Its 5 PM What’s for Dinner?



When 5 PM rolls around most Americans start wondering what am I going to have for dinner and very, very few will even entertain the idea of cooking from scratch. Most people don’t have a clue what they want let alone what is for dinner. At least that is what research has shown over the past several years. At 4 PM it’s time that the competition between Supermarkets, Grocery Stores, Convenience Stores and Restaurants for share of stomach heats up.

The grocerant sector, that is to say fresh prepared ready-to-eat and or ready-to-heat food is booming. Grocery stores tout rapidly growing Takeout or Take Away foods that are fresh prepared ala restaurant quality. 7 Eleven is slowly rolling away from the roller grill and into fresh prepared consumer focused ready-to-eat and ready-to-heat food.

Grocery Stores and Supermarkets are pushing the high margin prepared portable food section all the while Convenience Stores are bundling and pricing ready-to-eat or ready-to-heat food extremely competitively. Whole Foods hot food stations are thriving all around the country.

Restaurateurs are packaging, bundling and marketing Take Away and Togo food better than ever. The consumer focused on menu selection, portion size and price have responded nicely to the restaurant new offerings and customer counts are growing again. Subway is now entering breakfast in a big way with better for you products.

Here at Foodservice Solutions we specialize in understanding successful bundling of the fresh prepared ready-to-eat and ready-to-heat food. It is the increasing margins and growing sales that are attracting restaurateurs, grocery stores and convenience stores into this sector.

These my friends are the good times. Bundled meal components are changing and evolving by region and family size. If you would like a strategic grocerant program assessment or a grocerant tour we can arrange them for you, your group, by niche, city or country.

Since 1991 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 on Facebook at Steven Johnson, BING / GOOGLE: Steven Johnson Grocerants or twitter.com/grocerant