NCAA March Madness at Wendy’s Take Your Shot

With only days to go until the official start of March Madness, Wendy’s is inviting both young and old college basketball fans into their restaurants for a chance to win a trip to the big dance and more; and according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® this is one limited time offer (LTO) with a platform built for success.

If you have been following your favorite college team all year or are just prepping to fill-out your office ‘bracket’, Wendy’s knows that being a fan can be tough. Whether your team wins or loses, Wendy’s has your back all tournament long with great deals and prizes, including a chance to win a trip to the NCAA Men’s Final Four in 2020. Here is how the LTO works:

Now, through April 7, Wendy’s fans who purchase a large cold drink will have a chance to win instant free food.   Including, $5 Wendy’s mobile app credits for, more food, or a trip to Atlanta for the Final Four in 2020.

According to Wendy’s the “Take Your Shot” promotion runs through April 7, so you’ll want to get a couple of cold, large drinks as soon as possible to, you know, increase your odds. For Rules, free entry, possible earlier end date, prizes, odds, & full details, visit WendysTakeYourShot.com.

Kurt Kane, Wendy’s executive vice president, chief concept and marketing officer stated “As the Official Hamburger of the NCAA for the third consecutive year, we’re kicking it up a notch and offering fans more value than ever before,”  “We encourage all fans to get in on March Madness and 'Take Your Shot'. With plenty of prizes and promotions, Wendy’s is keeping fans fueled all tournament long.”

Kane continued “As the tournament progresses, Wendy’s will continue to announce new mobile offers, so even if your team is eliminated, Wendy’s will be right there to pick you back up. Download the Wendy’s mobile app today and you won’t miss one minute of the action.” Do your LTO’s have seasonal relevance?

Are you looking for a new partnership to drive sales? Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing ideations look more like yesterday than tomorrow? Interested in learning how www.FoodserviceSolutions.us 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.

Consumers Bond Over Meal Kits

Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru®, Steven Johnson based in Tacoma, WA stated “Meal Kits are training wheels for Millennials”.  However, meal kits are much more than that they have become a platform for couples to bond with each other and while discovering new flavors and the joy of cooking.

In new research we have learned that Meal kit sales continued to show strength in 2018, according Nielsen. “There has been a massive shift to the in-store space in the last year,” said Meagan Nelson, Nielsen’s associate director for fresh growth and strategy, at the Annual Meat Conference recently

Nelson said “growth in meal kits has been fueled in part by online subscription companies partnering with brick-and-mortar groceries, supermarkets offering their own packaged options and even restaurant brands dipping their toes into the market. Retail food partnerships can drive new electricity in a category or for a banner.

The Neilsen data indicated meal kits had seen a 36% growth in just under a year. A survey of 43,000 consumers in late 2018 found 12% of consumers had purchased meal kits in the past six months and 23% of shoppers would consider trying a kit in the next six months, Nelson said.

A number of customers buy in both the online and in-store channels, Nelson noted, but in-store purchases accounted for 60% of the growth in meal kit sales.

Why food retailers should care; meal kit customers tended to be higher income and younger than typical shoppers, she said. Demographics indicate meal kit purchase growing among those in households with incomes of $100,000 or more. They also saw appeal, both online and in-store, among those aged 35 to 44, Nelson said.

In-store growth rate for meal kits was $93 million in 2018, up 51% from 2017, and 7.3 million units were sold, an increase of 42%.  About 87% of in-store meal kits included meat in 2018, with beef leading the way among animal proteins at 52%, followed by pork at 17% and chicken at 16%.

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, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant/ or twitter.com/grocerant

Outback Steakhouse Giving Consumers what they Want

Well Alice May Brock said:” Tomatoes and oregano make it Italian, wine and tarragon make it French, sour cream makes it Russian, lemon and cinnamon make it Greek, soy sauce makes it Chinese, garlic makes it good.” Steven Johnson, the Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® said “Today restaurants must give consumers pick-up, takeout, delivery, all with digital ordering.”

Yes, back in the day our Grocerant Guru® sold the first seven restaurant chains online ordering for Food.com and one of the chains Johnson recalls not interested was Outback Steakhouse who claimed that their food ‘dose not ‘carry well’.  They said that despite proprietary that indicated consumers wanted more delivery and takeout from Outback.

Today 21% of consumers say they are increasingly replacing carryout orders with delivery orders. That’s even higher—30%—for those 18-34 years old according to Technomic.  Dave Deno, Bloomin’s CFO said “Delivery, takeout and catering sales rose across the portfolio during Q4 by 18% year over year, raising the overall contribution to 14% of sales.” It’s time that restaurant marketing teams and executives evolve their brands to accommodate today’s consumers according to Johnson. 

Johnson continued “Retail food brand protectionism has no relevance in the marketplace today other than as a benchmarking tool.”  Now Bloomin’ Brands intends to maintain the momentum in part by redesigning stores to better accommodate delivery and takeout sales, better late than never according to Johnson.

Deno noted that both “Outback and Carrabba’s restaurants now offer delivery. Unlike most of the other full-service concepts offering the service, the Bloomin’ chains opted to deliver meals themselves rather than partner with third parties such as Grubhub or DoorDash. The company expects to expand delivery to 600 stores.”  Are you practicing Brand Protectionism? Do your stores look more like yesterday than today?

Invite Foodservice Solutions® to complete a Grocerant Program Assessment, Grocerant ScoreCard, or for product positioning or placement ideation. 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

Trader Joe’s Customer Focused Success

If success does leave clues the success of Trader Joe’s has a direct link to its’ exceptional leadership team that has an industry leading unparalleled focus on the consumer. Trader Joe’s was the first to recognize that 65.75% of US households are comprised of either one or two persons, according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

What Trader Joe’s did was they acted on customer focused information creating meals and meal components portioned for either one or two people and price each at a competitive point that others legacy grocery store chains avoid.

Trader Joe’s also understands that the line between restaurants and food retailers is growing ever thinner as consumer look for menu options full of flavor and priced right; Trader Joe’s offers grocerant niche fresh prepared Heat-N-Eat food in entrée form with flavors that reflect our multi-cultural heritage at a price that restaurants cannot offer elevating consumer discovery while highlighting pricing competition.

Trader Joe’s is winning the fight for America's food dollars continues and continues to garner a larger share of stomach nationwide in larger part due to the chain’s leadership and evolving focus on today’s consumer.

 Consumers understand that Trader Joe's has elevated grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food items with qualitative differentiation as an entity with an identity that has helped propel to the top of the list as consumer top grocer.

Millennials are attracted to Trader Joe’s distinctive meal and meal components offerings that are priced right. Trader Joe’s leadership team has culture focused on innovative products and package size that create value and have positioned Trader Joe’s as a food shopping destination for meal components customized and personalized for immediate consumption or mix and matched for a meal time at home.

Steven Johnson is the Grocerant Guru at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions 253-759-7869 www.FoodserviceSloutions.us

Nestle Interactive Customer Food Marketing with Relevance

Once again a global leading food company with a legacy of ‘better-for-you’ food products is leveraging it’s legacy with customer relevance not only to drive sales but to edify its relationship with families according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  How, simple with water.

Nestlé said only 22% of a child’s daily fluid intake comes from water and the rest is often topped up by sugary soft drinks.  So, this new interactive kid focused positioning will drive top line growth while edifying families to Nestle according to Johnson.

Nestlé Waters’ out-of-home shopper marketing manager Severine Hemms said: “Water is the healthiest way to hydrate, and encouraging these positive habits at a young age is crucial for developing life long, healthy behaviors, and we hope that this latest launch will help set children up for a successful and healthy future.”

Is it time that you look for a new partnership to drive sales? Partnerships can drive new electricity into your brand and your customer base.  In this case the Nestle offers is available in 24x330ml cases retailing at 65p per bottle and features designs of the characters from the film, which the brand said will “appeal to families and inspire children to drink water”. It said the new is ideal for family days out, lunch boxes, road trips and picnics. Now they offer a full range of POS tools, including shelf barkers, FSDUs and posters, is also available

Are you looking for a new partnership to drive sales? Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing ideations look more like yesterday than tomorrow? Interested in learning how www.FoodserviceSolutions.us 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.

7-Eleven Opening Six Test Stores to Try Out New Concepts

Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru®, Steven Johnson based in Tacoma, WA reminds regular readers of this blog that success does leave clue and one clue is that branded growth requires that a brand to evolve.  7-Eleven does that as well as anyone utilizing what the team at Foodservice Solutions® calls the platform growth through new product testing: Build, Measure, Learn, and Repeat 

Is your brand looking for way to increase customer touch points? 7-Eleven looking a customer ahead to grow its footprint by first testing a new store concept. In fact, they plan to test six new test stores around the United States.

The first test store opened on March 4 and features a Laredo Taco Co. restaurant, a café serving coffee drinks, and made-to-order smoothies and shakes, among other beverage offerings. Kind of makes you think the fast food restaurant sector might want to pay close attention to what they are doing.

In addition, the store includes a bar with wine and craft beer on tap. Customers can order adult beverages to consume on site or in growlers to go. So, fast casual restaurants might just feel an increased level of competition as well.

There is a serious threat as 7‑Eleven operates, franchises and/or licenses more than 67,000 stores in 17 countries, including 11,800 in North America. Is your brand looking beyond traditional points of distribution? Is your brand prepared to target another sector of foodservice?  Is your brand building customer counts or capitulating customers?

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, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant/ or twitter.com/grocerant

Battle for Share of Stomach

Competition for Food Relevance Heats Up Among Retailers

Restaurants, Grocery Stores, Convenience Stores, Dollar Stores are battling Ikea, Costco Wholesale, Ralph Lauren, and Nordstrom’s for a larger Share of Stomach according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.   Established food retailers and start-up fresh food retailers both strive to create or maintain consumer relevance while evolving their own food brands.  Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru® believes that the following ten clues to build a contemporized food brand can help any food retailer maintain relevance.

Purpose:   Why you are there contemporized relevance! The most successful brands are inclusive include values greater than themselves. A lifestyle, a philosophy, an emotion a point in time today that means better for you.

A story: Most major brands have a story. Examples: if you like Ford vehicles, you might be familiar with the story of Henry Ford or if you love your Nike's, you probably know how the Nike swoosh logo was created.

Consumer interaction: When your business is first starting out, don't fool yourself into believing that your marketing efforts are 'brand building' efforts. They're not because to build a real brand, you have to have an extensive track record with consumers. Consumer will build the brand and the story for you.

Trust: When you've consistently delivered for your customers long enough, you'll gain the type of trust that many brands have.  Would you buy a Toyoda today? Maybe so, but how long do they have to rebuild that trust?

Consistency:  When a consumer chooses a product or service because of brand association, he or she is buying an expectation. Perhaps it's the expectation that the branded product is of higher quality or that the service will be provided in a more efficient manner. The expectation must be met time after time.

Differentiation: Expectation is often borne of differentiation. Many brands offer products and services that are commodities but they're successful in developing some differentiation for their products and services that consumers are sold on.

Battle for Share of Stomach

Imitators: Imitation is the sincerest of flattery and you're probably not a 'brand' until you have competitors trying to copy you. Do what you do best and lead your niche don’t follow.

Market leadership: Top brands are usually looked at as leaders in the markets they compete in. Own the space, and understand why you do.

Grow:  The best brands are flexible and capable of reshaping and reinventing themselves and their messages over time. Brands are either growing or dying. Consumers are not static!  Your brand must be dynamic and grow, change and adapt over time.

A strong marketing presence: The information super highway is evolving; your message must follow the traffic.  Don’t get stuck on the road less traveled

For corporate presentations, confidential engagements, educational forums, or keynotes contact: Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions at: Linkedin.com/in/grocerant Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us