

Who Cares About Nutrition Info?

1.        Online nutrition information is more likely to be read before purchasing food by women, those under 45 and minorities.

2.        People under the age of 45 are more likely to check both online and in-store nutrition information.

3.        Minority respondents (especially minority women) are more likely to check both online and in-store nutrition information.

4.        College-educated respondents (especially college-educated women) are more likely to check both online and in-store nutrition information.

 Not Everyone Reads Nutrition Info.

1.        More than half of consumers over 45 don’t check nutrition information prior to food shopping online.

2.        Respondents aged 45-64 are less likely to check both online and in-store nutrition information.

3.        White respondents (especially white men) are less likely to check both online and in-store nutrition information.

4.        Non-college-educated respondents are less likely to check both online and in-store nutrition information.

Big Takeaways

1.        When it comes to reading nutrition info before purchasing groceries online, age is the biggest factor (among the demographics observed).

2.        The most popular types of food to buy online are snacks, followed by cereals/breakfast foods and canned goods.

3.        Fewer than half of shoppers are reading nutrition info online before purchasing food (42%).

4.        66% of shoppers read nutrition info before purchasing food in a store.

5.        Cost and time are the two primary barriers to shopping online.

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.

At Peapod Partnerships Deliver Success

Regular readers of this blog remember Webvan and that it was founded in 1996.  Wenvan was at  one time the king of grocery delivery.  Those same readers also know that Webvan raised tons of money and then folded in a spectacular collapsed in 2001.

While the food trade publications predicted the end of grocery delivery back in the day one company proved them wrong; that company was Peapod.  Founded in 1989 Peapod continues to delivery groceries has found a profitable template driving growth. How so all the while Peapod was creating strategic partnerships creating new electricity.

Once again Peapod is now expanding and offering grocery delivery for Giant customers. Online grocer Peapod, in partnership with Giant Food Stores, has opened its newest wareroom in North Coventry. It is the fourth Peapod wareroom to open in Pennsylvania, and brings 120 new jobs to the area.

The wareroom, which opened for business last month is strategically attached to the Giant Food Store, employees process online orders for groceries for delivery to homes and business in the area or for customer pick-up.

Sarah Baird, vice president of operations for Peapod stated “As more shoppers look to the convenience of online grocery shopping and delivery, the new wareroom will enable Peapod to serve up to 25 percent more shoppers in the greater Philadelphia area”.

Baird continued “that Peapod has experienced double digit growth in the region for the last three consecutive years...We’re very excited about this new facility. We have been in Pennsylvania since 2011 and have had amazing success”.

“At Peapod, our attention is always on the quality of the service we deliver to the customers — making sure every piece of produce, every piece of meat we send out is perfect,” she said. “And with this opening, we are investing in the neighborhood and our new customers.”

Fred Morgan, district director, at Giant stated “For us it’s about convenience for our time-starved consumers. It is easy to order, pick up or have the groceries delivered,” The wareroom is set up like a grocery store with shelves full of products — but it doesn’t carry the same number of items. “We offer an assortment that is similar to what is in the store. Perishables are 100 percent picked from the store,”  

Have you tried Peapod,? Here is how you can customers visit www.peapod.com, where they can browse for the items they want — produce and meats, local specialties and all the basics. They will then schedule a time for delivery — either next day or up to two weeks out. Drivers will deliver at the selected time, or customers can arrange to pick-up at designated locations.

Today Peapod is owned by Ahold Delhaize USA company, has delivered more than 40 million orders to date.  Regular readers of this blog know that members of our team worked with Webvan, Ez2get, Food.com and others back in the day.  We would like congratulate Peapod in this the year of foodservice partnerships on their continued growth and success.

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