Find Your ‘Special Sauce’ and Stand Out

Food and restaurant consultant tells NACS Leadership Forum attendees to capitalize on successful foodservice trends.

February 12, 2016

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – Foodservice expert Aaron Noveshen addressed NACS Leadership Forum attendees yesterday afternoon and highlighted successful restaurant trends worth emulating.

Noveshen, whose food and restaurant consultancy The Culinary Edge helps refresh established brands and launch new ventures, said identifying a foodservice trend, taking note of an exemplary restaurant and identifying its “special sauce” is something c-store owners need to do regularly to improve their stores.

His presentation, “The Foodservice Revolution: The ‘Special Sauce’ to Standing Out,” identified six key trends that c-store owners should leverage:

  • Next Gen Tech. Noveshen noted that when kids today gather around a screen, to them, that’s a form of socialization—even if it doesn’t feel the same to older generations. He talked about Eatsa, a fully-automated fast-casual in San Francisco that boasts regular lines out the door but doesn’t appear to have any staff on site. Customers order veggie quinoa bowls on mobile devices in advance, and simply come to the store to pick their food up. “Americans continue to be more time starved than ever. Technology is helping the better be more competitive, more rapidly,” he said.
  • Merchandising Matters. Merchandising is key, even at your local corner drugstore, Noveshen said. He cited M&S Simply Food and Eat, both in the U.K., as examples of companies that have rethought merchandise and realized that less really is more. He challenged c-store owners to think about what visually impactful and operationally feasible ways they could bring more life to how products live on shelves or in cases.
  • Value Beyond Price. Where do opportunities exist to integrate more healthy and affordable options into your offerings? Noveshen called LocoL, a new concept out of Los Angeles, “the headline for disruption” within this trend. When a Korean food truck operator turned high-end chef decided to open this trendy restaurant in L.A.’s Watts neighborhood, he hired people from the immediate community to cook and run the operation. He said c-stores should capitalize on that same idea of being a place for your community to gather.
  • Portability, Redefined. “You’ve got to keep thinking about what’s next,” Noveshen said. What might it look like to disrupt the ubiquitous handheld snack selection and roller grill stations found in most convenience stores with healthier, fresher, higher quality options? Noveshen talked about the international examples of Uma Temakeria and Maki Shop that have been redefining how to eat Asian food on the go. He said c-stores can learn a similar lesson by reinventing their staple foods to be easier and more appealing for their customers.
  • Over-deliver on Delivery. Sprig is a foodservice that delivers “delicious meals with honest ingredients” within 15 minutes, and Noveshen said that this is the future of convenience. He challenged attendees to look at their product offerings, service styles and models to optimize them to compete with next generation delivery companies like Sprig.
  • Create Experiential Value. Noveshen talked about the D.C.-based fast casual salad restaurant Sweetgreen and how in less than a decade, the company has engaged with customers on a large scale, including through its annual Sweetlife concert and festival. “Their loyalty is like none other that we’ve experienced,” he said. How might you also create value beyond the four walls of your stores? Noveshen challenged attendees to think about making their brand an experience for customers, not just a place to buy items they need.

Noveshen drove home the point that consumer tastes are constantly changing. “People are eating smaller amounts of things, when they want, when they have time for them,” he said. “This new way of eating is something you need to think [seriously] about.”

To learn more about Noveshen’s food and restaurant consultancy, visit The Culinary Edge online. 

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