Retail foodservice blending successful attributes builds sales in each sector.

The grocerant sector continues to grow margins, top line sales while increasing customer frequency. Grocery stores like Wegmans, Metropolitan Market Whole Foods and Central Market utilize dramatic visceral displays to portray the food in the prepared sections as fresh, authentic and qualitative.

Phil Romano who created such concepts as Fuddruckers, Romano’s Macaroni Grill and Eatzi’s, developed successfully the ideation of the interactive participatory look and we see around the industry today.. His concepts are consumer interactive, participatory, with visceral production customer vantage points located for customer creditability and authentic food actualization.

You can now check your On Line Brand Image at: http://www.onlinebrandimage.com/services.html

Subway does and outstanding job portraying freshness within their units. The product is made in front of the customer, empowering consumer choice with aromatic bread baking as a proactive kicker for the consumer buy in. Transparent Menu’s may soon become the next standard. No more hiding behind the in pictures!

Consumers are now demanding transparency concerned with more childhood obesity, more fat in food, salt and calorie options run amuck. Let’s give credit to Burgerville USA, for a Great Job with printing on the receipt information with recommendation on how to reduce calorie’s on your next visit. All Grocerants consider this as an option for their ready-to-eat or ready-to-heat foods.

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 A. Johnson and Foodservice Solutions visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant or on Facebook at Steven Johnson

Kicking it up a notch; competition with the convenience store industry enters new level.

Convenience store chain Lawson will soon start an in-store fresh food service across Japan, in an effort to showcase Fresh and goes beyond prepared food.

"By offering freshly made food, we want to attract not only young customers but also those who are reluctant to buy prepared food at convenience stores, such as housewives and elderly people," Lawson President Takeshi Niinami said.

This will be “the first time for a major convenience store chain in Japan to equip its stores with full-scale cooking equipment. Lawson plans to introduce the new service to some 200 stores in the Tokyo metropolitan area and the Kansai area by fiscal 2010, and expand it to 1,000 stores by fiscal 2015 and 3,000 stores -- one-third the number of Lawson outlets nationwide -- in the future.”

Competition in the retail food space continues to heat up!

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 A. Johnson and Foodservice Solutions visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant or on Facebook at Steven Johnson

Why is there such a focus on Walmart they do not seem to be the problem in retail food.

The retail food equilibrium is resetting. The new companies are entering food retail with a serious focus including Target, CVS, Sears, Amazon and Walgreens. Targets CEO says adding perishables to its general merchandise has been a BOON! Sears and Amazon are testing fresh food delivery, while CVS and Walgreens are selling fresh prepared food. Walgreens now has 400 Café W’s open.

Legacy Restaurants, Grocery stores, Convenience stores and Drug store chains that utilizing metric’s of success from 20,15 or 10 years ago will not find a formula for success. Retailers that have been complaining about the how “unfair” it is to compete with Walmart can now stop. It’s obvious many others believe that they can and have found a niche they feel they can find success.

Retailers that are side stepping the issue at hand are simply prolonging success. During the past 20 years there are now 25,000 new / additional dollar stores (smaller format) and 10,000 fewer grocery stores? There are now hundred’s of thousand of new restaurants that have opened during the same period of time.

What are the metric’s that important to your consumer is the only question you should be asking. Could it be that consumers prefer fresh prepared food that is perceived “better for you” and portable. This ready-to-eat and ready-to-heat niche is the grocerant niche and it is booming within the, convenience sector, drug store sector and restaurant sector.

Could Fresh & Easy with 159 units open and opening 1 per week all a smaller format of prepared ready-to-eat and ready-to-heat food be the success model other should be looking at? Fresh & Easy success platform is built on: pricing, packaging and portability; it is both fresh and easy! The retail foodservice customer is not static your brand and your company must not either.

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 A. Johnson and Foodservice Solutions visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant or on Facebook at Steven Johnson

By By American Pie and Roller Grilled Hot Dogs; here comes, Salads Waffles, Panini’s, Burritos and Croissants.

General Motors is in the process of down playing the famed “Chevy” moniker immortalized in song. This legacy moniker harkens back to the hay day of GM. GM now wants to become forward looking and believes an update is in order.

Convenience stores are in the process of repositioning from simply a place to obtain gasoline and a cold Coca Cola with a roller grill hot dog as an emergency meal replacement too destination food locations where you can in-buy gasoline.

Jeff Lenard, spokesman for the National Assn. of Convenience Stores, whose members sell about 80% of the nation's gasoline stated, “it might seem strange to order a salad in a service station now, but in 20 years, it will be commonplace.”

Convenience stores are focused in on the grocerant niche of fresh prepared and portable better for you food. In large part that means replacing the ROLLER GRILL. You will soon see new multi purpose cooking equipment and increase in quality fresh food offerings at more convenience stores in order to keep ahead of the retail drug stores chains like CVS and Walgreens. Who are entering the fresh food arena.

Consumer interactive meal components bundled with mix and match options can be found at: Rutters, QuickChek, Wawa, and Sheetz. All of which are on the leading edge in the convenience stores sector. For more view the following article:

http://www.foodservice.com/articles/show.cfm?contentid=5512&title=Roll, Roll, Roll, Away Roller Grill!

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 A. Johnson and Foodservice Solutions visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant or on Facebook at Steven Johnson

The United States remains a melting pot of flavor and food diversity.

Within the grocerant niche of ready-to-eat and ready-to-heat prepared better for your food that can be portable; it is the ability to mix and match components of a meal into a customized meal for one or a family that we find more times than not cross nationality flavor profiles with be matched.

Without doubt the United States cultural diversity has contributed to and endless supply of new blended food flavors appearing in every retail food sector from street food to fine dinning. If your creating a new menu here are the “top five” trends for 2010 defined by Giorgi Di Lemis vice president of F& B for Benchmark Hospitality International:

1. Trend #1 Cultural Diversity and Authenticity Reign Supreme

2. Trend # 2 Health and Wellness Begin at Home

3. Trend # 3 Biodiversity, Sustainability, Family Farms and Beekeepers

4. Trend # 4 The Future of American Flavors is the World

5. Trend # 5 Social Media is revolutionizing Restaurant Menus and Service

Within the grocerant niche Mix & Match flavors from around the world continue to contribute greatly to consumer’s positive reaction. Retailers that embrace traditional food products then empower consumer customization via mix & match component bundling will continue to garner new customers.

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 A. Johnson and Foodservice Solutions visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant or on Facebook at Steven Johnson

Amazon FRESH, Sears and Café W what’s making waves in groceries!

Are you still operating a 60,000 SQF legacy grocery stores or is it your goal to open a 70,000 SQF store? If so why? Consumer's change slowly, technology is fast and getting faster. Consumer are now catching up, open to new avenues of distribution, and they are beyond experimenting, they are settling in.

Ready-to-eat and ready-to-heat Grocerant niche food is available almost anywhere you are! From coast to coast the more and more consumer can now get food fast. Two of the world’s top retailers are delivering groceries to your door both Amazon via Amazon-Fresh and Sears Holdings via Sears. Amazon, in the Seattle area and Sears in New York City / Long Island and maybe everywhere else from fresh food Walgreens.

Café W operated by world class retail drug store chain Walgreens has expanded their footprint into fresh prepared food. The consumer has evolved, the process of shopping has become faster and faster. Each of these huge retailers understands this and it’s there way to proactively complement the consumer.

When it comes to delivering on the promise to deliver fresh food fast, the company that best blends in fresh prepared ready-to-eat and ready-to-heat food that is “deemed” better for you, will win the largest share of the consumers dollars. The company that is doing the best job currently just might come from the restaurant niche in the from of Boston Market. If success leaves clues one clue is clear in the Fresh Food space: the status quo will not work.

Foodservice Solutions specializing in the grocerant niche, performs, product, brand and niche positioning assistance. Interested in increasing customer frequency, loyalty needs a grocerant program assessment, call Steven Johnson at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solution.

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 A. Johnson and Foodservice Solutions visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant or on Facebook at Steven Johnson

Convenience stores, Grocery stores and Restaurants are all selling fresh prepared food.

Restaurateurs are not the only one now selling fresh prepared food. Competition for share of stomach continues to heat up in the retail food world. New choices and avenues of quality fresh food distribution continue to grow. C-stores, Drug stores Grocery stores are all offering affordable quality fresh prepared food.

Legacy food retailers driven by outdated metric’s just may be unwitting marketshare capitulators. One needs only to look at the prepared fresh food area expanding in grocery stores. Once called the deli section, meal solutions, quick fix’s or ready-to-eat sections has now evolved into the Grocerant niche. Company after company is expanding, enlarging and repositioning in this booming niche to accommodate the demand for increased options for the consumer within fresh prepared food.

Super Max is a great example of a grocer on the path to success within the grocerant niche. Super Max is one food retailer that has done and outstanding job with both the breakfast daypart and lunch daypart. Safeway’s lifestyle stores are building on the lunch daypart and doing great things in the PM or dinner daypart. Wawa, Sheetz, QuickChek do great things with fresh prepared food and now 7 Eleven is entering the grocerant niche as well with testing new products from coast to coast.

Here are some of the new values driving consumers in the grocerant niche:

1. Ready-to-eat

2. Fresh, local better for you

3. Portion size options, single serve

4. Multiple choice of sides and entree per day

5. Portability

Retail foodservice marketers can no longer rely on preconceived segmentation strategies, but rather need to think differently about who they are trying to reach and how to reach them. In a world where all shopping has become faster, the grocerant niche provides the bundled solutions consumers are looking for.

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 A. Johnson and Foodservice Solutions visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant or on Facebook at Steven Johnson