Fine
Dining Falls Short With Females
How
Store Brand Perishables Measure Up
Family
Size Meat Marketing
Time,
Work and $ For Non-Foods
Loyalty
Card Expose
FMI
Feedback
FINE
DINING FALLS SHORT WITH FEMALES
Women's place in society has changed. Women's place in
the workplace has changed as well. But as customers of upscale bars
and restaurants, they still signal lower covers and smaller tips and
all too often get third-rate seats and second-rate service. This long-standing
fact of life doesn't sit well with today's independent women who are
losing their tolerance of second-class treatment from first class hotels
and restaurants. Their turn-off is creating new opportunities for casual
and ethnic restaurants and for fine dining at home.
The complaints we've
been hearing led us to ask two cross sections of women two questions:
1. What happens when you send food back?
2. Compared with men, how are you being treated in fine dining establishments?
Their answers suggest
that fine restaurants have lost luster with ladies who are:
- Tired of being
treated as second class patrons, especially by wait-staff
- Tired of being
rushed by wait-staff and managers who are seeking to increase their
turns
- Tired of fussy
pretensions and super-premium prices for less than super food
The first women
we talked with were members of Les Dames d'Escoffier - gourmets and
fine dining aficionados who are affiliated with the food industry as
chefs, restaurant operators, brokers, writers, historians or even researchers.
Some of the "Dames" felt that restaurateurs pay less attention
to food returned to the kitchen by women because so many women patrons
savored food rather than really ate it. Many felt that fine food had
become phony or overly fussy and pretentious. And most felt that portions
were "disgustingly oversized," a perception the shoppers on
our panel did not support:
- The inner-bullshit
detection of women is what's leadingthem away from the frou-frou impress-your-friends
experience.
- I want CLEAN
food. Organic food. Cooked in a way that satisfies my soul.
- I'm tired
of over-fussed and under-whelming food. I look forward more to the
little family run Japanese or Vietnamese restaurant, or the hole in
the wall Italian that tastes like my mother in law's.
- Today's booming
steak houses are prime examples of upscale restaurants targeting male
big spenders. They have little use for female patrons except as trophies.
- Many of the
women I know socially send back food on a whim, and do not drink wine.
The men are usually afraid to send back food, and eat it anyway. Most
restaurants serve too much food, and pile on the glop these days too.
- Many women
send back food rather than criticize it. And in my experience, restaurants
don't treat women customers' implicit criticisms as seriously as men's.
- Women have
many reasons for not making a fuss about disappointing food. One,
of course, is that such complaints are viewed as a negative (too fussy)
in women.
- The shoppers
on our panel fully agreed with the "Dames" in opposing a
fat tax and feeling that men get better service.
| Response
to statements: |
Agree
|
Disagree |
No
Opinion |
| Men
get better service because they are seen as spending more or having
more power. |
64% |
13% |
23% |
| Women
savor; men eat. |
56% |
9% |
35% |
| Leisurely
dining is no longer encouraged unless you are drinking a lot. |
54% |
22% |
24% |
| The
days of the customer-is-always-right are gone. |
53% |
14% |
33% |
| Women
are more sensitive to being rushed and often do feel rushed in today's
restaurants. |
53% |
18% |
29% |
| The
thrill is gone from fine restaurants basically. Why pay so much
money for over-fussed and under-whelming food? |
52% |
27% |
21% |
| Women
are more likely than men to complain about food and send it back
if it's not right. |
50% |
17% |
33% |
| Most
menus are designed for men. |
45% |
14% |
31% |
| Restaurants
take women's complaints less seriously than men's. |
44% |
21% |
35% |
| I
no longer get the luxurious feeling of being pampered at restaurants,
even the expensive ones. |
44% |
37% |
20% |
| Women
get more excited about food than men do. |
42% |
18% |
40% |
| The
woman is still the forgotten diner. |
40% |
25% |
35% |
| Most
tablecloth restaurants serve too much food these days. |
34% |
19% |
19% |
| Fine
dining is due for a next phase-more home style, more simple, more
real. |
30% |
39% |
31% |
| Restaurants
send twice as much food to the table with half the quality they
should. |
26% |
35% |
29% |
| The
idea of a Fat-tax or a High Calorie Tax for restaurant foods that
are extremely (unhealthfully) high calorie makes sense and deserves
consideration. |
4% |
74% |
22% |
Opposition to the
quantities of food served was the main point of shopper departure from
the "Dames'" perception, a departure which helps explain why
so many are struggling with long term effects of large portions and
supersizing.
- The more expensive
the restaurant, the more apt servers are to address the men in the
party and hand the check to them.
- Fine restaurants
are beginning to cost too much.
- Recently we
use fast foods rather than go to a restaurant. They're way too expensive
for the amount and taste of food that you get. The service nowadays
is gone. The respect for customers is no longer in use. As an ex-waitress,
I cannot believe how rude they are to customers, rush them in and
out and have seen them follow a customer to remark on their tip! Unheard
of years ago. What happened to respect? Fast foods nowadays are a
better value, no waitress to worry (or tip) and can get plenty of
food for the price.
- I recently
dined with my two sisters at a restaurant, which was voted "best
in state" in "Connecticut" magazine. My sister had
a steak for $26.95. No potato included, a la carte. The steak was
gristly and over-cooked, and when the waitress asked how it was, she
told her, but no comment was made. The other tables received nice,
hot bread, but we did not. Halfway through the meal we asked whether
our meal came with bread. The waitress nonchalantly said, "Oh,
didn't you get bread?" A boy delivered a loaf, with no comment.
Our meals were mediocre at best, and over-priced. We paid over $100
for the three meals, not including tip or drinks, and left very dissatisfied.
I feel that restaurants no longer feel that the customer is right
and couldn't care less about our satisfaction.
- I just had
a birthday dinner with two women friends at a fancy restaurant where
dinner is fixed price at almost $100 plus wine and plus tip. We ordered
two bottles of pretty expensive wine. The restaurant was crowded but
we angry about how much less attention we got than the men or the
couples. The waiter never poured any of our expensive wine. We did
it all ourselves. And we certainly won't go back.
Top
HOW
STORE BRAND PERISHABLES MEASURE UP
Buying store-labeled meat, milk, and chicken is as familiar and comfortable
to most shoppers as buying branded hot dogs, branded yogurt, branded
cereals, and branded laundry products. In the context of growing up
in America, branded meats and poultry are new kids on the block.
Added value and highly differentiated perishables are seen differently
- for most shoppers, buying store brands of yogurt, hot dogs, take out
foods and refrigerated pizzas involves making a quality trade-off to
get the lower price. With the exception of Kraft cheese and Wonder bread,
national brands don't have the long and strong consumer relationships
in perishables that they have in groceries and other consumer products.
The ratings and comments suggest that products in any category can be
differentiated by stores or by brands. Shoppers are beginning to talk
about exceptional store brand products that they or their families actually
prefer to national brand versions. Mothers are also telling us that
they aren't paying much attention to kid's brand preferences for products
that are eaten at home - they are using brand names like Cheerio's as
cereal flavor designators and saving money on the store brand versions
- a happening which is reflected in the growing sales of store brands
in these categories.
- "We love
Schnuck's bacon but it's the only store brand food we buy."
- "I've had
more comments on my Giant brownies than any other kind at double the
price. I'll never change."
- "My kids
love ValueWise (Jewel) mac and cheese."
- "Store brand
Weis real mayonnaise is the best."
Ratings of store
brand perishables comparability with national brands where 5=Store brands
are as good or better
| Product |
Mean
for all |
Ages
31-49 |
Ages
50+ |
Middle
Income |
Higher
Income |
| 1.
Fresh meat |
4.5 |
4.6 |
4.3 |
4.5 |
4.5 |
| 2.
Fresh poultry |
4.3 |
4.5 |
4.1 |
4.3 |
4.4 |
| 3.
Cakes |
4.1 |
4.0 |
4.0 |
3.9 |
4.3 |
| 4.
Deli-type salads |
4.1 |
4.5 |
3.5 |
4.2 |
4.0 |
| 5.
Deli-sliced meats |
4.0 |
4.1 |
3.6 |
3.9 |
4.0 |
| 6.
Shredded cheeses |
4.0 |
4.1 |
3.8 |
3.9 |
4.0 |
| 7.
Variety bulk cheeses |
4.0 |
3.9 |
4.0 |
3.8 |
3.8 |
| 8.
Sliced cheeses |
3.9 |
3.9 |
3.6 |
3.9 |
3.4 |
| 9.
Breads |
3.8 |
3.7 |
3.6 |
3.5 |
4.3 |
| 10.
Cookies |
3.8 |
3.9 |
3.5 |
3.7 |
3.9 |
| 11.
Take-out foods |
3.8 |
3.9 |
3.3 |
3.9 |
3.3 |
| 12.
Packaged lunchmeats |
3.5 |
3.7 |
3.1 |
3.2 |
3.6 |
| 13.
Refrigerated pizza |
3.5 |
3.8 |
2.9 |
3.5 |
3.5 |
| 14.
Sausage |
3.4 |
3.4 |
3.2 |
3.0 |
3.7 |
| 15.
Yogurt |
3.4 |
3.7 |
3.0 |
3.5 |
3.2 |
| 16.
Hot Dogs |
3.1 |
3.2 |
3.0 |
2.9 |
2.9 |
In the table above,
Columns 2 and 3 show the mean store brand ratings by consumers aged
31-49 and 50+. Note that the older consumers rated store brands lower
(or less equivalent) than the younger respondents in almost all categories.
Columns 4 and 5
show the mean ratings for middle and higher income consumers. There
was less rating difference by income than by age. Higher income respondents
gave store brands higher ratings in several categories but significantly
lower ratings on take-out foods. Since higher income respondents are
better able to afford and more likely to use take out foods, this difference
suggests a problem for supermarkets.
More processed foods in long-advertised categories such as hot dogs;
yogurt, pizza and packaged lunchmeats were rated lower or further from
national brand quality.
In the U.S., national brands have more appeal and stronger consumer
relationships than store brands. But their power is much weaker in some
categories than in others. Today shoppers are more likely to feel like
free agents about their brand choices. The future appears to be open
to whoever consistently delivers the best product at the best price
and is able to develop brand and product relationships with shoppers.
Top
FAMILY
SIZE MEAT MARKETING
Singles, seniors, and small household shoppers have been complaining
about meat packages that were larger than they wanted or needed for
as long as we've been listening. Many retailers have responded to their
needs with single and two steak packages and a few with single serving
size packages of chicken parts and ground beef. But most retailers continue
to penalize the small size self-service buyer on price. The savings
are on "family-packs," "freezer packs," or "value
packs" - a merchandising tradition which frustrates and irritates
small household shoppers who accept large size savings with equanimity
in other departments.
My #1 complaint
is being forced to buy unwanted "family packs" of steaks,
etc. to get the sale price. Only 2 in my family. Should be able to get
two steaks or whatever at sale price. This drives me nuts!!
This shopper is
hardly alone in her feelings - and meat packagers and retailers should
strive to understand them by taking special note of the shopper's use
of the word "forced."
Feeling forced to do or buy something you don't want to do or to buy
is irritating and frustrating to the shopper and works as a barrier
to good store-customer or brand-customer relationships.
Feeling "forced to buy" the larger size is much stronger and
more common at the meat case than in the paper or cereal aisles. Today's
shoppers aren't as dependent on meat as were yesterday's shoppers, but
meat and poultry are significant parts of their purchases and their
enjoyment. Buying the meat or poultry item that is on special is a symbol
of smart shopping that it passed down from generation to generation.
Changes in today's market place make this more important to food retailers
than ever:
1. Smaller households are today's norm.
2. The wise use of leftovers is yesterday's approach to homemaking and
meal fixing.
3. Supermarkets do a large share of their business from shoppers who
are shopping for tonight's dinner or tomorrows.
4. Supermarkets are losing out to other channels.
Forcing supermarket shoppers to buy more meat than they want makes other
choices and other channels more attractive.
Top
TIME,
WORK, AND $ FOR NON FOODS
Last month we reported on the relative importance of time, work and
money for food products. There the highest numbers came from younger
shoppers who are committed to saving time and work at lunch. Here, the
youngest respondents again show their passion for products that save
time and work-which helps to explain the success of cleaning products
like Swifter.
Attitudes about
drug products are the opposite of attitudes about cleaning products.
While older consumers are most concerned about saving money on drugs,
they are also more concerned than younger shoppers about saving time
and work in the drug category. The reason for this flip comes to life
in the following comment: "Keeping up with the Ginkgo and the
eleven other vitamins, herbals and supplements I'm taking is time consuming.
It takes time to sort them, take them and reorder them. Add that to
keeping my mother up to date on her prescriptions and filling her morning
and evening pill boxes every week and you are talking about a real chunk
of time which I'd love to get a handle on."
(Numbers show mean
importance ratings on a 5-point scale where 5=Extremely important.)
|
Ages
19-30 |
Ages
31-49 |
Ages
50+ |
| Cleaning
products |
|
|
|
| Time |
4.8 |
4.2 |
4.1 |
| Work |
4.8 |
4.2 |
4.1 |
|
Money |
3.6 |
4.2 |
3.8 |
| Communications |
|
|
|
| Time |
3.0 |
4.1 |
3.3 |
| Work |
3.5 |
3.9 |
3.2 |
|
Money |
3.5 |
4.1 |
4.2 |
| Home
products/Wax |
|
|
|
| Time |
4.0 |
3.4 |
3.5 |
| Work |
4.3 |
3.5 |
3.3 |
|
Money |
3.3 |
3.7 |
3.7 |
| Home
furnishings |
|
|
|
| Time |
2.8 |
3.4 |
3.3 |
| Work |
2.8 |
3.2 |
3.0 |
|
Money |
4.5 |
4.0 |
4.2 |
| Laundry
products |
|
|
|
| Time |
4.0 |
3.6 |
3.5 |
| Work |
4.0 |
3.8 |
3.5 |
|
Money |
3.5 |
4.0 |
3.8 |
| Lawn/Garden
care |
|
|
|
| Time |
4.0 |
3.3 |
3.5 |
| Work |
3.8 |
3.4 |
3.7 |
|
Money |
4.3 |
4.0 |
3.9 |
| Drugs |
|
|
|
| Time |
3.3 |
4.0 |
4.1 |
| Work |
3.3 |
3.8 |
4.0 |
|
Money |
4.0 |
4.8 |
4.7 |
LOYALTY
CARD EXPOSÉ
Free agent consumers hate to be saddled with a wallet full of loyalty
cards that bulk up wallets, which are already bulging from an oversized
assortment of charge cards, health care cards, ID's and special photographs.
At the same time, they don't want to risk paying a premium because the
store they stop at has a cardholder special. Now, some shoppers are
buzzing about their discovery that Shop Rite loyalty cards work just
as well at Pathmark stores and vice versa and etc. Just one more hurdle
for retailers loyalty game - and one more assertion of freedom for consumers
who hate to be pinned down.
Top
FMI
FEEDBACK
Reflecting and projecting the American food marketplace as a whole,
the big food marketing show in Chicago was faster and more fattening
than ever. We suggest a new approach to estimating consumption: Calories
per square foot of display space times the minutes or seconds it takes
to prepare and eat high-convenience calories. Using calories/foot as
a base for trend spotting, we can say with confidence that it will keep
getting easier for shoppers to prepare and consume more calories in
less time, with one hand, and with less effort. This year's show could
have been called Convenience Accelerated. Almost every food brand we
could name was displaying its latest (or soonest to roll out) answer
to today's time-short and calorie-be-damned shoppers.
The products on
display were a good fit with reports that less than a third of consumers
under age 40 are scratch cooks by any definition. One of the most characteristic
was Campbell's Supper Bakes which promise "Five Minute Prep"
and "True Homemade Taste" from a pretty ordinary looking box
that contains one can (for baking sauce) plus three separate packets
for toppings, seasoning, and pasta or rice that cook in the baking sauce
with no pasta or rice boiling required. Consumers add the can and packet
contents to their own meat in their own 9"x13" pan. The Supper
Bake samples that this overstuffed show-viewer tasted seemed bland and
limp - but maybe that's the result of tasting one too many fried meats,
fishes, and veggies or maybe it's the taste that today's shoppers are
calling "homemade".