Restaurant Chains New Requirement for Relevance Evolve Faster

Many of the retail food industry junior executives went to school 14 years ago and have begun to make their mark on their particular niche.  The rest of us member the ‘industry buzz’ of the day it was a book by Thomas L. Friedman title: The World is Flat.  In that book Friedman contended a company must be built to change if it wants to last. 

Regular readers of this blog remind me of that more often than I want to say.  I will say that many legacy chain restaurants that did not evolve fast enough have simply been slowly fading away.  Today food industry success is a four-step process according to Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru® Steven Johnson.  Those four steps are Build, Measure, Learn, and Repeat always in an effort to drive relevance to today’s consumers.

Chain Restaurant success is determined by consumer’s choice.  The options consumers have for dinner have evolved to such a point that going to a restaurant for dinner is not the top choice for most consumers. Here is an example how non-traditional fresh food retailers side-step old fashion positioning for more customer focused, fresher, faster, food and beverage relevance that is built to evolve.

Starbucks is very close to 50 years old, bureaucratic, yet more innovative than most chain restaurants.  However, is that enough in 2019?  Like any bureaucratic company Starbucks has big plans for China. Today, China is the company’s second largest, after the U.S., and its fastest growing. Starbucks added nearly 600 locations there in its most recent fiscal year. It is now China’s largest coffee chain according to press reports.

Now getting back to customer relevance. Today Starbucks’ dominance in China is under threat from a company that didn’t exist just two years ago. That company is Luckin Coffee, which was founded in 2017, already has more than 2,000 locations in China and is quickly adding more. In fact, it announced that it plans to open another 2,500 locations by the end of 2019.  Think about its Starbucks has been developing in China for 20 years and has 3,600 locations there.

Reuters reported that Luckin’s rapid growth has come at a cost.  That cost, the company has been losing money to spend on its growth. Luckin, is not a traditional startup and different from Starbucks but wasn’t that what they said about Starbucks 50 years ago? Let me ask is your brands business model built for yesterday, today or tomorrow?

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. For more information visit www.GrocerantGuru.com , www.FoodserviceSolutions.us or call 1-253-759-7869

Grocerant niche Fresh Food Drives Service Deli Sales

Once again success does leave clues this time its within the withering grocery sector.  In the service deli has become a central focus of customer migration from restaurants to the grocery sector according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Time-starved and always looking for ways not to have to cook dinner the grocery store service deli has become a hot spot of dinner solutions according to Johnson. Legacy grocery stores and supermarket deli’s have gone through an evolution increasing globally inspired hot and cold food bars with bold flavored foods that can be mix & matched into a customized family meal faster than ordering a meal through a fast food drive-thru.

In a new report published in Progressive Grocer titled 2018 Retail Deli Review, found:

1.       Seventy-two percent of respondents say that their overall deli sales, including prepared foods, grew in 2017 — that’s 2 percent more than those who cited sales growth in 2016.

2.       Larger operators (those with more than 10 stores) have fared particularly well, with 81 percent reporting an increase in sales. Of those retailers who reported an increase, the average sales gain was 8.2 percent.

3.       In total, deli department sales now account for almost 15 percent of all supermarket sales, according to the survey, with independent operators (those with 10 or fewer stores) seeing their average total sales closer to 10 percent.

4.       Retailers’ average deli gross margin was 43.9 percent, with labor accounting for almost 20 percent of sales, and shrink coming in at a more manageable 5.6 percent of sales.

5.        Seventy percent of respondents say that they dedicated more selling space to fresh prepared foods in 2017. Moreover, half of chain respondents say that they increased space significantly.

Are your sales growing at 8.5% plus?  Are your customer counts increasing? Is your restaurant drive-thru delivering on consumers expectations of What’s for Dinner in 2019?

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.

Chipotle Building Brand Relevance One Bowl at a Time

Success does leave clues and timing is a clue most retailers overlook but not Chipotle’s Chris Brandt, chief marketing officer according to Foodservice Solutions® Tacoma, WA based Grocerant Guru® Steven Johnson.

When Chipotle Mexican Grill launch a new collection of Lifestyle Bowls, just in time for New Year's Resolutions nothing but customer relevance radiated from the well time Limited Time Offer according to Johnson.

Chipotle’s new line includes a Paleo Salad Bowl, Keto Salad Bowl, Whole30 Salad Bowl and Double Protein Bowl, all exclusively available through the mobile app and on the Chipotle website for in-restaurant pickup or delivery edifying both technology and content targeting Millennials and Gen Z consumers.

Once again Chipotle was ‘first-to-category’ in the restaurant space with a, “diet-driven menu offerings are helping those who have committed to living a healthier lifestyle by making it easy to order delicious bowls that only contain the real ingredients permitted by certain diet regimens.”

Even Whole30 co-founder Melissa Hartwig Urban stated "We are always looking for ways to make the Whole30 easier and more accessible, and travel has always been a pain point. It's not always easy to find compliant options on the road, so I was thrilled to work with Chipotle to create a tasty, satisfying salad bowl that meets our program guidelines."

Chris Brandt stated "Now more than ever, Americans are embracing new and varied approaches to healthy living and wellness," …"We've watched guests custom create lifestyle-specific bowls when ordering in our restaurants, so it made sense to offer delicious options via our online channels that help people easily order bowls with real ingredients that fit their wellness goals."

The full ingredient make-up of the new Lifestyle Bowls is available below.

1.        Whole30 Salad Bowl: Romaine lettuce, carnitas, fajita veggies, tomato salsa and guacamole

2.        Paleo Salad Bowl: Romaine lettuce, barbacoa, fajita veggies, green salsa and guacamole

3.        Keto Salad Bowl: Romaine lettuce, carnitas, red salsa, cheese and guacamole

4.        Double Protein Bowl: White rice, black beans, chicken (full portion), steak (full portion), red salsa, romaine lettuce and sour cream

To learn more about the Lifestyle Bowls or order online, download the Chipotle mobile app or visit order.chipotle.com and click on the "What's New" tab.

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.

Publix Renews Commitment to Grocerant niche Fresh Foods

Grocery stores are notorious for knowing what to do but not doing it when it comes to grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food.  Publix has that problem.  Yes, Publix understands that consumers are dynamic not static. 

They understand consumers do not want to cook from scratch.  Publix even understand that consumer really and I mean really do not like doing dishes.  That includes simply emptying the dish washer according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Here is what stated recently “Publix is making 2019 a meat-forward year, teasing a new store prototype for the new year that’s combining a deli-centric model with a traditional grocery format. The latest of many store models Publix has brought to market of late, the newest prototype will continue the trend of upping the ante when it comes to convenience.

The new store prototype according to recent reports will sit at less than 30,000 square feet and will emphasize convenience, particularly prepared food items. The prototype also will debut deli counters that give off restaurant vibes despite sitting on the sales floor of grocery stores. That said Amazon Go stores are 1,700 to 2,500.  One thing is clear Publix wants to stock a pantry that less than 7% of Millennials utilize more than twice a week according to the team at Foodservice Solutions®. Publix has slated two deli-centric locations to open up shop in the Tampa Bay region in the third quarter of 2019. Here is the simple fact:  it is a matter of fresh prepared meals and meal components vs pantry or yesterday’s retail vs tomorrows retail success.  Once again; it’s a legacy grocer wanting to be all things to everyone.

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 Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, www.Linkedin.com/in/grocerant/ or www.twitter.com/grocerant/

Grocerant Niche Food Flexibility finds Favor

Foodservice Solutions® Tacoma, WA based Grocerant Guru®, Steven Johnson stated “Time starved yet flavor charged consumers continue seeking meal components from non-traditional retail outlets and in 2019 this will become an industry focal point.”

The grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food niche filled with mix and match meal components continues to be the undercurrent of retail food customer migration. Consumer are seeking food components that are filled with flavor that can be bundled into customized family meals or a personalized meal according to Johnson.

It is no surprise that 82.3% of meals eaten at home for dinner in Q four 2018 include at least one Ready-2-Eat or Heat-N-Eat meal component.  Building a consumer retail food brand today requires a consumer focus, flexibility, and foresight with a grocerant niche twist.

Cultivating a brand is more important that managing a brand. Brands are dynamic not static, they develop and grow with/for your clients and the consumer according to Johnson.  Identifying distinctive differentiated programs, positioning and consumable’s by day part that reflect the brand, industry trends, consumer preferences with an eye on meal component bundling is a key to success.

Creating or identifying distinctive differentiated food consumable’s as an entity with identity by day part in the grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat is an art well understood by the team at Foodservice Solutions® who have been tracking the growth since 1991.  Understanding the unique balance between palate, price, pleasure and the consumer’s drive for qualitative distinctive differentiated new food consumables requires both IQ and EQ. 

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. Are you growing top line sales and bottom line profits? Have you considered offering more grocerant niche options?

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 

Food Sales Channel Blurring Myth

Where do you sell your food?  Having spent all of my career in the foodservice niche, never have I seen a study that says there is any channel blurring.  Simply put channel blurring is a myth. All studies on the contrary see more advantages than disadvantages too selling branded food in multi-channels according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Brand protectionism is a relic of brand marketers of the 1980’s, 1990’s according to Johnson. Does your sales building strategy look more like 1980 than tomorrows strategy?  The real question brand marketers should be asking is not how to protect the brand or isolate the brand but how to best bridge the challenge of established customer deferred buying.

Consumers are dynamic not static brands must be as well if not they will slowly capitulate customers until they get to the point they can not survive according to Johnson.  Do you believe that if the consumer is in a different channel of foodservice, then should your brand be available as an option? This includes retailers that are selling grocerant Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared, portable foods in new non-traditional avenues of distribution.

We continue to call this the “brand experience gap”, that is to say the gap in time between customers visiting their restaurants and enjoying a great meal within the four walls. Restaurants today need to strongly consider entering new food channels with branded product which includes some legacy products revisited, revived, and renewed if cultivating brand relevance is important to them according to Johnson.

Understanding how Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared portable branded food sales can edify your customer base, drive top line sales and bottom-line profits might just require a grocerant opportunity assessment. http://www.FoodserviceSolutions.usof Tacoma, WA is the global leader in the Grocerant niche providing Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat Grocerant ScoreCards. 1-253-759-7869

Foodservice Solutions® Restaurant Discontinuity Continues to Flourish

Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru® Steven Johnson predicts that 2019 will be a record year of chain restaurant discontinuity.  Specifically, with more chain restaurant closing stores and fewer total chain restaurants open entering 2020.

Back in the day (2005) the team at Foodservice Solutions® released a White Paper Restaurant Consumer Discontinuity; we noted consumer migration in food format preference from meals eaten in restaurants to fresh prepared meals bought and eaten at home.  The undercurrents of consumer migration from eating-out to eating-In is even strong today according to Johnson.   

The main drive of this change is consumers desire to Mix and Match meal components into a perfect family meal.  How has this been tracked? Good question.  Well consumers purchased 8 billion combo meals in the year ended January 2012, down more than 12 percent from the 9 billion sold in the same period five years earlier, and that trend is continuing. 

Regular readers of this blog know we regularly documented that consumers like to mix and match meal components. Mix and match meal bundling is a benchmark for success within the grocerant niche.

Recently we documented how grocery stores are now doing a great job at offering ‘better-for-you’ side dishes empowering consumers to buy fresh prepared sides from the ‘service deli’ rather than at a restaurant.  The intended consequence consumers are buying more entrees as well.  Consumers are dynamic not static is your branded food solutions static or dynamic?

Meal time is now becoming a time of convenient meal participation, with differentiation and individualization for the entire family.  The ability of the retailer to empower consumer choice within a bundled offering creates an additional platform for success.

Foodservice Solutions® specializes in outsourced business development. We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities.  Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma WA is the global leader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant