At Taco Bell Gaming Partnerships Renews Relevance

Success does leave clues and partnerships expand your customer base, extend your brand messaging, engage your customers with relevance in a non-traditional channel according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions.  Johnson continued saying “partnerships can drive new electricity into your brand messaging with they are both interactive and participatory.”

Starting last week, consumer who buy Taco Bell’s Double Chalupa Box have the chance to win an Xbox One X Eclipse Limited Edition Bundle every 10 minutes on average. The bundle gives consumers everything they need to become the ultimate gamer: an Xbox One X Eclipse Limited Edition console with Taco Bell’s iconic ring at startup, the brand-new Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2, and a six-month Game Pass Ultimate membership. Now, gamers of any age have to like that.

Here is how it works: Winners will get their Xbox One X Eclipse Limited Edition Bundle on their doorstep in as early as 48 hours after completing registration and receipt of verification, Taco Bell and Xbox’s fastest delivery time yet in the history of this campaign. With six months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, fans will get all the benefits of Xbox Live Gold, including online multiplayer and access to more than 100 high-quality games on console and PC, exclusive member deals and discounts and more as soon as they turn on their console and hear Taco Bell’s iconic ring.

The bundle also equips fans with the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2, so you can play like a pro with the world’s most advanced controller. For a chance to win the bundle, all fans need to do is enjoy a Double Chalupa Box from Taco Bell and follow the instructions on the box or the instructions received through the free method of entry process for entering in the code, with a bundle awarded on average every 10 minutes.

“Taco Bell and Xbox have continued to raise the bar through our partnership, and this year we’re excited to give fans even more ways to become a winner,” says Tracee Larocca, Senior Vice President of Brand Experience at Taco Bell. “Whether fans are unboxing their Double Chalupa boxes or the new Xbox One X Eclipse Bundle, this is yet another opportunity for us to give them a one of a kind experience.”

The Double Chalupa is available in a box served with guests’ choice of a Double Chalupa or Spicy Double Chalupa, a Crunchy Taco, Cinnamon Twists and a Medium soda.

In case you are gamming and to busy to go to Taco Bell, A separate and exciting offer is also available to fans who order the Double Chalupa box online at ta.co or through the Taco Bell app for in-store pickup at a participating Taco Bell restaurant by 11/23/19, who will receive via email, following verification, instructions to register and submit a code by 11/24/19 for, a 2-week Xbox Game Pass Ultimate membership while supplies last. Fans can redeem a maximum of two 2-week Xbox Game Pass Ultimate codes at microsoft.com/redeem by 4/30/20, making even more fans winners this year. Any existing Gold/Game Pass membership(s) will upgrade to Ultimate at a conversion ratio. See xbox.com/gamepass for details. Online offer void where prohibited. 

Taco Bell and Xbox have been teaming up since 2001 when they launched the original Xbox. In 2017, they launched the newest Xbox One X together and last year brought fans an Xbox One X Platinum Limited Edition Bundle. Consumers are dynamic not static how is your brand keeping up with consumer demand for fresh fast food? How are you driving new electricity into your brand?

Johnson stated “that in my minds-eye the new electricity must be very efficient for the supply chain 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 and beverage retailers to survive the next generation of retail must embrace the artificial intelligence revolution while simultaneously embracing fresh food and beverages that are portable, fresh, with differentiation that is familiar not different.  Does your retail path forward look more like yesterday than tomorrow? Why?

Looking for success clues of your own? Foodservice Solutions® specializes in outsourced food marketing and business development ideations. We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities, technology, or a new menu product segment.  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

Chuck E. Cheese Late to the Game but is Evolving

Consumers spend 87% of there time in-doors and parents are aware that children have pent-up enegery to burn and indoor trampoline parks have become the largest threat to legacy chain restaurant the ilk of Chuck E. Cheese according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Trampoline parks are consumer interactive and participatory allowing kid and adults to burn off steam to say the least; they also offer a wide variety of fresh food and party rooms for families. Companies the ilk of Sky Zone, Urban Air Adventure Park, Rockin’ Jump, Launch Trampoline Park, and Big Air Trampoline park are giving chain restaurants a run for ‘family -kids’ dollars according to Johnson.

The team at Foodservice Solutions® asks what restaurant chain will be first to buy a trampoline company to help preservice customer relevance? Will it be Chuck E. Cheese who introduced a do-it-yourself Alley Roller box comes with any medium or large pizza delivery order and includes three colorful, Chuck E. Cheese-themed game balls to take home that is interactive and participatory?

So, Chuck E. Cheese launched a new pizza delivery box that transforms into an at-home version of its classic Alley Roller game. This innovation makes pizza night more fun by giving families a unique experience, delivering both pizza and play. Available from more than 500 Chuck E. Cheese locations through Grubhub, DoorDash and UberEats, families can now receive Chuck E. Cheese’s fun game with their order of delicious, fresh, handmade pizza.

Ashley Zickefoose, chief marketing and concept officer, CEC Entertainment, Inc. stated “Chuck E. Cheese is synonymous with fun and games – two things we know our guests love but don’t get with a typical pizza delivery,” “Now, by delivering Alley Roller, one of our most popular and iconic games, along with our freshly made pizza, we’re making it easy to bring home the fun on family pizza night.” 

The do-it-yourself Alley Roller box comes with any medium or large pizza delivery order and includes three colorful, Chuck E. Cheese-themed game balls. To celebrate National Pizza Month, any large pizza delivery order will also come with the option to add Unicorn Churros for just $1 from October 15–October 31 exclusively through DoorDash and Grubhub.

Is the innovative pizza box enough to save Chuck E. Cheese, from becoming another chain that capitulates customer until they are gone? What do you think? Will McDonald’s, Burger King, or Yum Brand! Step up?

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/

Millennials Get their way at 7-Eleven

Millennials continue on a food discovery journey looking for fresh food fast that is ‘better-4-you’ according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®. Today, Americans spend 87% of there time in-doors. That is the key reason beverages have become a meal replacement and when combined with the ‘halo’ of better-4-you bverages sell according to Johnson.

The newest Slurpee Lite drink is naturally flavored, contains less sugar, is fortified with vitamins B3, B6 and B12, and an 8-ounce serving has just 20 calories. Now we all know Millennials grew up with Slurpee’s and so did most of their parents. The ‘halo’ of better for you will extend the brand too a new generation of children and parents according to Johnson driving new electricity into Slurpee messaging.

On its website, 7-Eleven says of the fiery orange-red Slurpee Lite drink, "vitaminwater spicy watermelon-lime is so fire, it had to be turned into a Slurpee just to cool it down." Inspired by the bottled vitaminwater fire, the Slurpee drink is described as a spicy watermelon-lime flavor with a touch of jalapeno and habanero that sparks a "slight tingling sensation." Glaceau vitaminwater is a 7-Eleven top-selling non-carbonated, flavored water.

Jacob Barnes, 7-Eleven proprietary beverages director stated "After the big splash that vitaminwater Chill Slurpee Lite drink made with Slurpee-lovers, we expect this spicy watermelon-lime vitaminwater fire will be even bigger," "Slurpee Lite has had some of our more unusual and sophisticated flavors, so thirsty customers can cut sugar without sacrificing flavor."

Battle for Share of Stomach 

Recent Grocerant ScoreCards found that 75 percent of U.S. adults are willing to try new foods, with some 80 percent of millennials saying they are looking for bolder taste profiles.  Other reports found that Gen Z'ers aren't quite the flavor risk-takers as the generation before them, they do love the duality of sweet flavors paired with spice, sour or salt. The Slurpee Lite vitaminwater fire drink mirrors established trends in candy, chocolates and frozen treats categories that are bringing the heat with the sweet.

Consumers are dynamic not static how is your brand keeping up with consumer demand for fresh fast food? How are you driving new electricity into your brand?

Johnson stated “that in my minds-eye the new electricity must be very efficient for the supply chain 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 and beverage retailers to survive the next generation of retail must embrace the artificial intelligence revolution while simultaneously embracing fresh food and beverages that are portable, fresh, with differentiation that is familiar not different.  Does your retail path forward look more like yesterday than tomorrow? Why?

Are you looking for a new partnership to drive sales? Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing tactics look more like yesterday that tomorrow?  Visit www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information or contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us Remember success does leave clues and we just may have the clue you need to propel your continued success.

Did you Watch NFL or College Football this Weekend

Food Marketing success has a lot to do with timing and the bigger the chain the better they are about planning promotional tie-ins that are also consumer hot-button touchpoints according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Well, if you did watch College Football on Saturday or NFL on Sunday there is a good chance you saw an ad for Kentucky Fried Chicken, chicken wings. Yes, just in time for those who prefer to stay home and watch the ‘game’ on their “65 Inch HDTV”.

The Kentucky Fried Wings, are available in a “classic” un-sauced version or in Nashville Hot, Buffalo or honey barbecue sauces. They’re priced starting around $5 for 6 wings, $9.99 for 12, $18.99 for 24 and $36.99 for 48 and most locations now have delivery.

KFC is offering free delivery on orders of $12 or more for customers who order through kfc.com, grubhub.com or Grubhub’s New York City brand, seamless.com. That offer is available through Nov. 24.

Get this, chicken wings have become part of the football experience for many Americans. The chicken industry’s trade association, the National Chicken Council, projected that Americans would eat around 1.4 billion wings during Super Bowl weekend alone.

But get this, KFC offered a 10-week “Seasoned Tickets” that give the buyer 48 chicken wings delivered to their home every week. On the 10th week, they get an extra 48 wings. Yes, that’s 528 wings valued at about $400, but at a cost of $75. The deal was apparently so good that the tickets sold out in less than two hours.

KFC’s Andrea Zahumensky stated “You would be hard pressed to find hot and fresh wings without the wait anywhere else,” … “Whether you are Team Nashville Hot or Team Honey BBQ, our Kentucky Fried Wings are available on demand, revolutionizing your gameday dining experience.”

Foodservice Solutions® team is here to help you drive top line sales and bottom-line profits. Are you looking a customer ahead? Visit www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information or contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us Remember success does leave clues and we just may the clue you need to propel your continued success. 

New Technology Brings Fresh Food to You

Food trucks have delivered fresh food to work sites, workers, and offices for 100 years or so.  However, like everything else technology has evolved and one company is now using advacned robotics to drive incremental success according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Ono Food Company, is launching later this month the first of a fleet of mobile food trucks powered by advanced robotics that’s right advance robotics in a food truck. 

Ono Blends, is billing its smoothie shop on wheels, as the first mobile restaurant in the world that uses cutting edge technology and advanced robotics to power everything from ordering to food production. The company plans to launch Ono Blends in late October at a popular Venice, Calif. food truck lot, where it will share space with Roy Choi’s pioneering food truck, Kogi BBQ.

Regular readers of this blog know that “differentiation does not mean different it means familiar but with a twist” well  Ono Blends Co-founder and CEO Stephen Klein stated  “There’s no one else doing this,”

Klein, worked at grocery delivery company Instacart and robotic coffee bar Café X in San Francisco, clearly garnering the insights, for his innovative, incremental food platform, Ono Foods that launched in July 2018 with his business partner Danny Fukuba. Fukuba previously led robotic assembly for SpaceX and worked at Zume Pizza, which uses robot pizza cooks. Johnson says this guys know food, technology and portability all hallmarks of the grocerant niche.

Ono Foods, focus is on state-of-the art food trucks that move around and feed people in so-called food deserts. “We believe the future of robotics is modular. It can be placed in different locations,” Klein said.

Garnering $2 million in capital raised from investors, the team spent the past several months developing a menu of healthy but affordable custom blended smoothies. Signature and customizable shakes are made by an assembly line of machines outfitted in a 56-square-foot space inside a 23-foot long Mercedes Sprinter.

 Interactive and participatory the team built a viewing window is built at eye-level so customers can watch their smoothie being prepared. Klein stated “Ono’s robotics system resembles the automation at fast-casual bowl concept Spyce in Boston, which made national headlines when it opened in May. Famed chef Daniel Boulud is an investor.”

Let’s talk making fast food fast and fresh, Ono robots can crank out a 20-ounce avocado & matcha smoothie in about 60 seconds. The cost: $5.95. Klein said the price is a bargain when compared to brick and mortar shops in the Los Angeles area.

Consider that Moon Juice, which has three shops in boujee Los Angeles enclaves, sells its wellness-centric shakes for $12 to $14. Klein continued “Fast-food options usually fall into two buckets: fast, healthy, and unaffordable, or fast, unhealthy, and affordable and nothing in between,”. “Combining our backgrounds in tech, automation, and culinary fine dining, we knew we could fill this void to give more people access to healthy, high-quality food.”

While technology is crucial to the business model, Klein said food quality is paramount. “The quality of the food is still the most important thing. Automation is the means to the end,” he said. Every drink is “designed to keep people energized and rejuvenated throughout the day,” the company said.

Technology is important for all food retailers according to Johnson.  Ono Blends said advanced robotics improves order accuracy, minimizes food waste, reduces water usage, and improves speed of service.  Food safety is also enhanced with self-cleaning technology.

Is you brand getting faster, fresher, or closer to you customers? Are you focusing on relevant customer touchpoints that are both interactive and participatory?

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

Ten Pillars for Branded Fresh Food Sales

Success does leave clues and Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® has picked up enough to share.  Today, grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food continues to drive top line growth and bottom line profits within the Restaurant Sector, Grocery Sector, Convenience Store Sector and at new non-traditional points of fresh food distribution.

So, let’s look at what Johnson found for selling grocerant niche fresh food:   
 
Symbolism.   Why you are there! The most successful brands are inclusive include values greater than themselves. A lifestyle, a philosophy, an emotion a point in time. 
 
A story. Most major brands have a story. Examples: if you like Ford vehicles, you might be familiar with the story of Henry Ford or if you love your Nikes, you probably know how the Nike swoosh logo was created. 
 
A track record. When your business is first starting out, don't fool yourself into believing that your marketing efforts are 'brand building' efforts. They're not because to build a real brand, you have to have an extensive track record with consumers. 
 
Trust. When you've consistently delivered for your customers long enough, you'll gain the type of trust that many brands have. Case in point: a friend of mine always reminds people that he won't buy an automobile that isn't a BMW. He's had a good experience with his and trusts so much in the company that he doesn't believe there's a better-made car. 
 
Expectation. When a consumer chooses a product or service because of brand association, he or she is buying an expectation. Perhaps it's the expectation that the branded product is of higher quality or that the service will be provided in a more efficient manner. 
 
Differentiation. Expectation is often borne of differentiation. Many brands offer products and services that are commodities but they're successful in developing some differentiation for their products and services that consumers are sold on. 
 
Imitators. Imitation is the sincerest of flattery and you're probably not a 'brand' until you have competitors trying to copy you. 
 
Market leadership. Top brands are usually looked at as leaders in the markets they compete in. 
 
Adaptability. The best brands are flexible and capable of reshaping and reinventing themselves and their messages over time. Coca-Cola is a good example of a brand that has never abandoned its core product but has evolved its message over time to keep up with changes in the marketplace and society at large. 
 
A strong marketing presence. Although it's nice to believe that you can market yourself for free on Facebook and Twitter, the reality is that brands aren't advertising on television and radio because they're dumb. Building and main

For international corporate presentations, regional chain presentations, local educational forums, or keynotes contact: Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions.  His extensive experience as a multi-unit restaurant operator, consultant, brand / product positioning expert and public speaking will leave success clues for all. For more information visit www.GrocerantGuru.com , www.FoodserviceSolutions.us or call 1-253-759-7869

Aldi Give the Customers What They Want

Back in the day circa 1989 Willard Bishop Consulting founder and food industry icon Bill Bishop inform all that the number one challenge grocery retailers has to solve was get customer in and out faster.  It was a clear message, simple to understand, but counter to what legacy retail grocery stores companies wanted.

What they wanted to do and were hell-bent on was to keep consumers in the stores longer to drive a ‘larger basket size’.  How did that work for them?  Not so good.  Today, there are 62.9% fewer legacy grocery stores than there were in 1989.  Now consider this one company hear him and did something about it.

That company Foodservice Solutions® and they put their Grocerant Guru®, Steven Johnson to work to do something about it.  He told anyone that was will to listen.  One company got the message somewhere that company is Aldi.

Aldi now with close to 2,000 US stores is touting its stores as easier to shop, and new Kantar research commissioned by the hard-discount grocer finds that consumers agree. Finding “Of 700 customers ages 18 to 64 who participated in the study, 77% agreed that Aldi is "simpler to shop" compared with other grocery stores. Aldi said the findings also show that its stores are “at least 20% faster to shop” versus Kroger supermarkets and Walmart Supercenters.”

So, it does not stop there, “Nine out of 10 respondents who shopped at Aldi also agreed that the retailer is "more cost-effective" than other grocery stores, according to the study. Aldi added that a 2019 Dunnhumby report ranked it as the No. 1 grocery retailer for price and Market Force Information has recognized Aldi as the value leader for eight consecutive years.”

Scott Patton (above), vice president of corporate buying for Aldi U.S. stated "Today's shoppers are pressed for time and money. We pioneered a model that gives people more of both,”, … “If you ask me, this is a winning combination for grocery shopping."

Is your brand developing a sales platform as dynamic as today’s consumers? Or, is do your stores and sales platform look more like yesterday than today or tomorrow?

For international corporate presentations, regional chain presentations, local educational forums, or keynotes contact: Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions.  His extensive experience as a multi-unit restaurant operator, consultant, brand / product positioning expert and public speaking will leave success clues for all. For more information visit www.GrocerantGuru.com , www.FoodserviceSolutions.us or call 1-253-759-7869