Improving restaurant brands in Supermarkets

Walk down the frozen food aisle in any supermarket and you'll see some very familiar restaurant brands taking up shelf space.

Walk down the frozen food aisle in any supermarket and you'll see some very familiar restaurant brands taking up shelf space and offering shoppers the chance to take their favorites menu items home. Anywhere from Nathan’s, to White Castle, Carvel, Friendly’s, TGI Friday’s and California Pizza Kitchen to name just a few. When restaurant brands evoke good feelings in the supermarket, they expand customer relationships and grow sales. So, while these kinds of labels were once rare on supermarket shelves, and drew attention, now, they're everywhere. Maybe this popularity is a good thing? But at The Lempert Report we feel this huge and recent expansion could possibly dim shopper excitement. In our view, it will take some serious innovations to differentiate eatery brands on supermarket shelves. No longer will the name alone be enough to drive performance. For example, Starbucks is creating a ready-to-eat Greek yogurt parfait with Dannon. The category continues to run hot and is under-penetrated in the United States. The Starbucks launch will be branded as “Evolution Fresh, inspired by Dannon,” sold in Starbucks stores in 2014 and in supermarkets in 2014, reports USA Today, which also notes Starbucks CEO Howard Schulz “wants Starbucks products to be as frequently purchased at a grocery store as at a Starbucks store.” Hotels are also getting into the act. A team of chefs from various Omni Hotels developed an umami sauce with a distinctive savory taste beyond sweet, sour, bitter or salty, which hotel guests can buy for $9.95 per 10-ounce bottle, and could be headed for restaurants and supermarkets, states Restaurant Hospitality. Crossover appeal will be the success key for both restaurant brands and retailers. Therefore, retailers should insist that eateries truly understand and act on the aspect of their brands that will help grow categories in stores.