Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Fresh Food Fight

It all started with the $ 5.00 food long and the Subway restaurant chain has be the individual retail food winner.  Subway is growing units and top line sales like no other food retailer in the United Sates and testing a café format. Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh and prepared food is driving top line growth and bottom line profits in food retail today.

The Dollar menu has pushed the QSR sector along and now with inflation on the horizon; a global food price war in the food sector and grocery sector particularly has broken out.  It is painfully clear whomever is the last to raise prices in the QSR sector will be the clear winner, garnering market share.

In the grocery sector; Wegmans is freezing prices on “basic” items, Tesco’s ala Fresh & Easy parent has targeted its largest European rival in a price war.  Tesco has found its footing in the US and is now expanding again with a focus on Price and Product differentiation. Don’t count on large price increases in grocery any time soon, at least in urban centers. Kroger and Safeway must try and keep competitive.

The only over all sector of food retail that has gained both top line revenue and more units during the past two years is the C-store sector.  Both the Grocery store and Restaurant sector have lost units. Companies that utilize Foodservice Solutions® 5 P’s of food marketing: Product, Packaging, Placement, Portability and Price; will understand success can be found within the grocerant niche.

Since 1991 retail food consultancy 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 twitter.com/grocerant

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