Wawa Proof of Concept Success 900th Store

Success does leave clues and Wawa ability to continually evolve is clearly a valued touchpoint driving continued customer adoption, top line sales, and bottom-line profits according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

With 900 units open and nearly 5 Billion in annual sales Wawa ranks as one of the top retailers in the U.S. according to Johnson.  Here are some fun facts about Wawa:

1.    Wawa was founded more than 200 years ago, as an Iron factory.

Though the first Wawa store was opened in 1964, the company actually has more than 200 years of history. It began in 1803 as a New Jersey iron factor and was incorporated in 1968 at the Millville Manufacturing Company.  Then in 1902, Millville’s owner George Wood opened up a milk processing plant in Wawa, PA (The cows for the plant came from English Channel island of Guernsey.)

2.       “Doctor Certified” Milk was a key to its early success.

In the early 1900’s many children were becoming sick from drinking raw milk, so Wood had doctors vouch for his product. The ‘doctor certified’ milk, delivered directly to a customer’s home made a huge business success.

3.       Being Allowed to remain open on Sundays help business Boom

The stores were successful in part because convenience stores were exempt from laws that kept other stores closed on Sunday’s.

4.    Wawa is an Ojibwe Word

Wawa is Ojibwe word for Canada Goose

5.    They sell a lot of Hoagies

Wawa store sell close to 70 million made-to-order hoagies annually.

6.    Coffee is HOT

Wawa sells enough coffee to fill Shamu’s tank more than 11 times.

Chris Gheysens, president and CEO, Wawa stated, “As a new store opens, we will continue to provide comfort and a sense of normalcy in the safest way possible, while listening to what our friends and neighbors need most throughout these challenging times.” How is your company evolving?

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

Aldi partners Deliveroo in Urban Test

Driving new electricity into your brand with relevance today means adding incremental delivery options according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®. There is no doubt that brand relevance is elevated in urban markets when delivery is added and more and more adding value in rural and suburban locations according to Johnson.

So, when Aldi UK, the British arm of the German supermarket discounter, has extended its trial of grocery home deliveries in partnership with Deliveroo to London. The increasing value of a grocerant attribute was sure to resonate with consumers. Delivery is an hallmark attribute of the grocerant niche for Gen Z, Millennials, and Baby Boomer’s.

Aldi, Britain's fifth largest supermarket group, launched an eight-store trial in central England last month, which it said has gone well. Focusing on consumer hot button touchpoints Aldi is focusing on discovery, service, technology, and price to drive incremental brand value, top line sales, and bottom-line profits.

An Aldi spokesperson stated “In the three weeks since we launched our partnership with Deliveroo, feedback from customers has been very positive," Grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food is one key driver of the boom in demand for delivery according to Johnson.

Britain's big four supermarket groups led by market leader Tesco , then Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons - have been ramping-up their online delivery businesses to meet a boom in demand during the pandemic.

Data from industry researcher Nielsen shows UK online grocery demand up in recent months to 13% of the UK grocery market, from 7% pre‐COVID‐19.

In keeping with the fresh food fast hallmark of grocerant niche success Aldi noted orders will then be delivered to addresses within around two miles of the store in as little as 30 minutes. Are you looking a customer ahead? Aldi is.

Driving new electricity into a legacy brand with a partnership is a good move and will accelerate the marketing messaging for all companies involved according to Johnson. How is your company positioning to grow your brand, the top, and bottom line?

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, online ordering, delivery, plant based foods, sampling, toy’s, beer, developing brands,  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?

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

Pollo Tropical Looking A Customer Ahead for Father's Day Weekend

Retailers looking for incremental success within the grocerant niche filled with Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food that leverage the calendar look a customer ahead can find incremental customer relevance according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Doing just that, Pollo Tropical’s team have put together two “ready-to-grill” meal kits and a “ready-to-enjoy” Grillmaster Trio Family Meal to make this Father’s Day Weekend go from just grilling to pure thrilling.

Pollo Tropical’s “ready-to-grill kits feature your choice of fresh, citrus-marinated chicken or marinated USDA choice churrasco steak, along with fresh produce, and Guava BBQ sauce or Chimichurri Sauce. The meal kits serve four people and are priced at $15 for the chicken grill kit and $27 for the steak option.” 

Don’t want to cook at all? Well that’s ok, as  Pollo do the cooking, the new, ready-to-enjoy Grillmaster Trio Family Meal, features a whole citrus-marinated Grilled Chicken, three-quarters of a pound of Churrasco Steak, four Chicken Sausages and family-sized servings of fresh rice, beans and Sweet Plantains.  All of the Father’s Day offerings are available all weekend, Friday through Sunday, at all 140 company-owned Pollo Tropical locations across Florida.

Note: All of the items are available for drive-thru, takeout and mobile pick-up.  No coupon code is required. No other discounts or offers can be used as part of the Pollo Pantry pricing, however there are no quantity limits and items are available during all operating hours of each participating location.

So, get this they have extended free delivery on orders over $10 placed through the brand’s website, www.PolloTropical.com  or the MyPollo app.  Grocerants success come from looking a customer ahead.

Foodservice Solutions® team is here to help you drive top line sales and bottom-line profits. Are you looking a customer ahead? Visit GrocerantGuru.com 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.

Grocerant Niche Fresh Food Fast is not a CPG Product

Stumble, bumble, and fumble are three words often used to describe how most grocery store and convenience stores prepare and sell Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh food offerings.  According to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® “stumble, bumble, and fumble” can be best used to describe how many retailers try and convert fresh food into a CPG product.

While the average C-store generated close to 10,000 more in prepared food sales in 2019 over 2018 a 5.9% increase, Johnson believes that those if they did not try to convert fresh food to a CPG product the increase would have been in 21%+ range.

Frozen beverages the ilk of ‘Slurpee’s’ were up 12.5% and all fresh prepared beverage sales were up over 9.6%. When you look at both grocery store fresh food sales and the convenience sector total food and beverage sales were up 8.7% 2019 over 2018. Johnson reminds us that this is a consumer trend not a fad as the restaurant sector has been capitulating year over year customer counts to both the grocery and c-store sectors for close to 11 years now.

While prepared food segment accounts for nearly 70 percent of all c-store foodservice dollars, the total is closer to 28% within the grocery sector. So, here are five success clues that the team at Foodservice Solutions® believes will help drive top line sales and bottom-line profits leveraging the power of grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food.

1.       Create a menu item as an entity with identity that will become a staple on your menu.

2.       Serve fresh food fast, cook in small batches in-house keep fresh in freshness.

3.       Menu authenticity requires focusing on consumer touchpoints.

4.       Extending the ‘halo’ of better for you to both menu item and packaging.

5.       With success comes scalability, think a customer ahead.  Ask can this scale.

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

Battle for Share of Stomach

Dinner for the Work from Home Crowd Renews Focus on Grocerant Niche Success

At the intersection of consumers that are now working from home and getting dinner on the table is an increased demand in grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food.  Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® reported,  73.4% of consumers recently  polled for  a Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant ScoreCard “want a break at dinner time, or don’t want to have to cook.”.

Virtual restaurants the ilk of those being developed by Kahala Brands, The Counter Custom Burgers and Baja Fresh add a branded authenticity to the virtual restaurant’s menu. Grocerant niche menu offerings complement consumers desire to work from home, providing a simple solutions to the age old questions ‘What’s for Dinner’ according to Johnson.

In new research from Piplsay, they found that “two-thirds of people surveyed are comfortable with a permanent work-from-home culture. In addition, 43 percent would prefer working from home even as cities and states reopen, and 56 percent believe remote work policies will create massive job opportunities.”

Here is what else Piplsay found:

1.       38 percent of respondents said they are very comfortable with the prospects of returning to work.

2.       38 percent said they were somewhat comfortable

3.       25 percent they are not comfortable at all returning to work

4.       70 percent of Americans gave a thumbs up to permanent remote working

5.       34 percent said they loved the idea and it will save money

6.       32 percent said it would help maintain a work-life balance

7.       44 percent of men are comfortable returning to work as compared to 33 percent of women

8.        65 percent of men and women are willing to endorse a permanent work-from-home policy

9.       60 percent of millennials think the Facebook clause is fair vs. 56 percent of Gen Xers and 54 percent of Gen Zers

10.   75 percent of Gen Xers believe remote working will increase work opportunities, while 37 percent of Gen Zers think it will create more competition.

Are you ready to expand your brand while driving top line sales and bottom-line profits?

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

Pringles Partners with Wendy's for a Baconator Flavor Chip

Creating new electricity for a brand can be as easy as developing a new partnership. Regular readers of this blog all know about the success many restaurant chains have found within the frozen food court. Stable brands the ilk of Wendy’s can find a partner to put up the slotting fees for a shelf stable product enabling the Wendy’s brand to grow according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

So, the new limited-edition Pringles Baconator packs all the delicious layers of flavor found in the fan-favorite, Wendy’s Baconator, into one perfectly delicious bite. Ok, so the Baconator for those of you not keeping track, is a half-pound of fresh, never frozen beef, American cheese, six strips of crispy Applewood smoked bacon, ketchup and mayo.

The task of Replicating those layers into one single Pringles crisp? Is no up to Pringles, and you can taste for yourself as they will be available for a limited time beginning June 2020 in the snack aisle of grocery stores nationwide. Gareth Maguire, senior director of marketing for Pringles stated  “The Pringles brand delivers insanely accurate flavor combinations that are both delicious and convenient,”  “With such a strong fanbase, we knew we had to nail that fresh, never-frozen Wendy’s flavor perfectly. Luckily, our flavor experts were up to the task. The Pringles Baconator crisps are the perfect way to enjoy the savory goodness, all in one bite.”

Carl Loredo, Wendy’s U.S. chief marketing officer stated “At Wendy’s, the Baconator has long been an iconic Bacon Cheeseburger like no other. With stacked fresh beef, oven cooked Applewood smoked bacon and piping hot cheese, we knew it was going to be a challenge to get all that flavor and goodness into one bite,” says “We’re excited to work with the flavor experts at Pringles to deliver the taste our fans know and love in a unique way. We know our Baconator fanatics will be in for quite a treat when they taste how insanely accurate Pringles made this delicious crisp.” How are you driving new electricity into your brand?

Driving new electricity into a legacy brand with a partnership is a good move and will accelerate the marketing messaging for all companies involved according to Johnson. How is your company positioning to grow your brand, the top, and bottom line?

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, online ordering, delivery, plant based foods, sampling, toy’s, beer, developing brands,  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? This new partnership does all of that.

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.

Battle for Share of Stomach

Zaxby's Sweet Meal Deal for your Sweetheart

Success does leave clues and Zaxby’s has been picking up all the right clues of late according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®. Grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food continues to garner new consumers and Zaxby’s is extending it brand invitation to couples on the go.

Zaxby's, best known for its chicken fingers, wings and signature sauces, recently hosted a "Drive-Thru Date Night.  That as regular readers of this blog know is interactive and participatory fresh food marketing that works. The event was targeting “stir-crazy couples in need of a night out from sheltering at home” that are tired of cooking.

Customers were treated to roses, a violinist and a caricature artist in the drive-thru line while waiting to taste Zaxby's newest menu offering, Zax Pack for Two. Joel Bulger, Zaxby's Chief Marketing Officer stated; "The world has changed a lot this year. Due to staying at home and social distancing, one activity—date night—has become nearly impossible, “... "We worked with Tombras, our creative agency of record, to come up with a one-of-a-kind idea for couples to spend time together in the safest and most romantic way possible. For Zaxby's it was the perfect opportunity to showcase a meal made for two."

So, the Zax Pack for Two has been available at participating Zaxby's locations since Memorial Day and has been selling at a rate nearly double the popular Zax Family Packs. The new bundled meal includes eight hand-breaded Chicken Fingerz, two regular crinkle fries, two slices of Texas toast and two Zax Sauce dipping cups plus two 22-ounce drinks starting at $14.99.

Zax Pack for Two builds on the momentum of Zaxby's popular Zax Family Packs. Zaxby's recently launched menu option designed to meet the needs of families sheltering at home includes 20 Chicken Fingerz or 30 boneless wings with shareable sides to feed four people starting at $24.99. The LTO has been well received, and at a time when industrywide sales were dropping, Family Packs contributed to a 22.5% increase of overall average check.

Zaxby's dining rooms will continue to reopen in waves, pursuant to federal, state and local guidance across its footprint. Zax Pack for Two and Zax Family Packs are available via drive-thru, delivery and curbside pick-up at participating restaurants while supplies last. Prices may vary by location. How are you extending your brand invitation while driving top line sales and bottom-line profits?

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