Are Metro AG, The Tengelmann Group, and Marks & Spencer looking at United States for Growth?

“Shallow Shoppers” pose an additional risk for Safeway, Supervalu and Kroger. Three of the United States largest grocery store chains faced with underfunded multiemployer pension plans have a growing drain on cash flow and earnings reported Jon Springer in Supermarket News.  When combined with an exposure to “Shallow Shoppers” the risk of takeover would appear even greater.

Safeway, Supervalu and Kroger just might be getting another look from Metro AG, Marks & Spencer, Carrefour, or The Tengelmann Group.  While Europe’s largest retailers prepare for an economic slowdown on their home turf could they be looking at Supervalu as the next opportunity? 

The Tengelmann Group has learned lessons of retailing in the United States and now understands what it takes to convert a legacy chain that is out of step with consumers into one with contemporary relevance.  Tengelmann Group is an outstanding multi-concept food retailer with a global reach.  If not Supervalu, Kroger are they looking at Safeway?

Metro’s new CEO Didier Fleury is looking for growth as well.  Will these three chains in the United Sates all with “Shallow Shoppers” be a target?  Don’t forget that the Carrefour Group is repositioning for growth right now as well.

Shallow Shoppers as defined in “The Commitment Economy” survey of over 39,000 people in 17 markets as “consumers which would love to shop at a better quality retailer, but who are unable to because of alternatives are too far away or too expensive”.  Leveraging new ownership with grocerant niche positioning will provide the platform for shallow shopper conversion.

All retail food brand managers will become more and more familiar with the term Shallow Shoppers as they target additional market share.  Growth in top line sales and bottom line profits are realized by making a quality differentiated product with consumer relevance accessible to additional markets and consumers. Do you have Shallow Shoppers?  Why? What are you doing to edify your brand and products with consumers? 

For international corporate presentations, 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. Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant

Burger Chains are Moving Forward with Consumers.

The Hamburger is ready-2-eat, hand held and prepared to eat on the run, convenient, simple and affordable. Contrary to popular belief Americans do not eat hamburgers daily, not most Americans anyway.

Versatile, convenient, made to order burgers have been the mainstay of chains but now sandwiches, wraps fresh coffee with personalization, and portability are driving growth.  

During the past 4 decades hamburgers drove sales and propelled the overall OSR sector of the restaurant industry. Without a doubt the hamburger is now globally recognized as a penultimate American food.  Industry leader McDonalds is evolving from burger chain to restaurant café/chain and is leading the way.

McDonalds with innovative new products, continually reimaging stores and a focus on the consumer is the global leader in restaurant sales. In the United States the undercurrents of a burger sector in upheaval and transition is emerging for every position within the burger QSR sector except the top spot.

McDonalds is and will remain number one for many years to come after recently expanding its coffee and beverages offerings successfully.  They are now testing meaty chicken wings in three different flavors McDonalds is again expanding day-part reach and seasonal opportunity.  Will McDonalds cater your Super Bowl Party? They soon just might.

The upstarts Five Guy’s, Smashburger, Fatburger are garnering market share from largely legacy second tier players burger players.  Each is offering the consumer something new, fresh and “better for you”.   The next company in the burger QSR niche to watch will be In-N-Out Burgers. If In-N-Out Burgers does half as well in Texas as they do in California and Nevada they will accelerate growth and watch out. In-N-Out had a Pop-Up restaurant in Singapore last week.  In-N-Out sold out of product in five minutes.  Will In-N-Out follow Darden’s lead and franchisee internationally? Will remodeling or copy-cat menus be enough to propel legacy players?

Red Robin and Fuddruckers are fast getting on track and gaining back market share. The Hard Rock Café and TGI Fridays are trying to pull away from the burger category.  Will that work for them? We may have seen the tipping point at the mid-priced burger category now that seemingly all celebrities including the likes of, Bobby Flay, Emeril Legasse each have opened and are more and more gourmet burger restaurants.

Burger chains are moving forward with consumers are you? What are you selling and to whom this year?  What will your customers expect from you next year?  Who is interpreting your competitive market intelligence? Out-side eyes can make all the difference in Top line Sale and Bottom line Profits.

Invite Foodservice Solutions® to complete a grocerant program assessment, brand, product placement or positioning assistance.  Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant.

Restaurateur’s Read Rest Reap Rewards

Food retailers typically come mid-August review sales from the first half of the year and make adjustments.  Consumers have left clues as to the direction of retail sales in 2012.  One clue that highlights all this years is the success of retail fresh prepared food sales in non-traditional avenues of distribution.

Here is our list of books and blogs to read this summer and fall prior to the end of the year. Success does leave clues and this reading list is one of them.

Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

Building Stories by Chris Ware

Fundamentals: 9 Ways to Be Brilliant at the New Basics of Business by Jim Sullivan

Grocerants.blogspot.com

For international corporate presentations, 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. Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant

By By Grocery Store Hello Grocerant

Dollar stores have cherry picked the “center of the store” (grocery aisle shelf stable goods) for 15 years.  Consumers have responded with frequent trips to Dollar stores buying shelf stable products for less.  Even more important consumers can get in and out of Dollar stores fast. While legacy grocery stores continue focusing on legacy metric’s the ilk of “basket size”.  Consumers have wondered on, looking for fresh prepared ready-2-eat and or fresh prepared heat-N-eat food aka grocerant food.

Food industry analysts have not been surprised by the volume of sales declines over the last two quarters of many “center of the store” items. “Heinz reported a drop of 2.4 percent in its second quarter. Kraft unit sales were down 2.8 percent in its first quarter, and at Kellogg, its North American volumes were down 1.7 percent in its second quarter.” These analysts continually report on the success of the fresh food stations at Whole Foods, the sales per square foot at Trader Joe’s filled with ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat fresh prepared food.  Is your company doing what is has always done?  Are you waiting for consumers to come back?  Consumers move forward.

Consumers talk about cooking from scratch but when probed it’s clear a “home cooked” meal for a family of four with the parents under 40 is typically a bagged salad, rotisserie chicken, and vegetable or desert bought from a store.  Bundling meal mix and match components from fresh prepared ready-2-eat or heat-N-eat food into a customized family meal is fast replacing cooking from scratch.

Legacy food retailers must evolve with the consumer.  It they do not they risk becoming the next Tower Records, Blockbuster Video or Burger Chef.  Is your company ready to move forward?

Invite Foodservice Solutions® to complete a grocerant program assessment, brand, product placement or positioning assistance.  Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant.

Is Popeye’s Cheryl Bachelder 2012 Food Merchant of the Year?

Leveraging consumer focused migration marketing information during its most recent quarter; Popeye’s’ same-store sales increased 8.1%. Shares of Popeye’s parent company AFC Enterprises Inc. increased 52% over the last 12 months.  How is your food retail company doing?  Are you ready for some success clues?

Ms. Bachelder is a seasoned C-level chain executive with a keen focus on the consumer.  Leveraging menu innovation and new points of food distribution (the suburbs) has empowered additional consumer choice and the choice was Popeye’s. The results are in and they are clear.  Sale are up double the industry average, growth for this company founded in 1972 is back and will lead the industry for several years to come.

Popeye’s ability under Ms. Bachelder to bundle distinctive differentiated food consumable’s as an entity with identity by day part, in a mix and match meal component format, leverages the success of the grocerant niche for long term success.

NPD Group reported that there were 12.4 billion drive-thru visits in 2011 that was up 2% from 2010.  There is no doubt that the number will simply continue to grow. Growing Popeye’s in the suburbs is a perfect match of corporate planning meets food consumption trends. Food Portability drives top line sales and bottom line profits Bachelder understand both the industry and consumer.

 Popeye’s menu allows Meal time to become a time of convenient meal participation, with differentiation and individualization for the entire family.   If you are interested in learning how the 5P’s of Food Marketing can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer focused convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization contact Foodservice Solutions®.

Cheryl Bachelder understands that retail food consumers are dynamic not static. Consumers on the other hand have a plethora of universal commonalities that indicate just where they may be headed next when buying, Bachelder has tapped into those commonalities for success. She understands that Channel blurring is not in the mind’s eye of the consumer.  Channel blurring is only in the mind’s eye of the legacy marketing managers in legacy companies. My vote for Food Merchant of 2012 is tilting at Popeye’s and Cheryl Bachelder.

For international corporate presentations, 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. Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant

Micro-distilleries local differentiation drives food and beverage retail success.

Whiskey without whine: retail food and beverage merchants are crafting a new industry from coast to coast built on an American tradition eating and drinking local better for you food.  The grocerant niche consisting of ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat fresh and prepared food is perfectly complemented by the growth of Micro-distilleries.  A micro-distillery is a small distillery that produces beverage grade alcohol in small amounts.

While American consumers have embraced craft beer brewing for years restaurants are leveraging the creative local brewed beer options into community edifying joint sustainability.  Today micro-distilleries producing small-batch vodka’s, gin and whiskey are garnering attention from consumers in search of local, authentic food and beverage options once again.

Coast to coast micro-distilleries are cropping up.  In Washington State you can find Dry Fly Distillery (Spokane) making it’s mark along with Fremont Mischief Distillery (Seattle).  In Maine, New England Distilling (Portland) and Spirits of Maine Distillery (Gouldsboro) continue building success.  High Spirits Distillery is located in Flagstaff, AZ and Cristal Clear Spirits can be found in Key Largo, FL.

Micro-distilleries are fast becoming highly intoxicating for local investor groups seeking return on investments that they can monitor, nurtured and consumed locally.  Blending food and beverage options that are “better for you” because they are local, authentic, and home grown is as American as Apple Pie.

Since 1991 retail food consultancy Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche for more on Foodservice Solutions® Bing or Google Grocerants or visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant, twitter.com/grocerant Email: grocerant@q.com

Restaurateurs feel the competitive actions from C-stores and grocery store delis.

The economy may be the reason that restaurant industry chain executives site most often when reporting sluggish results. However deep within the four walls of C-level suites restaurant chain executives are pondering the success Grocery stores delis and Convenience stores are finding within the fresh prepared ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat food niche.  Restaurant industry market share capitulation is not on their agenda particularly when it is restaurateur’s market share that is getting eaten by these non-traditional competitors.

7 Eleven is opening 2 stores a day the rest of this year.  Most of those units do not offer gasoline.  The focus for success evolving at 7 Eleven is fresh prepared food.  Consumers are responding and sales and profits are up. Wawa has opened new units in Florida and will reach 100 units within five years.  Wawa is recognized for fresh prepared food specifically COFFEE and HOGGIES. Wawa and 7 Eleven are both garnering retail fresh food market share.

Don Thompson CEO of McDonalds in a call with industry analysts said that they saw an increase in competitive activity throughout the “informal-eating-out” marketplace. Thompson noted that McDonalds will strengthen its value proposition while increasing it marketing messaging spend to increase incremental visits.

Jack Hartung CEO of Chipotle Mexican Grill noted in a similar analyst call said that a significant percentage of the Chipotle’s increases during this last period came from takeout.  Panera Bread has begun opening new units with drive-thru’s a clear sign consumers desire for quality food fast is driving change within the industry.

Foodservice Solutions® 5 P’s of Food Marketing: Product, Packaging, Placement, Portability, and Price when integrated into a brands menu and messaging provide a platform for retail food success in 2012. Howard Schultz CEO of Starbucks noted that there was a “macro fracture” in consumer confidence.  However Starbucks brand excels at integrating the 5 P’s of food marketing and Schultz believes that they will do fine.

Safeway, Kroger, Whole Foods all reported top line growth in ready-2-eat fresh prepared food sales.  Whole Foods is rapidly becoming known as Whole Fresh Food instead of Whole Pay Check.  Consumers lacking the skill-set, time, or desire to prepare a cook from scratch meal at home have opted for ready-2-eat fresh prepared meal components. Those components can come from any food retailer but are of late coming from Grocery Stores, Club Stores, C-stores, and Urban Chain Drug Stores.

Foodservice Solutions® has discovered some universal commonalities from those commonalities they developed: The 5’P’s of Food Marketing.  Is your restaurant, grocery store or convenience store ready to garner new consumers?  Are you prepared to reposition your menu for the consumers of today?

Invite Foodservice Solutions® to complete a grocerant program assessment, brand, product placement or positioning assistance.  Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant.