Food for Thought: Next-Gen Retail Foodservice Programs

Some companies do not consider the future until it is here, and by then it is too late. Anticipating trends and doing the research to validate your beliefs is only a part of what it takes to be a market leader. Sadly, many just want to be next, letting others shoulder the risks, but too few want to be first.

Much has been reported about the proactive and reactive ways operators are tackling consumers’ meal planning notions with their go-to-market plans and executions. Approaches range from in-store sandwich kiosks, hot and cold food buffets, and prepackaged meals to a la carte departments, arrays of cold case meals and an assortment of diverse regional and cultural flavors, each designed to satisfy the mixed bag of meal planning tactics coded into the DNAs of time-starved shoppers.

Now is the time for front runners to take the next step and recognize retail foodservice as a discrete distribution channel, associating with it management, c-level and manufacturing titles. There is no need to wait until consumers’ meal planning routines are irrevocably dictated by “bullish” companies such as Amazon, Walmart, Alibaba, Kroger and numerous regional giants that are already reshaping the landscape of food marketing.

The next generation of retail foodservice I foresee is measured by revenue drivers such as sandwich kiosks or prepackaged meals, each with its own P&L strategy, a much stronger and proactive approach toward growth incentives. This differs from the foodservice and retail channels that clarify their P&Ls for accurate performance measurements with one tracking foodservice business segments and the other retail category distinctions.

Related:A New Food World Order Is Born

Recognizing that retail foodservice is not an isolated supermarket department nor an add-on to traditional foodservice will improve revenue opportunities, inspire more accurate market research and streamline logistics.

Staffing the channel with positions of responsibility and accountability to growth performance will also deepen the commitment to maintain the energy of its growth potential. As channel players, manufacturers and operators’ visions will be clearer as they create go-to-market strategies that draw direct benefits from:

Go-to-market alignment with the channel you want to target, as well as the market segment within it, is key to any forward-thinking strategy. But in today’s evolving retail foodservice channel, it is most important for leaders to launch the target strategy they will need in order to establish market positions that focus on consumers’ lifestyles and needs as they, too, evolve.

Bill Pizzico is president and CEO of Synergy Group. He can be reached at [email protected].