Whole Foods Fresh Sustainable Restaurant Partnerships Driving Sales

When Whole Foods opened its new Atlanta store its integrated market messaging was ‘local – fresh food’ touting sustainable foodservice as a solution for meals, meal prep, meal components, with a trendy buzz word food hall experience without being a trend only location but rather a ‘better for you’ food solution according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Whole Foods understands the undercurrents driving customer relevance and it is evolving its brand messaging creating a new electricity for consumers while edifying it’s longstanding messaging of ‘better-for-you fresh food’ according to Johnson.

How is your brand building new electricity? 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, free food / 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 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 in Atlanta its all about ‘local’.  That is a very smart and good move on the part of Whole Foods.  

Whole Foods emphasized that the “food hall experience” includes the Canopy Court, 14th Street Bar, Capital Experience and Farm Burger, all offering exclusive food menus, curated selections of locally sourced beer and wine as well as Wi-Fi.  Whole Foods is designed so customer can enjoy ‘eating-in or eating-out’.

This new store platform once again elevates the customer relationship with an interactive participatory atmosphere that brings a ‘closeness and relevance’ to the top five customer touchpoints according to Johnson.

Complementing those touch point while extending the ‘eating-in & eating-out’ the new midtown Atlanta Whole Foods also features a range of hot and cold prepared food bars with seasonal dishes and options for special diets.

Yes, they have all the regulars Whole Foods customers expect including “build-your-own avocado toast and lettuce wrap bars; a skillet bar offering items such as fried chicken, wings and fried fish; a salad bar and soup wells; self-serve pizza; sushi from Genji; a station serving made-to-order sandwiches; rotisserie chicken; plant-focused grain bowls; and seasonally rotating culinary popup stations. In addition, a detox juice bar provides made-to-order smoothies, juice shots, cold-pressed blends and açai bowls.”  How are you building new electricity for your brand?

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.

Blaze Pizza Leveraging Technology Targeting Consumers

Food Marketing once again is evolving.  Today consumers use technology more than ever before and it now take new technology that can help retailers understand the consumer and find them according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Marketing automation platform Punchh recently announced a strategic relationship with Blaze Fast-Fire'd Pizza.  Blaze will be using Punchh technology for its new customer engagement and loyalty app. The Punchh-powered program will enable the company to provide guests with a more accessible mobile platform highlighted by a revamped loyalty program. As part of its "Blaze Instantly" initiative, the company is focused on becoming the most accessible fast casual pizza brand through online ordering, mobile ordering and delivery.

Blaze believes that Punchh could become their new electricity as Punchh’s mobile engagement and loyalty program excels at precise segmentation and targeting.  In addition Punchh ability to engage guests through dynamic messaging featuring detailed information about current and upcoming offerings. Via integration with Olo, the app will also offer online ordering and a new point-based reward structure that gives more guests the opportunity to cash in their flames for food and beverages.

Punchh CEO Shyam Rao stated "Blaze is growing at an incredible pace, and we're elated to be a core part of their forward-looking strategy, entrusted with the responsibility of bringing in new guests and then turning them into loyalists who will spread the good word and further accelerate global expansion,"

Blaze Fast-Fire'd Pizza CMO Shivram Vaideeswaran, "Blaze's success is based on serving amazing pizza and providing an even better guest experience. With a brand focused on cultivating fanatics, we're seizing every opportunity to give our fans more of what they love. Our new loyalty program with Punchh gives us the ability to truly understand our guests and develop exciting new innovation and messaging that speaks their language." Where is your new electricity?

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.