It's time to drop legacy Grocery store metrics.

Many legacy supermarket and grocery stores industry executives study sales numbers, customer visit, basket size, in addition to listening and working directly with category managers, national brand product managers. Then they fall back into the trap of demanding slotting fee’s for product shelf space too garner profit. Why not focus on demand driven sales and profits? It’s time to drop the legacy industry metrics.

Trader Joe’s is an example of a new refined smaller footprint with a focus on customers and customer choice. They do not sell packages of 30 pork chops. The Trader Joe’s C-level executives studied the same research information as the legacy supermarket and grocery store executives did and understood that the customer wanted smaller portions, fresh prepared flavorful meal options and the ability to get in and out quickly, thus the small footprint. Fresh & Easy has done the same thing, now they are seeing results and adding one new unit a week. Success does leave clues and those whom react to the clues best win.

However there are companies like the new Freshco which debuted last month at eight former Price Chopper sites, the new brand at legacy locations may only see short term results. The stores maintain competitive pricing of Price Chopper with a keen focus on fresh produce, local and international offerings set in a “controlled flow” format that leads shoppers through the entire store department by department. In consumer talk that means ignoring consumer wishes to get in and out fast! In today’s world implementing against legacy metrics may become the sure fine way to fad away.

Grocerant Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food is garnering the attention of consumer. This niche is filled with better for you products that are portioned, priced and portable in ways that legacy operators have yet to understand.

Outside eyes can deliver top line insights and bottom line profits. Invite www.FoodserviceSolutions.us  to conduct a grocerant program assessment or a Grocerant Scorecard. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche for more on Steven Johnson and Foodservice Solutions visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant or on Facebook at Steven Johnson Contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us

It’s time for The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company too become Great Again!

Remodeled, rebranded and repositioned The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company is the retailer that cant’ shoot straight! Winston Churchill once stated: “However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results”.

The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company has a revolving door at the C-level. This swinging door is indicative of a Board of Directors (BOD) with loyalty to a particular family and industry knowledge based of legacy metric’s not grounded in relevant realities.

This regional grocery retailer continues to run a plethora of branded grocery companies each in a niche they have felt is serving an unmet need. The results continue to prove them wrong! The A& P BOD comes with a distinguished international grocery legacy but is obviously blind too what is happening here in the US. Even in Tacoma, WA we can see the miss-guided disingenuous efforts they have undertaken.

They have shown micro success, which provides insights they do truly understand. Yet they are unwilling to be bold, settling for compliancy and more of the same. Its time to for them to start with a clean slate and focus on contemporize food retailing not saving legacy brands or location names. Their Northeast US locations are ripe to become full fledged Grocerants.

It’s time for them to take a page from other European food retailers that are now garnering market share, customer loyalty and brand relevance while creating industry buzz I am speaking of Trader Joe’s and Fresh & Easy. I invite Christian Haub to Tacoma, WA for a grocerant program review. The macro view from the micro site may produce the results you have been looking for. If success leaves clues, Foodservice Solutions is one of them.

Outside eyes can deliver top line insights and bottom line profits. Invite Foodservice Solutions to provide brand and product positioning assistance or a grocerant program assessment. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche for more on Steven A. Johnson and Foodservice Solutions BING: steven johnson grocerant or google the same.

Retail foodservice upping the game for share of stomach: advantage consumers.

Convenience stores continue to improve there fresh food offerings industry leaders Wawa, Sheetz success have inspired or pressured 7 Eleven into multiple fresh prepared food test around the globe and currently they are rolling out new fresh prepared food offerings here in the US. Casey’s is the target of a corporate takeover in large part due to the success of there fresh food offerings.

Recently 1642 C-store chain, The Pantry unveiled its new fresh food options that not only include warm breakfast sandwiches and fresh fruit with a wider assortment of pastries and fresh salads, but they have focused additional attention on traditional QSR metrics Fast and Friendly service with Clean stores.

Target continues to benefitting from entrance into fresh food sales and now is planning to offer meat, fruits, vegetables and dairy in even more stores over the next three years. Both Target and Walmart are expanding the fresh prepared food niche as well improving and expanding offerings.

Amazon Fresh yes, that is from Amazon.com and Sears are both offering grocery deliver. It’s clear that if each expands into fresh prepared ready-to-eat and ready-to-heat they will garner both consumer loyalties while increasing frequency.

Food trucks and mobile Kiosk are sell authentic food just down the block from traditional brick and mortar legacy chain restaurants. They are also selling food for much less and the perception for fresh, authentic is building a legion of followers. The grocerant niche of fresh prepared, portable food that is better for you is on the move. How are you positioned to grow your share of stomach?

Outside eyes can deliver top line insights and bottom line profits. Invite Foodservice Solutions to provide brand and product positioning assistance or a grocerant program assessment. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche for more on Steven A. Johnson and Foodservice Solutions visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant or on Facebook at Steven Johnson

The new normal grocerant ready-to-eat and ready-to-heat is Home Cooking.

What’s for dinner? If your cooking for an at home family meal for two, four, or five family members, chances are very good your buying several ready-to-eat or ready-to-heat foods. Grocery stores, convenience stores, restaurants are all bundling fresh prepared meal components into the meal. The home cook is responding buying individualized components then mix & match to the families liking.


Foodservice branded and private label food manufactures are all vying for attention. Ready-to-eat and ready-to-heat foods from Swiss Steak, Meatloaf, Baked Salmon, Rotisserie Chicken, Pizza and Bean & Rice fresh prepared, portioned and portable in portions for 1, 2, or 5 are now available at most foodservice retail location.

Most exciting is the opportunity for new start-up’s and regional manufactures to produce sustainable business built on local, fresh and unique flavor profiles. Legacy national brand manufactures are experiencing an increased consolidation and acquisition activities. They have taken there eye off the customer and increasing new points of distribution. Thus the opening for regional focused manufactures.

Consumer are responding buying meal components in new food channels, experiencing new flavor profiles all the while individualizing the family meal. The foodservice industry is evolving with the consumer. Those companies looking for opportunity for growth times have never been better.

Outside eyes can deliver top line insights and bottom line profits. Invite Foodservice Solutions to provide brand and product positioning assistance or a grocerant program assessment. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche for more on Steven A. Johnson and Foodservice Solutions visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant or on Facebook at Steven Johnson

10 Reasons Why Wawa is Awesome: Residents of Philadelphia and Beyond Speak Up

Prepared food garners favor from consumers.  Both national and regional retail food chians a learn from telling a story!  Wawa has and that story become's dynamic in the hands of your conusmer.  That's good! Today I want to post an article by Tara Clapper written n June 24, 2010 in Community, Food, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Food.  It show cases how a regional company can build a brand while creating a base of loyal customers that will tout your brand for you!

Wawa with gas station; Horsham, PA. Photo: Dough4872, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain Image.

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A long time ago at a computer two states away, I remember locating an online phenomenon. As soon as forums and communities began cropping up online (long before Facebook came to be), Wawa fans grouped together and expressed their love and adoration for what they feel is the world’s best convenience store, founded in the Philadelphia area. Every time I see Wawa mentioned online, I see multiple comments about the awesomeness of the store, so they’re obviously either providing great customer service or hiring secret ninja monkeys to spread propaganda.*

Although Wawas are chain stores, local residents seem to like them. They don’t have the same stigma as Wal-Marts or Burger Kings. Some Wawas accomplish this by adapting store features to better match or serve the town—take the Wildwood, NJ Wawa, for example—it’s outfitted in a retro design to match the shore town’s aesthetic.

I asked my Wawa-fan friends to list their reasons for loving Wawa convenience stores. Those suggested by friends list the friend’s name.

Wawa stimulates the economy and gives back to local communities in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Virginia and Maryland. According to the Wawa site, Wawa employs about 16,000 people.

BEST COFFEE (hands down) that is more reasonably priced than some of its, shall we say “frou frou,” competitors. –Kristin L.

[They offer] stuffed pretzels in so many flavors. –Michael W.

One of the original Wawa founders carries the name Dick Wood. For real.

Wawa keeps me supplied with delicious snacks and the best coffee anywhere. AND it’s not 5$/cup! –Rebecca Z.

Wawa is the healthier alternative during those dire late-night munchie attacks! – Kristin L.

Wawa is awesome because they sell really great made-to-order food and have such a bigger selection than our alternative here in the South—Sheetz. –Michelle M.

They really see the value of hiring individuals with disabilities and actively recruit such folks. –Robb S.-W.

Wawa stores, particularly newer ones, have really nice layouts. They have wide aisles, and you don’t get the typical let’s-cram-as-much-crap-as-we-can-in-as-little-space-as-possible convenience store ambiance. And their hoagies are tasty. –Kierstyn Z.

The new chocolate banana smoothies are addictive and fantastic—everyone should give up on ice cream and just consume these.

Foodservice Solutions specializing in the grocerant niche, performs, product, brand and niche positioning assistance. Interested in increasing customer frequency, loyalty needs a grocerant program assessment, call Steven Johnson at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions.

Fresh prepared breakfast will contribute to top line foodservice sales.

Grocery store operators within the fresh prepared ready-to-eat and ready-to-heat grocerant niche are expanding into the breakfast daypart with success. Companies like SuperMax and Pueblo I have previously been featured on this blog for doing great things with breakfast.

Bonnie Rigg of The NPD group stated yesterday that: “breakfast accounted for nearly 60 percent of the restaurant industry’s traffic growth over the past five years” Wawa one of the leading grocerant fresh prepared food leaders in the convenience store sectors is another company that has focused on the AM daypart to drive sales while building customer frequency and loyalty.

According to NPD’s soon-to-be-released "The Future of Foodservice," Annual servings per capita of breakfast sandwiches at foodservice are forecasted to jump from 11 in 2004 to 14 in 2019. " NPD’s Rigg stated. "Currently only one out of ten breakfast opportunities is satisfied by foodservice, and there are more breakfasts skipped than served in restaurants, all of which means that breakfast is a significant growth opportunity for the foodservice industry."

Whole Foods, Central Market, Metropolitan Market, Kroger at some locations are all entering the breakfast daypart. They all have a way to go to keep pace with the success of SuperMax, Wawa and Sheetz. The opportunity for daypart success begins with the AM daypart.

Outside eyes can deliver top line insights and bottom line profits. Invite Foodservice Solutions to provide brand and product positioning assistance or a grocerant program assessment. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche for more on Steven A. Johnson and Foodservice Solutions visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant or on Facebook at Steven Johnson

Restaurant Online Brand Image Taking charge of your online world.

Consumers are looking for your restaurant products online, in the grocery stores and for your unit locations. Your brand is in the minds eye of the consumer even when your not. Have you ever wondered what they thought about your Brand while they were on line looking?

Onlinebrandimage.com was designed to address the needs of your business today. Each tool is designed to help your company to:

1. Drive your Brand’s online performance

2. Increase Customer interaction and loyalty

3. Build awareness, image and market share for long term success

Marketing tool kits today require a proactive, pro-social media tool. I have found one that will assist you in edifying your brands On-Line Awareness Index (OAI) and Restaurant Quality Index (RQI). Both tools these state of the art tools are exclusively focus on the retail foodservice industry and proprietary to ONLINE BRAND IMAGE® please visit :www.onlinebrandimage.com for tools to double your current online index score.

RQI is the state of the art tool that can contribute to your long term growth and profitability. Every digital marketing strategy must vertically integrate with your Brand, with the goal of obtaining measurable results. These tools will allow you to measure mark and manage you brands online image to your advantage.

Moreover, the growing impact of social media and online rating web sites make it imperative that every organization has effective marketing tools that help them measure and manage their web results and plan for competitive success

If your interested in obtaining a very informative, quick and easy to view presentation. Email me directly at: stevejohnson77@msn.com  and I will get it right out to you.  I am confident you will see its benefits immediately for additional information visit Steven Johnson on Facebook.