‘Better for You’ Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat Food Drives Sales.

Innovation in food retail requires exiting a legacy business model and creating a new model that incorporates the evolving consumer. No retail food sector has done a better job of evolving garnering new customers, top line sales, and bottom line profits than the Convenience store sector. 

Companies the ilk of Casey’s General Stores, Sheetz, Spinx, Tedeschi’s, and Wawa convenience stores have evolved foodservice into food with relevance, all have increased sales with a growing customer base of fresh food aficionados migrating from other retail sectors.

These model changing companies are using fresh prepared food as a competitive differentiator to edify their brand, incorporate contemporized relevance, and increase margins. Gas guzzling car are rapidly being replace by hybrid’s that are twice as fuel efficient and electric cars that are refueling somewhere else.

The migrating customers are coming from a new demographic for the c-store sector moms and millennials both men and women. Many C-stores are now offering fresh fruit, including cherry’s, blueberries, apples, and banana’s sold as a single or packed in a stay fresh bag.  Other successful items include premium juices and fruit cups.

Tedeschi Food Shops, is now offering fresh produce, and better-for-you items like edamame and wheatberry salad bowls. 7-Eleven is offering fresh fruit as fast food including Bananas, Apples, and Oranges at a growing number of stores. Fresh Fruit is Fast Food and consumer relevant.

www.FoodserviceSolutions.us since 1991 retail food consultancy Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche  Follow us at: http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant, twitter.com/grocerant or Facebook Steven Johnson Contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us

Fresh & Easy Stores Focus On Grocerant Niche with “Fresh To Go”

Success does leave clues and The Yucaipa Cos. have been picking-up food industry leading clues and is now putting them to work.  Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru™ found that “at noon 83% of households do not know what’s for dinner and at  4 PM 69% still don’t know what’s for dinner.  Yacaipa while looking for sales solutions for its Fresh & Easy Stores just may have found its sales solutions with ‘Fresh To Go’.

Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food continues to drive sales success in every sector of food retail today.  In an effort to drive sales, rebrand the struggling concept, and garner consumer relevance Yacaipa announced the launch of its “Smarter Market store concept. Using many of its Las Vegas stores as a test, Fresh & Easy said it’s unveiling its innovative take on creating modern convenience (pictured above).

The Smarter Market is positioning itself as a “more open, modern layout and revamped product selection, Fresh & Easy's Smarter Market concept features a "Fresh To Go" hot food bar, offering sandwiches, fire-oven pizzas and hot soups. The new format also includes a coffee, expresso and tea bar; smoothie machine; self-serve beverage bar; and natural baby section.”

Mike Evans, Fresh & Easy’s vice president of marketing said  “The company has been reinvigorated and we are now using Las Vegas as a test market to implement even more new ideas and concepts… We’ve evolved Fresh & Easy by constantly innovating to improve our stores and our products”.

While the first new-look Fresh & Easy debuted two weeks ago. There will be a total of 17 stores that will be transitioned to the new banner by the end of December.   Success does leave clues, consumer demand for more and more Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared meals, meal components, as mix and match bundled options are one clue that cannot be overlooked. Smart Market “Fresh To Go” is a great step to success.

www.FoodserviceSolutions.us  specializes in outsourced business development. We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities or a brand leveraging integration strategy.  Foodservice Solutions of Tacoma WA is the global leader in the Grocerant niche since 1991 Contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us

Amazon Eschews Chains for Independent Restaurants

In the prime of your life why would you want to vist a grocery store, cook dinner? If you don’t like doing dishes Amazon might be for you as they are testing a new complimentary service Restaurant Meal Delivery.  While new restaurant chains search for high priced land to open a restaurants.  Amazon want to by pass the land and building and simply bring you a meal. 

In Seattle the ability to order food from local restaurants and get it brought to their door just became one click easier. According to the Amazon Web site, customers can now order meals from Palermo Pizza in Capitol Hill and Pita Bite in downtown and Samurai Noodle in the University District, to name but a few.

Is restaurant meal delivery the true last mile marketing solution for Amazon? With the launch of restaurant delivery Amazon not only is entering a very crowed filed of competition in the local market including the likes of Grubhub, Peachd, BiteSquad and Postmates.  That list does not include restaurants that provide their own delivery including the likes of Papa Johns, Domino’s, Pizza Hut.  Will these legacy brands lose out to the marketing juggernaut that Amazon has become? Has technology become the Achilles Heel of legacy chain restaurants unable too seamlessly integrate marketing, messaging and technology?

Consumers in the Seattle area can access the service through the Amazon Local website or the company’s Amazon Local mobile app, which also offers people Groupon-style daily deals from other businesses and the ability to order food for pickup. According to Geekwire  Amazon isn’t doing any of the delivering, it seems – the couple of restaurants offering delivery via Amazon are already offer delivery as a part of their normal business, and they are just selling food through Amazon Local.

Does your current online ordering system offer marketing integration? What are you paying for your service?  I suspect that Amazon online food ordering that was launched with Amazon Local five months ago cost less and has many more aggregate users than your current system.

While Amazon is a Seattle-based online retailer offering this service in its home market only, you can bet they plan to grow. Amazon is making big plays in the food business, between its offerings through Amazon Local, and Amazon Fresh, the company’s grocery delivery service.  

Is your restaurant ready to integrate marketing, messaging, technology, and customers? Are you ready to out preform legacy chain restaurants too big to change to fast.  If so you just might want to check out Amazon. Tell them the Grocerant Guru™ sent you! The more calls they get the faster they will expand.

Invite Foodservice Solutions® to complete a grocerant program assessment, grocerant scorecard, brand, or product placement assistance.  Since 1991 www.FoodserviceSolutions.us  of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche. Contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or 253-759-7869 

Consumers Are In a Hurry Ready-2-Eat

That’s what is exactly what Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru™ has been documenting since 1991.  It is not only professionally reassuring, but invigorating when food research company after food research company edifies your work.  In our case we have been thanked and edified by our clients yet we feel quite complemented when industry colleagues contribute too, join our niche, or mimic our work reinforcing our results.

Recently The Hartman Group released a while paper titled “People are cooking less, and turning more to fresh, healthy prepared foods” Wow, we simply loved it and would like to share of the insights with our new followers, as regular readers of this blog know we have been documenting the ‘better for you’ Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh food space aka the Grocerant niche since 1991. Here is what The Hartman Group found if you think it is eerily familiar you just may be right. 

They found: “What we see beneath the surface is a struggle with money and time – as well as relief that retailers and restaurants are offering more fresh, healthy options at affordable prices. People are eating on the run, grabbing snacks instead of meals, and they want that food eaten on the go to be delicious and nutritious.

For snacks, they gravitate toward increasingly healthy options, such as chips and hummus, fruit cups, yogurt cups and small deli plates. They’re also eating more meals alone, even when they live with other people. It’s not considered a lonely activity like it used to be, but instead a chance to catch up on reading, work and television shows – or just enjoy “me” time, particularly for Millennials.

People want food that helps them manage the challenges of planning, variety and waste that comes with eating alone. …An overarching theme for snacks and eating alone is that people want fresh, interesting flavors. They’re interested in global cuisines and new ingredients, and they’re willing to visit more than one outlet to get just the right combination for any given meal.”

The Hartman Group excels at understanding cultural shifts in Health & Wellness and Eating in America.  When the underlining consumer focused attributes of the grocerant niche can be documented within cultural change it’s clear that the once evolving niche is now has unstoppable momentum.

Are you trapped doing what you have always done and doing it the same way?  Interested in learning how Foodservice Solutions 5P’s of Food Marketing 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:  www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information.

Innovative Fresh Food Portability Sells

http://www.eatfrescofoods.com/

Walgreens Drug Stores, Pinkie’s Liquor Stores, Eatzi’s, and  McDonald’s are all selling fresh prepared Ready-2-Eat or Heat-N-Eat food that can be mix, matched and bundled into a customized family meal. Packaging innovation continues to evolve in every sector of retail foodservice to accommodate the rapid expansion of the grocerant niche in every sector of retail today.

The undercurrents of change and success within the food industry today can be traced back directly too Foodservice Solutions® 5 P’s of Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food marketing. Developed by Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru™ Steven Johnson in 1994  then introduced, implemented, and integrated by foodservice companies including Full Service Restaurants, Chain Drug Stores, Grocery Stores,  QSR’s, and C-Store clients.  The 5 P’s are:

After repeated successful retail food industry adoption of Foodservice Solutions® 5 P’s of Fresh Food Marketing, Technomic conducted qualitative and quantitative research then compiled the following infographic highlighting the importance and consumer relevance that portability play’s today.  The infographic is entitled Pertinence of Portability:

  

Highlighted by Technomic is the fact that 51% of the U.S. consumer order Food-2-Go once a week or more. When order breakfast On-The-Go 56% of consumers say portability is important. From 2012 to 2014 consumers ranking the importance of portability for snacks jumped from 55% to 60%. We are delighted that Technomic has highlighted the growing important role that portability plays with food consumers today.

Foodservice Solutions®  excels at vertical brand product positioning, marketing strategy, and business development specifically identifying, quantifying and qualifying niche opportunity for global foodservice related activity specifically Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food. Call 1-253-759-7869 today learn how the 5 P’s can Drive Sales at your Full Service Restaurant.

Visit: www.FoodserviceSolutions.us  if you are interested in learning how Foodservice Solutions 5P’s of Food Marketing can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization or you can learn more at Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant

At Dinnertime Rutter's Farm Stores Finds Success with Fast Fresh TAKE-OUT

What’s for Dinner?  At noon 83% of Americans don’t know What’s for Dinner and at 4PM 69% of consumers still do not know. Rutter’s Farm Stores has dinner time meals that are made fresh, served fast and full flavored.  Rutter’s fresh prepared food uses only the freshest ingredients, they bake their own bread, cookies and muffins every day edifying customers relationships to freshness and Rutter’s.  

Rutter’s menu includes Coffee, Breakfast Sandwiches, Wraps and Toast, for Lunch they offer Burgers, Bowls, and Black Forest Ham Stromboli and many more.

Now for Dinner Rutter’s added basket meals to its award-winning menu to target busy customers seeking another option at dinnertime focusing on grocerant niche Mix and Match meal bundling. The addition of fried shrimp, which can be ordered as an entrée in Rutter’s new basket meals; added to salads, tacos and quesadillas; or ordered on their own in a serving of 10.The lightly breaded shrimp can be paired with the customer's choice of cocktail sauce, tartar sauce or Rutter's new Bada-Bing Sauce, a spicy and sweet dipping sauce.

Rutter’s basket meal includes one of five entrees: fried shrimp, chicken wings, beef short ribs, mahi-mahi bites or chicken strips. In addition to the entrée, each basket comes with a large order of French fries, coleslaw, dinner roll and a dipping sauce.

Fresh prepared Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat food continues to drive customer frequency, topline sales and bottom line profits at Rutter’s.  Success does leave clues.  Clue one footprint malaise is growing.  Brands need to evolve with consumers and success will follow.  Rutter’s is a perfect example. If your brand does not have year or year customer count increases. It might be time to revisit customer relevance through the eyes of the grocerant sector. 

Are you trapped doing what you have always done and doing it the same way?  Interested in learning how Foodservice Solutions 5P’s of Food Marketing 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:  www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information. 

Ready-2-Eat Fresh Food Customer Migration Continues

Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru™ has been tracking food customer migration since 1991. Food discovery contines to be the number one driver for Millennial’s in 2014 seeming looking for ‘different’, authentic, unique flavors, outlets, and portability. In addition it looks to be the driver in 2015 as well  as Millennial’s quest for new full flavored fresh food is only increasing.

In a new Grocerant niche survey focusing on Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh meals from Convenience Stores, Fast Food, Fast Casual, Casual, and Fine Dining  and Consumers Dinning Out Less by AlixPartners reveled “clearest takeaways for convenience store industry is the increased visits by consumers to convenience stores to purchase ready-to-eat-meals”

This has become a battle for share of stomach as Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru™ has been documenting in client presentations and as regular readers of this blog know stating here as well since 2009. The AlixPartners survey found “Of diners surveyed, 20% said they’ll purchase ready-to-eat meals (often from grocery stores or convenience stores) in order to cut their restaurant spending over the next 12 months (up from 14% from Q1 2013). Further, consumers increased purchases from convenience stores to 3.2 times per month, up from 2 visits per month in Q1 2012.”

Eric Dzwonczyk, managing director at AlixPartners and co-lead of the firm’s Restaurant and Foodservice Practice. “Grocery and convenience stores are upping their ready-to-eat game by offering higher quality and better tasting ready-to-eat options, and we’re seeing the results as value-conscious consumers are increasingly seeing ready-to-eat meals as a preferable option as they seek to reduce their dining out spend,” …

“Traditional restaurants can no longer afford to ignore or underestimate the ready-to-eat, convenience and grocery store threats.  We’ve seen a blurring of the lines between these segments and traditional restaurants, particularly Fast Food, over the past several years and we expect this to continue if traditional restaurants do not take note and find ways to win back this ‘share of stomach’.”

When legacy retailers integrate Foodservice Solutions® 5P’s of Food Marketing with the introductions new fresh food offering or fresh prepared food trial via Limited Time Offer’s customer adoption increased exponentially.  Success does leave clues the reason, NPD, Technomic, The Hartman Group, and AlixPartners are all focusing on the Grocerant niche of late because we were first, we were right and they know it and they simply want to catch up.  

www.FoodserviceSolutions.us  specializes in outsourced business development. We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities or a brand leveraging integration strategy.  Foodservice Solutions of Tacoma WA is the global leader in the Grocerant niche since 1991 Contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us