Consumer
discontent driven by Millennials and Gen Z consumers are digital natives in
search of food discovery and are unsatisfied with what they are finding. That does not mean different food, it means
familiar food and beverage items with a twist.
That twist in many cases is where, how, and when they want to buy food
and more often than not, they want grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat
fresh prepared food according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma,
WA based Foodservice Solutions®.
Since
regular readers of this blog know that consumers are dynamic not static, let’s
look at some fresh data from Foodservice Solutions® most recent Grocerant Scorecards:
- Recent
Grocerant ScoreCards found 81.1% of consumers don’t know what’s for
dinner at Noon, and 61.1 don’t know what’ s for dinner at 4PM %.
- Roughly 63.7% of
consumers purchase prepared food items from a retail location at least
three times a month.
- 79.6% all dinners have at least 1 grocerant niche
Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat meal component and 66.6% have two meal
components.
- When asked if they wanted to cook dinner from
scratch or assemble dinner from fresh meal components 91.3 % of Gen Z
chose assemble from Fresh Prepared Meal Components and Millennials 83.4%
chose meal components.
- Seventy-three percent
of retail prepared food purchases are taken to go
- Prepared food purchases are
frequently a planned purchase among 61.2%
of shoppers, while 40.9% of shoppers said they buy prepared foods on
impulse. Dinner has the highest amount of prepared
food buys with 81.7% of respondents making purchases for that meal,
while lunch comes in at 76.9% and breakfast at 61.4%.
- 57.8%
of consumers would like to add Alcohol to a dinner order
That’s
not all, according to new research by Culinary Visions. “A recent
study was inspired by restaurants that found inventive ways to food their
communities, stay connected with their customers and keep their businesses
alive.
More
than half (53 percent) of consumers who participated in the study said they
consider themselves to be a regular at their local restaurant. At the same
time, 91 percent of respondents also say they enjoy cooking at home, keeping
the pandemic-fueled enthusiasm for home cooking alive.
There
is no reason this can't be a win-win for both consumers and savvy foodservice
operators, as demonstrated by Kite String Cantina, located in Chicago.
Just
two years into business when the pandemic hit in 2020, chef and co-owner Renee
Ragin responded by creating the Kite Food Club, a chef-curated collection of
restaurant prepared foods combined with bulk produce sourced from local farms.
The program was a combination of meal kits and community supported agriculture
that helped Kite Food Club stay in touch with its customers while strengthening
their relationships.
As
the pandemic continued, Kite Food Club's proprietors created a market inside
their restaurant where customers could pick up meals and components, according
to Culinary Visions. today, the
marketplace is making room for more seats and the food club continues to evolve
to meet the desires of customers at home and when they come into the restaurant.
"Restaurant
operators have faced incredible challenges over the past two years. It is
inspiring to see how some imaginative chefs and restaurateurs have been
undaunted and created new ways of doing business to keep their customers
engaged with them." said Sharon Olson, executive director of Culinary Visions. "It is
especially gratifying to see that consumers who participated in this survey
have responded so positively."
The
Culinary Visions study found that consumers around the United States indicate
that many of these programs continue to appeal to them today, a time when they
have vastly more options available. Highlights from the study include:
Consumers enjoy food adventure — Two years of
restrictions have not dampened consumers' desires to explore new foods and
cuisines, as 76 percent of survey participants considered themselves to be
adventurous eaters. This sense of adventures appeals both at home and in restaurants,
with 84 saying they enjoy being creative with ingredients in the kitchen.
Chefs
inspire trust —
The idea of having a professional chef curate a box of groceries appealed to 71
percent of consumers, and 68 percent said they would enjoy a video tutorial
from a local chef to accompany the ingredients in a home cooking kit that they
put together. Creative collaboration between local restaurants and farmers is
another welcome choice for the 72 percent who said they would be interested in
a meal kit with ingredients put together by a restaurant chef and local
farmers.
Global
flavors appeal at home and dining out — International flavors continue
to captivate American consumers and restaurants remain a perennial go-to for
those looking for global culinary exploration. A recent survey on restaurant
behavior shows that eight in 10 surveyed consumers said they enjoy
international foods with flavors they cannot easily prepare at home. In Culinary Visions' latest
survey, 76 percent said they like to order takeout from restaurants for things
that are difficult to make at home. When cooking at home, prepared sauces or
flavoring components make it easier for 68 percent of survey participants,
bridging the gap between enjoyment and ease of preparation.”
Don’t over reach. Are you ready for some fresh ideations?
Do your food marketing ideations look more like yesterday than tomorrow?
Interested in learning how Foodservice Solutions® 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 us on
our social media sites by clicking the following links: Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter
