DAWN FARMS TOP 9 | ISSUE 30| 2020

GLOBAL UPDATE ON CONSUMER, MARKET AND MENU INSIGHTS. 

1. SUBWAY SHAKES THINGS UP

Subway is trialling new ice cream shakes to supplement their treat menu across selected stores in the UK and Ireland. The Subway Shakes are made to order and can be customised to 3 levels of thickness. Customers can choose from Chocolate, Strawberry or Vanilla flavours and plans are underway to extend the offering in more locations. As almost 1,400 Subway stores partake in the UK’s Eat Out to Help Out scheme, various deals are available until the end of August. Customers who order any 6-six sub using the Subcard app can avail of a free drink and anyone who orders a footlong via Deliveroo can get 3 free cookies for free.

2. C-STORE SERVES HOT PIZZAS

Chicago Town has launched a new self-serve pizza-to-go solution into convenience stores, following a successful trial with leading operators such as the SPAR group. The 12-inch hot takeaway pizzas are available in the brand’s signature Loaded Cheese, Loaded Pepperoni, New Chicken & Bacon and New Manhattan Meaty flavours. Dr Oetker, owner of the Chicago Town pizza brand, believe that food to go is set to reach £22.8bn by 2023, and they are keen to further increase their brand availability to consumers via convenience store self-serve operations.  

3. NEW FUSION FRANCHISE

Sugio JPN, a street food brand specialising in sushi taco fusions, plans to open ten new franchises in the UK within the next twelve months. Established from a successful food truck concept, the aspiring brand has partnered with The Bench and The Hospitality Portal for the expansion initiative. Their signature ‘NoriTacos’ are an original creation of crispy seaweed tempura shell, with sushi rice and Japanese Latin fusion fillings, such as crab with lamb’s lettuce, mango with tuna, salmon, masago and avocado or Japanese fried chicken karaage with ginger, lemon, mixed salad and eel sauce. Customers can also enjoy sides such as gyozas Chingonas, yuca fries and chicken karaage along with mochi ice cream for dessert. 

4. A LIDL LOYALTY

Loyalty app, Lidl Plus, Lidl’s digital rewards programme has just launched across the UK and Germany. The app offers redeemable coupons for select products, digital receipts, spend tracking, details of store locations and opening hours and regional weekly offers. The German app version enables consumers to ‘unlock’ special rewards based on how much they spend, with this addition likely to be added to the UK app come September. With more countries expected to be added by year’s end, the app is currently available in 12 countries, with a “borderless” feature allowing shoppers to use it while travelling in any country it is already rolled out.

5. KFC KEEPS UP ENGAGEMENT

As many brands paused operations during lockdowns, KFC opted to increase social media interactions with their customers to continue engagement virtually. 58% of millennials and 65% of Gen Z said they watched more online videos during lockdown, according to a Global Web Index report shared in April. KFC’s strong Instagram presence led them to host ‘KFC Clash’ challenges live on the informal, youth platform. The campaign consisted of a 4-part series of celebrity cook-offs, bringing joy and comic relief to approximately 17.3 million unique Instagram users.    

6. DIY BURGER & PIZZA KITS

The latest burger chain to get into the DIY kit game is U.S.-based Shake Shack. They've pulled together a kit which lets you recreate your very own ShackBurger at home. The kit has enough ingredients to make four ShackBurgers with the burger meat, Shack sauce, cheese, lettuce, tomato and signature potato buns all included. In addition, a portion of the DIY kit sales will go towards the Action Against Hunger charity. Pizza Pilgrims is also joining the takeaway bandwagon with their new picnic kit. Each kit comes with 2 pizzas, a pot of olives and a Nutella ring, complete with a red gingham blanket and Spotify Playlist to fully enjoy the picnic experience.

7. FOOD DELIVERY SURGES

Just Eat Takeaway.com has reported a significant jump in revenue from this time last year, up €76 million in EBITDA. The coronavirus lockdown led to a surge in online orders with a flux of restaurants joining up to meet demand. The food-ordering firm saw approximately 44% growth in its main markets, particularly across its largest market, Germany, with orders expected to remain strong for the remainder of the year. The London-based Just Eat and Amsterdam-based Takeaway.com merger has contributed to its multinational success, with agreements at hand to expand into the U.S. marketplace next through Chicago-based GrubHub. 

8. WENDY'S COMES TO THE UK

Wendy’s, famed for its burgers, chicken nuggets, milkshakes and being the third largest QSR in the U.S., have announced plans to open restaurants in the UK in the first half of 2021. This announcement comes twenty years after its last attempt to conquer the UK market when it previously operated ten restaurants nationwide. Now, with more than 6,000 sites worldwide, Wendy’s have submitted plans to open their first UK site in Reading at the start of the new year. 

9. M&S BOOSTS SUPPLY CHAIN

M&S is set to open a new 365,000sq ft distribution centre in Milton Keynes in September to aid its food supply chain. The expansion in capacity will modernise systems for stores and improve range availability for customers. M&S has already implemented efforts to reduce waste and enhance the customer experience with the Vangarde programme. As shopping habits have changed significantly over the last few months, the new distribution centre will enable M&S to respond more flexibility to customer demand.

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