Grocerant niche Fresh Food Margins Drive Growth

Grocery Stores, Drug Stores, Dollar Stores, and Convenience Stores are all testing, trying-out, and tantalizing consumers with grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat food for one reason and one reason only.  Simply put the margins are great. Retailers have an obligation to all stakeholders to drive top-line growth and bottom-line profits according to Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru®.

While 90 percent of the 154,125 convenience stores in the United States alone offer at minimum a basic fresh food program.  The National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) reports that the margin on non-foodservice items in c-stores is 27% while foodservice generates a 57% margin.  Clearly the reason the undercurrent of grocerant growth in all retail sectors is that offering Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food is profitable.  When you combine the rapid adoption from consumers it seems unstoppable.

Today Grocery stores, Dollar stores and Liquor stores are increasingly offering Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat grocerant fresh prepared food.  While some are simply offering a basic program other are jumping in head first with a food program.  Foodservice Solutions® team has defined four types of programs:

1.       Starter Program: Coffee and Soda Service, manufactured fresh Grab-N-Go sandwiches and microwaveable mini meals (hamburgers).

2.        Step-Up Program:  Contracted Branded Coffee Program with integrated manufactured breakfast Grab-N-Go  roller grill food,  contracted fresh Donuts to drive AM daypart

3.       Standing Program: Contracted Branded Coffee program, Full Soda Fountain, Contracted fresh Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat food including pizza, salads, fresh cut fruit, sandwiches.

4.        Status Program: In house trademarked branded beverage program, Hot and cold food offering with customization options, digital menu boards, POP, Heat-N-Eat and Ready-2-Eat fresh assembled food that is portable, some seating available either inside or outside.

When it comes to buying grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru® Steven Johnson found that 62.5% of consumers believe that grocery stores, C-store, Liquor store, and drug stores fresh prepared food is ‘restaurant quality’.

Success does leave clues and customer adoption of new avenues of fresh food distribution is evolving the retail food landscape.  Is your brand evolving with the consumer?  Are you customer counts up?

Foodservice Solutions® specializes in outsourced business development. We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities or a new menu product segment and brand and menu integration strategy.  Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma WA is the global leader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant