Don’t count restaurants out in the battle for the consumer this is a GOOD drive-Thru!

If consumers want “better for you” food, fast service and moderate pricing with ease and convenience Taco Bell may just be the place. Fighting misperception of food quality and many times labeled as food bad for you. Taco Bell just might have the answer for families looking for a “better for you” food from a quick service restaurant. This is grocerant style portable food that is getting better. With approximately 70% of their business via the drive thru you just might call these options good to go!

The Drive-Thru diet as it has been tab has a menu with 7 products with nine or less grams of fat and here is a look:.

• Fresco Crunchy Taco – 7 grams of fat – 150 calories

• Fresco BURRITO SUPREME® – Chicken – 8 grams of fat – 340 calories

• Fresco BURRITO SUPREME® – Steak – 8 grams of fat – 330 calories

• Fresco Bean Burrito – 8 grams of fat – 340 calories

• Fresco Soft Taco – 7 grams of fat – 180 calories

• Fresco Grilled Steak Soft Taco – 4.5 grams of fat – 160 calories

• Fresco Ranchero Chicken Soft Taco – 4 grams of fat – 170 calories

The consumer will be seeing many new grocerant ready-to-eat and ready-to-heat menu items in 2010 that are “better for you”. This will occur in the prepared food sections of Grocery stores, Convenience Stores and other sectors of the Restaurant industry as well. I predict that all sectors will begin posting consumer relevant nutritional information.

Don’t however think that US consumers are giving up on there favorite fast food chains, Chick-fil and Five Guys Burger and Fries any time soon but you just might be seeing them introduce new items as well.

Foodservice Solutions of Tacoma, WA is the global leader in the Grocerant niche to read more view the next post or ready an interview of Steven Johnson at: www.goodfoodsales.blogspot.com/2009/12/grocerants-steven-johnson-shares-his.html

What’s for dinner and where will your customers get it?

Restaurants, Grocery stores and Convenience stores have all been scurrying during this period of high unemployment for new or customers to replace those who have left or reduced check/basket size. Grocerant prepared ready-to-eat and ready to heat food is one niche that continues to grown.

What is most interesting is consumer are finding meals and prepared meal portable components now almost everywhere they look including dollar stores. In the December issue of Bon Appetit magazine here is there list of additional outlets:

• Surfas, in Culver City, Calif., a restaurant supply store with an adjacent cafe.

• Oxbow Public Market, in Napa, Calif., which has five restaurants, plus a micro-winery, culinary bookstore, and specialty tea store.

• Il Cane Rosso, an eatery in San Francisco's Ferry Building Marketplace in the Embarcadero, where you'll also find retailers like Sur La Table and Culinaire antiques.

• B&G Oysters and The Butcher Shop, eateries that are among four foodie places in Boston, all at the intersection of Waltham and Tremont streets. The others are Stir, which offers cookbooks and a demonstration kitchen, and Plum Produce, a shop for specialty foods.

• Midtown Global Market in Minneapolis, which offers more than 40 locally owned shops under one roof, including Taqueria Los Ocampo.

• Despana, in New York City, a boutique in Soho specializing in the foods of Spain. But there's also a hidden lunch counter serving tapas, sandwiches and small-plate appetizers.

• Bolsa in Dallas, which hosts a farmer's market and a cafe with wine and local products like chocolate, cookies and coffee.

Foodservice Solutions is the global leader in understanding Grocerant portable meal components, what drives the success of the niche and how you can win. Do you know where your customers are shopping for their next meal?

Prepared ready-to-eat and ready-to-heat grocerant food drives consumer loyalty and brand buzz.

Foodservice consumers are increasingly watching how much they spend on food. Grocerant ready-to-eat and ready-to-heat portable components save the consumer time, reduce waste while enhancing the meal experience.


Bundling flavors, entrée’s and side dishes in single or two person portions enables the consumer to build a meal of their choice. Choice is extremely important in families because, collectively, it contributes to consumer satisfaction and customer repeat visit patterns that move a company above that “tipping point of profitability”.

Simply put successful companies drive business by creating an environment of customer retention that keeps customers a better than do their competitors. Grocerant prepared meals that are portable and portioned properly contribute to that end. Marketing dollars, then, don’t just replace customer attrition they build brand buzz while increasing consumer frequency building top line sales and bottom line profits.

Foodservice Solutions of Tacoma, WA is the global leader in the Grocerant niche to read more view the next post or ready an interview of Steven Johnson at: www.goodfoodsales.blogspot.com/2009/12/grocerants-steven-johnson-shares-his.html

Do consumers consider your company contemporary in look and feel?

Visceral attractive, sometimes even “cool” looking is how consumers described many a restaurant. Independent restaurants are unique to there own location or part of the country. Decor, design and style are played a part in driving consumers to restaurants in all niches from the 1960’s to the 2005 or the golden era of chain restaurants.

Restaurants continue to report declining same-store sales. In fact for the 17th-consecutive month October, 2009 the National Restaurant Association states 61% saw sales decline in October at stores open at least one year. Sure some of this can be contributed to continued high unemployment but not all.

However, just for a minute consider how visceral attractive grocery stores are becoming with ready-to-eat and ready-to-heat prepared better for you food. Flat panel TV style monitors at alternating end of isles with bright graphic’s depicting simple quality food fast. Grocer’s are experiencing resurgence in sales and improved staffing and service has followed with the new consumers. Ha maybe the chart above could mean that consumer are finding more options, less hassle and clean environments that are as friendly as restaurants once were.

Faced with lower sales volume restaurants are experiencing staffing tightness and pressure on operations staffs that is after 17 months putting a strain on the staff. Those of us who have spent years in operations know sales cure many a problem. Now is not the time for restaurants to squeeze much more or the service, quality equilibrium may just swing so far that it become to steep a hill to over come.

Foodservice Solutions of Tacoma, WA is the global leader in the Grocerant niche. We specialize in Grocerant program strategy development and rollout with consumer relevant contemporized components. Product positioning and brand re-positioning all within the Grocerant niche is something we have been getting calls for of late. Grocerant emersion tours are a top requested item.

Foodservice Solutions of Tacoma, WA is the global leader in the Grocerant niche.

Restaurants, Grocery stores and the Convenience store sectors are all competing for share of stomach and the consumers are attracted to the options presented within the Grocerant niche. Is your company keeping up to date? Are you gaining share of stomach? Food Manufactures, packaging companies and software companies are repositioning to take advantage of the changing consumer. Foodservice Solutions leverages our relationships with Restaurants, Grocery stores and Convenience stores for you.

Differentiation in marketing builds strong brands. Understanding differentiation in market positioning and retail leads to industry leadership. During the past 15 years we have developed over 5.5 billion Dollars in avenues of new business revenue for clients and companies. We can help lead the industry, building top line revenue and bottom line profits.

Success leaves clues; consumers provide insights into preferred differentiation. Proven ability to succeed within the industry building top line revenue and bottom line profits will contribute to your success. Looking for results oriented professionals; strengths are in sales, strategic positioning, cross functional leadership, brand – niche development. We are traditionalist, who can work from within assisting you to capture additional market-share utilizing outside the box viewpoints. With the largest companies in the restaurant, grocery or convenience sector industry.

Transformational times require focus and experience with a qualitative edge. We both the focus and the edge. My outstanding balance of IQ & EQ which combined with vast and broad industry knowledge will contribute greatly to you and your organizations success.

Contact Foodservice Solutions at: 253-759-7869 or leave a comment below. www.FoodserviceSolutions.us

In Food consumerism renaissance for 2010 is the calling card.

Foodservice Solutions based in Tacoma, WA understands that success leaves clues today we take five clues from Oxford Communications who work with grocerant retail foodservice leaders Wegmans and Quick Chek, "For 2010, marketers will use optimism and engagement as core messaging platforms to facilitate the return to consumerism."


Here are Oxford's five "Marketing Resolutions for a Brave New Year" are:

Work the crowd: Go beyond basic status updates and 'tweets,' and start embracing the power of online consumer conversations. Social media needs to work in perfect harmony with more traditional marketing; engaging consumers in dialogue; offering personalized guidance and assistance; and presenting exclusive sales, promotions, contests and games. Social-on-the-go will continue to grow in popularity as Smart phone usage soars, so brands must ensure they travel with consumers through mobile sites.

Be bold, take risks: When competing for consumer attention, only brand messages that are energized, confident and risky will cut through the noise, according to the agency. As the economy recovers, Oxford expects to see the return of big, bold campaigns, blended with messages that appear in unexpected places. Businesses should tap all of the senses to convey the taste, texture, smell, look and feel of the brand to consumers.

Harness the power of the screen: With ever-progressive innovations in online and Smart phone technology, digital distribution channels are the new frontier of marketing. Digital marketing delivers cost-effective, personalized brand messages to consumers with instantly traceable results and thanks to increasingly sophisticated behavioral targeting, is an effective way to reach the audience.

Be an open book: Brand trust will be a prerequisite to brand loyalty in 2010 as consumers question, research and compare before committing. Feed the appetite for facts and foster belief in your brand by giving shoppers details about product origin, brand stories, recommendations, craftsmanship briefs and company background. Consumers want to come to you with questions and know you'll give them a straight answer.

Cater to a conditioned consumer: A more confident consumer will be seen in 2010, but one that will continue to look for quality and value. Always ask, "How is my offer going to bring value to my audience?" If you can't clearly recognize your value proposition, you're most likely headed in a direction that isn't going to move your audience.

Foodservice Solutions of Tacoma, WA is the global leader in the Grocerant niche. View my complete profile at: http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant or leave a comment or question below.

Merry Christmas

"Christmas is forever, not for just one day,

for loving, sharing, giving, are not to put away

like bells and lights and tinsel, in some box upon a shelf.

The good you do for others is good you do yourself...

~Norman Wesley Brooks, "Let Every Day Be Christmas," 1976"