Thanksgiving VALUE Served Hot: How Hy-Vee’s $30 Meal Deal Embodies the Grocerant Advantage

 

This Thanksgiving, VALUE is the ultimate side dish consumers crave, and Hy-Vee is serving it up hot according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®. As food inflation and time scarcity reshape the American dinner table, Hy-Vee’s $30 Thanksgiving Meal Deal exemplifies how the Grocerant Model — blending restaurant quality with grocery convenience — meets today’s consumers where they live, shop, and eat.

According to the USDA Food Price Outlook (October 2025), grocery prices have risen 21.5% since 2019, while restaurant menu prices are up nearly 28%. Meanwhile, the average American household food budget has expanded 19% in just three years (Bureau of Labor Statistics). Consumers are feeling pressure and VALUE is now the number one decision driver for both grocery and dining occasions.

Hy-Vee’s $30 Thanksgiving Meal Deal is more than a promotional option. It’s a strategic solution for the 2025 consumer: a complete meal for under $5 per person that provides flavor, tradition, and convenience without financial strain.

 

A Feast of Facts: Why This $30 Meal Matters

The American Farm Bureau Federation reports that the average cost of a classic Thanksgiving meal for 10 people rose to $61.17 in 2024, up from $53.31 just two years earlier — a 15% increase. Hy-Vee’s $30 meal, serving up to six, cuts that cost by nearly half, allowing families to preserve holiday traditions without compromising on quality or abundance.

That’s real savings and real satisfaction — a hallmark of modern Grocerant innovation.

 

Three Ways Hy-Vee Creates a Win-Win for Consumers

1. PRICE: The Value Equation That Resonates

A Numerator October 2025 study found that 64% of consumers plan to spend less on Thanksgiving dinner this year, while 72% say they’ll shop multiple stores for the best deals. Hy-Vee simplifies that search by offering restaurant-quality food at grocery pricing, packaged as an all-in-one value experience.

Even Hy-Vee’s gluten-free meal deal remains frozen at $50, defying inflation and signaling brand integrity and consistency — two attributes are increasingly tied to consumer trust and loyalty in food retail.

 

2. COOKING TIME: The New Currency of Convenience

Consumers no longer measure meal value in dollars alone — they measure it in minutes saved. Research from Technomic’s 2025 Foodservice Report shows that 71% of U.S. households cite convenience as a top factor in meal decisions, while 42% plan to cook less often this holiday season.

Hy-Vee’s Prepared Holiday Meal Packs meet this need head-on. With pre-cooked proteins and sides that only need reheating, families can enjoy a complete Thanksgiving dinner in under 45 minutes — versus the traditional 4 to 5 hours of prep and cooking time.

The result: a four-hour return on time invested, creating more opportunity for what truly matters — connection, not kitchen duty.

 

3. MEAL PLANNING: Seamless Shopping Meets Smart Solutions

Consumers increasingly demand simplicity. Hy-Vee’s move to allow meal deal and grocery orders in the same online basket is a subtle but significant food retail innovation.

According to NielsenIQ (2025), 57% of grocery shoppers now expect “one-click solutions” that combine meal planning, ingredient purchasing, and fulfillment in a single step. This integration reinforces Hy-Vee’s Grocerant leadership, bridging the gap between shopping and serving.

Whether customers choose in-store pickup or delivery, Hy-Vee is ensuring that Thanksgiving comes stress-free and on time — even as stores remain closed on the holiday itself.

 

Four Insights from the Grocerant Guru®

1.       Value is the New Differentiator.
Today’s consumers are pragmatic, not impulsive. They balance price, quality, and convenience — and they reward retailers who protect the customer’s wallet and time in equal measure.

2.       The Grocerant Model Is Retail’s Growth Engine.
Whether it’s a C-Store, Restaurant, or Service Deli, the path forward lies in ready-to-eat and ready-to-heat offerings that combine the hospitality of dining out with the practicality of grocery shopping.

3.       Time Has Become a Premium Ingredient.
As dual-income households rise and meal fatigue grows, consumers seek out shortcuts without compromise. Hy-Vee’s model shows how to turn convenience into both a profit driver and loyalty anchor.

4.       Cross-Channel Collaboration Is the Future.
Restaurants and retailers must learn from each other. The restaurant industry’s operational expertise and the grocery industry’s pricing and scale can merge to create hybrid food experiences that win across demographics.

 

Think About This: A Recipe for the Future of Foodservice

Hy-Vee’s $30 Thanksgiving Meal Deal is not just a seasonal success story — it’s a roadmap for retail resilience. By combining affordability, speed, and culinary quality, Hy-Vee proves that the Grocerant Model is not a trend — it’s the future of food retailing.

As consumers continue to “trade down” from restaurants but refuse to trade away experiences, hybrid solutions like this will define the new era of dining — one that’s built on VALUE, VARIETY, and VERSATILITY.

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Since 1991, Foodservice Solutions® has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche—helping brands identify high-growth strategies that resonate with modern consumers.

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Kids Promotions Still Work—Especially in 2025: A Grocerant Perspective

 

It’s 2025 and make no mistake—Kids Eat Free promotions still work. But like everything in the evolving grocerant (grocery + restaurant) landscape, context and strategy are king. While guest traffic continues to face headwinds across both QSR and casual dining sectors, smart operators are learning to integrate family-friendly promotions like Kids Eat Free into a broader off-premise strategy that boosts incremental revenue, builds brand affinity, and appeals to today’s on-the-go, digitally connected consumers according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Let’s be clear: promotions aimed at kids aren't just gimmicks—they’re strategic levers. Done right, they generate foot traffic, drive takeout orders, and increase meal bundling. The key is execution with an eye toward long-term engagement rather than short-term transaction spikes. Let’s unpack what’s working—and how to do it better in 2025.

 

Why Kids Promotions Still Matter (and How They've Evolved)

David Archer rightly pointed out years ago that Kids Eat Free is not a loyalty tool—it’s a traffic tactic. But in today’s grocerant environment, where prepared meals, takeout, and delivery are surging, the context has changed. These promotions aren’t just for dine-in anymore. They're evolving into takeout drivers, app incentives, and subscription bonuses.

Yes, Free is a powerful word—but free should be part of a profitable ecosystem, not a giveaway trap. Here's how operators in 2025 are making it work:

 

Three 2025 Success Examples: Kids Promotions in Action

1.       Panera's “Family Takeout Bundle” (Spring 2025):
Panera launched a Kids Eat Free offer tied to their mobile app. Order two adult entrées through the app and receive one free kids meal. The kicker? It’s takeout only—a clever way to migrate value-seeking families into the digital ecosystem while boosting weekday off-premise sales.

2.       Wegmans “Kids Meal Tuesdays” (ongoing):
Wegmans Food Markets expanded their grocerant meal stations to offer a Kids Eat Free deal every Tuesday after 4PM. Families buying two hot bar or sushi items received a free kids bento box. The promotion turned slow Tuesday afternoons into a dinner rush—without opening new dining space.

3.       MOD Pizza's Summer “Kidventure Meal Kits” (June 2025):
This build-your-own pizza brand launched a summer campaign bundling a free kids pizza kit (take-and-bake) with every $20 online order. With activity sheets and collectable stickers included, this promo drove higher check sizes and repeat orders through their app loyalty program.

 

3 Takeout-Ready Ideas to Drive Kids Meal Sales

1.       Gamify the Experience:
Create a series of rotating “Kid’s Meal Missions” with small prizes for completed visits or online orders. Think: five stamps = free scoop of ice cream or exclusive toy. Use digital tools to track participation.

2.       Bundle for the Busy:
Launch a “Family Takeout Night” package that includes two adult entrées, two kids meals, and a shareable dessert. Make it available only via your app or website to build direct-order traffic and avoid high third-party delivery fees.

3.       Theme It for Seasonality:
Offer themed kids meals around holidays or cultural events—think “Back-to-School Bento Boxes” or “Superhero Saturday Meals.” Include limited-time treats or activities to create excitement and urgency.

 

Best Practices for Offering a Kids Eat Free Promotion in 2025

·       Have an expiration date. Time-limited offers create urgency and allow you to evaluate ROI without long-term dependency.

·       Use the promotion to build data. Make “free” conditional on joining your loyalty app or newsletter.

·       Upsell with intent. Offer adult beverage pairings or premium side upgrades to balance margins.

 

Bottom Line: Free Still Works—If It Works for You

In today’s grocerant-centric world, Kids Eat Free should not just be about filling seats; it should be about filling meal occasions—especially off-premise. When structured as part of a larger takeout or loyalty strategy, it becomes a tool for sustained growth, not just a spike in guest counts.

So yes, kids promotions work—if you work them smart.
Let’s feed families, fuel profits, and future-proof the meal occasion—one kids meal at a time.

 

Stay Ahead of the Competition with Fresh Ideas

Is your food marketing keeping up with tomorrow’s trends—or stuck in yesterday’s playbook? If you're ready for fresh ideations that set your brand apart, we’re here to help.

At Foodservice Solutions®, we specialize in consumer-driven retail food strategies that enhance convenience, differentiation, and individualization—key factors in driving growth.

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Non-Traditional Fresh Food Retailers Are Disrupting the Industry in 2025

 

When Ronald Reagan famously declared, “Tear down this wall,” he wasn’t talking about the barriers in fresh food retail—but today, those walls are crumbling faster than ever. In 2025, the food industry has fully entered a phase of accelerated channel blurring and consumer-driven disruption. What was once the realm of traditional grocers is now a battleground for convenience-driven, digital-first, and non-traditional players.

For the first time in the history of the U.S. food retail landscape, non-traditional retailers are commanding not just attention, but also share of wallet—and stomach. Drugstores, e-commerce giants, club stores, and dollar stores are now core components of how consumers source their daily meals and snacks. According to the latest Supermarket News Top 75 Grocery Retailers ranking, Amazon, Dollar General, CVS, and even regional convenience store chains like Sheetz and Wawa are aggressively expanding their fresh food and meal solution offerings.

The Rise of the Grocerant: The Meal is the New SKU

Consumers today prioritize convenience, personalization, and speed. According to Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru®, the Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat segment—known as the Grocerant Niche—is driving transformational change. This sector is not a trend; it's a full-fledged shift. Fresh prepared meals, bundled meal components, and grab-and-go options are being leveraged by every type of retailer—from Costco and Amazon to 7-Eleven and Walgreens.

While legacy grocers still dominate top-line revenue, they're losing momentum. Consumers are increasingly migrating from grocery stores to c-stores, e-commerce platforms, and delivery-based services like HelloFresh, Factor, and Amazon Fresh. According to the USDA's most recent data, the share of food expenditures spent on "Food Away From Home" surpassed 55% in 2024, a record high, and a far cry from the days when supermarkets monopolized meal decisions.

Grocery Shoppers Are Migrating to Restaurants for Takeout Meals & Meal Components

Another accelerating trend in 2025 is the migration of traditional grocery shoppers to restaurants—not for dine-in experiences, but for takeout meals and mix-and-match meal components. Today, over 68% of restaurant orders are consumed off-premises, according to Technomic, and a growing share of those orders are replacing grocery trips entirely.

Consumers seeking variety, speed, and restaurant-quality meals are leveraging takeout and curbside pickup from fast-casual and quick-service chains in place of cooking at home. Meal components such as rotisserie chickens, sides like mac-and-cheese, Caesar salads, or global sauces are bundled together by restaurants and marketed similarly to how grocers used to promote meal kits.

In fact:

·       36% of Gen Z and Millennials now say they buy dinner from a restaurant 3+ times per week to avoid grocery shopping altogether (NPD Group, 2025).

·       Restaurants like Panera, Sweetgreen, and Cava have begun packaging family meals and modular meal kits as grab-and-go options, mimicking grocerant offerings.

·       Chick-fil-A and Panda Express now promote bundled "family meals" that include entrees and shareable sides—designed specifically to intercept grocery store dinner traffic.

This movement isn't just about convenience—it's also about confidence. Many consumers report they lack the time, skills, or energy to cook from scratch, especially when global flavors or dietary needs are involved. As restaurants lean into this grocerant-style positioning, the line between retail and restaurant continues to blur. The net result: grocery stores are losing both basket size and shopper frequency to restaurant brands that embrace meal bundling, digital ordering, and portioned meal components.

 

Market Shakeup: Retail is Fragmenting

Today’s consumer is loyal to no one. Brand and banner loyalty are fading as consumers fluidly migrate between retailers and platforms based on need, occasion, and experience. A consumer might buy produce at Aldi, get a heat-and-eat meal at Walgreens, and subscribe to a plant-based meal kit—all in one week. This fragmentation is both a challenge and an opportunity for brands who can meet consumers wherever they are—on mobile, in-store, or at the curbside.

The traditional “Big Three” grocers remain on top in gross revenue, but their dominance is being chipped away at the edges:

·       No. 1 – Walmart: Still leading with over $270 billion in grocery sales, thanks to omnichannel fulfillment, expanded private label, and aggressive pricing.

·       No. 2 – Kroger: Holding strong with $125 billion, buoyed by their investments in robotics, digital fulfillment (via Ocado), and smart pricing.

·       No. 3 – Costco: With $105 billion, Costco’s treasure-hunt model and expanding fresh food assortment continues to drive traffic and loyalty.

But the real story lies in the disruptors:

·       Amazon: Now ranked in the top 10, with over $40 billion in food-related revenue, combining Whole Foods, Amazon Fresh, and Prime deliveries.

·       Dollar General: Emerging as a significant player, Dollar General now operates over 5,000 DG Market stores with expanded perishables and fresh food lines.

·       CVS and Walgreens: Both continue to evolve into neighborhood wellness and meal hubs, capturing the convenience-first consumer with upgraded food options.

 

The New Competitive Set: Everyone Sells Food Now

Food is no longer sold just in grocery aisles. It’s offered through TikTok shops, livestream e-commerce, delivery apps, and micro-fulfillment centers. AI and predictive analytics allow platforms to recommend meal solutions in real time. Brands like Trader Joe’s, Erewhon, and Foxtrot Market are leaning into experience, curation, and community to attract foodies, while value chains like Lidl and Aldi emphasize price and quality.

Meanwhile, meal kits and direct-to-consumer food startups are pivoting toward hybrid retail, creating co-branded kiosks, in-store pickups, and even licensing their menus to c-stores. The Grocerant Niche is no longer a side gig—it’s a core growth engine across the board.

 

Who’s Next to Fall? Who’s Poised to Rise?

Legacy giants like A&P, once untouchable, have long since faded into history. Today, brands like Albertsons and Save A Lot face existential questions: Can they adapt fast enough? Will they become acquisition targets or transform into innovation leaders?

On the rise? Amazon’s vertical integration, Instacart’s tech-first grocery marketplace, and fast-growing regional players like H-E-B and Wegmans are setting the pace. Meal-first thinking is now essential. Brands like Sweetgreen, FreshRealm, and Cava are redefining how fresh food is marketed, sold, and consumed—digitally native, supply-chain savvy, and experiential by design.

Foodservice Solutions® has been the global leader in Grocerant Niche Strategy since 1991. As consumer behavior continues to shift, the winners will be those who understand that fresh meals, not just groceries, are the future of retail food.

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·       Email: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us

Why Restaurants and Convenience Stores Should Require Employees to Wear Body Cameras

 

In an era marked by escalating retail crime, workplace violence, and evolving customer service demands, restaurants and convenience stores should be poised to embrace a game-changing innovation: employee body cameras according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.   

Initially tested by major retailers like Walmart, body cameras are proving to be a tool not only for enhancing employee safety but also for improving operational effectiveness, particularly in the foodservice industry.

Here's why this step is necessary and why it should happen now.

 

Workplace Safety: A Dire Priority

The National Retail Federation’s recent report highlighted that shoplifting incidents have surged by 93% from 2019 to 2023, with retail violence on the rise. Violence isn't confined to big-box retailers; restaurants and convenience stores also face volatile customer interactions and security threats.

By equipping employees with body cameras, restaurants and C-stores can foster safer work environments. Recorded interactions act as deterrents against abusive behavior from customers and de-escalate conflicts before they escalate. For example:

1.       Incident Prevention: Knowing they are on camera discourages aggression or threats.

2.       Legal Protection: Recorded footage provides evidence if disputes or legal claims arise.

3.       Mental Health Support: Employees can be reassured their workplace is prioritizing safety and accountability, improving morale and retention.

This layer of safety aligns with strategies employed by Walmart and other leading retailers like TJX Companies, which have reported success with similar initiatives.

 

Enhancing Customer Service and Quality Assurance

Beyond safety, body cameras can revolutionize service standards and quality control in restaurants and C-stores by addressing critical operational weak spots:

1. Drive-Thru Decorum & Service Accuracy

Body cameras could ensure hot food remains hot, accurate, and well-presented before handing it off at the window. Errors like forgotten condiments or unsealed drinks cause unnecessary friction. Video feedback from recorded shifts can highlight inefficiencies in operations like drive-thru miscommunication or employee decorum.

2. To-Go Food Packaging Standards

With off-premise dining growing (thanks to delivery apps and hybrid lifestyles), the proper bagging of to-go orders is essential. Body cameras could help enforce rigorous standards for ensuring neatly packed, spill-proof meals that meet customer expectations.

3. Order Escalation Insights

Much like Walmart's protocol, body camera footage from “escalating” customer interactions can be logged, providing managers with critical insights into common pain points and allowing for proactive solutions.

 

Costs that Drive Long-Term Value

The investment in body cameras can appear substantial initially, but the returns in terms of improved safety, reduced shrink, and enhanced customer loyalty are significant.

1. Improved Customer Retention

Customers are more likely to return when their experiences are seamless, secure, and satisfying. Cameras not only enhance service but showcase the brand's commitment to hospitality.

2. Operational Efficiency

Footage can be used for training, identifying gaps in workflow, and improving teamwork. This reduces repetitive mistakes and costly inefficiencies in foodservice lines.

3. Employee Retention and Morale

Body cameras show workers they are valued and protected, which can reduce turnover in an industry often plagued by high attrition.

 

Why Now?

The foodservice sector has reached a tipping point. Violence and theft are no longer isolated to urban grocery aisles—they're affecting everyday workplace interactions in restaurants and C-stores. Meanwhile, rising customer expectations around service quality make these tools indispensable for staying competitive in the current market.

Retailers like Walmart have demonstrated that wearable cameras can deter threats, reduce risk, and build a better work culture. Adopting this strategy today equips foodservice players with the tools to address customer concerns, prioritize worker safety, and ensure operational excellence.

By leading with body cameras, restaurants and convenience stores aren’t just following trends—they’re setting the standard for safety, efficiency, and service in the food industry of tomorrow.

 

The Grocerant Guru's Top Recommendations for Implementation Success:

1.       Rollout as a Training Tool: Use cameras during employee onboarding and shift reviews to promote professionalism and streamline workflows.

2.       Build Employee Trust: Clearly communicate policies on how body camera footage will be used, ensuring it prioritizes safety, not micromanagement.

3.       Monitor Customer Interaction Metrics: Evaluate how these cameras reduce order complaints and improve first-time order accuracy, tying results to sales growth.

It’s time for restaurants and C-stores to redefine safety and service excellence. The next step? Press record.

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