Protein by the Numbers

The Grocerant Opportunity

Bridging the Gap Between Fast Casual Restaurant & Traditional Grocery Retailers

Fresh in Restaurants

With consumers' tastes changing combined with aspirations for fresher, higher-quality and healthier food fare, restaurants are innovating. Fueled in part by innovations in Fast Casual formats that have helped bridge the convenience of eating out with consumers' aspirations for healthier diets, consumers now list "freshness" as a key marker of quality in restaurants.


Real Ingredients	Healthiness & Quality	Real Production
Fresh produce		Customization
Higher-quality ingredients/ foods		Made-to-order
All natural/ no artificial ingredients		Open production
Healthy oils		Less/ not deep fried
		Visually appealing

Sources for Meals/Snacks/Beverages Consumed in Past Two Weeks

70% That was made from "scratch" at home
68% At a restaurant, coffee shop or caf&‌eacute;
64% That consisted of reheated leftovers at home
58% That was ordered to take a way
34% That was "pre-prepared" from a grocery to take away or eat at store
- More than 1/3 of consumers say they source meals from food retailers offering grocerant services
28% That was ordered to be delivered

Lessons from Fast Casual for grocerant offerings:

Make "freshness" a continuous line across all consumer touchpoints. The Fast Casual segment has already taken the lead in innovating around freshness via open production, customizability and made-to-order food.
For in-store dining and serving areas ensure that atmosphere and design are fully integrated into the eating experience. Among fast casual's many disruptive innovations has been the ability of such restaurants to integrate design, d&‌eacute;cor and atmosphere into their brand identity and narrative.