Resizing the new normal for Grocery, Restaurants and C-stores?

How times have changed. With the resetting of the foodservice price value equilibrium well underway we are seeing company after company shed units that don’t generate profits and some companies are forced into Chapter 11 bankruptcy to resolve problems.

The most interesting is the success that 7 Eleven is finding. They are rolling out new units and have hired a team of business development professionals to assist them recruiting existing operators from competitors to join there team that is rolling out grocerant style ready-to-eat and ready-to-heat food to great success.

Both Bi Lo Grocery and Bashas filed in the grocery sector this year. Here are two companies stuck in the middle of the grocery niche without enough differentiation to stand out for consumers. The same occurred this week the 69 unit restaurant chain Daphne’s Greek Café. The casual dinning sector is experiencing difficulty along with most of the others in restaurant sector.

What is clear is foodservice companies that have quality better for you fresh prepared ready-to-eat and ready-to-heat food that is portable are continue to gain share.

Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche for more on Steven A. Johnson and Foodservice Solutions visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant or on Facebook at Steven Johnson or BING / GOOGLE: Steven Johnson Grocerants

The frozen “Food Court” is vital to long term restaurant brand value building.

If success leaves clues and listening is a key to success then we all need to listen when grocery store category managers refer to the freezer aisle turning into the new restaurant "frozen food court". Pizza manufacture and co-packer Palermo Villa in Menomonee Valley, Wisconsin has seen annual growth of about 5 percent over the last four or five years.

Channel blurring only exists in the BLIND eye of Neanderthal restaurant brand managers. Today restaurant brand managers must understand their brand and their customers. If they do; they can integrate marketing plans that complement their customers while intersecting with the brand in multiple channels of distribution.

Walmart, Costco, Kroger, Safeway each has incorporated a "frozen food court" in the frozen food aisle. Utilizing both national and regional restaurant branded food. Boston Market, TGI Friday's, PF Chang's, California Pizza Kitchen and now Burger King are the most-thorough players with complete or nearly-complete programs at retail. But many restaurants are either looking at leveraging their brands or are jumping in feet first, including Romano's Macaroni Grill, El Pollo Loco, Captain D's, and O'Charley's, while others are trying it with dipping their toes in, The grocer and the restaurant brand all garner additional top line revenue and bottom line profits.

Repeated evidence shows that the distinction in differentiation is a value of the brand. Leveraging that value within additional retail segments is simply contemporary consumer relevance. Is your brand relevant? Foodservice Solutions specializes in outsourced business development; we can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities and brand leveraging integration strategy.

Join me here for insights, information and inspiration. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche for more on Steven A. Johnson and Foodservice Solutions visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant or on Facebook at Steven Johnson.

Home Cooking, the new normal is grocerant ready-to-eat and ready-to-heat food.

As long as multi- generational family’s gather for meals together, the demand for more divergent flavors will continue to permeate. Grocerant style food offerings allow for increased family integration, understanding and acceptance.

Consumers have been exposed to a plethora of flavors and have not the time to master the skill of cooking each. This growing trend is empowering the consumer to establish new customs and traditions in eating better, more flavorful food. The Grocerant niche is about convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization.

What’s for dinner? If your cooking for an at home family meal for two, three, four, or five family members, chances are very good your buying several ready-to-eat or ready-to-heat food components. Grocery stores, convenience stores and restaurants are all bundling fresh prepared meal components for the home cook. The home cook is responding, buying individualized components. Manufactures are rushing in with new menu items, packaging and portion sizes.

Grocerant niche food retailers have an understanding of the unique balance between palate, price, pleasure and the consumer’s drive for qualitative distinctive differentiated new food consumables. Which is one of the main reasons that this nice continues to flourish during this period of economic disruption. 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. That is where the Grocerant niche falls, it is consumer inspired, component driven and flavor familiar.

Alice May Brock said:”Tomatoes and oregano make it Italian, wine and tarragon make it French, sour cream makes it Russian, lemon and cinnamon make it Greek, soy sauce makes it Chinese, garlic makes it good.” I say: grocerant meal components bundled and portable make a family meal, a happy meal!

Grocerants food retailers allow customers to select from Italian, French, Russian, Greek etc. and utilize the components at home any way they like. The new American meal can be a composite of any prepared food components including entrée’s, side dishes, sauces and deserts that the individual may want and they can mix and pair them any way as well. Our society is a composed for people from all over the world, with different cultures, traditions and flavor preferences. The new American meal is a melting pot of flavor and choice.

Prepared ready-to-eat and ready-to-heat foods are now available for all and can be found at Convenience stores, Grocery stores, Restaurants, Mobile trucks all just waiting for the taking.

Foodservice branded and private label food manufactures are all vying for your attention. Ready-to-eat and ready-to-heat foods from swiss steak, meatloaf, baked salmon, rotisserie chicken, pizza and lasagna fresh prepared, portioned and portable in portions for one, two,, three or five are now available at most foodservice retail location. Most exciting is the opportunity for new start-up’s and regional manufactures to produce sustainable business built on local, fresh and unique flavor profiles. Legacy national brand manufactures are experiencing an increased consolidation and acquisition activities. They have taken there eye off the customer and increasing are missing many of the new points of grocerant food distribution.

Consumer are responding buying both private label and branded meal components in new food channels, experiencing new flavor profiles all the while individualizing the family meal. The foodservice industry is evolving with the consumer. For those companies looking for an opportunity for growth times have never been better.

Grocerants create happy meal times, by expanding the melting pot! In fresh prepared food, mix and match components and portability are required options. Understanding creating or identifying distinctive differentiated food consumable’s as an entity with identity by day part is an area that the fresh prepared grocerant food companies are excelling.

With a different view of the industry and the consumer the grocerant niche is bring new light and needed growth to the retail food industry via redevelopment and deployment of new products. Grocerant specialist can work with you to identify distinctive differentiated food consumables.

Success leaves clues; transformational times require focus and experience with a qualitative edge. Grocerants ready-to-eat and ready-to-heat food, should be the next step in your organizations success.

Foodservice Solutions of Tacoma, WA is the global leader in the Grocerant niche. More about us: http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant or leave a comment or question below. For more information on the success of the fresh prepared food niche Bing or Google: Steven Johnson Grocerants

Authentic sustainable FOOD FRESH and FAST.

Supermarkets, Grocery stores, Convenience stores and restaurants have all been touting freshness, local, sustainable food. All trying to garner favor with consumers. Many utilize Limited Time Offers or LTO’s to push fresh local product or ingredients. In each case the LTO’s scream come here, I’am better for you!

Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market is now expanding it popular “Farm to Store in 24” program. The program focus is to bring produce from California farms to its stores in less than 24 hours from the time it was harvested. This summer, Fresh & Easy has been offering strawberries and table grapes through the program

Now the hybrid prepared food retailer which is truly a cross between a convenience store and a grocery store is working to bring fruit such as peaches, nectarines and apples and fall vegetable into the program summer nears it end.

“Getting produce from the farm to the store in 24 hours or less is an incredibly tricky task, which makes it important to partner with strong local growers who share our commitment to quality produce,” Justin Hill, Fresh & Easy’s produce manager, said in a statement. “We are working closely with these growers here to put in the extra care required to expand our ‘Farm to Store in 24’ offerings whenever we can.”

The halo affect of Authentic Sustainable FOOD FRESH and FAST has rolled over to the grocerant prepared fresh food. The consumer can and does extend the halo of fresh from the “Farm to Store in 24” too the fresh prepared food products as well. Fresh & Easy is catching on!

Outside eyes can deliver top line insights and bottom line profits. Invite Foodservice Solutions to provide brand and product positioning assistance or a grocerant program assessment. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche for more on Steven Johnson BING or Google: Steven Johnson Grocerants

Quick Service Restaurants in head to head battle with Convenience stores for customers.

Brand managers at some the nations largest Convenience stores have watch, learned and are now turning the tables on the QSR’s chain restaurants. Utilizing the 5 P’s of retail foodservice marketing; Product, Packaging, Placement, Portability and Price they are competing at each consistently.

Here is three examples from coast to coast first John Schaninger at QucikChek at is doing things right with two new lines of snack sized sliders and oven baked pizza. The menu places them directly in the line of QSR’s with items like Black Angus Roast Beef & Cheddar, Bourbon BBQ Pulled Pork and Turkey Sloppy Joe sliders. That’s not your Fathers convenience store food.

BP’s ampm marketing team is running billboards along the freeways in Los Angeles promoting its new Mexican sandwiches. The billboard ads ask passersby to go to the chain’s Facebook page to “Check out the ampm Secret Menu.”

The Secret Menu that ampm is calling “Yums” – “include the Hot Chihuahua, the Tower of Torta, the Towering Inferno and the just-released Chili Conquistador -- all varied combinations of “too much” meat stuffed into some form of bun”

Tedeschi Food shops has one of my personal favorite menu items for breakfast they are “Omelets in a Wrap. They have a Western, Spanish, Cheese and Steak all traditional product but with just a twist of contemporary consumer relevance.

Outside eyes can deliver top line insights and bottom line profits. Invite Foodservice Solutions to provide brand and product positioning assistance or a grocerant program assessment. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche for more on Steven Johnson BING or Google: steven johnson grocerants

This week we got a glimpse of the future of US food retailing local competition.

In a recent report by the Food Marketing Institute (FMI) the legacy “meal solutions’ or grocerant niche is now “valued at about $ 1 trillion dollars” in the US alone. Tthe grocerant ready-to-eat and ready-to-heat prepared food niche growing the fastest! What they did not say in there report was US food retailing is in the process of returning to it roots!

The first 200+ years of this country food was produced and sold in local neighborhood markets. With the opening of the new Union Square Duane Reade Drug Store (soon to be Walgreens) we obtain a view of the future of US food retailing.

The store was designed to fit into a (any) local neighborhood. It’s light and airy, wide-aisle for ease of view shelving. This particular stores has everything for “New Yorkers' growing appetite for healthy food choices while on the go. A dedicated food section includes everything from sushi and sandwiches to fresh baked breads and healthy snacks.” Yes, this is a retail Drug store selling local fresh prepared food that is deemed “better for you”. Target pictured above is quickly moving into retail fresh prepared food.

Additionally this store has,” jumbo baked goods, as well as a cheese section and self-service coffee bar will be offered to shoppers with a taste for such treats. A refrigerated section will feature on-the-go meals, and there is a station for cut fruits, oatmeal, cut vegetables and pre-made salads and sandwiches.”

On the go one stop shopping LOCAL, FRESH PREPARED FOOD IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD. This is the way it was done years ago at the “general store”. Duane Reade is positioned to be quicker, fresher and better for the consumer than a traditional grocery store. Price and quality will prove challenging too many a restaurant chain.

Outside eyes can deliver top line insights and bottom line profits. Invite Foodservice Solutions to provide brand and product positioning assistance or a grocerant program assessment. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche for more on Steven Johnson BING: Steven Johnson Grocerants or Google: Steven Johnson Grocerants

Innovation trumps complacency in retail foodservice!

Product, Packaging, Placement, Portability and Price are the 5 P’s of successful grocerant fresh prepared food retailing. Combine the 5 P’s with technology a consumer focus and success follows.

Jenn Tekin of Package facts recently stated “During the height of the recession, fresh convenience food marketers and retailers spotted an opening. Seeing their main competition coming from the restaurant industry (instead of less costly unprepared food), many retailers began to compete more heavily on price without cutting back on the process of innovation in quality and convenience that had been underway for more than a decade. According to the report, these efforts proved successful, spurring a shift by many consumers from restaurant meals to prepared food purchased at retail outlets.”

In fact she continued “Fresh Convenience Foods in the U.S., the market for fresh convenience foods grew by 5% in 2009 to reach sales of $22 billion. Packaged Facts expects these marketing and merchandising efforts to continue to prove successful over the short term, driving sales of fresh convenience foods up another 28% by 2014 to $29 billion.

Success leaves clues and while many in the retail foodservice industry continue to struggle. Those retailers incorporating the 5 P’s of retail foodservice will continue to see top line sale grow and bottom line profits increase.

Outside eyes can deliver top line insights and bottom line profits. Invite Foodservice Solutions to provide brand and product positioning assistance or a grocerant program assessment. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche for more on Steven Johnson BING: Steven Johnson Grocerants or Google: Steven Johnson Grocerants