9 Big Ideas From the FARE Conference
By CSP Staff on Jun. 29, 2017DALLAS -- Nearly 800 foodservice leaders from across channels gathered in Dallas this week to discuss menu trends and business ideas during Winsight’s 10th annual FARE Conference. Ideas flowed from more than 50 general-session and educational forums and a food pavilion that let retailers and operators sample cross-channel products and watch culinary demonstrations.
Here are nine highlights that stood out to CSP’s editors …
1.Off the rails
Jamba Juice CEO David Pace is no fan of incremental success. Instead he takes the go-big-or-go-home approach. "If you make little changes to big things, it's not enough. If you make big changes to little things, your messing with the 80% in the 80-20 rule; that won't make an impact. So we try to make big changes to big things," said the man who's currently testing smoothies enriched with collagen. "When you're testing new ideas, go way out there. Find out how far the consumer will let you go--break the guardrails. Then reel it back in to where it's sustainable."
2. Four more micro ideas from Jamba Juice
3. Circle of life
Leave it to Microsoft to make black soldier flies a significant and reasonable part of its foodservice program! Turns out the larvae of the insect eat food waste—five times their body weight a day. Once those larvae develop into flies, they can serve as food for chickens and fish being raised on campus. Those chicken and fish eventually become ingredients for Microsoft’s numerous foodservice units, and the leftovers end up as food for a new batch of larvae.
4. Get to know Gen Z
Twenty-six percent of the population falls into the Generation Z category, and they are just coming into their own as consumers. Early signs indicate that they will spend more money on foodservice than any generation before them. What’s important to them? Delivery, mobile ordering, speed, convenience and customization.
5. Sign, sealed …
"[Foodservice] delivery is the opportunity of the moment," said Peter Romeo, editor at large for Restaurant Business, a sister publication to CSP.
It's also difficult to accomplish without some variation to your menu, added Joe Pawlak, managing principal of Technomic, Chicago. "Not all foods travel well," Pawlak said, pointing to fried foods as an example, as well as calling out packaging challenges. "You may have to leave some items off your delivery menu."
6. Here to stay
Delivery—be it in-house or via third party—is not a fad retailers should expect to fade away anytime soon. Eighty-seven percent of millennials report ordering from a restaurant’s own delivery service, and 40% report ordering from a third-party service, according to Technomic. While c-store retailers should carefully consider the opportunity, they should also proceed with caution, said Technomic’s Donna Hood Crecca. “C-stores have worked so hard to get that credibility, and then you’re going to pass that control off to a third-party provider? That’s something c-stores really need to think about," she said.
7. Drone on
Why are some retailers racing to make deliveries via drones? Sure, there are speed and labor advantages, but another part of it—at least for now—is the social-media buzz that consumers would drive. “Gen Z is really interested in drone delivery,” said Kelly Weikel, director of consumer insights for Technomic. “They want to watch the drone come in, take a picture and post it to social media.” The retailer who gets there first reaps the benefits.
8. Disney desires
When Disney Parks and Resorts expand into different countries or even new American markets, they are very careful to understand and reflect the local culture, but also infuse the operations with the Disney brand. When the company moved into Shanghai, for example, they called it “uniquely Disney, but distinctly Chinese.”
9. Teeing up tea
Tea has been a slow grower in recent years, but some in the industry say that's about to speed up as younger generations embrace the second most consumed beverage in the world. "If you look at baby boomers, about 80% drink coffee and 20% drink tea," said David Enser, president and CEO of Revolution Tea. “As you look at younger generations, it increasingly shifts to the point where millennials are about 50-50 (coffee vs. tea)."