Pollo Tropical Looks at Grocerant Heat-N-Eat

Back in the day Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru® based at Tacoma, WA Steven Johnson was the first to identify, quantify, qualify, the undercurrent of the fastest growing food sales sector today and named it the Grocerant niche and was first published in a Nation’s Restaurant News article in August 1996, titled: They Call Them Grocerants.  

Johnson has long advocated that restaurants expand their brands into the ‘Frozen Food Court’, Ready-2-Eat, and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food grocerant niche.   Pollo Tropical launch of the Pollo Pantry, is an entrance into the grocerant niche that if done right will edify the Pollo Tropical brand with consumers according to Johnson.

Customer relevance for Pollo Tropical includes bold fresh craveable flavors including, citrus-marinated chicken ready-to-cook in their home kitchens.  Grocerant niche offering are consumer convenience solutions that save time, add flavor, without all of the hard cook from scratch work.

Pollo Tropical is offering its pantry menu at the drive thru and through take out at more than 140 participating Florida locations. The Pollo Pantry menu launched across Florida on week. The menu items feature’s its fresh, 24-hour citrus-marinated whole chicken for just $5 and six marinated boneless breasts for just $10. That is placing the price, value service equilibrium front and center and will drive incremental sales according to Johnson.

Richard Stockinger, president and Chief Executive Officer of Fiesta Restaurant Group, parent company of Pollo Tropical, stated  “At Pollo Tropical, we’re always looking for ways to better serve our community and during these challenging times, we want to give our guests easy solutions to get quality food they can trust at a great value. Fresh, ready to cook chicken can be hard to find in grocery stores these days, so we made it easy to find at Pollo,” .. “The Pollo Pantry offers guests the marinated chicken they love in a brand-new way and lets them cook it right in their own kitchen for the first time ever.”

Regular readers of this blog know that mix & match meal component offering are a success clue of the grocerant niche. So, tis easy to see why the Pollo Pantry is along with the fresh chicken offerings, is also features its famous ready to eat White Rice and Black Beans in larger-sized packages that can feed up to 10 people for just $5 each. There are no quantity limits and the items can be ordered during all operating hours at each participating Pollo Tropical location. No other discounts or offers can be used as part of the Pollo Pantry pricing. If your brand is seeking new customers, incremental sales consider entering the grocerant niche.

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 us on our social media sites by clicking one of the following links: Facebook,  LinkedIn, or Twitter

Battle for Share of Stomach

Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Right Idea

When customers can’t come in you have to go to them or risk losing sales, profits, and maybe even your business. Understanding the undercurrents driving growth within the foodservice sector is of paramount importance when you are forced to reposition according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Consistent unprecedented growth, are three words that best describe the grocerant niche since 1996, according to Johnson.  (Johnson, by the way identified, quantified, qualified, the undercurrent of the evolving food sales sector and named it the Grocerant niche first published in Nation’s Restaurant News in August 1996 -They Call Them Grocerants.)  

Understanding that and keeping up with food industry sales trends, Beef ‘O’ Brady’s is now offering groceries along with usual fare.  This one step has significantly tempered the sales declines of the 20 restaurants in the casual chain that are giving retail a try. “The guy who’s doing the best with it is down 13%, while the rest of the system is down 70%,” says CEO Chris Elliott.

While it’s a start this specific format does not reflect the current trended identified, quantified or qualified in Foodservice Solutions® latest Grocerant ScoreCards.  According to Elliott, “there’s ample reason why the other 130 stores aren’t racing to add shortening or gallons of milk to their product lines.

Part of the hesitation, is location-related “the neighborhood you’re in, the trade market you’re in.”  The demand may not be there, regardless of how stocked or empty local supermarkets might be.”

The team at Foodservice Solutions® understands that these are difficult times. Integrating a clear consistent brand messaging while expanding into new niche with consumer convenience solution is hard work even during the best of times. Beef ‘O’ Brady’s is doing many things right and will quickly learn that the opportunity within the grocerant niche is there.  However, the approach they have taken will need some tweaking to refine consumer relevant touchpoints according to Johnson.

Grocery stores have been selling meals and meal components from their service deli for years. All the while convenience stores have been selling meals, meal components many not describe themselves as ‘fast casual restaurants. So, Beef ‘O’ Brady’s entering the grocerant niche is a natural way to evolve according to Johnson.

Once again there is a battle for share of stomach and share of dollars. If restaurants are required to reduce seating capacity for over a year customer disequilibrium will spiral out of a brand managers control. Consumer migration filed equilibrium where customer relevant touchpoints are located.  Year over year customer count declines can not be tolerated forever.  Are you ready to evolve your business model?  

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 us on our social media sites by clicking one of the following links: Facebook,  LinkedIn, or Twitter

Newk’s Eatery’s Grocerant niche Platform is a Great Start

Grocerant niche offerings are a consumer convenience solution that can evolve into a platform that garners consumer attention while edifying brandable relevant consumer touchpoints according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Mix & Match meal bunding has been a foundation of the grocerant niche growth and the most valuable consumer touchpoint found within Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant ScoreCards according to Johnson. When Newk’s Eatery has launched Newk’s Pantry elevating its service is offering guests and local communities a small footprint of grocery items and meal kits in-store, available through curbside and delivery it was an invitation to extend Newk’s brand with relevance. 

So, Newk’s Pantry is a platform filled with consumer convenience solution and touchpoints consumers have been finding at non-tradition retail locations. Newk’s Pantry opens the door for consumers to shop for key groceries from Grab & Go coolers all while picking up meals for their families from Newk’s. In short killing two birds with one stone so to speak. 

Restaurants to understand that expanding the opportunity to build ‘share of stomach’ empowers them to extend their brand while simultaneously building ‘share of food dollars’ according to Johnson.  

Fresh offerings will include: Newk’s Grab & Go items, Meal Kits, and Menu Items

·         Produce - bell peppers, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, lemons & more 

·         Dry & Paper Goods - Toilet paper, paper towels, pecans, dried cranberries & more

·         Desserts – cake slices, brownies, crispies

·         Dairy - Cheddar, Swiss, Gorgonzola, hard boiled eggs

·         Breads

·         Wine & beer 

·         Soup & Sandwich Kit (lunch meat and cheese, bread, soup) 

·         Family Lunch Essentials (lunch meat and cheese, bread, mac & cheese, Newk’s chips, brownie’s, applesauce packets) 

·         Family Meal Kit (soup, salad, protein, bread, beverage) 

·         Build Your Own Pizza Kit (ingredients for your pizza choice – Pepperoni & Sausage, Pepperoni or Margherita – choice of regular or Cauliflower crust) 

·         Take & Bake Mac and Cheese

·         Mac & Cheese Bar Family Meal Kit

Is this the right mix of products? The team at Foodservice Solutions® thinks it a great start.  However, it’s clear they are thinking about grocerants the way they were 10 years ago not how they have evolved.  Consumers are dynamic not static. Don’t let your grocerant niche offering look more like yesterday that today or tomorrows.

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

Modern Market Eatery Consumers are Dynamic so is Modern Market Eatery

The mantra for most CEO’s is ‘do no harm’.  In most cases that means doing very little, calling minuscule incrementalism, action. Well, according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® they can’t say that about Modern Market Eatery co-founder and co-CEO, Anthony Pigliacampo.

The fact is, Modern Market Eatery (MME) has always been an innovative brand accustomed to adapting quickly. Understanding that forced to change means doing something not doing nothing. Thus, the decision to offer grocery items to guests amid one of the world’s largest health and economic crises was an easy one.

Modern Market is making its high-quality supply chain accessible to guests given many consumers don’t want to go into overcrowded out of stock legacy grocery stores. MME has easy access to produce and proteins, and competitive prices that rival most grocery stores for the quantity and quality of items, Modern Market is trying to fill a need in the community.

Last week the eatery rolled out grocery boxes and a la carte grocery and prepared food items for online ordering to all of its currently open markets, including Texas, Arizona and Colorado. Initially tested in the company’s Colorado restaurants, groceries have proven to be extremely popular.

“Our boxes not only give guests what they need, same day delivery, they allow guests to take advantage of the high-quality food in our supply chain that may be hard to find at grocery stores right now,” says co-founder and co-CEO, Anthony Pigliacampo. “We want to give guests access to fresh produce and high-quality meats and prepared foods at reasonable prices that, at the moment, our local grocers may be out of.” The current grocery offerings include the following:

re-Fresh Box: 1 head romaine, 1lb broccoli, 2 bunches asparagus, 1lb cauliflower, 2lb carrots, 2 cucumbers, 3 sweet potatoes, 1lb fingerling potatoes, 1lb mushrooms, 3 avocado, 3 apples, 1lb strawberries, and fresh herb seasoning. (8-10 Meals / $60.00)

Petite re-Fresh Box: A smaller version of the re-Fresh Box. 1 head romaine, 1lb broccoli, 2lb carrots, 1lb potatoes, 3 apples and 1lb additional fresh fruit. (4-5 Meals / $25.00)

Grill Box: 3lbs 100% grass fed steak, 10 servings pasta and mac & cheese sauce, 2 bunches asparagus, 1 large loaf sourdough bread, full soup container fresh chimichurri sauce, and 1 gallon classic lemonade. (8-10 Meals / $80.00)

Basic Box: 2 raw chicken breasts, 1 loaf sourdough bread, 1 dozen eggs, 1 gallon milk, 1lb carrots, 1lb broccoli, 12oz bag local coffee and toilet paper. (4-6 Meals / $50.00)

A la Carte Items: 12oz salad dressings, 12oz sauces, quarts of soup, quarts of sides, bakery items, bulk raw and cooked proteins.

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 GrocerantGuru.com 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.

Tijuana Flats Elevates Consumer Relevance with In-Store Fresh Market

Regular readers of this blog know that Millennials are in search of fresh food discovery, migration to new avenues of distribution, fresh bold flavors, and want all of that fast according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

One company Tijuana Flats is on the right track according to Johnson as it launched an in-store Flats Fresh Market. Consumers are empowered to buy select grocery and marketplace items at every Tijuana Flats location. The following items will be available (while supplies last):

·         Heat & serve meal kits

·         Fresh produce (tomatoes, onions, fresh jalapenos, bell peppers, lemons, limes, hearts of romaine, fresh cilantro and garlic cloves)

·         Fresh packaged meat (steak tips, chicken cutlets, ground beef)

·         Bottled water & canned soda

·         Chips & dips

·         Bottled wines (Pinot Grigio, Pinot Noir)

·         Bottled beer (domestic, import/craft)

·         Tijuana Flats Signature Hot Sauces

·         Brookies (brownie cookies)

·         Paper products (toilet paper, paper towels, facial tissues)

So, here is the question will this customer solution evolve with more relevance and bold flavored touchpoints after we get over C-19? It can, and the team at Foodservice Solutions® has lead, tracked, quantified, qualified, identified the most successful grocerant niche platforms since 1991. Want to know more?

Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing ideations look more like yesterday than tomorrow? Interested in learning how Foodservice Solutions® 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 us on our social media sites by clicking the following links: Facebook,  LinkedIn, or Twitter

From Restaurant Reservations to Great Groceries Technology for Foodies

Can’t wait for your for your favorite restaurant to reopen so you can book a special night out? Open Table has been a favorite of foodies for 15+ years enabling online reservations at hard to book restaurants all around the county. 

When life give you a lemon, it’s time to make lemon aid.  Open Table the once leading restaurant reservation app, has evolved to bring you fresh fast groceries.  Yes, Open Table has rolled out a reservation system for grocery shopping at specialty grocers and businesses such as restaurants that have started selling groceries during the pandemic.

On the Open Table website they state: "As we all work to stop the spread of COVID-19, OpenTable has teamed up with participating grocery stores and markets to help limit the number of people who enter at a time and reduce crowds and wait times for shoppers. Just as people can make a restaurant reservation or join a waitlist, they will now be able to reserve shopping times or join a virtual line in the OpenTable app," says a statement on the company website. OpenTable's new technology works in two ways:

1.       Reserved shopping times: Just like reserving a table at a restaurant, consumers can reserve a time to enter a store. 

2.       Online waitlists: If a consumer hasn't pre-reserved, instead of standing in a physical line to get into a store, he or she can simply enter a code on a cellphone to join an online waitlist. Then wait for the notification in a car or down the block away from any crowds.

"OpenTable’s new grocery product leverages our reservation software so that grocery stores, major retailers and restaurants can display available shopping times for customers to book in advance or join a waitlist at the door. Not only does this help control crowds in a simple and contactless way, but it also provides a safer option for shoppers, especially those at high risk, to get their groceries without waiting in a crowded line," the company says.

Currently, the app feature is mostly available at specialty grocery stores and shops in San Francisco and Los Angeles. The COVID-19 pandemic has sent everyone scrambling to update their business models. Food retailers have been scrambling to keep up with demand for grocery delivery and pickup, and foodservice operators and other businesses have been scrambling to come up with alternative revenue streams, such as selling groceries.

Regular readers of this blog know that Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® has been explain the how’s and why’s food retailers need to evolve their business model since 1991. Its simple consumers are dynamic not static. Does your business model look more line yesterday than tomorrow?

Open table is not alone in trying to help both consumers and retailers. Apps the ilk of  Resy, DoorDash, GrubHub, and others have quickly adapted their business models to meet surging demand for touchless grocery and takeout.

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 GrocerantGuru.com, FoodserviceSolutions.US or call 1-253-759-7869

Foodservice Retail Disequilibrium

Restaurants, Grocery Stores, C-Stores, and Dollar stores in densely populated urban centers are seeing stores that are either shuttered, soaring, or barely sailing along. All while in rural areas consumers are scared, stocking-up, and stock-piling, contributing to even greater disequilibrium according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.   

In new research from National Retail Solutions (NRS) shows dollar sales at urban stores surged more than 36%, and store traffic jumped nearly 8%. These number indicate that consumer were stocking up.  It’s also good news for restaurants that have been closed as it indicates traffic only jumped 8%, reflecting that in a battle for share of stomach those shopping trips were a necessity not a brand migration according to Johnson.

We all know that, densely populated inner-cities are among those areas to be hit the hardest by COVID-19. The consequences have already impacted, and in some cases redefined, every single foodservice sector. So, for the urban dweller, it has disrupted everything about their lives, but let’s specifically talk about how it has impacted the way they shop for their families. Temporarily gone are the days where Saturdays entailed jumping a few trains for a weekly stock-up trip to COSTCO.

Most inner-city neighborhoods do not have the luxury of having a supermarket or a supercenter safely and easily accessible. So COVID-19 has strengthened the relationship and dependency on the local C-store, bodega, neighborhood market. Bodegas are “essential” businesses and are more essential now than ever before for the residents of urban communities for their groceries, household products, OTC medicines, and pretty much anything else. In urban centers the study found that:

1.        Traffic is up: Transaction count up by 7.8%

2.        Dollar Sales Surge: Scanned Dollars up by 36.1%

3.        Tobacco and Alcohol greatest net dollar gains categories

4.        Disinfectants and Personal Protection and Hygiene top % dollar growth categories

In the non-urban core while the convenience channel remains open for business during the COVID-19 pandemic; new research found basket rings are smaller than usual. So, according to TrendSource, since the novel coronavirus began to spread across the United States, 64.4 percent of consumers have reported a decrease in spending in convenience stores.

All is not lost, a little more than half (51.7 percent) reported they expect their c-store spending to return to normal once the spread of COVID-19 begins to decrease, and 45.2 percent expect normal spending levels to return once the virus is eradicated.

Brand managers can refocus a unified brand messaging as the COVID-19 subsides and Governors begin ‘opening’ states back up.  If success does leave clues remember there brand messaging can be unifying, reinforcing, consumer touchpoint that drives sales while helping all of us get back to normal.

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

Battle for Share of Stomach