Rite Aid Evolving with a Fresh Food Focus

 

Retailer after retailer find that evolving with consumers pays off in the long run. Consumers are dynamic not static and retailers must be as well.  Demand for grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh food had created new growth for many a retailer as regular readers of this blog know.

Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® believes that Rite Aid will benefit from its new partnership with Uber Eats garnering new electricity for its food, beverage, and snacking offerings. So, how is your branding extending your brand invitation this fall?

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. 

So, when Rite Aid announced the expansion of its partnership with Uber Eats to offer same-day delivery of grocery and healthcare products the undercurrents of customer demand were once again in play.

Get this, now on-demand delivery is now available for 2,185 Rite Aid drugstores across 17 states on Uber Eats. Customers who wish to order Rite Aid items for delivery open the Uber Eats app, tap the convenience or pharmacy icons, select Rite Aid, and begin shopping. Within the app, users can access a full catalog of healthcare and grocery products from their local Rite Aid store. Uber Pass and Eats Pass customers will also enjoy no delivery fee and 5% off on all orders over $15.

Battle for Share of Customer Dollars

Jim Peters, chief operating officer of Rite Aid, stated, “Consumer shopping preferences are changing, so we are continuing to evolve our retail business to ensure customers are able to conveniently get what they need to keep their family happy and healthy – whether they visit us in-store or buy online,” ... “By adding Uber as a delivery option, we are doubling down on an omnichannel approach that complements the busy lives of our customers. Ensuring convenient access to whole health essentials enables us to live our purpose of helping people achieve whole health for life.”

So, Uber Eats now becomes Rite Aid’s latest partner for on-demand delivery service for front-of-store products. The Camp Hill, Pa.-based drugstore chain has offered same-day delivery of groceries and OTC health products at all of its stores through Instacart under a partnership announced just over a year ago. This past May, Rite Aid teamed up with DoorDash for same-day delivery of nonprescription health, wellness and convenience products. And most recently in August, Rite Aid joined with Shipt nationwide to offer delivery in as soon as an hour.

Raj Beri, Uber’s global head of grocery and new verticals at Uber Technologies, stated, “Convenience is a key component of Uber’s delivery strategy, allowing us to create a seamless delivery experience by ensuring we have the essential stores and products customers need," said. "With our partners at Rite Aid, we're thrilled to make shopping for everything from cold medication to cosmetics more 'convenient' than ever."

Invite Foodservice Solutions® to complete a Grocerant ScoreCard, or for product positioning or placement assistance, or call our Grocerant Guru®.  Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche. Contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or 253-759-7869

Walgreens Delivers via Uber Eats

 

Back in the day Walgreens was the largest chain of restaurants in the U.S. with lunch counters serving hot meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  Walgreens was the first to offer the ‘fourth meal’ serving coffee and pie all day as a meal or a snack.  The ability to expand its speed of service via Uber Eats will drive long term success according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  Walgreens continues to evolve.  Are you evolving? Consumers are dynamic not static all retailers must be as well. 

Walgreens, shoppers will soon have such items as milk, bread, snack, health-and-wellness, beauty and personal care, and household products, as well as over-the-counter medications, delivered the same day via Uber Eats.

Since, Walgreens expanded its collaboration with Uber to offer products directly on the Uber Eats platform to customers across the United States consumers can get fresh food faster. The drug store chain’s shoppers can now have such items as health-and-wellness, beauty and personal care, and household products, as well as over-the-counter medications, delivered the same day via Uber.

This on-demand delivery service is currently available from more than 7,800 stores across the country, with Puerto Rico to soon follow. First to be offered under the expanded collaboration are top-selling Walgreens retail items on the Uber Eats app, with more added daily; the goal is to expand to the retailer’s entire assortment of more than 20,000 products over time.

“Walgreens provides our customers with seamless health and well-being experiences, and offering them convenient delivery solutions on whichever platform they prefer to shop is key,” noted Stefanie Kruse, VP, digital commerce and omnichannel at Walgreens. “Our collaboration with Uber for on-demand delivery through both Walgreens and Uber’s channels, as well as integrated vaccine scheduling, gives customers simple and easy ways to put their health and well-being needs at the forefront – which will continue to be important to them as we emerge from the pandemic.”

“By leveraging the best of what Walgreens and Uber have to offer, we’re making it easier than ever for customers to prioritize their health and wellness,” said Raj Beri, head of grocery delivery at San Francisco-based Uber. “From on-demand delivery of essentials to hassle-free vaccine scheduling all at the touch of a button, we’re focused on eliminating barriers that burden customers’ everyday life, helping them go anywhere and get anything instantly.” 

Those who want to order Walgreens items for delivery can open the Uber Eats app, tap the convenience or pharmacy icons, choose Walgreens, and start shopping. To mark the launch, Walgreens and Uber Eats are offering customers a $20 promo off orders of $30 or more through June 27.

Further, the two companies worked together earlier this year to develop a new vaccine-scheduling option via the Uber app enabling U.S. Uber users to arrange a COVID-19 vaccine appointment at Walgreens. After entering a ZIP code and selecting from the available appointment times, users can reserve a ride to the appointment by scheduling a pickup time and location. Before the appointment, a push notification reminds the user of the upcoming ride to the vaccination appointment. How are you evolving?

Success does leave clues. One clue that time and time again continues to resurface is “the consumer is dynamic not static”.  Regular readers of this blog know that is the common refrain of Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  Our Grocerant Guru® can help your company edify your brand with relevance.  Call 253-759-7869 for more information. 

HelloFresh Has Grocerant Fresh Food Fast

 

The growth of grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh food has driven growth within every sector of retail foodservice for the past 18 years according to Nielsen. Grocerant growth has created new avenues of fresh food distribution, expanding points of distribution for many legacy food sectors, and created hybrid specialty grocerant niche companies that continue to evolve garner consumers looking for fresh food, fresh meals, and more convenience. 

That said, Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® recently stated, “the grocerant of the grocerant niche, grocerant concepts, is only in the first inning. In a game where most new retailers are hitting home runs, legacy grocerant stores are striking out, and restaurants are on base moving forward.”

According to Jon Springer, HelloFresh, “the meal kit is shaping up to be something of a Trojan horse for HelloFresh Group, where officials say they have made their “first foray” into an accompanying online grocery store that appears to be on its way to the U.S.”

Today, restaurants have found new avenues of distribution to sell meals.  There are 29 restaurants in the U.S. for every grocery store simply because grocers don’t want to evolve according to Johnson.  That’s not a problem at HelloFresh who now wants to sell more ingredients, while garnering a larger share of stomach. That’s something that regular readers of this blog know quite a bit about.

HelloFresh for those who did not know is based in Germany, and is in the process of expanding what it calls its HelloFresh Marketplace store available in Europe that provides customers who use the service to buy their bundled recipes for meals the option of adding additional groceries to the order.

So, get this, in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg, where the service quietly pioneered late last year, the assortment of these extra items has grown to 150 products and is driving increased rings, profits and customer loyalty, officials said. This is encouraging the company to further expand assortment in Benelux, while launching similar offerings in additional markets, including taking steps to expand the U.S. consider our blog just the other day about Walgreens delivering 24,000 items in two hours.

The world of fresh food distribution is evolving faster than many legacy companies want to keep up with.  The consumer is dynamic not static, companies must be as well.  Walgreens is, HelloFresh is.  Are you?

HelloFresh new Marketplace is just one aspect of a strategic vision to evolve from a meal-kit company to a fully integrated food solutions group that HelloFresh officials first spoke about in a Capital Markets Day presentation in December.

HelloFresh is now attempting to “monetize” its audience beyond meal delivery traditionally focused on dinners shoppers prep themselves.  For now, HelloFresh offers an “add-on” store in most countries already with about 25 products, accounting for some 2% of its total revenues.

HelloFresh CEO Dominik Richter, stated, “I think there’s a very, very clear path how you can get to 15% to 20% revenue share with those add-on products.” So, a HelloFresh Marketplace appears to be on the agenda in the U.S.

Springer noted, “A recently posted Hello Fresh job ad sought an operations planning manager to be based in New York with strategic responsibilities for Hello Fresh’s product innovation vision, including a HelloFresh Marketplace. U.S.-based customers of the service, in the meantime, have also discussed discovering new availability of products in some markets in recent weeks, including packaged spices, bakery items and pantry essentials such as peanut butter—all of which were mentioned by officials in December when describing the Marketplace.” 

Here is the only question you have to ask yourself.  How is our company evolving to garner more customers with fresh food fast? Do you understand what the grocerant niche is all about?  Are you garnering a larger shore of stomach or larger share of food dollars?  If not why?  Doing what you have always done and doing it the same way will get you yesterdays results. Do you what to be in business in five years?

Success does leave clues. One clue that time and time again continues to resurface is “the consumer is dynamic not static”.  Regular readers of this blog know that is the common refrain of Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  Our Grocerant Guru® can help your company edify your brand with relevance.  Call 253-759-7869 for more information. 

Will Rosalind Brewer Evolve Walgreens in a Grocerant Destination

 

Success does leave clues and Rosalind Brewer has demonstrates an ability for lifelong learning, growing business successfully, and continued personal growth according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®. 

Working at the intersection of fresh food, merchandising, and retail discovery Rosalind Brewer, once led Walmart’s Sam’s Club division as CEO before departing to be Chief Operating Officer of Starbucks, and has recently been selected to be the next CEO of drugstore operator Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA).

It is clear facts matter to Brewer.  Facts have contributed to her success. We must also note that Brewer was with Kimberly-Clark Corp. for 22 years, starting as a scientist and ultimately becoming president of the global nonwovens sector in 2004.

Around the globe the retail world has been disrupted the past year, Brewer who begins her new role March 15, 2021, has had a front row seat actively adapting, adjusting business models to complement customers desires, with new ‘local’ restrictions and regulations.  

For those of you who don’t know, Walgreens Boots Alliance operates the largest U.S. drug chain, with more than 9,000 units under the Walgreens and Duane Reade brands in all 50 states. It also controls Boots stores in Europe and Asia and international wholesale and distribution networks under the Alliance Healthcare banner. Thus, the insights Brewer gain while at Starbucks will complement her insights moving forward.

Regular readers of this blog know that Walgreens has been experimenting with fresh food retailing for many years, in fact Walgreens as many readers of this blog know was once the largest chain restaurant in the U.S. serving meals at a ‘lunch counter’.

Recently, Walgreens has experimented with Kroger on various strategies, including a fleet of stores doing double duty as online grocery pickup points and other stores testing Kroger-aligned food departments. Walgreens separately has pioneered food-to-go and substantial grocery offerings in many of its stores.

Here is what the team at Foodservice Solutions® knows:

1.       62.3% of all U.S. households are comprised of one or two people. US Census

2.       Online food and beverage sales — including grocery plus restaurant online delivery — jumped 125% to $106 billion over the 52 weeks ended Nov. 30, accounting for 12% of overall dollars spent in those categories, NielsenIQ data shows. 

3.       Restaurant digital ordering and delivery grew 300% faster than dine-in traffic since 2014.

4.       Grocerant ScoreCards found 82.3% of consumers don’t know what’s for dinner at Noon, and 61.1 don’t know what’ s for dinner at 4PM %.

5.       Prepared food purchases are frequently a planned purchase among 59% of shoppers, while 41% of shoppers said they buy prepared foods on impulse. Dinner has the highest amount of prepared food buys with 79% of respondents making purchases for that meal, while lunch comes in at 77% and breakfast at 62%.

While at Starbucks, Brewer was instrumental in helping the company accelerate its growth strategy, expand its global reach, and drive value, developing a mobile order and pay platform and revamping its rewards program.

Brewer recently stated, “The healthcare industry is constantly evolving, and I am excited to work alongside the entire WBA team as we deliver further innovation and positively impact the lives of millions of people around the world every day. This is especially true today as the company plays a crucial role in combatting the COVID-19 pandemic. I step into this role with great optimism for the future of WBA, a shared responsibility to serve our customers, patients and communities, and a commitment to drive long-term sustainable value for shareholders.”

It's at the intersection of retail, the healthcare industry, and the halo of ‘better-for-you’ fresh food discovery aka grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food that Walgreens will elevate discovery edifying a tomorrow’s long-term relationship with today’s and tomorrow’s customers.

Don’t over reach. Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing ideations look more like yesterday than tomorrow? Interested in learning how Foodservice Solutions® 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 the following links: Facebook,  LinkedIn, or Twitter

Battle for Share of Stomach

Grocery Stores Elevate Snacking to a Meal

Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru®, Steven Johnson, based in Tacoma, WA says consumers are tired of cooking from scratch and simply put they are ‘bored eating the few meals they can cook at home’. Releasing results of the most recent Grocerant ScoreCards noted that 79.9% of those surveyed reported being ‘bored’ eating home cooked meals.

Not to worry according to Johnson, grocery stores service deli’s have found a solution according to Johnson. Consumers forced to stay away from restaurants are going to grocery stores and buying premade or custom-made charcuterie and cheese boards.

In fact, Jake Panattoni, associate category manager for deli at Raley’s, a West Sacramento, Calif.-based chain of 126 stores, said that he saw some of the largest growth numbers in the category during the first two months of the pandemic and that sales have remained steady throughout, with an overall increase of around 30%.

It was reported that Andy Fitzgerrell, cheese category specialist for KeHE Distributors, which provides natural, organic, specialty and fresh products to chain and independent grocery stores, noted that contactless solutions are top of mind for many retail partners — specifically, low- to no-touch options. That’s made pre-sliced charcuterie selections, as well as precut cheeses, a big focus.

Consumers are tired of eating at home, bored, and looking for options for meals that don’t require a lot if any cooking, very little prep time, and complementary to and evolving life style according to Johnson. That includes complete meal kits / snacking kits comprised of pre-sliced meats, cheeses, spreads, with the addition of nuts and crackers. 

That said, when consumers are looking for a beverage; wine, beer, liquor or something to ‘smoke’ in the evening. Bundling charcuterie boards, cheese boards, nuts and crackers at grocery stores, liquor stores, and smoke shops this holiday season will be a meal solution and a big hit according to Johnson.

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 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche. Contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or 253-759-7869 

Expanding Grocerant Niche Fresh Prepared Food Sales is Exactly what Grocer’s should be Doing

Success does leave clues and one sure clue of success is the rapid adoption of grocerant niche fresh prepared meals and peal components according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®. 

At the intersection of the family dinner table and food sales Foodservice Solutions® most recent Grocerant ScoreCard found that 64.7% of households do know What’s for Dinner at 4PM every day.  The same report also found that 83.1% of dinner tables included at least one grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat or Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food item, or as we call them meal components.

So, when our Grocerant Guru® heard that The Kroger Co. and Walgreens are teaming on an exploratory pilot in which shoppers will be able to order Kroger grocery items online and pick them up at 13 of the drug store chain’s stores in northern Kentucky, he got excited thinking Kroger is getting on the right path.

When in fact all it was about is extending Kroger’s private label ‘Our Brands products, including the natural and organic Simple Truth brands into some Walgreens. What a big miss for Kroger and even bigger missed opportunity for Walgreens.

Clearly Kroger with over 18 store Banners and several private label brands still is looking back wanting to be a company that fills your pantry with food from there banners and private label product line.  Selling more of what they used to sell is how Kroger got itself into a pickle today? 

That pickle is a grocery store company with national footprint that is growing 1/3 the rate of the fastest growing grocer Aldi.  How can that be?  Simply put they have a ‘category management’ mindset of yesterday. 

With 9,800 units Walgreens can take lots of Kroger’s private label branded foods.  However, much like other CPG food manufactures consumers will continue to migrate from legacy CPG shelf stable food from the pantry to fresh prepared meals.  If Kroger wants to thrive in 2025 they had better start looking a customer ahead instead of looking like a company of yesterday.

Walgreens on the other hand does and outstanding job at its Duane Reade units with ‘Fresh & Ready’ foods that have provided a platform for incremental customer adoption by daypart.  If success does leave clues and it does Walgreens grocerant niche ‘Fresh & Ready’ will be a brand that continues to expand from urban to suburban locations.

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.

Aldi Often Over Looked but Never Disappoints Dives into Delivery

Once again Aldi the fastest growing grocery chain that industry insiders, continue to discount elevates it game with delivery driving incremental customer relevance according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  Aldi’s new electricity is delivery.

Regular readers of this blog know that Aldi has close to 1,900 stores open in the United States and plans to build 600 more stores by 2022.  There is no doubt that that this ‘hard-discounter’ has disrupted the grocery store establishment with its unconventional private label, small footprint, fresh food format according to Johnson.

Now that Aldi is officially launching grocery delivery to 75 major markets across its entire 35-state footprint, including San Diego, New York, Miami, Minneapolis, and Raleigh, N.C., by Thanksgiving legacy food retailers will have to ‘up their game’ to compete.

Aldi has a new partnership with Instacart.  The service is launching after successful pilots in Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles and Chicago. Aldi customers in 5,000 ZIP codes in these markets will have access to such fresh groceries as organic produce, antibiotic-free meat and fresh seafood, all available for delivery within an hour.

Jason Hart, CEO of ALDI U.S stated "Aldi is a pioneer and a leader in creating a shopping experience that works with people's busy lives. Our partnership with Instacart and the expansion of our  ecommerce options are more ways we are meeting the growing needs of today's shopper, who wants high-quality food at unbeatable prices."

Shoppers can use the grocery ecommerce service by filling a virtual shopping cart at Instacart.com or through the Instacart app. Customers choose a delivery window – anywhere from one hour to one week later – and let Instacart's personal shoppers build and deliver the order.

Aldi began piloting delivery in the Atlanta, Dallas and Los Angeles areas last August. Following the "overwhelmingly positive" response to those pilots, Aldi and Instacart expanded with an additional pilot in the Chicago area.

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? 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.