DAWN FARMS TOP 9 | ISSUE 13| 2020

GLOBAL UPDATE ON CONSUMER, MARKET AND MENU INSIGHTS. 

1. SUBWAY GROCERY  

With the majority confined to their homes in light of COVID-19, Subway have launched 'Subway Grocery' in an effort to  support their employees and give back to local communities. Tapping into their supply chain, Subway's online store is selling the brand's meats, breads, cheeses, and produce used to create their renowned sandwich offerings. The service also includes soups, platters and cookies for contactless curb side pickup, restaurant pick up, or delivery in select areas. In addition, for those looking to thank First Responders, customers can add "First Responder Subs" to their order and Subway will take care of the delivery to local doctors, nurses, police, fire and EMTs in that area.

2. GLOBAL CONSUMER SENTIMENT

McKinsey & Company are continuously tracking consumer expectations, incomes, spending, and behaviour change due to the pandemic crisis across the world. The group conducted surveys across numerous countries at the end of March to gather sentiments on economic impact, optimism and uncertainty levels and impact on spending habits. For example, consumers in China are now more likely to make purchases than the previous survey held at the beginning of the month. In addition, consumers in the US and China are most optimistic their economy will rebound within 2-3 months showing similar sentiment at different stages of the contagion curve.  

3. MCDONALD’S GRAND PLANS

Though the fast food chain temporarily closed its UK and Irish branches last week, the superbrand is already planning its comeback by crowd sourcing what kind of burgers fans would like to see back on the menu, urging their fanbase to keep a close eye on their social media channels for details on their next move. In the meantime, McDonald’s is working on a website to help families spread the ‘Happy Meal magic’ at home and has donated leftover food to local food banks and charities to reduce food waste and support local communities during this time.

4. FEEDING HEROES & THOSE IN NEED

Pizza Hut and Burger King have teamed up with Deliveroo to serve over 500,000 free meals to hospital staff who are currently serving as front line heroes amid COVID-19. Other partners include German Doner Kebab, Neat Burger, Itsu and Casual Dining Group brand, Bella Italia. Meals such as pizzas, side salads, burgers, kebabs, noodles and pastas will help fuel NHS workers based near their UK restaurant locations. Pizza Hut is leading the way helping to fund deliveries while the public and corporate entities fundraise to keep this service live through the Deliveroo app. Whilst the majority of funds will be used towards NHS staff, Deliveroo have also committed to serve the homeless and vulnerable through various charities.

5. SHOPPING BASKETS FILLING UP

Supermarket year-on-year sales have grown at the fastest rate in over a decade, according to Kantar. In the 12 weeks leading up to 22nd March, sales were up 7.6%. Recent sales have beaten Christmas records with £10.8 billion in the past 4 weeks across Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Asda and Morrisons. Since COVID-19, Nielsen’s data shows that customers are adding an extra item each shopping trip, increasing the average shopping basket from 10 to 11 items. This growth was particularly strong in frozen food products, with 84% more sales compared to the same period last year.

6. WHOLESALERS TEAM UP TO DELIVER

Brakes and Bidfood, two UK foodservice wholesalers, have joined forces to support a new government initiative to ensure that vital food supplies reach the country’s most vulnerable people during the COVID-19 crisis. The government believes the wholesalers can effectively coordinate deliveries as they have a robust network of more than 52 national hubs and can reach every corner of England. The parcels, which will be delivered to the doorstep, will contain more than 20 essentials including pasta, cereal, tea bags, fresh and tinned fruit, milk, bread and biscuits, as well as non-food items like toilet rolls and shower gel. 

7. SHOP AT YOUR LOCAL PUB

StarStock, an e-commerce technology company, has launched an initiative that enables pubs to set up an online shop and provide essential items to their local communities. Through MyPubShop.com, pub owners will be able to process orders and payment digitally and offer patrons a click and collect option. The initiative is in partnership with Brakes, Coca-Cola European Partners and Use Your Local with pub companies such as Admiral Taverns, Greene King Pub Partners, Trust Inns and St Austell Brewery already making the service available in thousands of pubs across the UK. Pubs must pay a 2% fee for operational costs but will able to reopen their doors and make trade in an alternative way.

8. EU TRANSPORT OPERATIONS 

COVID-19 has placed enormous pressure on European transport and mobility across the air, sea and land. A collaborative approach is vital to ease stress by streamlining processes and protecting transport workers who are working more hours to meet demand. This past week, the EU Commission presented new practical advice on the implementation of its new border management guidelines to ensure the movement of freight across the EU in light of the current pandemic. To ensure that EU-wide supply chains remain operational, all Member States are designating relevant internal border-crossing points on the trans-European transport network as ‘green lane' border crossings which will remain open to all freight vehicles and mitigate any delays beyond 15 minutes.

9. UBER EATS DELIVERS FOR CARREFOUR

Carrefour and Uber Eats have announced a partnership in France enabling the delivery of essential grocery products. The service will launch on 6th April and French consumers will be able to order from their local Carrefour store using the Uber Eats app, Carrefour website or by telephone. The offerings will be a limited range of food, drink, hygiene and cleaning products which will be delivered within 30 minutes of ordering. For the month of April, there will be no delivery charge and the service will initially start with 20 Carrefour stores in the Paris region, prior to nationwide roll-out, with the potential to be extended to additional countries, if successful.

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