At Choice Market Gen Z and Millennials Can Save Time

 

Growing brands need their actions and words to resonate with consumers and Choice Markets is doing a very good job focusing in on its prime targeted customers today and for tomorrow Gen Z and Millennials with a fresh fast footprint and messaging that resonates according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  

Choice Market is driving new electricity into it brands as it launched an exclusive partnership with Adroit Worldwide Media (AWM) as its provider of frictionless technology solutions for the future of shopping. This will allow Choice Market to rapidly scale its automated Mini-Mart format across multifamily developments, campuses, festivals, electric vehicle charging destinations and hospitality properties nationwide. That my friends is how you integrate branded actions with messaging.

Mike Fogarty, founder and CEO of Choice Market, stated, "We selected AWM as our preferred frictionless checkout and tech development partner because they share our vision for the future of retail and can support our rapid pace of innovation," ... "AWM's expertise in Computer Vision and Artificial Intelligence, coupled with their commitment to deliver real time data and actionable insights made them the ideal partner. This partnership will accelerate Choice's plans to roll out a new digital experience with disruptive features and functionality."

Most of our regular readers know that Choice Market launched its first Choice Mini-Mart store model on the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in October 2022. In March 2023, the retailer announced plans to expand the Mini-Mart store format following a funding round led by the Denver Angels, Kimco Realty, Jogan Health and other private investors.

How do you plan to garner new customers? What is your cost of customer acquisition?  Do you want to keep your current customers while building 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.” 

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. Don’t limit you ideations to just a new menu item. Think local, grow with others that are successful around you.

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, Choice Market selected AWM for its expertise in powering smart spaces with cutting-edge technology, delivering end-to-end business automation and valuable insights across retail, industrial supply and healthcare sectors.

AWM's CEO Kevin Howard, stated, "We are thrilled to embark on this groundbreaking journey with Choice Market as their chosen frictionless technology provider," ... "AWM's commitment to innovation aligns seamlessly with Choice Market's vision for the future of shopping. Together, we aim to revolutionize the retail landscape by providing customers with unparalleled convenience and a seamless, technology-driven shopping experience."

Choice Market and AWM teamed up at NRF 2024: Retail's Big Show to showcase a Quick Drop Unit that demonstrates the transformative technologies and frictionless solutions that will redefine the retail experience, according to the companies.

Choice Market new electricity combines quick service and user-friendly technology with fresh quality food from local vendors and a practical product selection. The company has plans to expand in Colorado and beyond.

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

Can Grocery Shopping become Not So Irritable?

 

Most consumers buy 100 items from a grocery store per year.  Consumers buy the same 100 items as they need them over and over again many times only needing 8 to 14 items on a particular visit and do not want to walk through the entire store looking for them and spending 35 minutes to do so according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  

There is a new company that wants to be less irritable for consumers empowering those looking to save time that company is JackBe who has reimagined e-commerce grocery shopping adding a drive-thru solution to the mix.

JackBe recently completed a December funding round.  The goal is to become a curbside drive-thru grocer. Sounds simple enough we will soon find out if it is in fact as easy as it sounds.  JackBe officially opened its first location at 178th and North May Avenue in Edmond, Okla., on Jan. 10, the first of three locations slated to open in 2023.

In case you did not know, JackBe was funded by CEO Alex Ruhter and three others, the company said it has been working together over the past three years to create a company that makes buying groceries “fun throughout the whole experience.”

Here is the current template for the JackBe concept which will operate exclusively as a location where customers come to pick up their groceries ordered via the custom and proprietary JackBe app. In just minutes, customers can place an order and, when it’s ready, pull into one of the drive-thru bays, where a JackBe team member will deliver the groceries right to their car. With the ability to serve up to 200 orders per hour, the 17,000-square-feet location carries the most frequently purchased products from categories such as produce, meat, bakery, deli, and health and beauty care, as well as baby, pet and consumables.

The launch of the JackBe concept comes at an ideal time, as recent research shows that the convenience and independence that come with curbside pickup has made it a habit for many consumers, especially for those under 50 years of age. Consumers are dynamic not static and the team at Foodservice Solutions® believes that the grocery industry needs to evolve faster than they have over the past 20 years or risks simply fading away.

JackBe CEO Alex Ruhter, stated, “By opening JackBe, we're introducing a new way for customers to shop that provides convenience, value and great quality with no substitutions,” … “We have studied customers’ needs and created a shopping experience that’s designed specifically for busy people. We’re committed to our promise to make grocery shopping a better experience. That’s why we’re excited to share JackBe with the Oklahoma City community, where we are founded and headquartered.”

Every item at JackBe is handpicked, and there are no membership or delivery fees.

Understanding the importance and consumer demand for grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food; Ruhter added that the JackBe stores will soon feature prepared meals as well as local brands in many departments, staying true to the company’s commitment to supporting local businesses. For example, JackBe is planning to carry many items that are a part of the Made in Oklahoma Coalition.

Ruhter continued, “Our commitment to our shoppers is to do everything in our power to offer the best shopping experience delivering both speed and quality — and we look forward to supporting more communities as we grow.”

Jack be is not alone in understand the change consumers are looking for and the role that a drive-thru will play in the evolving grocery business model cording to public records, Amazon is intending to open a 35,000-square-foot Amazon Fresh grocery store in Boca Raton, Fla., the company’s first such store in that state and its first store in the Southeast.

Amazon Fresh Food now Via Drive Thru

Building a Larger Share of Stomach

So, what makes the Uptown Boca Amazon Fresh different from the other 18 Amazon Fresh stores now open nationwide is what appears to be a drive-thru.

Now, according to workers at the site, the Boca Amazon Fresh store will have a drive-thru, possibly for online pickup orders. The drive-thru has one lane, covered by a canopy, that is adjacent to the east side of the building, where double-glass doors lead to the interior of the store. Parking spots, possibly for pickup orders, are also available on the far east side of the building.

Amazon Fresh - Food Faster

Technology, drive-thru’s and a dynamic consumer are driving change and customer migration within the grocery sector, convenience sector, and the restaurant sector.  Does your brand look more like 1999, 2000, 2010 than a consumer relevant brand of today?

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. 

Success Grocerant Growth, The Food Hall in Trinidad and Tobago

 

At the intersection convenience and nutritious grocerant niche fresh Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat food can be found now at The Food Hall in Piarco Plaza in Trinidad and Tobago. The grocerant niche continues to drive customer adoption, top-line sales, and bottom-line profits around the world.

That is the intersection where consumers want dinner but don’t want to cook, it is where the grocery store meets a restaurant; elevating the shopping experience and edifying a grocery brands customers base according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

What’s for dinner is more than simply grocery shopping today according to Johnson. Omar Hadeed, Jonas Zakour and Daniel Fakoory created The Food Hall, grocerant concept to provide a simple solution for their customers asking themselves What’s for Dinner. he one-stop shop with their "grocerant"– The Food Hall at Piarco Plaza on Friday.

So, the concept lets shoppers stock their pantries and not have to worry about what meal to buy since there is a buffet filled with different dishes to choose from. The chef's station is an interactive participatory platform for shoppers so they can see meals being cooked in front of them, learn new recipes and even sample them.

Zakour was recently quoted saying, “this project was born three years ago and though it took a long time to materialize, he was glad it can finally open its doors to the public. Hadeed expressed the same sentiments and added, "It's so exciting to see the space filled for the first time with customers enjoying the experience that we've presented."

The article continued, "We all come from different industries myself retail, Zakour distribution and Fakoory from the restaurant industry. So, we combined our skill sets all into one to try and make this a place that you know invites customers and gives them the ultimate experience at a fantastic price point. For us. It's about the joy that we see our customers getting and the community we are serving. We will be employing 140 people."

You are going to love this, The Food Hall will be occupying 36,000 square feet of space, 20,000 for the retail sector and 16,000 for the kitchen, bakery, two prep rooms and warehouse space. In the next six months, the stakeholders will be launching a click and collect room that will be 7,000 square feet for people to collect their groceries or their next meal. Yes, here is the best part! Hadeed could not give the exact cost of the facility, but said it's double what they had budgeted for the project. I know most all of our readers are saying to themselves been there, done that!

Though the grocery had only been opened for such a short time, Hadeed has already started wondering and thinking of when the next grocerant will be opened.

Hadeed stated, “we don't look at ourselves in a supermarket. We didn't come into the space to compete against other supermarkets. We're full hybrid grocerant mixed between a grocery and a restaurant. We're preparing chef quality means a lot of our staff on the back in come from the restaurant industry."

Location, location, location, “why the Piarco Plaza was their choice for the placement of the grocery. He said there are almost 100,000 people within a four- or- five-mile radius. He added that the Piarco International Airport is in close proximity as well as several industrial parks filled with employees. Hadeed said there are too few options in the area and so set themselves apart by catering to customers for their next meal.”

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

Chipotle Mexican Grill Chides Parents Risks Kids Privacy

Bold marketing moves can garner positive results, however risking Children’s Online Privacy is not a bold marketing move it is a risky one according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

So when Chipotle announced that it is the first major restaurant brand to market itself on TikTok that is exactly what they have done according to Johnson. TikTok recently agreed to a settlement with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) after allegations that the app knowingly and illegally stored the names, email addresses, and locations of users under the age of 13. The fine was $5.7 million fine for collecting personal information about its pre-teen users.

While today Chipotle is popular with Gen Z—and the chain is reaping high user engagement numbers from its efforts with TikTok while many parents are unaware of the FTC violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).  The FTC continues to want more information on TikTok privacy usage.

TikTok, which started in China in 2017 and became the most downloaded app in the U.S. about a year ago, allows users to create and share short videos. It’s especially popular with those born between 1997 and 2012. Chipotle’s official presence on TikTok began after the chain noticed “organic” content about the brand frequently appearing on the app, said Tressie Lieberman, Chipotle’s vice president of digital marketing and off-premise.

The Newport Beach, Calif.-based chain first posted on the app last summer, when a Maryland Chipotle employee had a customer film a video of him flipping a lid from one of the fast-casual chain’s bowls. The video, which was originally posted to Instagram, has received more than 1 million views.

“We instantly knew from the reaction that this was the right content to start our first partnership with TikTok, inviting our customers to try the lid flip trick for themselves with a branded hashtag challenge,” Lieberman said.

So, is risking children’s customer privacy with Lieberman and Chipotle?  It would appear so.  Do you think that Chipotle should warn parents or the underage users of the risks of using TikTok? Is your brand prepared for the down side if TikTok were to continue gathering your kid’s app usage, interest, and online information for other purposes? Is this how you want to market to Kids?

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

Chipotle Mexican Grill Elevates Educates Edifies Customers

In a proactive and unique partnership Chipotle Mexican Grill announced its participation at the 2019 Scripps National Spelling Bee with its very own spelling bee: Chipotle Bee, For Real. Elevating and edifying your brand message is a key drive of future growth and create a platform for a new electricity within the brand according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

This unique proactive branded platform was hosted by Justin Howard, Chipotle Bee, For Real took place on a specially-created stage and featured Chipotle’s 51 ingredients. Chipotle invited spellers to tackle one complex ingredient found at other restaurants, and one simple, real ingredient found at Chipotle. The competitor list included words like carrageenan, dimethylpolysiloxane and lecithin. Chipotle’s list included avocado, beef and cheese.

Chris Brandt, Chief Marketing Officer of Chipotle stated “Chipotle only uses real ingredients in its kitchens, and those ingredients tend to be simple to pronounce and easy to spell,” … “However, other restaurants frequently use artificial or processed ingredients and preservatives that are often much more difficult to spell and say, so we highlighted this difference in a unique way at the Scripps National Spelling Bee.”

Valerie Miller, Communications Manager for the Bee stated “Our spellers have voracious appetites for words and good food, and they were thrilled to have a chance on the Chipotle stage,” …“We are also passionate about Chipotle’s mission of cultivating a better world, which we aim to achieve through the pursuit of education.”

So, the Chipotle Bee, For Real incorporated 102 words which were complete with special pronunciation guidelines, definitions, origins and uses in a sentence. Spellers that were up for the challenge received prizes including exclusive Chipotle Bee pins, Chipotle Bee foil notebooks and Chipotle gift cards.

Chipotle’s presence at the Bee is consistent with it’ Behind the Foil campaign that launched this year. Behind the Foil focused on the transparency of Chipotle’s kitchens by featuring real employees cooking real food from real ingredients. This year’s national finalists can attest that eating real to cultivate a better world is as easy as it sounds.  Have you created a platform for 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, plant based  foods,  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 food 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.

Foodservice Solutions® specializes in outsourced business development. 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, www.Linkedin.com/in/grocerant/ or www.twitter.com/grocerant/

Grocery Service Deli Food Sales Threaten Restaurant Sector Sales

Dinner for less; less money, less cooking time, less clean-up time are the undercurrents driving grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food sales at supermarkets and grocery stores today according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  

Boy, have times changed, foodservice at retail looks different across the grocery landscape as more and more fresh prepared food items continue to enter the grocery store. While the cry, ‘What’s for Dinner’ may be the same the lines between grocery and restaurant blur in a number of ways, from deli cases with prepared foods to hot food bars and sit-down restaurants with beer and wine all touting convenience.

Restaurant sector menu prices were up 2.6% in 2018, while wholesale food prices were down 0.01% and consumers seeking relief from higher prices and noticed that grocery store service deli food cost less, they have tried it and report that most of it today is ‘restaurant’ quality according to Johnson. 

In 2019, 90 percent of restaurant guests research a restaurant online before dining at the restaurant, checking menu options, pricing, and seating.  If your restaurant is not competitive in menu price, menu product mix, or have a portability component you could be losing sales to a grocery store.

More and more we are seeing grocers adding cafe-like seating areas, a platform for consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization. That is to say; of meals at made-to-order stations with all food prepared fresh for either eat-in or take-out. “

If you’re a restaurant, does your concept look more like yesterday than tomorrow? Consumers are dynamic not static you brand must be as well.  Looking different does not mean different its meal familiar but with a twist.  Should you be offering grocerant niche fresh food to drive incremental sales? Are you prepared to spur growth and meet consumer needs and demands?

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.

Fresh, Fast, Food Convenience Store Speedway Focus is on Speed

Success does leave clues and while Speedway has been known for it service, fresh, fast, flavorful, grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat food the roughly 3,000 unit chain continues to evolve adapting to the evolving food focused consumer according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Consumers are dynamic not static as smart phones out number land lines more and more consumers have migrated to from cash to digital payment options.  So, customers at Speedway convenience stores can now use Apple Pay at checkout elevating service once again.

Johnson stated that Speedway’s updated digital payments are outstanding as a hand held Food Marketing tool.  It is one key tools that are the undercurrents driving incremental brand adoption putting a new electricity in brand relevance for many younger consumers specifically Millennial's.

Today, new partnerships can drive sales in foodservice today as your brand is searching for the new electricity to help drive the brand forward. 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.”

Johnson stated “that in my minds-eye the new electricity must be very efficient for the supply and includes such things as fresh foods, 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. 

Digital payment is big and getting bigger as Apple Pay is rolling out now in Target stores and more than 7,000 Taco Bell and 2,200 Jack in the Box locations in the next few months.  Customers can also use Apple Pay today at more than 245 Hy-Vee stores in the Midwest.

With the addition of these national retailers, 74 of the top 100 merchants in the U.S. and 65 percent of all retail locations across the country will support Apple Pay, according to the company.   Is your company keeping pace with consumers?

Foodservice Solutions® specializes in outsourced business development. 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

Food Sales, Service, Convenience Who Wins Fast Casual, Fast Food or C-Stores?

Consumers vote with there feet and wallet according to Tacoma, WA based Grocerant Guru® Steven Johnson at Foodservice Solutions®. Year over year customer counts continue to plague many chain restaurants all the while foodservice within the C-store sector is projected to clime once again above 6% this year.

A new study by Alix Partners found that Consumers rate their experience in purchasing meals and beverages at convenience stores much better than fast-food or fast-casual restaurants in terms of speed of service and overall convenience. The majority also say that ready-to-go/serve-yourself foods, beverages and snacks are their preferred type of foodservice when they shop at a convenience store.

So, let’s see just what key findings were:

1.       Lower percentages of consumers rated c-stores ahead of fast-food and fast-casual restaurants in regards to healthy food/beverage choices and menu options. However, they did give c-stores the nod for better prices than fast-casual establishments. 

2.       Foodservice is the primary c-store purchase category (picked as tops by 28 percent of participants), but 40 percent of these shoppers view it primarily for snacking. 

3.       57 percent say ready-to-eat is the type of foodservice they most want from c-stores, with made-to-order far behind at only 29 percent. 

4.       Half of respondents (50 percent) said “better-for-you” options are important when choosing a c-store, up from 46.5 percent in last year’s survey. 

5.       A loyalty program is a very important c-store influencer (3.6 on a scale of 1 to 5), scoring higher than a drive-thru (rated 2.7). 

6.       Food quality, price, speed and menu variety are the most important factors when it comes to delivery from a c-store. Forty-four percent of consumers prefer to order directly from the store rather than a third-party service (12 percent). 

7.       For traditional c-store products, 36 percent of millennials and 20 percent of Gen X say they will shop more at Amazon instead in the year ahead. 

8.       89 percent of electric car owners say having charging stations is important for c-stores, with half (51 percent) saying it is “extremely important.”

Foodservice Solutions® specializes in outsourced business development. 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