CUSTOMER FEEDBACK IS CRUCIAL AS FOODINI'S STANDS ALONE

ROSEANNE HARPER

PHOENIX -- Chevron Corp., the San Ramon, Calif.-based petroleum giant, has opened its first stand-alone Foodini's here with some fine-tuning that reflects customer feedback, officials said.

The unit, without an adjacent Chevron fueling facility, got its send-off on August 18 with an aggressive marketing campaign that includes spot radio commercials, ads in regional consumer magazines such as Sunset, and the direct-mailing of a four-minute, descriptive video to selected households in the community.

A Foodini's without gasoline pumps has been in the plans all along. In fact, stand-alone units will account for half the Foodini's Meals Markets opened in the coming year, said John Cooper, manager of Foodini's and president of Foodini's LLC.

What's new is a bolstered breakfast menu, the addition of a fresh pasta section, and the highlighting of low-calorie, low-fat items all of which have been spurred by customer feedback at the first two Foodini's stores, Cooper said.

"We've expanded our breakfast menu and when we add items, we retrofit them into our other stores. We'll continue to add more for breakfast," he said, explaining that customers in the first two Foodini's said they wanted more hot items for breakfast.

"In addition to conducting formal customer research, we keep in tune with what our customers want by talking to them in-store. They've made it clear they want us to highlight offerings they can choose from, in addition to our existing items, that are lower in calories and fat," he said.

"They mentioned pasta as a possible added selection so that's why we put it in," Cooper added.

As reported in SN 3/30/98, the company launched its Foodini's Fresh Meal Markets concept this spring in San Ramon with a 4,250-square-foot store adjacent to a Chevron fueling facility in San Ramon, Calif. A similar unit was opened in Modesto, Calif., later in the spring that featured more breakfast items, as reported in SN 5/25/98.

The interior look and feel of the store here is similar to the Bay Area stores, Cooper said.

"The development schedule was happening at the same time the Bay Area stores were opening so there hasn't been time to make any major changes."

The full line of fresh pasta has its own 6-foot, three-tiered section of refrigerated case at the store here. Cooper stressed that the amount of space devoted to the new products is a necessity "to let people know we're in that business."

An extensive variety of pastas, which are freshly made and packaged off-site, includes pasta primavera and pasta with mushrooms. They're packaged -- as other Foodini's prepared foods are -- in single-serving, microwavable containers. Small containers of complementary fresh sauces are merchandised along with them, Cooper said.

"We want customers to see they can mix and match with sauces. Some people eat pasta primavera, for example, just like it is. It has fresh vegetables on top and it's dressed with a light olive oil. It's flavorful that way and probably the lowest-in-calories way to eat it. But others, like myself, like a sauce on it like our Foodini's chipotle blush," he explained.

Next, Foodini's will designate existing products, such as chicken teriyaki, that are particularly low in fat and calories.

After just a few months in business, Foodini's on the West Coast "is doing fine," Cooper said.

"We did our first formal customer research recently and the response was extremely positive. We have a high level of repeat business," he added.