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Balance: The Price is in the Details

Oct 25

Posted by admin in food universe, lifestyle, news

The news that projects pricing issues until at least the end of the year paints a scary Halloween picture. It seems no matter which way we structure or restructure the food budget, producers have us with higher prices. We know that corn prices, which affect a laundry list of end products, have risen dramatically. Beef is a tricky one as some ranchers find limited outlets for their beef. This then has them worried about maintaining a high quality product as we move forward. This is not necessarily a new problem but one that clearly fits into our pricing discussion. Look at the fish industry.  Salmon, cod, and halibut are now more readily available, but prices have skyrocketed. One is left with the question, Who will buy?

At the same time pricing worries continue, it’s no surprise that coupon usage is way up. Consumers decided to pay attention to offers and take advantage of the savings. There are few branded products that hide behind a no-coupon policy. The current environment encourages grocers and restaurants to follow customer preferences and offer  frequent guests and shoppers enticing coupons. This is the new norm now at all price points with even so-called higher-end stores such as Whole Foods actively joined the coupon brigade. As for general retail, the mantra seems to be “Sign up today; no charge, and get 20% off your first purchase.” These are all-telling details.

A funny little trend sneaks in under the radar. Consumers have taken the healthy and ecological food train and do not want to get off. Sustainability has become an important concern and one that has stickiness. Those who started to buy healthier products and in turn eat healthier are not willing to forgo that lifestyle change. Likewise, environmental concerns has big players, such as Wal-Mart, hopping on board.

What happens to the local trend? The one that says support the local growers and merchants? It seems the concept managed to get on the radar with Wal-Mart as it opens and remodels its stores and the Sam’s Clubs, with more attention to local and healthier foods making the shopping list. Yes, you heard right. The big box player has decided to join the local movement. Who could have guessed that?wiiboard

Yes, it’s all about balance. We want sustainable goods and at the same time, we need options to cut our prices. We can learn a lot about pricing from high-end restaurants. Many figured out they need a sister operation or offer a less expensive bar menu.  Why not? We all are in the same game: Survival.

No business wants to miss out on the opportunities for affordable quality.

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Popularity Contest with New Contestants: GF

Oct 15

Posted by admin in gluten-free, lifestyle

It’s hard to believe how mainstream gluten-free products have become. Check out the new marketing approaches and the number of stores that want a piece of the action. My little local go-to grocery store, all of a sudden, has numerous GF products. I was curious and spoke to the manager. She smiled as she said they had lots of requests to carry more of these foods. Interesting. Upon close inspection, they have a little of this and that and even have a few items marked “Sale.”

Whoa. GF products in a sale category? Wait, there’s more of this unusual news. Shopping tracking now follows the GF line and sends out coupons of similar items with reduced prices. GF Coupons, what is the world coming to? Maybe recognition that this market space is bigger than anticipated and continuing to grow.

Look at the bread category. Tapioca bread now has numerous rivals as Udi’s spreads its wings across the country. This bread actually toasts! How about a baker that just wants to make good bread and believes there are too many additives in the current production line. Losing the wheat, of course, changes the consistency but those who opt for the GF bread can now find multiple solutions that meet fiber needs.udiswebsite_category_icon.php

The market category continues to rise just as its numerous bread and baking products increase and garner attention. Taste no longer serves as an impediment as improvements continue to draw more consumers into the GF space. Not just grocers but more restaurants are offering choices. Wildfire, part of the Lettuce Entertain You family, continues to reach out to the diner with ever-changing promotions. Wine and GF in the same sentence. Lovely.

The November Chicago-based wine dinner partnership with the University of Chicago Celiac Disease Center enables diners to enjoy themselves and share part of the dining cost with the Center. The Virginia location is doing a 3-course GF lunch and dinner promotion in early November.

So many changes in understanding what is in our food and how it affects us. Fortunately, the marketplace is starting to be a major contributor to healthy eating.

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Food Blues

Jun 24

Posted by admin in alcohol, dining out, Economy, news

On the positive side of “Food Blues,” we could be talking about the freshest crop of blueberries. (Yes, they are beautiful). Instead, we are looking at the latest reports that indicate consumers are not yet believing they are out of the woods on their finances. They exercise caution in their grocery shopping and their restaurant expenses.blueberry

Meal planning, according to the NPD Group study, will remain on the thrifty side. Consumers have learned how to make better meals with less and are not ready to jump from the calm ship and break out the foie gras. The study reports that consumers do not see their situation improving over the next 12 months and plan to continue strategies they employed during the earliest days of the Recession. This information is almost in direct contrast to several economic market indicators pointing in a more positive, upward trajectory.

Examples of thriftier behavior from the report include decreasing spending on groceries, using coupons for food and beverage items, and stocking up on foods when they are on sale. The list also includes shopping for less expensive brands and making use of online coupons.

These are all consumer behavioral strategies that grocers can address to make shopping a better, more positive experience. Matching coupons, doubling or tripling those from circulars, and offering good, solid sale prices on a large variety of products will keep customers loyal returnees. It sounds as if little has changed for the consumer no matter how hopeful everyone wants to remain.

Restaurants have a lot to learn from this report and from the Nielsen Company’s latest research. Some of these findings could spell doom for a number of restaurants that have been hanging on and waiting for customers to increase their dining out events and cash outlays. After surveying 7,500 alcohol beverage consumers, they found almost 60% reducing their trips to casual restaurants and a similar number reported they were going less frequently to more expensive restaurants (fine-dining). An additional find was that 47% said they frequent bars and clubs less often. This translates into changed behavior patterns across the age demographics. The report underlies the belief that consumers learned new ways of entertaining and continue to exhibit uncertainty about the extent of the recovery.

Another interesting tell-all concerns alcoholic beverage purchases. More than 75% of those interviewed said they have not changed their beverage purchases because of price, but 25% of those say they are making fewer purchases. So even in this category, consumers have adjusted their behavior, and they are more conscious of their decisions.

Yes, these reports do NOT put a smile on the face of anyone in the food and beverage universe. They give great pause and increase the likelihood of more promotions rather than assuming that the diner of yore, as in 2-3 years ago, is lining up to get in the door.

Free-wheeling dining and shopping has not returned, and it appears to be stuck in fear. Hopefully, someone is listening.

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Let the Calories Be Your Guide

May 27

Posted by admin in food universe

We’ve talked about the menus that list the calories and how that is becoming a national trend not just focused in single cities such as New York. Now here’s a twist to think about as you get ready for the weekend festivities:

How about a restaurant chain that decided you might pay better attention to the calorie debate if you saw it printed on your receipt. It’s an interesting twist and it assumes people look at their receipts! Not only do you get calorie information, you get suggestions how to make an even smarter decision next time you customize your order!

Burgerville in the Pacific Northwest, an area known for its emphasis on healthy living with smart food approaches and outdoor activities, decided customers needed a little more information than the simple itemization of their order! They are considered a fast-food chain but have always stressed their commitment to finding local suppliers and having customers understand that nutritional information is important to the company. BTW, this company is no slouch in its environmental commitment with its ever-expanding compostable product line to its use of wind-power rather than straining the electric grid.Brugerville

The company may prove to be a model of innovative approaches to healthy eating at affordable prices. They have grown considerably over the years and now have almost 40 locations in Oregon and Washington. They established a food program to help customers make healthy choices and entice them with coupons for future visits and receipts filled with calorie information and suggestions about possible item substitutions!

Maybe this forward-informational approach is a model for what other companies should do. Diners need help with price points and healthy eating strategies.

Let the West lead. Lots to follow.

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Restaurant Promotions

Feb 26

Posted by admin in beverages, lifestyle, news

If you need ways to study dining out, then a simple barometer is the number of promotions that flood your email, Twitter, and Facebook accounts. Social media has become the key communication tool to let potential guests in on ways to save money. The strategies were the saving grace during each of the major snow storms as followers received messages that said ”we are open,” or not. Double and triple point nites were a common incentive to get loyalists in the door.

This has truly been a long month of limited outings whether from record snows or unceasing inches of rain. The Coasts have been clobbered, and the spots with normally full outdoor tables have been holding court inside as record lows have walloped the FL sun. Enough about February; what’s to come in March?

It looks as if restaurants have come out of the gate in flying colors with multiple promotions to get us out of our homes. In Washington, DC, The Restaurant Association coordinated a one-week (March 1-7) “Unleashed” deal in the hopes of creating a buzz again as too many people have been stuck at home and not taking advantage of the conviviality of dining in a more spirited space.

Chicago restaurants, at all price points, have banded together and offer any number of food and drink specials via Open Table. This site is a particularly easy way to see who’s offering what during the coming weeks throughout the country. Hey, Minneapolis, get out, you still have til the 5th to enjoy Restaurant Week.

Resorts are getting into the act, too. One of my favorite properties, Meadowood in Napa Valley, has instituted a rain check. If your visit includes a rainy day during your stay from now through April 2010, they’ll give you a complimentary night’s lodging when you stay again before the end of July. It’s been raining a  lot in California. The fields still have their mustard color display, and the restaurant always offers a quiet respite with exciting food.

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Regardless of the city, coupons, social media tactics, and the old-fashioned Internet are ready to help move you from the doldrums to the tables. Let’s welcome March by getting out and helping the restaurants stay in business and be there for us when accessibility is even easier.

I’m on my way.

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Counter-Intuitive Cleaning

Feb 19

Posted by admin in news

Somewhere along the road of life we learned that the way to clean items is to soap them up. This applies to both our use of dishwashing and washing machine detergents. The logic goes something like this: The more we add, the cleaner the results. WRONG.

Now our world has been turned upside down. First with dishwasher soap. It was not that long ago that the reports came out saying it is possible to add too much. We are actually better off adding less and running the unit on a regular cycle rather than many of the quick wash options so many of the new energy star machines tout. OK, we got that one.

Then it was recently uncovered that we are adding too much detergent to our washing machines, and they cannot run effectively and clothes suffer. Wait, they’re not cleaner? Nope. They’re falling apart sooner and quickly lose their luster.

Is this not all counter intuitive? Add soap; get clean results. Yes, but not with a heavy hand.

Maybe the culprit in the washing machine part of the experiment is the new lineup of heavy duty soaps: 2X and even 3X as strong. Most people seem unable to lessen their detergent amount even though the product clearly states its double strength properties. We seem to ignore the lines on the caps that indicate how much we should add and often add what we did before the 2X universe. Those are not suggestions, but guidelines that came about after testing loads of wash!

The Method folks have a solution-no capfuls but a spray-on pump. Check it out with one of the site’s coupons, and you be the judge.method

What’s the solution: Simple enough mathematics: Decrease detergent amount; increase cleanliness.

Yes, counter-intuitive, but effective.

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How Do You Want Your Coupon?

Feb 10

Posted by admin in dining out, grocer, news

officescissorsIt does not take rocket science to analyze what food establishments whether they be cafes, full-service restaurants, quick shops, or grocers are doing to capture our attention and our food dollars. We have to eat, and it seems we continue to figure out ways to economize the approach.

Restaurants have special dining out nights and chains, even those with just a few locations in a city, have frequent diner cards. Sometimes those benefits get extended into doubling or tripling their value on certain slow nights, that used to be translated as Mondays but midweek is starting to look a lot like a Monday! All this in an attempt to reward the faithful and expand the inner circle of loyalists.

These are just like frequent shopper cards which offer a reduced price on set items to the loyalists. Just scan and save is their mantra.

Does it work? Does it fill the tables? Depends who you ask and the price point of activity. The dollar:value equation becomes the heart of the analysis. Most people like a deal.

As for newspaper inserts, some weeks the number of coupon books weighing down the delivery is astounding, as in 4-5 different coupon catalogs. So it should come as no surprise that we ended the decade with increased coupon usage. The question always remains: Will the consumer trade up to a brand with a cents-off incentive and a doubling-off strategy from the market or stay with the new shopper’s friend, the house brand?

Then there’s the whole social media approach to couponing regardless if it’s for a restaurant or a grocer. If you become a Facebook fan, give over your email, or join their special mobile coupon connection, you will be inundated with money-saving offers. You name the service or the business, they want your fan loyalty and in turn, you will be rewarded, or turned off. You decide.

Clipping still has its friends, but new strategies are making more immediate inroads.

Smart eating has an infinite fan base.

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The Weather Outside…

Jan 7

Posted by admin in cooking, dining out

January has started with a Brisk Chill. Make that freezin’ cold misery.

Not to worry, it’s National Soup Month and plenty of restaurants are celebrating. Mon Ami Gabi, the French bistro with locations in hometown Chicago and on the East Coast in Bethesda and Reston (VA) promises to warm up diners with flights of winter soup including the popular French onion cheese extravaganza!

Speaking of Chicago, that warm, make that windy, city, you can take a soup cooking class at the trendy WAVE restaurant in the W Chicago. “Winter Warmup with Hearty Soups” runs for consecutive Saturdays during the month. Reservations are necessary.

Legal Seafoods has a great offer: 60 cent cups of their famous Clam Chowder (with an entree) on January 20, their 60th birthday. Too cold to stand in line, but make your reservation now for a celebratory “Chowda Day” lunch or dinner on the 20th!

Not just restaurants but soupmakers wanna have fun. Look at the Campbell’s Soup website for an abundance of recipes and coupons. Maybe this is the month you should try the famous US Senate Bean Soup or make your own variation of a fiber-rich bean stew! So many recipes; so many warming concepts!beansoup2

The weather beckons. Stir up your favorite soup recipe or if you’re brave enough to venture outdoors, take advantage of a pipin’ hot bowl to celebrate an appropriately named food month!

Get on board, restaurants, as Soup can draw ‘em in, and you can chalk up the profits while warming the palates.

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What I Learned This Year

Dec 29

Posted by admin in beverages, cooking, dining out, lifestyle, news

As with every year when we talk about food and the hospitality industry, there’s lots of news. This year was no exception, but it was a challenge for many businesses to stay above water. Some didn’t make it. Money was tight and customers were careful. It was certainly not a year where everyone stood and waited for the world to change. It was a year of action, invention, and reinvention.

–Coupon use was way up–grocery stores doubled and tripled the value of coupons in response to consumer belt-tightening and renewed interest in home cooking. No longer did grocers rely solely on newspaper coupons, but they expanded their online coupon promotions. Who would have expected Whole Foods to aggressively participate in this type of endeavor? Not me. They did and became as serious about coupons and sales as any of their competitors.

–Grocers worked on their house brands and made them palatable and popular. The price differentiation between the big brands and the new house brands became a deciding factor for many shoppers. House brands scored well in this contest.

–Restaurants increased promotions such as half-priced wine nights and 3-course prix fixe menus. They strived to emphasize how they have changed and how they could respond to the new, emerging diner. The strategy continues with greater emphasis on value dining.

–Restaurants revamped their menus and placed a greater emphasis on small, shared plates. Restaurant Weeks, with their specialty menus for lunch and dinner, were expanded to become multi-week experiences and commonly became a fixture both in winter and summer.

–Food recalls became more frequent as we became more diligent in monitoring the possible health risks of numerous foods. It was a bad year for packaged ground beef and a bad year for government watchdogs who had not tightened the rules enough to stop a problem at the source. “Voluntary recalls” became popular responses to early questions.

–Value became an important focus whether we were talking about new-found wines, sparkling beverages that tasted like Champagne, or a regular cup of coffee. All food-related businesses and others in the hospitality industry understood the importance of repeat business and strived to wow consumers with their own loyalty programs.

It was a good year to write about COFFEE as so many health research studies confirmed my basic mantra: Another Espresso, please (Sure, there are numerous studies that question that wisdom).krups-fast-touch-203x180x180_0

I learned a lot. Way more than this mini list details, but the search function should give you an opportunity to refresh your tastebuds.

I hope you had an opportunity to enjoy the life and times of an opinionated food and beverage blogger.

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Sans Gluten-Free

Dec 23

Posted by admin in gluten-free, health

In an effort to be a player in the ever-emerging G-F market, some companies are taking it to a higher, or maybe lower, level. I just saw a whole new tagline: Sans Gluten-Free. You know about double negatives so I guess this means it’s chock full of glutinous ingredients. For those who missed the first day of French class, “sans” means without. That means this product line, stated another way, would translate as “without or lacking” gluten-free properties which means it’s got gluten. Not. It’s actually a product line from a well-regarded supplier in this market space: Glutino, a French-Canadian company that has many of its products supplied from Israel.  Most significantly, they offer an extensive product line!

You gotta laugh as so many companies are trying to rush out products to meet this growing market where cost becomes second nature as a bag of Glutino pretzels costs almost $7. Seriously, the price makes it prohibitive for many which is often the overriding G-F product problem. Or, you can really indulge and go to the big box merchant Amazon and buy 12 bags for over $70–not enough of a savings to warrant the big shell out. You’ll seldom run out. Amazon is smart like that and understands the captive audience syndrome so they have a frequent shipping plan which lowers the price considerably! 41q-5g5Oe5L._SL500_AA280_PIbundle-12,TopRight,0,0_AA280_SH20_

Sans gluten works BUT sans gluten-free has its own marketing snafus. It sends a different, albeit humorous, message. Test it out: Walk into a Whole Foods aisle and exclaim “Sans Gluten Free,” and you’re guaranteed a laugh from nearby shoppers.

True.

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