Foodservice Customer Migration Gaining Momentum

Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru® believes that “food quality never takes a step backwards” in the minds-eye of the consumer. In fact it is the consumer that is driving the tremendous growth within the grocerant niche where consumers are seeking Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food. 

Our Grocerant Guru® recently stated “fresh prepared food trumps, local food products, and local food trumps organic food in the minds-eye of the consumer.  So, Where are consumers migrating from or too?  There have been many claims made that spending on food away from home in Restaurants is now greater than that at home, i.e. through Supermarkets and Alternative Formats such as Supercenters and Warehouse Clubs the fact is that simply is not true. 

The Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor expenditure research data found that “Food At Home spending is 42% greater than that of Food Away from Home, and - as of 2014 - accounted for 59% of all spending on Food.”

In addition between 2007 and 2014, Food At Home expenditures grew by 15%....versus only +5% for Food Away From Home.  This has obviously been due to the belt-tightening produced by the Great Recession.  What is important where are the customers migrating from and where are they going. 

First they are migrating from traditional grocery store sector and the restaurant sector.  Within the restaurant sector the full-service dinning niche, casual dining niche have seen the most customer migration. Price and time have been key drivers of the migration according to Foodservice Solution® team. Consumers buy food from every outlet they can find, don't be fooled into thinking they only eat at your for or buy from your restaurant or retail outlet.  Today, there is a battle for share of stomach.

On the grocery sector the key drives have been the unwillingness to adapt to the new customer shopping focus “meals” specifically Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food according to Steven Johnson, our Grocerant Guru®.   Johnson points out that “most traditional grocery stores jumped on the HMR bandwagon in the 1980’s only to miss the opportunity because they focused on costs and did not understanding the customer and/or foodservice. Grocers fail to understand the opportunity for day-part meal opportunity solutions because they aren't really in the meals business, have never been and don’t want to be in the meal business.”

On the other hand warehouse club stores the ilk of Costco have jumped on the Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food niche and have garnered customers while increasing traffic.  Online retailers today have new business models that bypass the grocery store altogether companies the ilk of Platted, HelloFresh, Duane Reade, and AmazonFresh.  

These new and evolving business models are driving customer adoption and creating increased customer migration from restaurant and traditional grocery stores.  What each is new company seems to understand is that today consumers like Eating-Out while Eating-In according to Johnson.

Convenience stores have been the retailer which has been the most aggressive expanding fresh food offerings, locations, and increasing brand messaging. C-stores have re-invented themselves putting increased pressure on restaurants, grocery stores.  They have successfully garnered new customers contributing to a growth in foodservice customer migration.

When looking at the restaurant sector it is very important to note that within the Chain restaurant sector sales for Take-Out, Take-Away, fresh food for immediate consumption, 57.8% of all chain food sold!  That’s a big number!   That number includes QSR drive-thru and take out sales as well.  No matter it is a very large number. There can be no doubt that Eating-Out while Eating-In is a very big force in retail foodservice today. 

Foodservice Solutions® specializes in outsourced business development. We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities. The Grocerant niche is about convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization  visit: www.FoodserviceSolutions.us or Email: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us

 

Travel Centers of America Celebrating Texas Chicken Fried Steak Day

Sometimes restaurant operators understand their customers better than anyone one else.  However, no operator can pass up invitation to a good idea particularly when that idea hits close to their customers hearts.  Today, Travel Centers of America (TA) restaurants across the country will be celebrating Texas Chicken Fried Steak Day.

The Texas legislature proclaimed the day in 2011 in honor of "that exceptional dish that elevates the hearty flavor of beef to new heights by coating it in batter and breading and frying it until the ingredients are melded in a blissful union."

From 6 a.m. through 10 p.m. on Oct. 26, participating TA Petro Iron Skillet restaurants will offer dine-in guests their choice of a chicken fried steak breakfast or dinner for $5.99. The breakfast chicken fried steak meal comes with two fresh eggs cooked any style, toast or biscuits, and the choice of home fries, hash browns or grits. The dinner option is served with Iron Skillet's homemade mashed potatoes and gravy.

"Texas Chicken Fried Steak Day has become well-known throughout the years and many restaurants all over the country have jumped on the celebration bandwagon," stated John Ponczoch, senior vice president, restaurant operations for TA. "Petro and the Iron Skillet were born in El Paso, Texas, in 1975, and we want to honor our Texas heritage by serving the very best hand-cut, hand-breaded chicken fried steak so folks across America have the opportunity to taste this Texas tradition." 

Are you looking for new value added brand ideation?  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?  Email us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or visit:  www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information

Domino’s Pizza-Delivery Drives Sales

Leaders lead and Domino’s is on quite a roll of late driving domestic same store sales a positive 10.5% during the quarter versus the year-ago period.  That is a sector leading number.  So, when Domino’s announced the DXP, the first purpose-built pizza-delivery vehicle setting a new industry standard Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru® applauded the news. 

Our Grocerant Guru® stated at the SJU 2015 Food Industry Summit that “Food Quality Never Takes a Step backwards” and Domino’s is moving food quality front and center. 

The DXP is a heavily modified version of a 2015 Chevrolet Spark; it is a vehicle built solely for pizza delivery. The car, which started life as an ordinary 2015 Chevrolet Spark, has been re-engineered for the sole purpose of delivering pizza and everything that entails, including keeping the food at the right temperature.

Here is what else we learned “The most obvious change seen from outside the DXP is the included warming oven. This supplants the previous method of keeping pizza warm -- an insulated carrier bag. The oven, despite looking awfully easy to break into, is locked and connected to the driver's key fob, to prevent any miscreants from sneaking slices while the driver completes a delivery.

Furthermore, the driver's seat is now the only seat in the vehicle, considering delivery is a one-person operation. The rest of the vehicle's interior was cleared out and replaced with various storage solutions for items like dipping sauce and two-liter soda bottles. The trunk retains additional space in case of overflow. All in, the DXP can hold up to 80 pizzas.”

Are you trapped doing what you have always done and doing it the same way?  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?  Email us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or visit:  www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information

Grocery Store Price’s to Fall in 2016

Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru® expects United States consumers to see there grocery bill decline in 2016.  The reasons are simple we are entering a phase of declining commodity prices for key household items like beef, pork, chicken, and eggs; along with increased retail competition.  

This year it is estimated that British households have saved an average £58 in the past year as a result of the freefall in food prices. Which were A combination of food price deflation and supermarkets slashing prices to compete with German discounters Aldi and Lidl, has meant the cost of basket of goods has fallen consecutively for the last 12 months, according to fresh figures from Kantar Worldpanel. 

Well the same thing is happening here in the United States with Aldi expanding in California today they will have 50+ stores open in 2016 in California driving change and lower prices. All the while Lidl is expected to open its first US store in 2016 or early 2017 on the east coast.  In any case many legacy retailers are trimming prices today too edify their customer base. 

Aldi and Lidl have proven disruptive in the British marketplace as Asda suffered the biggest drop in spending with sales falling by 3pc, an acceleration on a 2.9pc fall reported last month. The Walmart-owned grocer's slice of the market has dropped to 16.6pc from 17.3pc during the same period last year. 

Customer migration is underway and price is a key driver of adoption.  The other key driver is the Grocerant niche filled with Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food.  Success does leave clues and one clue is the customer is dynamic not static.  Your retail food brand must be dynamic as well.  Are you evolving with a price focus or a fresh prepared food focus?  

Invite Foodservice Solutions® to complete a Grocerant Scorecard or a Grocerant Program Assessment.  Since 1991 www.FoodserviceSolutions.us  of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant  Contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us