[Fare 2012] 24

[Fare 2012]
FARE’s
High
Five
T
Photos By Scott Mitchell
he 2012 Fo ods er vic e a t Re t ail
Exchange (FARE) was a show of
milestones. It marked the fifth year
for this one-of-a-kind conference, and
more than 500 attendees showed up
in Schaumburg, Ill., for two days of
education and networking.
Over the past five years, FARE
has established a reputation for the unique cross-section of
foodservice and retail channels represented, its broad education components and the familial atmosphere—the latter best
illustrated in the nightly FARE After-Dark Lounge. Yet things are
never quite the same at FARE as in years past. This year saw the
inaugural Puzzle Solvers mass roundtable session as well as
Lightning Talks, in which industry leaders were challenged to
speak on a specific topic in 15 minutes or less.
These new additions, combined with the annual Food
Pavilion of the latest food, beverage and equipment products,
made for a busy show where friendships were formed and
education gained. Stay tuned to www.foodserviceatretail.
com for details on FARE 2013, to be held June 18-20 at the
Renaissance Schaumburg.
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[Fare 2012]
Translating Trends in Foodservice
Retailers define day-part shifts, new competitive sets and food for all
By Samantha Oller
W
hile foodservice at retail encom- a practice also followed by Quick Chek
passes a broad swath of opera- Corp., Whitehouse Station, N.J. As directors, it’s easy to find agreement on some tor of foodservice Jennifer Vespole said,
of the biggest trends shaping the category while the audience is small, “you may
today. At a panel that matched recent get someone looking for something less
research with retailer insights, three expensive,” such as a breakfast sandwich,
operators provided perspectives on four in the afternoon.
foodservice evolutions.
Another area of sales crossover is comFor example, take the “day-part tango” petition. According to a survey by Packthat has consumers snacking more often aged Facts, retail-foodservice consumers
and eating items originating during dif- buy prepared food items at both c-stores
ferent day-parts at different times of the and supermarkets an average of 5.7 times
day. According to data from The NPD each month. When c-store customers
Group, there was a 13%
increase in meals that
included breakfast items
in c-stores, and a 19%
jump in snack foods’
share of prepared-food
sales at grocery stores.
Also consider that many
retailers now offer all-day
breakfast.
“Our volume is so
large, we struggle with
normal day-parts,” said
Angelo Mojica, director
of food and nutrition
Vespole, Mojica and Klinger
services for UNC Hospitals, Chapel Hill, N.C. He
has seen many customers arrive for lunch were asked where they would buy preat 11 a.m. or 1:30 p.m., trying to beat the pared food if they hadn’t purchased it in
noon rush. The hospital has also begun a c-store, 38% said supermarkets would
offering “Black Hat Chef Meals” from 2 be the top choice. Conversely, only 8% of
to 4 p.m., special menu items designed supermarket fans chose c-stores as their
to shift customers to a different, less busy next-best option. Also consider the home
day-part.
fridge a competitor; with recessionary
At Los Angeles-based University of pressures, many consumers are brownSouthern California (USC), alerts on bagging lunches.
Twitter and Facebook draw students into
Quick Chek has been fortunate in that
the dining halls and campus restaurants its traffic has remained stable throughout
for before- and after-lunch specials, said the recession. Vespole credits the value
Kris Klinger, director of hospitality. USC appeal of its proprietary foodservice prooffers all-day breakfast at some venues— gram to its large base of labor-class and
blue-collar customers. At the same time,
high-quality ingredients draw mobile
professionals.
Mojica said brown-bagging and
operations run by foodservice provider
Aramark are his food venues’ biggest
competition. The hospital-run restaurants have had some success offering
employees a 20% discount on food
purchases, and with different specials to
showcase variety. At USC, foodservice
operators try to keep students engaged
and eating on campus with interruption points: carts placed
strategically throughout
the campus, such as a
“breakfast bike cart” that
offers cereal, to stop busy
students on their way to
and from class.
The rise of foodie culture was another trend
that all of the operators
have in their sites. Quick
Chek offers sauces with
unique flavor profiles
for its made-to-order
sandwiches, and it has
eschewed the roller grill
for a gourmet, madeto-order hot-dog program heated up in
a TurboChef oven to attract customers
with discriminating tastes.
Beyond the food, there’s no denying
the effect of experiential elements on
the ultimate quality of the foodservice
experience.
“ The facility speaks volumes,”
said Vespole, citing that Quick Chek
relaunched its store brand five years ago
to emphasize its fresh convenience offer.
Included in this offer is the employee’s
performance. “The buck stops with execution and how the store team delivers.”
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[Fare 2012]
Three Takes on Foodservice
From fresh to foodies, experts share big ideas to push boundaries
By Samantha Oller
I
t’s amazing how much insight one can Courtyard’s foodservice profits have
share about foodservice in 15 minutes. grown by triple digits. More than 530
Three speakers at FARE were tasked with Bistros have been opened, with the plan
sharing a big idea in that short amount of to install one in 92% of Courtyard proptime. The result included a tale of brand erties by 2013.
reinvention; research on an emerging,
Foodies were the big idea for Sharon
powerful consumer segment; and advice Olson, executive director of the Culinary
for future growth.
Visions Panel, a Chicago-based research
For Lon Southerland, senior director firm that provides insights into new
of global food and beverage for Marriott products, menu development and emergInternational Inc., Bethesda,
Md., and his team, the big idea
was to get guests to consider the
Courtyard hotel brand as a place
for food. Customers shared that
they often went on expeditions
to find the nearest Starbucks
while staying at a Courtyard; the
team’s goal was to give them an
alternative inside the hotel, but
not a free breakfast buffet.
The company ran focus
groups to determine guests’ key
needs and constructed a test
lobby to gauge customer reacBill Reilly
tion to different layouts. Influenced by the “third place” feel of
Starbucks, the new Bistro was designed as ing trends. The group surveyed 2,000
“a coffee house meets an open kitchen,” foodservice consumers over the past year
with ready-to-go food for breakfast, to determine what makes a foodie tick
lunch and after hours.
compared to the mainstream consumer.
The foodservice and lobby area was Some of the findings: While the maindesigned around the laptop user, includ- stream consumer may be drawn to sweet
ing a communal table lined with outlets. and salty comfort foods, the foodie conOn the menu, guests have choices of fresh sumer is drawn to ethnic foods and those
and healthy breakfasts and lunches, and with bitter, sour and umami characterspecialty and alcoholic beverages. Mar- istics. They value quality, brand names
riott also added calorie counts to The and healthy items on the menu, whereas
Bistro menu to help customers make mainstream eaters tend to place a greater
healthy choices. “Anywhere we’ve made emphasis on price.
a decision that’s right for the customer,
At c-stores, the foodies judge items by
it’s always right for us,” said Southerland. quality, past experience and a combination
Thanks to the success of The Bistro, of price and convenience. More of these
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consumers rate healthfulness as an important attribute to see on a menu but, like the
mainstream eater, want it on their own
terms, reserving the option to indulge.
What is a way to offer both mainstream
and foodie customers an attractive item?
Take dark chocolate as an option, said
Olson, citing it offers not only the sweet
for mainstream eaters but also a bitter edge
for those with foodie tastes.
Bill Reilly, senior vice president of marketing for GPM
Investments’ Fas Mart chain,
Richmond, Va., drew on his
experience at The Walt Disney
World Co., Marriott Hotels,
MAPCO Express and Sheetz Inc.
to share big ideas on the future
of retail foodservice. The main
thrust: Retailers need to develop
a strong foodservice brand that
“screams” fresh in its approach,
presentation and design. He
urged attendees to first conduct
a SWOT analysis on their current offer, and use all five senses
in designing a new brand and
menu, harnessing technology wherever
possible to maximize the development
and delivery.
Of course, getting fresh offers to the
consumer has been a struggle for this
industry, Reilly acknowledged. And many
retailers are moving from a culture of controlling expenses to indulging the senses,
which can be a tough mental barrier. But,
as Reilly sees it, this is a transition that
must happen for the channel to progress,
and it can’t be done half-heartedly.
“At some point, you have to go all
in,” said Reilly. “Don’t do it timidly—be
aggressive with your approach to foodservice.”
[Fare 2012]
Food for Change
FARE award recipients say dark times drive change
By Angel Abcede
D
ark clouds often force light.
Whether it’s increased competition
on cigarette and gasoline sales or the challenging business of selling pharmaceuticals, the winners of the Leaders in Retail
Foodservice Award at FARE spoke about
what led to their innovative foodservice
programs.
John MacDougall, CEO and owner
of Nice N Easy Grocer y Shoppes,
Canastota, N.Y., spoke of the increasing
competition from Indian reservations
on cigarette prices that forced his chain
of 82 upstate New York stores
to investigate foodservice in the
1990s.
Today, MacDougall’s chain
has a foodservice division with
executive leadership and three
chefs who visit stores to train
employees and boost visibility
of the program. The company
has developed $6.99 home meal
replacements, with early success
in chicken and pasta recipes. He
talked of developing 25 different
home meal replacements and
having eliminated about four or
five as slow movers.
“Like everyone else, we stumbled into [foodservice],” MacDougall told
the general-session audience. “We had
the coffee machine and roller grill, but it
didn’t bring the customer base we were
looking for.”
Having started its c-store history in
1980, the chain’s foodservice began more
than a decade later with a franchisee’s
idea for a breakfast program that still
exists today. Early on, the company began
developing foodservice processes and
procedures that many c-stores are just
now starting to grapple with.
The company’s foodservice mantra
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is straightforward enough: Hire, train,
purchase, benchmark and innovate like
a restaurant. That tactic has delivered
double-digit foodservice sales growth
every year for nearly a decade.
The evolution involved developing
a team of foodservice managers and
assistant managers at each store, as well
as field people. The company built relationships with foodservice suppliers and
instituted protocol for costing, ordering and labor. It developed a new store
model with dedicated foodservice space.
Ill., spoke of the growing challenges facing drug stores and the shrinking margins
tied to pharmaceuticals. The strategy
became one of increasing the profitability
of the front of the store and developing
“flagship” locations in urban centers such
as New York, Chicago and Boston.
The new Walgreens locations feature
central gondolas where sushi chefs prepare meals, and other employees man
juice bars and coffee stations. The Chicago site has an expansive liquor area with
700 different types of wines. DeFazio said
the flagship acts as a laboratory
for what will eventually roll out
to each of the chain’s locations,
depending on area demographics and local economic factors.
The drug chain has needed
t i m e to e m b r a ce ch a n g e ,
DeFazio said, with early successes winning over more and
more people.
Dean Wright, director of
dining services for Brigham
Young University, Provo, Utah,
described an internal change
FARE’s Abbie Westra
coming from a need to adapt
with MacDougall
to today’s student—part of a
generation far more mobile,
Then the chain began hiring foodservice technologically enabled and used to eating
professionals, including Jack Cushman, meals at retail locations. The university has
executive vice president of foodservice.
several restaurants as well as five c-stores.
MacDougall spoke of a new, larger“People are comfortable having food
format store the company built last year in a retail setting,” he said. “So why not go
in response to a community in the Syra- after that market?”
cuse, N.Y., area. He said the people there
The fourth recipient was Terri Morehad no grocery store within 5 miles and man, associate director of food and
wanted a place to go for fresh produce, nutrition services for the U.S. Olympic
meat and other basics. The location has Committee, Colorado Springs, Colo.
been a resounding success, he said.
Moreman, who was unable to attend,
Another award winner, Michael was honored for innovation in providing
DeFazio, senior director of store concepts meals for Olympic athletes at training
for Walgreens/Duane Reade, Deerfield, facilities and at the Olympic Games.
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