Who Cooks from Scratch?

Ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat fresh prepared food is blurringthe line between restaurants and grocery stores. I call these fresh preparedproducts Grocerant niche food.  It istargeted at the time-starved consumers, not with ingredients to make fromscratch rather with ready-2-eat or heat-N-eat meal components that can bebundled into a meal.Justthink about how you shop for most meal preparation needs. You might buy arotisserie chicken, pick out something from a salad bar and maybe an appetizerat the deli service case. Those are components vs. buying uncooked chicken, ahead of lettuce and then having to clean, cut, season and then season and spendtime cooking.Foodservice Solution® and defines the niche this way "Grocerantmeans any retail food item that is ready-2-eat or heat-N-eatprepared fresh. Currently these items can be found in grocery stores in thedeli / lifestyle section, Convenience stores in the prepared food area andprepackaged, ready-2-eat items and in restaurants under the To-go, takeout ortake away or delivery section of the menu or on the website and now at ChainDrug Stores Walgreens and Duane Reade."What is Driving the Grocerant TrendIts 4 PM: your customers are just beginning to thinkabout what's for dinner. 81% of American consumers are unsure about what's fordinner. Time Starved Consumers are looking for high quality ready toeat foods and ready to heat meals. Today's time starved consumers want topurchase meal components, that they can bundle into a customized family mealthat will please everyone without spending time cooking. Outside eyes can deliver top line sales andbottom line profits.  Invite Foodservice Solutions® to provide brand and product positioningassistance or a grocerant program assessment. Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA has been the globalleader in the Grocerant niche for more on Steven A. Johnson and FoodserviceSolutions® visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant