Building an Omni-channel Strategy for Appetizers in the USA
Problem
The way Americans socialise and eat has changed radically: digital ordering, COVID, food inflation and the decriminalisation of Cannabis in 24 states have resulted in 60% of poeple trading down to more casual restaurants and 55% more entertaining at home. The old rules of the entire food supply industry have been rewritten.
Food accounts for 11% of disposable income in the USA.
64% of households cite cost of living as the reason for eating out less.
Food-away-from-home prices increased at 4x rate of food-at-home prices 2023-2024 (5.2% vs 1.3%)
Pressure
As a major supplier to the Food Service industry, McCain North America's appetizer division needed to re-think its omnichannel strategy and its innovation process in order to maintain/grow revenue in the face of rising costs. Brand, product and service delivery all needed to be reinvented for the new eating reality.
Solution
McCain created 3 different human-centred design programmes to tackle the core channels of: food service, QSR and retail. Each programme brought together exhaustive quantitative and qualitative data, rapid prototyping and end-user segmentation. The team fully immersed themselves in each market, with an always-on discovery-learning mentality. Within 4 months, a new omnichannel strategy had been defined, approved and fast-tracked into implementation plans.
Impact
5 new omnichannel platforms and over 30 new products were designed, backed up by far-reaching customer and consumer insight. The first new products are due for launch in the second half of 2024.