Convenience-stores branded foodservice programs to outperform restaurant industry again.

Leveraging legacy locations, convenience, speed of service while integrating branded fresh prepared ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat prepared food; convenience stores are garnering customers from both the restaurant and grocery sectors.

Convenience stores foodservice offerings have largely been over looked or dismissed by Quick Service Restaurant chain operators and grocery stores.  Following the lead of Wawa, Sheetz, Rutters and now 7 Eleven the convenience store sector is branding food programs from coast to coast.  More importantly they are garnering a lager share of stomach with improving food quality, healthful offerings and speed of service that quite frankly QSR’s can’t keep up with.

David Sprinkle, publisher of Packaged Facts stated "By enhancing foodservice quality and variety, we believe convenience stores are poised to benefit from increased sales of gasoline and other merchandise, as consumers seek to consolidate their purchases in the interest of efficiency"…"Because it is so well positioned, we anticipate that convenience store industry foodservice sales growth will outperform the retail and restaurant foodservice industry average through 2013."

In fact Packaged Facts projects that convenience store foodservice sales grew 6% in 2010, and will rise an additional 6% in 2011 and 5% in 2012.

Since 1991 retail food consultancy Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche for more on Foodservice Solutions® Bing or Google Grocerants or visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant, twitter.com/grocerant Email: grocerant@q.com

Ready-2-eat, heat-N-eat, and take-A-way food is in high demand at 4PM

The success of the Grocerant niche can be found in every corner of the United States.  From Rotisserie Chicken, prepared ready-2-eat salads, prepared and fresh prepared sandwiches at 4PM food retailers are in high demand.  Below are a few of the companies now finding success within the Grocerant niche.

7-Eleven, www.7-eleven.com

A&P, www.apfreshonline.com
Albertsons, www.albertsons.com
ampm, www.ampm.com
Aztec Market, www.eatatsdsu.com
Bed Bath & Beyond, www.bedbathandbeyond.com
Big Bowl Chinese Express,www.bigbowlchineseexpress.com
BJ’s Wholesale Club, www.bjs.com
Brookshire’s, www.brookshires.com
Byerly’s, www.lundsandbyerlys.com
Caribou Coffee, www.cariboucoffee.com
Casey’s General Store, caseys.com
Central Market, www.centralmarket.com
Cost Plus, www.worldmarket.com
Costco, www.costco.com
Culinaria, www.culinariaschnucks.com
CVS, www.cvs.com
Dominick’s, www.dominicks.com
Dorothy Lane, www.dorothylane.com
Duane Reade, www.duanereade.com
Earth Fare, www.earthfare.com
Easy Meal Prep Association,
www.easymealprep.com
El Pollo Loco, www.elpolloloco.com
Family Express Corp., www.familyexpress.com
Food Basics, www.foodbasicsusa.com
The Food Emporium, www.thefoodemporium.com
Fresh & Easy, www.freshandeasy.com
The Fresh Diet, www.thefreshdiet.com
The Fresh Market, www.thefreshmarket.com
GetGo, www.get-go.com
Giant Eagle, www.gianteagle.com
Glacier Ice Cream, www.glaciericecream.com
Great Atlantic Pacific & Tea Company,www.aptea.com
Greencore, www.greencore.com
GreenWise, www.publix.com/greenwise
Hannaford, www.hannaford.com
Harris Teeter, www.harristeeter.com
HEB, www.heb.com
Home Made Brand Foods,
homemadebrandfoods.com
Hubbell & Hudson, hubbellandhudson.com
Hyatt Hotels, www.hyatt.com
Hy-Vee, www.hy-vee.com
Jewel, www.jewelosco.com
Joe V’s, www.heb.com
Jungle Jim’s, www.junglejims.com
KFC, www.kfc.com
Kings Markets, www.kingswebsite.com
Kowalski’s, kowalskis.com
Kroger, www.kroger.com
Mariano’s Fresh Market
Marketside, www.marketside.com
Market District, www.marketdistrict.com
Market Street, www.marketstreetunited.com
Marks & Spencer, www.marksandspencer.com
McDonald’s, www.mcdonalds.com
Morrisons, www.morrisons.co.uk
Murray’s, www.murrayscheese.com
Northern Foods, www.northernfoods.co.uk
On a Roll Sales, Inc., www.onarollsales.com
Pathmark, www.pathmark.com
Publix, www.publix.com
Price Chopper, www.pricechopper.com
QuickChek, www.quick-chek.com
Quiznos, www.quiznos.com
Raley’s, www.raleys.com
Roundy’s, www.roundys.com
Royal Ahold, www.ahold.com
Rutter’s Farm Stores, www.rutters.com
Sam’s Club, www.samsclub.com
Schnucks, www.schnucks.com
Shaw’s, www.shaws.com
Sheetz, www.sheetz.com
top & Shop, www.stopandshop.com
Sunset Foods, www.sunsetfoods.com
Super Fresh, www.superfreshfood.com
Supervalu, www.supervalu.com
Surdyks, www.surdyks.com
Target, www.target.com
Tesco, www.tesco.com
Treasure Island, www.tifoods.com
Turkey Hill, www.turkeyhillstores.com
Ukrop’s Homestyle Foods,
ukropshomestylefoods.com
United Supermarkets, www.unitedtexas.com
Waldbaums, www.waldbaums.com
Walgreens, www.walgreens.com
Walmart, www.walmart.com
Wegmans, www.wegmans.com
Whole Foods, www.wholefoodsmarket.com
Winn-Dixie, www.winndixie.com

Since 1991 retail food consultancy Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche for more on Foodservice Solutions® Bing or Google Grocerant or visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant, twitter.com/grocerant Email: grocerant@q.com

Food for the 65 inch TV: Is the food landscape changing?

Americans love affair with restaurants is not dying.  However increased competition with innovative food with a twist broadens consumer choice of dinning with quality and ease at home. Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh and prepared food is expanding consumer choice of Mix & Match Meal component options.

Restaurants, Convenience stores and Grocery stores are all selling Take-Away food.  Meal Mix & Match grocerant meal components have been the leading sector in retail foodservice of late. It’s menu magic.

Mix & Match grocerant food allows the consumer too spend more time in front of the 65 inch TV.  Grocery store brand loyalty and frequency increases with each advancement in quality Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat food.  Here are examples of Mix and Match Meal components from Grocery stores only: 

Goat Cheese Strawberry Salad: spring mix topped with thinly sliced
strawberries, blueberries, walnuts and crumbled goat cheese

Cajun Seasoned Potatoes: roasted potatoes topped with Cajun

blackening seasoning

Coconut Crusted Mahi Mahi and Chicken Tenders: coated in

toasted panko bread crumbs and cream of coconut (ready-to cook)

Mexican Lasagna

Mushroom Risotto

Crabcakes

Aegean Salad: shell pasta with Feta, onion, artichoke hearts, cherry

tomatoes and kalamata olives

Caprese Panini

BBQ Chicken Quesadilla

Matzo Ball Soupeared Chicken Breast with Peach & Chive Sauce

Parmesan Chicken Fingers

Turkey Roulade with Cranberry Stuffing

Side orders

Cauliflower Spinach Gratin

Artichoke & Asiago Croquette

Spaghetti with Seasoned Tomato Sauce

Escarole & Beans

Apple Almond Yam Cakes

Florida’s Farm Stores offer Online meal components:

Cajun Chicken

Chicken Saute with Artichokes

Mushroom & Asparagus Israeli Couscous

Sage Roasted Turkey Breast

Vegetable Fried Rice

Salmon Nicoise Salad

Flan

Key Lime Pie

Since 1991 retail food consultancy Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche for more on Foodservice Solutions® Bing or Google Grocerant or visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant, twitter.com/grocerant Email: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us 

Food fight and the Convenience store sector is gaining customers.

It all started with the $ 5.00 foot long and the Subway restaurant chain has be the individual retail food winner.  Subway is growing units and top line sales like no other food retailer in the United Sates and testing a café format. Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh and prepared food is driving top line growth and bottom line profits in food retail today.

The Dollar menu has pushed the QSR sector along and now with inflation on the horizon; a global food price war in the food sector and grocery sector particularly has broken out.  It is painfully clear whomever is the last to raise prices in the QSR sector will be the clear winner, garnering market share.

In the grocery sector; Wegmans is freezing prices on “basic” items, Tesco’s ala Fresh & Easy parent has targeted its largest European rival in a price war.  Tesco has found it’s footing in the US and is now expanding again with a focus on Price and Product differentiation. Don’t count on large price increases in grocery any time soon, at least in urban centers. Kroger and Safeway must try and keep competitive.

The only over all sector of food retail that has gained both top line revenue and more units during the past two years is the C-store sector.  Both the Grocery store and Restaurant sector have lost units. Companies that utilize Foodservice Solutions® 5 P’s of food marketing: Product, Packaging, Placement, Portability and Price; will understand success can be found within the grocerant niche.

Since 1991 retail food consultancy 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 twitter.com/grocerant

When you’re ready-2-eat your next meal.

Families, couples, singles all start wondering what’s for dinner about 4 PM every day. Food manufactures have teams of people working to get you to buy their product at 4 PM.  However, restaurants have a clear advantage in the minds eye of the consumer.  Restaurant branded Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh and prepared food that is perceived as fresh and bundled in a meal, saves time and is top of mind for consumers.

A Grocery Manufacturers Association study found, “62% of shoppers look for deals online prior to at least half of their shopping trips.” Restaurants have a solid web presents and are leveraging that too garner consumers back from grocery stores. Food manufactures have websites but little voice in the minds eye of the consumer for they are only one component of the meal.

There is a stumbling block for restaurants consumer need other items at dinner time as well. Drug stores chains and grocery stores can leverage that need set to there advantage.  There is one simple problem.  Legacy grocery stores the ilk of A&P and Supervalu have a legacy departmental internal bonus issues that prevent them from cross promoting Mix and Match meal components from other departments. Milk and bread different departments, bread and meat, different departments, green salad and frozen pizza; OK your catching on.  A&P and Supervalu are dependent and focused of slotting fees instead of the consumer. Big problem, look at the results.

Food manufactures have little leverage in or desire to cross-promote. Lets face it business is about the consumer. Foodservice Solutions® has developed a shopper marketing cross-promotional team to assist food manufactures of branded and private label products bundle Mix and Match meal promo’s utilizing the 5P’s of food marketing.  

Since 1991 retail food consultancy Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche for more on Foodservice Solutions® Bing or Google Grocerants or visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant, twitter.com/grocerant Email: grocerant@q.com

                                                                                                

Food: new points of distribution and menu innovation empowers consumer choice.



Foodservice Solutions® grocerant guru Steven Johnson recently conducted an immersion tour and found high quality innovative food and new points of distribution, menu personalization and cultural inclusion. The grocerant niche is filled with Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh and prepared food that is generally described as better for you.

Convenience store volume sector leader and director of foodservice Michael Sherlock, said that "Our business is all about speed and convenience,…"Seconds count when it comes to helping our customers on their way and turning over parking lots, much in the same way that a restaurant focuses on speed of service to turning over table availability during peak times." He is not alone many other convenience store chains including 7 Eleven and Casey’s General Stores have had noted success after entering the Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat grocerant fresh and prepared food niche.

Walgreens, Rite Aid, Amazon Fresh and Sears are all entering the fresh and prepared food niche. When you combine that with food trucks and pop-up stores you find growing consumer momentum and new bundled meal options. Here are three of the interesting meal component options discovered on the immersion tour.

1. Oatmeal and coffee (grocery store) $0.99

2. Sauerkraut Pizza and Beer (full service restaurant) slice + beer ($3.50)

3. Pouched Salmon with dirty rice and sweet plantain (food truck) ($5.95)

The primary driver of the grocerant niche is quality food bundled as components allowing and promoting consumer choice. Meal time is now becoming a time of convenient meal participation, with differentiation and individualization for the entire family. When a family can mix and match

Since 1991 retail food consultancy Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche for more on Foodservice Solutions® Bing or Google Grocerants or visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant, twitter.com/grocerant Email: grocerant@q.com

Better for you Ready-2-Eat food is popular with younger consumers.



Grocerant Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh and prepared food has been driving top line sales and bottom line profits across all sectors of retail foodservice. “Young U.S. adults are finding increasing appeal in packaged salads and other “convenience” fresh food items bought at grocery stores, a trend that promises to boost produce demand over the long-term, according to a recent survey conducted by the Perishables Group.”

In addition the study found “About 63% of consumers age 24 or younger said they buy packaged salads at least once a month, the highest rate of any age group”. …By comparison, 55% of people between ages 45 and 54 said they buy packaged salads at least once a month. For 65 and older, the rate was 49%.

The figures reflect broader consumption patterns and lifestyles among younger adults, who appear to be more accepting of convenience foods and less inclined to buy “whole” products, such as a head of lettuce, said Steve Lutz, Perishables Group executive vice president.”

Regular readers of this blog understand that “better for you” is a key element in positioning new products with the retail food space. Grab-N-Go, Take-Away, Take-Out food continues to garner new customers of all age groups. Better for you convenience food bundled as a meal component is clearly a industry success clue.

Since 1991 retail food consultancy Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche for more on Foodservice Solutions® Bing or Google Grocerants or visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant, twitter.com/grocerant Email: grocerant@q.com