he battle for the food dollar is not new, and the blurring
of food channels continues with emerging online food
and beverage options. The “on demand” lifestyle of
millennials, enabled by cellphones and apps, has changed the
way they look at purchasing – and that includes their food. But
millennials aren’t the only ones who’s behavior has changed –
older generations, who value convenience and time-savings, are
also changing the way they purchase food.
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consumed at home.” Eating at home no longer means cooking
from scratch with ingredients, or even cooking at all. Sharing
meals remains important, but the busy consumer has no
time to plan and prepare all of their daily meals. In response,
the consumer has become “channel-agnostic.” That is, they
expect food on demand and no longer care whether it is from
restaurant home delivery, supermarket home delivery, a
prepared food display, a kiosk or other sources.
Many retailers are investing in technology to enable delivery of
center of the store items through third-party vendors. However,
few appear to be embracing the hot food delivery opportunities.
Meanwhile, the restaurant industry is focusing their resources
on hot food delivery. Both Cowan and Morgan Stanley project
that restaurant hot food delivery will reach approximately $80
billion within the next four years. That’s an opportunity that the
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As consumers change the way they spend their food dollars,
retailers that adapt with new ways to get their prepared foods
to the consumer will ensure dollars stay in the store. Grocery
stores need to evolve to compete with the wide array of
restaurants available with a single tap of the mobile phone.
Just as warehouse clubs and mega-grocers displaced smaller
chains in the past, FMI notes that large chains are at risk as
consumers adopt the digital platforms built for innovation,
speed and customer experience. Restaurants are experimenting
with methods to remove friction in the consumer’s journey for a
good food experience, and retailers need to remove obstacles to
provide more convenience.
The Crisp Food Technologies®
Containers by Anchor Packaging
of St Louis, MO use patented
technology and are currently
in use at over 10,000 stores.
Originally developed to keep
fried chicken hot and crisp in
supermarket displays for up to
four hours, these containers have
been adapted for the restaurant
industry to address the challenges
associated with home delivery.
Chains using this product have
reported results that surpass
any other packaging alternative.
The most important feature of
a package is to maintain food
quality for the 30+ minutes in
transit, with that challenge being
especially critical with French
fries, wings and other fried foods
where the texture is essential to
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Consumers want great tasting food
delivered – regardless of where
it’s from. No one is more prepared
to deliver that experience than
the local supermarket. No other
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foods that consumers clamor
for, not to mention foods in all
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from raw ingredients, to chopped
and diced, to chilled and ready-to-microwave, to hot ready to eat.
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to miss the opportunity to expand
the center of the store home
delivery to include a hot and crispy
meal on demand.
Soggy fries are not okay. With
Anchor’s Crisp Food Technologies
Containers, they don’t have to be.
ADVERTISEMENT
Food Consumed at Home
Up 59% Since 2003
Good News For the Retail Supermarket Industry?
Eating at home no longer
means cooking from scratch
with ingredients, or even
cooking at all.
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