Beating back the grocerants

trendystia mrc

Grocerants are grocers that provide prepared ready-to-eat meals

C-STORES and others THREATEN ALSO

• Growth of foodservice-focused C-store companies: Alimentation Couche-Tard, Speedway, The Pantry, Wawa
• Quality and focus of morning meals in C-stores: Wawa, 7-11
• Petroleum company connections
• Work-place mega-caterers, commissary caterers

Do grocerants really have the upper hand in foodservice?

The quality of retailer meals and their popularity has grown in recent years

aN ONGOING THREAT

• 46% of consumers think restaurants should be concerned about grocer prepared meals
• 46% of consumers purchase meals at least 4-6 times per month
• Slide data points attributable to research firm Technomic, Inc.*

Diversity of offerings scores big

• In-store deli/bakery/sushi combo
• Packaged, ready-to-eat beyond rotisseries; breakfast
• Salad, soup and hot meal bars
• Global flavors: Asian, South American, Central American and Mediterranean
• Global flavors: South American, Central American and Mediterranean

Diversity of offerings scores big

• In-store sandwich, pizza shops and cafes
• In-store bars & restaurants
• The Eataly marketplace offering
• Gourmet positioning, craft and small-batch angling
• Cook it yourself or let us cook it theming

Restaurants have game

Big chain weaknesses

• Ongoing presence of weak coffee programs in fast casual and casual dining
• Quick-serve just starting to make commitment to breakfast
• Slow-leveraging of brand equity in take-home products and merchandise

chain and indie restaurant Successes

• Convenience of online ordering
• Adoption of dedicated in-store, take-home space
• Growth of family-style meals that are ready to go
• Retail-restaurant partnerships
• Recent focus on delivery

Customer: How can I take your experience with me?

like what you see?

Restaurants in the fourth quarter

approach

• Retail extension
• Marketplace presence
• Convenience thru tech
• Dedicated pick-up space

Approach (con't)

• Optimize artisanship for retail/take-out presence
• Retail collaboration
• Branding, leasing, retail partnerships

Retail extension

• Your popular dishes, sauces, salsas, hot sauces to take home
• Merchandising near greeter stands
• Online sales of what you are good at
• Traditional retail merchandise a-la Hard Rock

Marketplace presence

• Your own deli presence
• Expanded grab-and-go space
• Allocated space for convenience items
• Gourmet offerings where space permits

Convenience thru tech

• Order-ahead with precise delivery, execution
• In-store use of geo-fencing interaction, alerts
• Kiosk ordering (particularly helpful for neighborhood, mall units)
• Tablets at bars for take-home ordering convenience for imbibers

Dedicated pick-up space

• Convenience that customers crave
• Reducing wait times
• Honoring pick-up times
• Where drive-in only, leverage staff for curbside delivery
• Leverage space to merchandise retail offerings

optimize artisanship

• If your craft is bakery, deli, rotisserie, can you add these mini-units to your restaurant?
• Bakery, cafes, delis, and barbecue are just some aspects of take-out/retail mini-add-on units
• Beyond meals: Can your craft be branded and licensed to grocerants?

Retail Collaboration

• Can you work with local grocers and shops?
• Can you partner with upcoming gourmet delis?
• Can you partner with your landlord in places where quick take-out food and foodservice is needed?

If you can't beat them, join them?

Retail partnerships

• Leasing your concept inside grocery stores
• Licensing your brand to retailers in foodservice that relates back to your specialties
• Franchising your concept directly to local, regional and national grocery and retail chains for take-out or on-premise dining

Email: Success@trendystia.com

Sources & suggested reading

• Technomic, Inc.
• Fast Casual magazine: http://buff.ly/1G70zPg
• Cleveland Research (IFMA)

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