Le Pain Quotidien Excels with Operational Efficiencies

 

The tried-and-true way to grow a business is at the intersection or edifying customer touchpoints with operational efficiencies according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Recently, Too Good To Go announced its nationwide partnership with Le Pain Quotidien, which means all 59 bakery-restaurants in New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., California and more are now selling their extra, unsold tartines, soups and pastries to Too Good To Go app users. That my friends is a partnership that elevates brand awareness with value customers and the bottom-line all while driving new electricity into the brand according to Johnson.

The Too Good To Go app, is now available for iOS in the Apple store or Google Play for Android, connects consumers with surplus from restaurants, bakeries, cafes, and grocery stores at the end of each business day, ensuring delicious, unsold food doesn’t go to waste. There are over 6,000 stores across 13 major U.S. cities are already utilizing the platform. Are you ready to expand your brand at the intersection of consumer touchpoints and operational efficiencies?

So, some lucky users are even able to get a hold of a coveted Le Pain Quotidien Surprise Bag - the contents of which will change day to day - they can expect a delicious mix of bakery items, soups, salads and quiches, all for ⅓ the retail price. The Belgian eatery’s organically-driven menu was already curated with creating a greener planet in mind, so adding Too Good To Go was a natural next step to continue operating sustainably.

Le Pain Quotidien’s Director of Catering, Michael Stansfield, stated, “We’re thrilled to partner with Too Good To Go, an organization that’s been making social impact at a global scale alongside additional, international Le Pain Quotidien markets. Too Good To Go’s sustainable efforts are the kind we aim to align ourselves with regularly, so this is a natural step in the right direction for Le Pain Quotidien US. We’re eager to grow together.”

Lucie Basch, Co-founder, Too Good To Go, stated, “As a French native, I’m excited to see how beloved the cuisine from my home country is here in the states, and I’m even more excited that none of that delicious food will go to waste,”... “We want to empower everyone to help us save all of this extra food, and fight climate change along the way by savoring what they get in every Surprise Bag.” 

Regular readers of this blog know that there is an unfortunate abundance of food waste globally. In the U.S. alone, 40% of food is wasted each year. As a result, it’s necessary for multiple organizations to work together and minimize it - some companies redistribute surplus at the production and farm level, food banks save bulk quantities of non-perishable goods and Too Good To Go saves food at the retail level, literally right before it would tossed at the end of each business day.

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 said, what are you waiting for?

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.

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. 

Are you looking for a new partnership to drive sales? Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing tactics look more like yesterday that tomorrow?  Visit GrocerantGuru.com 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.

Restaurant Meal Disruption Catastrophe or Opportunity

While the undercurrents of consumer adoption of grab-n-go meals and Grocerant niche customer migration have been well documented over the past 20 years today many chain restaurants look more like a restaurant brand from 1980 than a consumer focused growth food retailer of today according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Prior to the coronavirus restaurant chain year over year customer counts continue to decline according to all reports including traditional restaurant trade magazines which do not to report bad news about the industry they cover and seek advertising for.

The competition for restaurant customers has become a ‘Battle for Share of Stomach’ . Non-traditional Grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food the ilk of club stores, limited-assortment stores, e-grocers and specialty stores are poised for accelerated growth at the expense restaurants according to Johnson.  

So, if you are a chain restaurant, independent restaurant or a regional food distributor there is only one question.  Are you going to just let it happen? It’s time to step-up and address the customer facing touchpoints driving consumer adoption.  In short evolve or close your doors.  

According to a study by Pentallect, prior to the coronavirus outbreak, nontraditional food channels currently account for $210 billion in consumer expenditures, and projects 7% annual growth for these channels over the next five years, versus 3.5% for foodservice and 1% for traditional retail, which encompasses supermarkets, supercenters, mass/drug, and dollar stores. The nontraditional channels are projected account for 30% of food industry growth over the next five years.

Bob Goldin, a Pentallect stated, “nontraditional channels represent a ‘sweet spot’ in the food and beverage industry. Their growth is based upon strong consumer appeal and generally favorable business models.” Pentallect President Rob Veidenheimer observed that “each of the channels has unique consumer appeal and continues to evolve at a very rapid rate. We have studied these channels closely over the past several years and see them as significant share gainers for the foreseeable future.”

Pentallect, conducted comprehensive research and analysis into 10 nontraditional channels – club stores, community-supported agriculture (CSA), ethnic/neighborhood stores such as bodegas, farmers’ markets, food trucks, limited-assortment stores, meal kits/home-delivered meals, online, specialty stores such as bakeries and butchers, and Trader Joe’s, gleaning insights from more than 1,000 consumers and trade sources.

While others talk about Grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food, Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant ScoreCards were the first to identify, quantify, and qualify the niche, the success and the unique was in which your brand can successfully ‘Look A Customer Ahead’.  Success does leave clues stop capitulating year over year customer counts. 

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