While Kwik Trip has seen growth in all foodservice in the past year, dinner is the area of slowest growth, Servais said. Others echo that sentiment. “That’s been the piece we haven’t been able to unlock,” said Fidanza of QuikTrip.
The biggest challenge in the dinner daypart is offering meal solutions that are not found anywhere else, said Williams, former foodservice category manager at Thorntons.
“Cold grab-and-go snacks and roller grill might be the best options at dinner time,” she said.
Andrea Taylor, foodservice category manager for distributor McLane Co., said many consumers are no longer shopping according to daypart. “Pizza has become a top seller in the mornings, and breakfast items are now popular in the afternoons,” she said.
Temple, Texas-based McLane has noticed that consumers are interested in new and unique offerings, so stores are looking to stand out from their competition with healthier options, such as grain bowls with a protein and vegetables, Taylor said.
In 2023, McLane plans to offer more fresh salads and fruit, and improve its Javaperksprogram to help stores drive coffee sales and
traffic, Taylor said.
Let's Make a Deal
One strategy that seems to work across dayparts is embracing limited-time offers and promotions.
“LTOs have been very successful because they’re usually innovative flavors,” Fidanza said.
At QT, the offers typically run for three months and feature core items at reduced prices. Another strategy that has worked for QT is partnering with suppliers to feature new items and flavors. “They work with our chefs and develop unique flavors; a lot of them have been first-to-market,” Fidanza said.
The jalapeno bacon popper taquito, for example, has been “hugely successful,” he said.
Deals and promotions are increasingly important, said Ray at Ruiz Foods.
“Consumers love their go-to-favorites but also crave variety,” she said, noting limited-time offers are a way to satisfy existing consumers and attract new future loyalists.
White said LTOs are an important part of innovation at Rutter’s. “We’re expanding our LTOs and using that as a measure of whether the customer has interest in the product,” he said. Rutter’s plans to announce new LTOs in the second quarter of 2023.
As a supplier, Johnsonville is also keen on driving foodservice sales with promotions.
“We know that 42% of customers coming into the store purchase a beverage only. One of our goals is to drive those consumers from the beverage area to the roller grill, and creating a bundle promotion can help drive incremental foodservice sales and higher basket rings,” Rech said.
Meanwhile, continued distribution issues have slowed down innovation in foodservice and other products categories. “That’s the exciting part of my job, getting to roll out innovation,” Fidanza said. And that stopped in 2020 when COVID hit hard. “I’m going to have to retrain myself on how to do it,” he said, adding that one of the first innovations of 2023 will be the addition of hot sub sandwiches.