Travelers in a Hurry are Welcome at Pilot Flying J

Battle for Share of Stomach

When your driving up and down the highways of America and looking for a place eat remember the old adage ‘eat where the truckers eat’.  According to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® Pilot Company is doing a great job evolving its meal options with relevance.

Americans have been in love with handheld food for immediate consumption and burritos for breakfast are hot, hot, hot right now.  Thus edifying its relationship with consumers Pilot has introduced Jumbo Breakfast Burritos at more than 300 of its Pilot and Flying J travel centers.

The burritos come in two options in both smoked beef brisket and pulled chicken, the burritos also include scrambled egg, tater tots, a blend of cheddar and Monterey jack cheese, and fire roasted peppers and onions.

On Feb. 26, Pilot is bringing back its fish sandwich and entrée to 270 Pilot and Flying J locations. This item will be available throughout the Lenten season until mid-April, while supplies last. Even better both of these news items apply to the ongoing 25% off deli food exclusive pro-driver deal through March.

Technology helps build relevance while speeding up customer service touchpoints so using the Pilot Flying J App on iOS and Android, makes lie just a little easier for those travelers in a hurry. How are you edifying your relationship with consumers?  Are you saving them time, offering new flavors?

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.

Technology Adoption Drives Sales at Wingstop

Do chain restaurants have an advantage when it come to adopting new technology or independent restaurants? That is the question that posed to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® during a recent industry presentation.

The team at Foodservice Solutions® believes that chain restaurants do have an advantage over independent restaurants simply because they are targeted by technology companies’ sales teams in an effort to expand their ‘install base’ faster.

In the case of Wingstop they are looking for ‘operational efficiencies’ in an effort to reduce the time it takes to service each consumer. Consider this 80% of Wingstop orders are for off-premise consumption. With 40% of sales arriving through digital channels.

Operational efficiencies matter because the consumer is dynamic not static and brands need to be dynamic as well according to Johnson.  At Wingstop sales via digital channels for carry-out and delivery continues to grow, with those making up 39% of sales in December and growing to 40% in January.

Wingstop has about 160 of our restaurants have exceeded 50% carryout with some units have now passed 60% of all orders as carryout.

In an effort to continue speeding up off-premise orders, Wingstop is testing pick-up order lockers in four Dallas locations. If you are a chain restaurant or not remember that your customer is dynamic not static.  Don’t do what you have always done and expect the same results.  If your customer is on the move your company must move with them or risk losing customers.

Looking for success clues of your own? Foodservice Solutions® specializes in outsourced food marketing and business development ideations. We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities, technology, or a new menu product segment.  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

Having Company for the Holidays Mici Handcrafted Italian has a Solution

Thinking about driving incremental sales this holiday season? Well, a Denver fast casual restaurant chain, Mici Handcrafted Italian is offering its handmade, lasagna to take home for the holidays. While regular readers of this blog know that consumers don’t have either the time or skill-set to cook from scratch. Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® said grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat meals and meal components are a complement to most foodservice operations.

Foodservice Solutions® FIVE P’s of Food Marketing include portability and with pre-holiday pick-up, Mici’s fully assembled lasagnas can be ordered uncooked or cooked and stored for up to three days in the refrigerator (or frozen), before baking at home. Thus, provide a meal solution when consumers are having company that saves time while being ‘local’ unique and stress free.  

The Micelis, Mici’s founders, know how important family time is during the holidays having come from large families themselves. Each house-made pan of Mici’s authentic Lasagna with Tuscan meat sauce will come with full baking instructions and can serve between 12 and 20 people based on portion preference.

There is no limit to how many pans guests can pre-order; however, Mici requires 24-hour advance notice for lasagna trays. Holiday Lasagna Pans are available December 15 through January 1, and are $110 per tray (less that $10 per person). Are you extending your brand this holiday season?

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.

Fast Casual or Fast Food Casual

Price points and speed of service converge at the consumer as the line between restaurant sectors continues to shrink.  What the customer wants the customer gets according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Today our Grocerant ScoreCard indicate that there is less than $0.18 between the average fast casual check average and that of the average fast food restaurant.  More importantly many fast casual chains are evolving service attributes that speed up service to the point of fast food. 

One such company is Noodles & Company, known for serving classic noodle, zoodle and pasta dishes from around the world, announced two new limited-time-only (LTO’s) dishes: Zucchini Spicy Peanut Saute and Zucchini Truffle Mac. Noodles & Company is also expanding its delivery and quick pickup options to make trying your favorite noodles and world flavors easier than ever.

For zoodle-lovers who prefer a lighter meal option, the two new dishes, Spicy Zucchini Peanut Saute with Grilled Chicken and Zucchini Truffle Mac, will hit the spot. The dishes are only available for a limited time and feature zoodles rather than traditional noodles. Zoodles, which the company added to its menu in May, are full of vitamin C and potassium and have 90 percent fewer carbs and calories than a serving of elbow noodles.

1.        Zucchini Spicy Peanut Saute with Grilled Chicken: Zucchini noodles in a spicy, peanut-flavored sauce with grilled chicken, broccoli, carrots, snap peas and cabbage. Topped with peanuts, black sesame and cilantro.

2.        Zucchini Truffle Mac: Zucchini noodles in the famous Noodles & Company cheese sauce with black truffle, roasted mushrooms, Parmesan cheese and toasted breadcrumbs.

Nick Graff, executive chef at Noodles & Company stated "We're redefining the noodle in our World Kitchen by providing a variety of options to ensure there's something on our menu for everyone," .. "The new zoodle dishes, which are available for a limited time, combine some of our favorite and classic flavors to excite your taste buds."

Faster service or more relevant service options have been added at Noodles. Now there's an even easier way to try the new dishes through Noodles & Company's expanded delivery and quick pickup options. Noodles & Company expanded its partnership with DoorDash, to bring easy and convenient delivery to 300 Noodles & Company restaurants nationwide. The change comes in addition to Noodles & Company's delivery partnerships with Grubhub, Uber Eats and EatStreet, and on-premise easy pickup options.

Dave Boennighausen, chief executive officer of Noodles & Company stated "We know our guests are looking for ease and convenience in all aspects of their lives, so to better serve our guests, we made delivery and quick pickup a priority," "Whether our guests don't feel like leaving the house or they need to make a quick pickup between sports practices, we're making mealtimes delicious, easy and fun."

For guests making their way into restaurants, but who don't want to wait in line, Noodles & Company offers Quick Pickup in all restaurants and Quick Pickup Windows in select test restaurants. Guests can bypass lines by simply placing their order online or through the NoodlesREWARDS app and picking up their food at the Quick Pickup station in each restaurant. Are your prices lower? Are your service options expanding?

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