Customers Too Chain Restaurant Brand Marketers By-By

When consumers are hungry they want to eat.  They will buy food at a gas station, train station, bridge, or along the side of a road.  Consumers are dynamic not static and chain restaurants must evolve with consumers.  Only stubbornness on the part of c-level executives at chain restaurants can be blamed as sales fall at chain restaurants once again or so says Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®. 

The chain restaurant business model must evolve as there is no notion of channel blurring in the minds-eye of the consumer. Channel blurring only exists in the BLIND eye of Neanderthal chain restaurant and Grocery Stores brand managers according to Johnson as he stated back in 2010 and it has never been more evident than today.   

The customer has moved and legacy chain restaurants continue to try to do what they have always done and are doing it in the same way. It’s time for a new business model for chain restaurants according to Johnson.

In July 2017 same-store sales dropped 2.8 percent across the restaurant landscape, a significant 1.8 percentage point decline from the previous month. Customer traffic at restaurants plummeted 4.7 percent in the July and 1.7 percentage points worse than June of 2017 according to numbers from Victor Fernandez, executive director of Insights and Knowledge for industry tracker TDn2K.

When same store sales are calculated on a two-year basis, July’s sales were down 4.2 percent versus July 2015, and same-store traffic declined an eye-opening 8.7 percent. These are the weakest two-year growth rates in more than three years.

The line between foodservice channels exist only in the minds-eye those protecting their own jobs not those interested in the evolving consumer, path to purchase, retail sales growth, or brand relevance according to Johnson. 

A study shows consumers regard the service provided by Wawa  (a state of the industry convenience store retail chain), as superior to what they get at Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse. Simply put brand protectionism is dead once again our Grocerant Guru® said that first back in 2009 but so much for understanding the undercurrents driving our evolving foodservice sectors. 

Retail foodservice today is about Share of Stomach, and you are either capitulating share of stomach or garnering share of stomach customer by customer.  Is your retail foodservice brand garnering year over year customer counts or capitulating customers?

Edifying Foodservice Solutions® findings recent research by White Box Social Intelligence found “Wawa is more likely to meet service expectations than all 619 restaurant brands the researcher monitors on a constant basis. Closest to the c-store chain in positive service evaluations was Papa Murphy’s, followed by Seasons 52, Fleming’s and Wienerschnitzel.” The consumer knows best.  Is it time you began rethinking how to integrate Foodservice Solutions® FIVE P’s of Food Marketing?

White Box Social Intelligence also revealed “consumers’ intentions of visiting the monitored restaurant chains have continued to wane, by a hefty 6.4%, and that they believe the food quality of those brands has slipped from a year ago. Yet their estimation of restaurant service rose by 10.2% year over year. Wawa was one of the brands that scored high in customers’ intention to return, with only Qdoba and Carvel ranking higher.

Wawa’s top rating on service was indeed a surprise, says Victor Fernandez, TDn2K’s executive director of insights and knowledge. “It all depends on expectations, whatever the expectation of what good service is,” he says. “Obviously people expect something different from Wawa than they do from Fleming’s.” But they’re more likely to have those expectations satisfied at the c-store chain, he indicated.

While Victor was surprise no one on the Team at Foodservice Solutions® was after conducting over 7,790 Grocerant ScoreCards. Again we continue to think it is time for chain restaurant brand managers to look at some of those persistent factors aka consumer facing grocerant niche valued attributes that are driving change customer adoption of new fresh food avenues of distribution.  

The fact of the matter is the consumers have moved on and channel blurring only exists in the BLIND eye of Neanderthal chain restaurant and Grocery Stores brand managers not in the minds-eye of the consumer.  Restaurants, Grocery stores, must evolve or risk capitulating incremental customer counts to other retailers that are addressing the attributes that are relevant to consumers today. 

Are you trapped doing what you have always done and doing it the same way?  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. 

Grocerant Undercurrents Create New Competitors

Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru® tracks the undercurrents of consumer migration. Local, sustainable new To-Go, Take-Out, and Take-Away fresh food options threaten restaurant growth. Companies the ilk of Buc-ee’s, Green Zebra Grocery, and Everytable are driving change.   These new fresh food options are coming from unexpected non-traditional retailers. Many of these non-traditional food retailers are fast becoming the new normal in food retail.  Do you know how The Home Meal Replacement fad of the 1980’s evolved into the Grocerant Niche and is today is now garnering restaurant customers and market share?

Can you harkin back in the day, during the late Home Meal Replacement frenzy grocery stores, C-stores and restaurants all studied with excitement the successful developments of Phil Romano's Eatzi's. Eatzi's is Where Phil turned the page from restaurateur too foodservice retailer and food merchant. Phil's experiment was a smashing success.

The first grocerant according to our Grocerant Guru®, Eatzi’s was then and remains a concept that is consumer interactive, participatory with visceral authenticity recording sales of 17 Million a year at the original store. Today Eataly is Eatzi’s on steroids doing close to 60 Million a year in sales.

The Home Meal Replacement focus quickly faded away as grocery stores tried to make fresh prepared food a CPG product and in many cases they continue trying to do that today. Today the grocerant niche is the strategic path of choice for non-traditional fresh prepared food retailers, targeted at restaurant customers, profitable, and expanding at an ever increasing pace.

Fresh Food can be Omni-Channel

One example is Wawa, it was once considered a convenience store now the Wawa positions it's brand as Fresh First, Built-To Order and Ready-To-Go with focus of serving Fast Casual Food - To Go. At Wawa customers are now finding; What's for Breakfast, What's for Lunch, and now What's for Dinner.

Sheetz once a convenience store now calls themselves a restaurant that sells gas. Sheetz Made To Order food is a hit with customers. Sheetz is successful contemporizing legacy C-store products with differentiation, customization and personalization.

McDonald’s learned from companies like Wawa and Sheetz that consumer like the variety, 24 hour menu serving all day parts - all day long - with a wide range of consumer meal and snacking needs. Breakfast 24 / 7 at McDonalds is proof positive success does leave clues.  That’s right Sheetz is a Restaurant that just happens to sell Gas.

Rutter's is another convenience store in transition. Rutter's understands the unique balance between palate, price, pleasure, and the consumer's drive for qualitative distinctive differentiated new messaging and Rutter's is meeting that need set.

The food value proposition equilibrium for the consumer today balances; better for you, flavor, and traditional products all blended into something with a twist. In industry speak, differentiated does not mean different to the consumer it means familiar. Rutter's is an example of brand identity extending beyond consumer expectations within the traditional conveniences store sector. Too the consumer Rutter's is a direct valued competitor within the QSR space.

Today's Grocerant

The grocerant niche is a result of the blurring of the line between restaurants, grocery stores, convenience stores, and drug stores all selling fresh prepared, portable convenient meal solutions. Targeted at the time-starved consumer with Ready-2-Eat or Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food components that are "better for you", portable and portioned for one or two. All of these operators want a larger share of the retail food market. They want to take share from the restaurants.

Whole Foods is no longer Whole Paycheck but Whole Foods 365 Fresh Food Fast and consumers find that is "better for you". They are driving customer frequency while building loyalty with Fresh prepared Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat better for you food. Whole Foods focus is on convenient meal participation, better for you differentiation, and individualization.

Safeway's has integrated Mix and Match Meal Bundling marketing into daily and weekly iphone app's and legacy print flyers. With a focus on Fresh Prepared Food, Safeway is leveraging The 5 P's of Food Marketing: Product, Packaging, Placement, Portability and Price establishing contemporized consumer relevance. In what was once restaurant food space alone grocery stores, C-stores and Drug stores are now garnering consumer attention.

Duane Reade Fresh Food Is a Disruptive Force in the Retail Food Sector.

This video of Walgreens in San Francisco entering the fresh food space is evidence that no food retailer should dismiss as not my competitor. Walgreens with over 80 Billion in sales has the capital and resources to repeatedly try and try again until they get it right. Walgreens might just be The Next Biggest Competitor in the retail food space.

 Duane Reade is part of Walgreens that has 8,177+ retail outlets. Who is selling what in your back yard? With Walgreens entering the fresh food area again with meats, wraps, soups "and other on-the-go meal options, as well as convenient alternatives for tonight's family meal, it is clear that the future of fresh food retail leadership may be up in the air.

Foodservice Steps Forward

Food Retailing never takes a step backward. Consumers are dynamic not static always looking to save both time and money. The new normal is the grocerant niche propelling new quality points of fresh food distribution and competitors that are well financed. Remember, when it is 4pm, do you know what your customers want to make for dinner ?

Steven Johnson is the Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®, with extensive experience as a multi-unit operator, consultant and brand/product positioning. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche for more Foodservice Solutions® visit The Grocerant on LinkedIn or @Grocerant on Twitter

Starbucks Schultz Food Merchant of the Year

Howard Schultz Chairman and CEO of Starbucks Coffee is without doubt the retail food industries best food merchant according to Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru® Steven Johnson. So just what makes Schultz the industry leader?  That’s easy to answer according to Johnson, he understands customer relevance and refuses to allow his brand to get stuck in a brand Silo Mentality from the beginning Schultz understood our Omni-Channel retail world.  

Back in the day (1997,) “Starbucks quietly stocked a new gift item on its shelves. It was a small, plush bear the color of honey, dressed as a barista with a tiny green apron. This very first Bearista bear created a sensation among Starbucks fans, with more than 100 different editions of the bears following in the nearly 20 years since.”  Top line sales and bottom line profits define success Omni-Channel retail has help drive that time and time again for Starbucks and Schultz understands what others fail to grasp according to our Grocerant Guru®.

The Bearista bears have been dressed in everything from ski jackets to surf shorts and comfy pajamas. They've celebrated holidays, like Lunar New Year and Halloween, and destinations around the world from Paris to Hong Kong. Some bears even masqueraded as other cuddly animals including bumblebees, bunnies, chickens and ladybugs according to Starbucks.

While the Starbucks Bearista holiday bears have been in hibernation in the U.S. since 2009 this year the holiday classic bear is back by popular demand for a limited time in participating U.S. Starbucks stores.

The new 2016 limited-edition Bearista Collection includes five new lovable bears. Three are baristas—one with a classic green Starbucks apron, one with a red holiday apron, and a retro 1970s bear dressed in Starbucks original brown apron and logo with corduroy flare pants. There are also two Bearista bears with fuzzy hats—one with a red comfy sweater and the other with a cozy green sweater. Each has a “Starbucks 2016” commemorative mark on its paw you can pick one up or order it at www.Starbuck.com . 

You can order Coffee, Tea, Mug’s, Tee Shirts, Coffee Makers, Gift Cards you name it.  Starbuck’s has made their brand relevant by integrating the present with the past.  Starbucks understands that differentiation does not mean different, rather it means familiar but with a twist.  It’s that understanding that continues to win the hearts and minds of consumers making Schultz Foodservice Solutions® Food Merchant of 2016.

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 or menu integration strategy.  Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma WA is the global leader in the Grocerant niche visit: Linkedin.com/in/grocerant, Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, or twitter.com/grocerant

Sears goes shopping for groceries.



Target, Walgreens, CVS, 7 Eleven, Rite Aid and Sears are all shopping for grocery products and new consumers. Each is hopping too increase brand loyalty, build customer frequency while building top line sales and bottom line profits. Within the retail food sector however the only sector showing solid positive growth is the grocerant niche with Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh and prepared food.

Will Sears capitulate and follow the two low price leaders Walmart and Royal Ahold and get caught playing catch-up and missing the wave. That would be a very dumb move given the dollar stores sector has gutted any profitability from legacy grocers “center of the store”, with no signs of letting up on that strategy.

Given the mall and urban opportunity Sears could find room in the profitable grocerant niche with Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh and prepared food. Walgreens early stumble in this sector created an opening. The stumble was driven in large part of legacy category managers protecting turf, not focused on consumer demand or demand growth. Success does leave clues and lets hope Sears pick a few up.

Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche. For product or brand positioning assistance contact Steven A. Johnson and Foodservice Solutions® or visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant or on Facebook at Steven Johnson, GOOGLE: Steven Johnson Grocerants or twitter.com/grocerant