DAWN FARMS TOP 9 | ISSUE 9 | 2018

GLOBAL UPDATE ON CONSUMER, MARKET AND MENU INSIGHTS. 

1. TELEPIZZA’S IRISH ACQUISITION

Telepizza Spain has bought the majority stake of Irish delivery chain Apache Pizza (133 franchisee-owned stores across Ireland). OKR (the O’Leary family) who operate the Burger King franchise in Ireland now owns the minority share. Closest competitors in Ireland are Domino’s and Papa John’s, each with 50 stores. 2017 has seen significant expansion for Telepizza – net growth of 218 outlets, including 33 in Spain, 147 in the rest of Europe, and 24 in the US. Telepizza has also entered into 4 other new markets: Switzerland (Pizza Blitz), Czech Republic (Forty Pizza), France and Paraguay.  Total revenues grew by 8.6% last year to reach €561.6 million with a total of 1,607 stores worldwide.

2. NEW CAFÉ ROUGE-TO-GO CONCEPT 

Café Rouge, part of the Casual Dining Group, is launching a new delivery concept ‘Stack & Grill’, to take advantage of the fast-growing delivery opportunity. Launching in March, it will offer a concise menu of items best suited to delivery, including new sourdough croque monsieurs, burgers and craft beers. Initially available at 40 stores, the café/bistro chain will take advantage of spare evening capacity in its existing store kitchens.  If successful, Stack & Grill will replace the current Café Rouge delivery service offer. 

3. US FAST CASUALS TO WATCH 

At the recent Casual Dining Show in London there wasn’t much mention of the ‘fast casual’ format however showing that this trend is alive and kicking in the US, here is a link to the ’40 under 40’ hottest Fast Casual 2.0 start-ups, according to QSR Magazine >> Young newcomers like these are forcing much larger brands to re-evaluate their own operations. Here you will find inspiration on chef-driven menus, a focus on experience, high quality ingredients, healthy food concepts, and above all a collaborative spirit.

4. MCDONALD’S & MICKEY REUNITED

After a 12-year hiatus, Disney and McDonald's have announced a new ‘non-exclusive’ promotion partnership due to begin in June. Their last cross-promotional deal was 1996-2006, worth an estimated $1bn to Disney, however this was reportedly not renewed due to new nutritional guidelines introduced by McDonald’s. In light of forthcoming changes to Happy Meals, the new deal will pair Happy Meals with characters from Disney, Pixar, Marvel among others, starting with Incredibles 2. In other McDonald’s news, “Pour Some Cheese Bolognese Fries” will soon be available in McDonald’s Japan (rich Italian sauce made of white cheddar cheese, ground beef and pork, caramelized onions, garlic, tomatoes and black pepper).

5. PERMISSABLE PIZZA INDULGENCE

UK supermarket pizza sales are growing – +4.4% last year to reach £973mn (Kantar Worldpanel). More consumers are buying and eating pizza more frequently - some 28% of consumers eat supermarket pizza weekly, up 1.9% on 2016 translating into 21mn new occasions. Top this with more innovation in frozen and global flavours making pizza more diverse. Enjoyment and convenience are the driving factors, with kids representing almost 1 in 4 pizza occasions, while pizza is less popular among women and over-45s. We all need a little indulgence now and again; behavioural research agency, Watch Me Think has shared a video with consumers explaining how they justify permissible treats, watch it here >>

6. EAT & DEBENHAMS MASH-UP 

Compass Group UK & Ireland has launched a new partnership between high street sandwich chain Eat and Debenhams, initially tested in 2 Debenhams stores in Basingstoke and Portsmouth. Debenhams restaurants serve 19 million customers every year across 175 stores. Eat concessions will serve hot food options such as wok pots and pies, as well as cold options such as sandwiches, all prepared on site. Eat is also hoping to develop this channel further by opening in hospital and university sites, on top of what they’re currently trialling with TRG at Gatwick airport. 

7. LATIN AMERICAN & GLUTEN FREE

London has no shortage of Mexican dining options, Peruvian is becoming established and Cuban is also gaining popularity. New gluten free concept is Paladar, showcasing all of these cuisines under one roof with the addition of Columbian and Ecuadorian.  ‘Paladar’ means ‘palate’ referring to taste and appetite. The entire menu is gluten free, offering corn-based breads, cassava and plantain, and is split into land, sea and farm with large and small plates for sharing. Some dishes that take our fancy are Crispy Pork Belly with Agave & Sriracha Chilli Sauce Reduction, Caribbean Lamb Stew With Sweet Potatoes And Mint and Grilled Chicken Skewers (Peruvian Anticuchos) with Aji Amarillo Chilli Sauce. 

8. WATCH OUT FOR MEXICAN MOLE

The Mexican food wave is rippling all over Europe and it's no surprise that people are starting to explore new, more adventurous recipes. Could mole be the next tinga? Similar to pasta recipes in Italy, in Mexico the recipe for mole varies from village to village and family to family. Mole can vary from a creamy almond based sauce (mole alemdrado) to a dark rich sauce (mole negro). One thing all moles have in common is a base of smoked dried chillies and not all moles have the addition of chocolate, which is a common misconception. The diversity of mole sauce shows that we are still just scraping the surface of what we know about Mexican cuisine. 

9. DELIVEROO PROMOTES CHOICE 

A new global campaign has been launched by Deliveroo to raise awareness of its brand and the vast choice of over 80 cuisines it offers via its 15,000 partners. As part of the ‘Eat more amazing’ campaign, one example of activation is the burger billboard near the Old Truman Brewery in London on 13 March. It will be made from burgers (classic beef, chicken or vegetarian) which are free to passers-by. According to YouGov BrandIndex, Deliveroo has better brand awareness than Amazon and Uber but still lags Just Eat and Hungry House.