Ready-2-eat and Heat-N-eat Fresh Prepared Food Rocks in 2013

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Do you have timeto eat, time for dinner or even time for cooking at home today?If you are "ready-2-eat" there is a very good chance you arelooking for fresh prepared multi-flavor, multi-ethnic Grocerant mealcomponents. Heat-N-eat and ready-2eat fresh prepared food with portability isdriving retail food success in 2013. Where are you shopping for you food todayis not the same place your mother was nor is the meal prepared the same way.As long as multi-generational family's gather for meals together, thedemand for more divergent flavors continues to permeate. Grocerant mix andmatch bundled meal component offerings allow for increased family integration,understanding and acceptance in less time without a required cook from scratchskill set.In the 1940's cooking from scratch was the normal. The average home cookedmeal took 150 minutes to prepare. Everyone sat down at the table and enjoyed itor not but they all ate the same thing. Today's "home cooked meal"takes on average less than 30 minutes to prepared. In most cases at least twodifferent entrées are served.The average time spent inside a McDonalds in the 2,000 was 11 minutes.Today 65+ percent of all McDonald's food is sold via the drive-thru. U.S.fast-food chains are increasingly remodeling restaurants in an effort to garneradditional drive-thru customers inside and increase sales, simple because thedrive-thru can't hold all the cars.According to the New York Times Magazine - McDonalds Came Back Bigger ThanEver McDonald's Corp. saw a 50% increase in sales during the first quarter of2012 after opening a remodeled restaurant in Riverside, California, thatfeatures a new décor, solar panels on the carport, and ceiling panels thatcontain L.E.D. lights. During the first 12 months, sales at this restaurantincreased 20% overall. Walgreensis creating and bundling distinctive differentiated food consumable's as an entitywith identity by day part in a mix and match meal component format inselect urban setting targeted at both the office worker for lunch and mealcomponents for them to take home for the family dinner. It is a successfulprogram. With over 7,550 units operating in the United States Walgreens has thepotential to become the most disruptive force in food retailing in 50 years.Walgreens with its modular mid-sized foot-print is garnering customers fromboth restaurants and grocery stores.Consumers Want Easy to Prepare MealsThegrocerant niche continues to grow with companies like Central Market,Whole Foods, Wegmans and 7 Eleven entering the fresh prepared better for youspace. Meal time is now becoming a time of convenient meal participation,with differentiation and individualization for the entire family.Safeway with its lifestyle stores are heading in the right direction howeverthe stores are so large consumers are forced to spend more time in them thanthey want.More often than not the multi-generational family today is multi-ethnic aswell. Creating a demand for more varied flavors and additional cooking skillset that is simply not there. Grocery stores, Convenience Stores, Restaurantsand Chain Drug Stores are all selling ready-2-eat and heat-N-eat fresh preparedfood. Is your focus family dinning? Are you sellingmeals or meal components for Take-Out, delivery or Take-Away?Lacking the skill set to prepared fresh prepared multi-ethnic mealcomponents at home coupled with the time it takes to prepared a home cookedmeal it is clear the buying habits of consumers will continue to evolve.Bundling mix and match meal components into a meal is one key driver within thegrocerant niche. Given that most American family are comprised ofmulti-cultural background. The fight for share of stomach will only intensify.Restaurants menu's at one time were very narrow in focus and havemoved more upscale with offerings such as Oriental; Chicken Salad,Southwest Chicken Salad, along with a chef salads. Grocery stores on the otherhand are expected to sell complete lines of reay-2-eat multi-ethnic food. Thatplaces higher expectations on grocers than restaurants or a company likeWalgreens. Walgreens might just be in the perfect spot to expand fresh preparedfood offerings capturing customers from both restaurants and supermarkets.Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® a Tacoma, WA basedretail foodservice consultancy has been the global leader in the Grocerantniche. For product or brand positioning assistance contact Steven A. Johnson ortheGrocerant LinkedIn page or on Facebook at Steven Johnson, BING / GOOGLE: StevenJohnson Grocerants or Groceranton Twitter