Six Clues For Fresh Food Sales Success

Fresh prepared food Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat continues driving top line growth and bottom line profits in every sector or retail food today. The convergence of non-traditional points of distribution, an evolving grocery fresh prepared sector and lingering economic conditions have created the perfect opportunity for retail food brand expansions into fresh. The key to that success is found under the Grocerant Niche umbrella, filled with Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food.

Companies need to develop a platform that allows consumer focused meal co-creation.  Those companies need to target the car, at the office or at home consumers with fresh prepared Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat food. That’s where brands are winning the hearts and minds of today’s retail food consumer today. 

Each sector of retail foodservice has had innovators. Restaurants started with Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), Chipotle Mexican Grill, Panera Bread, Domino’s Pizza, MCD, BK and a whole lot more.  Grocery started with Wegmans Metropolitan Market, Whole Foods and now fast charging Safeway and the “lifestyle stores.  Convenience Stores have Sheetz, Wawa, with fast charging Casey’s General stores.

However some of those companies have lost the pulse of the consumer, the industry and customer relevance.  I bet you know who or can name several others.  Here they are Foodservice Solutions® Six 

Clues for Fresh Food Sales Success:

Visceral Presentation

Meal Component Bundling

Individualized portions

Convenient Location for Pick-Up or Take-Away

Time Saving Consumer Focused Solution

Visit: www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions, has extensive experience working with  and as a multi-unit restaurant operator, consultant, brand / product positioning expert and public speaking

McDonald’s and Walmart Digital Visceral Relevance Sells

Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru during a recent presentation stated “digital visceral attractiveness equals contemporary consumer relevance.” In 2009 Walmart began installing and testing end-caps with video food product highlights drawing attention to what is down the aisle and promoting select branded products. Today in most every Walmart store you can find digital visceral signage except in the deli? Why?

McDonald’s constantly evolving has been testing digital signage.  Looking for new ways to “increase foot traffic, communicate broader menu options and boost average customer spends, hundreds of U.K. according to The Linney Group.

Finding initial success the digital signage test  continues to grow in scope. The McDonald’s U.K. digital signage displays have as reported provided a sales lift by as much as 11 percent on some items featured, while lifting average transactions amounts according to the case study by ComQi.

McDonald's U.K. also looked at digital signage options for behind the counter, specifically “at horizontal rows of menu displays. With a larger, increasingly diverse menu, the chain saw digital menu boards as a way to increase promotions of premium, higher-margin items without adding more static signage.”

According to ComQi the data coming back from the field suggested the digital displays had a positive impact on sales figures. The testing was done against a set of control sites with similar size, footfall, customer profile and sales figures, to get a clean read on the impact of digital in the stores, the case study said. The results indicated that content on screen positively affected purchase patterns.

McDonald’s and Walmart both understand that foodservice visceral attractiveness equals contemporary consumer relevance in all retail channels. Consumers are connected at home, at work and in the car they are viscerally alert, don’t keep them in the dark.

Visit: www.FoodserviceSolutions.us  if you are 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  or learn more at Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant

Pizzerias Can Leverage Syndicated Mobile Technology for Competitive Advantage

Pizza is top of mind when consumers think Ready-2-Eat or Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food. Foodservice Solutions® helped cyberslice evolve into cybermeals and Food.com.  Foodservice Solutions® GrocerantGuru facilitated the first national on-line ordering contract for cybermeals with Papa Johns Inc and many other chain accounts. At one time national chains leveraged marketing clout and location size to dominate on-line ordering.  That may be changing.

Today syndicated mobile technology is available for local independent pizzerias to leverage to their advantage over national restaurant chains.  Nothing is as personal, immediate or close to your customers as their cell phone.  Consumers identify with Local, Mobile, and Digital.  Increasingly consumers want Fresh Prepared Ready-2-Eat or Heat-N-Eat Hand Held Food.  Pizza is top of mind.

NPD found that in 2012 the National Pizza chains had 55 percent share of the pizza delivery market, up from 51.9 percent in 2007.  They accomplished that by aggressive cutting price and leveraging marketing messaging simultaneously expanding on-line ordering.

Mobile technology is about to change all of that; creating a platform of equilibrium where the device is hand held and the messaging is one on one.  Local pizzerias with a mobile app can be the option of choice it the palm of the customers hand.  All marketing is local.  Mobile extends local to personal.

Papa John’s recently reported that they “generated more than 45 percent of U.S. sales through desktop and mobile orders in the third quarter alone.  The opportunity for non-traditional regional chains and independent operators to add incremental sales is substantial.

For international corporate presentations, educational forums, or keynotes contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us  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. www.FoodserviceSolutions.us

Starbucks, Millennials, Grocerants and Success

Retail food merchant extraordinaire Howard Schultz, president and CEO of Starbucks stated he sees a “seismic shift” to online shopping.  So concerned was Schultz he has reorganized Starbucks leadership team.  His concern was based on retail research indicators (and I think SBUX sales numbers) pointing to the fact that legacy brick and mortar retail stores locations are at an “inflection point” in losing traffic to e-commerce shopping. 

Starbucks is one of the best food merchants. Starbucks has created a customer focused platform of product customization, convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization according to Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru™.  When Starbucks detects a “seismic shift” an “inflection point” the team at Foodservice Solutions® agrees and understands.  That shift is occurring and in larger part driven by activates within the Grocerant Niche including new non-traditional points of fresh food distribution.

Who is Helping Drive Change

The influence of Millennials can no longer be denied.  Millennials which represent 22% of the U.S. population today are fast approaching their “prime” spending years. Millennials grew up with fast internet access everywhere, mobile technology, and are now engaging and demanding a food focused seamlessly integrated life style.  In a recent study titled The Why? Behind The Buy found “65% of Millennials say losing this phone or computer would have a greater negative impact on their daily routine than losing their car.”  Are you willing to give up your car? Soon Millennials will out spend Generation X and the Boomer Generation.

That same study found that young shoppers are adapting to new food trends including buying Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food.  That is something all food retailers need to pay particular attention too. In fact that study found that in the past 30 days:

Bought Home Prepared Foods  GenY / Mellennials 78%  Gen X only 68%, and Boomers 60%

Ordered Food From A Restaurant for Pick-Up / Carry-Out in the past 30 days

Gen Y / Millennials 78%, Gen X 72, and Boomers 58%

Ordered Food From A Restaurant for Delivery in the past 30 days

Gen Y / Millennials 67%, Gen X 57, and Boomers 36%

Regular readers of this blog know that the evolving success of the Grocerant Niche is the ability of discovery for Millennials.  That discovery includes points of distributions, new flavors, and technology.

That discovery is a result of an increase in multi-generational households, multi-ethnic households and technology. (Note: our white paper The 65 Inch HDTV Syndrome can be found on our blog).

What is evolving fast is how and why consumer eat, and prepare meals at home.  Channel blurring is not in the minds-eye of the consumer.  Channel blurring is only in the minds-eye of Neanderthal brand mangers that do not understand the concept of share of stomach. 

Proper understand of share of stomach is more important for long term product, brand, and company survival than ever before.  Today, Eating Out, may mean Eating In. Starbucks is a great food merchant because they are focused on the evolving consumer. Where is your food sold and where is your food eaten?

Visit: www.FoodserviceSolutions.us  if you are 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 or you can learn more at Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant

Retail Foodservice Disruption in Process

Foodservice Solutions®  Grocerant Guru says this "Grocerant means any retail food item that is ready-2-eat or Heat-N-Eat and prepared fresh. The word Grocerant is a result of the blurring of the line between restaurants and grocery stores.

In reality a grocerant is where a consumer can find fresh prepared food aimed at the time-starved consumer with Ready-2-Eat or Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared meals or meal components that can be bundled into a meal and or packaged for Take-Out, Take-Away, or To-Go.

Today, grocerant meals and meal components are found in liquor stores, drug-stores (Walgreens), fast food restaurants, fast casual restaurants, full-service restaurants, and restaurants inside grocery stores, in legacy “deli” departments, furniture stores (Ikea), club stores (Costco) and clothing stores from Tommy Bahama, Macy’s, and Nordstrom’s.  

When the  Grocerant Guru say’s retailer, it is broadly defining supermarkets, mass drug merchants, C-Stores (convenience stores), Furniture stores, Club Stores, Clothing retailers and fast food , fast casual restaurants and full service restaurants selling fresh prepared food, and restaurant meals and meal components sold TO-GO or delivery.

What is Driving the Grocerant Trend

Its 4 PM: your customers are just beginning to think about what's for dinner. 81% of American consumers are unsure about what's for dinner. Time Starved Consumers are looking for high quality ready to eat foods and ready to heat meals. Today's time starved consumer wants to purchase meal components that they can bundle into a customized family meal that will please everyone without spending time cooking.

Most consumers may traditionally think these items can be or are found in grocery stores in the deli / lifestyle section, C-stores in the prepared food area and prepackaged, ready to eat items and in restaurants under the To-go, takeout or take away or delivery section of the menu or on the website. The retail industry has expanded and is evolving to keep up with the demands of consumers desire to save time, improve quality, increase family flavor profile, while enabling personalization and family meal customization.

Examples of Grocerants

Restaurant examples are McDonalds, Pret A Manger Burger King, Pizza Hut, Papa Murphy's and Starbucks, each having a fresh Ready-2-Eat or Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food. In the Casual Dining sector Maggiano's Little Italy offers a buy one take a 2^nd home for free in their Classic Pastas menu section, Olive Garden, Chili’s, Boston Market and Denny’s.  That is to name but a few.

Drug Store examples Walgreens as a food destination yet Walgreens sells fresh soft-serve yogurt, coffee, sandwiches, salads  and sushi at selected stores, so they are technically grocerants.

Convenience Store examples are 7 Eleven, Wawa, Sheetz, Sheetz, and QuickChek, all of which sell fresh and prepared sandwiches, salads, beverages.

Clothing Stores Tommy Bahama, Nordstrom, Macy’s, Brooks Brothers all have or are planning restaurants selling fresh prepared food in-store. Fresh prepared Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat food is garnering consumer favor in this sector.  Expect to find more and more clothing retailers entering the grocerant niche.

Furniture Stores & Liquor Store example Ikea sells over $ 2 Billion a year in Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food in its stores (mostly meatballs-mash potatoes), Pinkies in San Angelo, Texas this past holiday season even offered complete fresh prepared full Turkey Dinners will all of the traditional side orders.  All of the fresh prepared food is prepared on site and sold To-Go. 

Supermarket examples are Whole Foods, Trader-Joes, Central Market, and Wegmans sell fresh prepared chicken, salads, sandwiches and most offer sushi and beverages. Many are now opening in-store restaurants including fast food, full service sit down and bars all offer fresh prepared To-Go as well.

The retail supermarket and convenience store sector have unique grocerant challenges. Presentation of the Ready-2-Eat or Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food is important. When you get a meal at a restaurant, the plate and the food look great… let's call this "food for now". Many legacy retailers are primarily selling "food for later" or take-out and unless an item is a sandwich, the looks of Ready-2-Eat meals and snacks begin to change.

Why is it so hard to package food to go? In the Hot food section of the grocery store the food in most cases does not look appealing so our expectations drop when we get it for Take-Away. That may be one reason that many grocery stores are continue to open restaurants or “food courts” selling made to order fresh sandwiches or Chinese take-out.  In convenience stores like Wawa, the Ready-2-Eat food looks great in the To-Go containers. Why? Because Wawa puts the entire consumer food package together. They exert more control on the look and feel of "food for later".

Around the world we are now seeing sections in department's stores and kiosk in malls in Europe and Asia and airports around the world. The items can range from entrees to side items and deserts. Some examples of items range from fried chicken, mash potatoes, cream spinach, to liver and onions, pizza, hot dogs, steak, prime rib, various casseroles (hot-dish) to salads, side salads pie, cake and any single proportioned deserts. They can be picked up at the specific unit, or delivered.

Visit: www.FoodserviceSolutions.us  if you are 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 or you can learn more at Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant

Walgreens Experiment with Fresh Food Finding Success Up Market

Back in 2010 Walgreens acquired New York City based Duane Reade and at the time they stated one of the reason was the success Duane Reade had found in fresh prepared Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat food. 

Skip Bourdo, a vice president at Walgreens. “Now we have to customize our stores. Our flagships are where we experiment.” Walgreens has 13 flagship stores around the country that all serve as in part as fresh food “laboratories to test products and services that might also do well in the suburbs.” “

So what has Walgreens learned from Duane Reade? First and foremost Dourdo stated that “Sushi is a big hit in this type of environment,”… “But certain fresh food has to fit the neighborhood. Sushi wouldn’t make sense in the suburbs.” The Wall Street Walgreens is now much like the Wall Street Duane Reade and each “has a fresh juice bar, a coffee bar, a small bakery, and self-serve frozen yogurt with toppings ($3.99 for a small cup; $4.99 for a large).” At some point Walgreens plans to add some  seating, however they are selling a lot of fresh prepared Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat food without seating today.

What else are they testing at these urban laboratories? Some are selling have beer served in growlers, serve freshly chopped salads and others fresh sandwiches.

With 8,200 stores and $81 Billion in sales Walgreens is finding its footing in Fresh Prepared Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat food.  Convenience stores, Grocery stores and Restaurants should all be mindful of the fast evolving competitive landscape of retail foodservice.  Walgreens may have more financial muscle behind it than any other competitor ever. With 8,200 stores I know there is one near you.

Foodservice Solutions® specializes the Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat Fresh Prepared Food niche aka the Grocerant niche.  www.FoodserviceSolutions.us  We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities or a brand leveraging integration strategy.  

7 Eleven Super Bowl Sunday Specials on Pizza & Wings

Take-N-Bake or Bake-N-Take 7 Eleven on Sunday, Feb. 2, will be offering special deals on pizza and chicken wings right in time for the biggest football game of the year. Kelly Buckley, 7-Eleven vice president of fresh food innovation. "Customers can choose their pizza variety, and we'll bake it fresh for you, on the spot anytime, day or night.

7 Eleven has slowly but consistently been expanding into fresh prepared Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat food.  Feb.2, 2014 will be the first real test of their fresh prepared food offerings.  These offerings will place 7 Eleven in direct competition simultaneously with restaurants and grocery store deli’s. 

The 7 Eleven long term advantage is their competitive footprint of  more than 5,200 U.S. 7-Eleven stores sell hot food and 7-Eleven Inc. operates, franchises or licenses approximately 10,300 7-Eleven stores in North America. That provides a platform for new product trial with competitive neighborhood  locations that dwarf most restaurant and grocery chain operators.

7-Eleven's Bake-N-Take in 90 seconds or Take-N-Bake pizza offerings include large “Pepperoni and Triple Cheese pizzas for just $5.55 each and a large Deluxe Meat pizza for $6.99. The Triple Cheese pizza is topped with melted mozzarella, cheddar and parmesan cheeses, while the Deluxe Meat pizza is topped with pepperoni, Canadian bacon, beef, pork sausage and diced bacon. The fresh-baked, 14-inch pizzas are available for takeout at participating 7-Eleven stores nationwide.”

Mix and Match meal bundling is a hallmark of  Grocerant niche success and 7 Eleven customers can “save a dollar when they purchase a 2-liter bottle of any brand of soft drink, lowering the prices of the pizzas to $4.55 and $5.99, respectively. 7-Eleven will also offer combo deal options, including a large pizza and 10 chicken wings, or a large pizza, five chicken wings and four mozzarella sticks, for just $10. Wings are available in three flavors -- Barbecue, Spicy, and Asian-style Dragon -- and crispy, breaded mozzarella sticks come with a side of marinara sauce.”

Interested in learning how the 5P’s of Food Marketing can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization  Visit www.FoodserviceSolutions.us or  Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant