Large food-print food retail is fading fast.



Restaurants, Grocery stores, Convenience stores are all continually looking for ways to cut cost while building the brand. It is not easy. However, it is painfully clear that no matter which retail food sector you’re in a smaller foot-print competitor will pop-up. Albeit a food truck, drive-thru coffee only or drive-thru C-store, they are coming and coming fast. Are you ready? Is your strategic positioning focused on 2015, 2025 or 1995?


Canadian food and beverage retailer Tim Horton’s understands that growth needs a strategic positioning. Tim Horton’s CEO Don Schroeder is implementing his new multi-format international development program with a 120 multi-format restaurant Master License Agreement with MLA Group based in Dubai.

Utilizing the “spoke and hub” format, allows for initial market introduction while minimizing capital requirements for Tim Hortons. Walmart, Safeway and others in the grocery sector will shortly begin this same strategic positioning with Supercenters surrounded by a hybrid “C-store” filled with grocerant style Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh and prepared food that is perceived “better for you”

Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche. For product or brand positioning assistance contact Steven A. Johnson and Foodservice Solutions® or visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant or on Facebook at Steven Johnson, GOOGLE: Steven Johnson Grocerants or twitter.com/grocerant

Hand Held food from The White House to your house, America Eats today.



The grocerant niche filled with Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh and prepared food that is better for you at times takes a pause. From the White House to your house things may look very similar.

The White House has released the following menu for the Super Bowl party that President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama are hosting at the White House:

– Bratwurst

– Kielbasa

– Cheeseburgers

– Deep Dish Pizza

– Buffalo Wings

– German Potato Salad

– Twice Baked Potatoes

– Snyders Potato Chips and Pretzels

– Chips and Dips

– Salad

– Ice Cream

– Beverages including the following beers: Hinterland Pale Ale & Amber Ale (from Wisconsin), Yuengling Lager and Light (from Pennsylvania) and White House Honey Ale.

I’m confident that we will all be selecting “better for you” foods on Monday.

Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche. For product or brand positioning assistance contact Steven A. Johnson and Foodservice Solutions® or visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant or on Facebook at Steven Johnson, GOOGLE: Steven Johnson Grocerants or twitter.com/grocerant

COSTCO Super Saturday Sizzles



Convenient cooking is contagious at COSTCO. There is no question that Costco is a successful company. It is not by chance. Success does leave clues and Costco’s ability to converge consumer’s attention with relevance is one of them.

At Costco’s around the country this past Saturday, sales sizzled.  Costco with forethought had it’s suppliers of handheld food (perfect for game day) sample product. One analyst told me parking lots were full and basket size (a legacy metric) were up! While analyst look at legacy benchmarking, they none the less follow this blog and it musings on consumer driven trends. Food retails here is our formula for growth and Costco, keep up the good work.

Foodservice Solutions has developed a formula for customer successful sales building.

Here it is:

Price + Quality + Service + Portability = Value

Incremental Value = Constantly Changing Menu (Seasonally / Sustainability with creditability).

Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche. For product or brand positioning assistance contact Steven A. Johnson and Foodservice Solutions® or visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant or on Facebook at Steven Johnson, GOOGLE: Steven Johnson Grocerants or twitter.com/grocerant

In the Grocerant Niche, Mix and Match components and portability are required options.



As long as multi- generational family’s gather for meals together, the demand for more divergent flavors will continue to permeate. Grocerant style food offerings allow for increased family integration, understanding and acceptance. Food retailers that incorporate flavors of the past and present can win.

Understanding the unique balance between palate, price, pleasure and the consumer’s drive for qualitative distinctive differentiated new food consumables places the grocerant niche in the middle of consumer attention. The food value proposition equilibrium for the consumer today balances; better for you, flavor, and traditional products all blended into something with a twist.

In industry speak, differentiated does not mean different to the consumer it means familiar. That is where the Grocerant niche falls, it is consumer inspired, component driven and flavor familiar.

Understanding, creating bundling distinctive differentiated food consumable’s as an entity with identity by day part in a mix and match meal component format. Will set the stage for continue sales building success. Outside eyes can bring new light and assist in your pace of concept growth, redevelopment and deployment of new products. Grocerant specialist can work with you to identify distinctive differentiated food consumables.

Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche. For product or brand positioning assistance contact Steven A. Johnson and Foodservice Solutions® or visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant or on Facebook at Steven Johnson, GOOGLE: Steven Johnson Grocerants or twitter.com/grocerant

Fresh & Easy is just that.



Fresh & Easy is owned by Tesco. Tesco is a British company and one of the worlds largest food retailers. They not burden with the copy cat mentality that seems to be over flowing in the US foodservice sector. Sure there has been some miss steps, but they are learning fast. What the heck, they are trying new things and the American consumer is very forgiving. The new smaller food-print will again place them in the retail sweat spot with consumers. What the consumer done not want is more copy cat companies or follow the leader market positioning food companies.

I think that Fresh & Easy with a consumer centric focus will not only do well but very well may lead a blended niche for years to come. The Grocerant niche is on the move.

Fresh & Easy is becoming what Eatzi’s and Boston Market both wanted to become. That is the consumer’s first choice for ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat Grocerant food. The latter two both got stuck in a quagmire of their own creation and lost sight / focus of the customer. The both relented to legacy metrics defined by Wall Street or industry niche and tried please the street with non relevant consumer focused metrics.

Key to the success of Fresh & Easy is packaging size, meal components, many more ready-to-cook flavored meats, branded bread from il Fornaio and a blend of quality private label products. Including Cranberry Blue Pecan Salad, Mango Chicken & Rice, Shrimp Alfredo all complement F&E’s menu.

Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche. For product or brand positioning assistance contact Steven A. Johnson and Foodservice Solutions® or visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant or on Facebook at Steven Johnson, GOOGLE: Steven Johnson Grocerants or twitter.com/grocerant

Fine Food Fast: The rise of the Grocerant.



Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru Steven Johnson has documented followed and even named the grocerant niche. It is no wonder the success his grocerant blog has garnered and the niche is booming. It is followed by thousands on LinkedIn daily and thousands more via Facebook.

Grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh and prepared food that is better for you continues to spread from restaurants, into grocery stores, convenience stores and now into the drug store sector. The grocerant food is entering the convenience store niche at such a fast pace that the C-stores sector of the foodservice industry has lead all other retail food sectors in year over year growth for the past two years.

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 components everyone wins.

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. Building strong sales if they roll out an integrated grocerant niche food program with distinctive differentiated food consumables as an entity with identity by day part.

Since 1991 www.FoodserviceSolutions.us of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche. For product or brand positioning assistance contact Steven A. Johnson and Foodservice Solutions® or visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant

Food Price + Quality + Service + Portability = Value



The grocerant niche filled with Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh and prepared food continues to garner loyal followers. The sales equilibrium is swinging back to the restaurants and away from the grocery store sector according to Harry Balzer, chief industry analyst at NPD and author of "Eating Patterns in America."

Balzar stated recently "Right now, supermarket prices are rising faster than restaurant prices," Here at Foodservice Solutions® we think one oft over look sector of retail food service is the convenience store sector and by NPD’s account that sector is growing faster than either the grocery or restaurant sector.

George Bernard Shaw said, “There is no love sincerer than the love of food.” There is no greater gift that customer that loves your food, and will pay for it-but at what price?

Foodservice Solutions has developed a formula for customer focused pricing. Here it is:

Price + Quality + Service + Portability = Value

Incremental Value = Constantly Changing Menu (Seasonally / Sustainability with creditability).

Outside eyes can deliver top line sales 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 twitter.com/grocerant