aafes name brand fast food (nbff) new directorate focuses ... · baskin-robbins 46 4 50 blimpie 9 2...
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restaurant growth with the Exchange — leading the pace with 22 openings this past year — is bringing the brand closer to the second largest in our portfolio, driven by our guests’ desires,” Story said. “The sand-wich market segment is certainly the highest growth area for the Exchange, and for the industry in general.”
Story said that although a branded outlet such as Subway is growing, as it is tied into the healthy eat-ing trend, it is not alone in appealing to those looking to change their lifestyles.
“There are opportunities in all of our brands for healthful dining, and it is a matter of educating the guest and promoting the choice,” he explained. “We are launching video units in selected food courts that promote the healthful options in each brand repre-sented, to provide another opportunity to educate.”
Story noted that the Exchange was the first Burger King Corp. franchisee to display calorie counts on all of its interior menu boards, which he said served “to further provide information to allow guests to make
an informed menu selec-tion. Customer trends to-ward healthy products will certainly drive our market-ing efforts along with the introduction of new brands that cater to this market segment.”
NEW VENUES, DELIVERY METHODS
With healthful food op-tions at the top of mind this year, Story said that the Exchange is looking at two, unnamed major brands to add to the overall NBFF portfolio in 2013.
“One brand is a leader in the meal replacement category and definitely of-fers a departure from the market segments we cur-rently represent,” he said. “Since both brands are in
experience and pursuing alternate avenues to drive sales in existing locations, such as home
delivery and home meal replacement bundles.”
HEALTHY LIFESTYLESStory said the healthy lifestyle trend “certainly
impacts” AAFES’s market segments as the Depart-ment of Defense (DoD) “moves toward food trans-formation initiatives and the Healthy Base Initiative.” (See E and C News 4/13.)
A clear example in this change of thinking is re-lated to AAFES’s hamburger segment. “A few years ago, the Exchange burger segment was 44 percent of sales; as of right now, in early April, it is at 38 percent due to the shift in customer expectations for more healthful options.”
Restaurants that offer customers what they per-ceive to be healthier offerings are becoming increas-ingly popular on AAFES installations. “Subway
The Army & Air Force Exchange Service’s (AAFES) recently established Services Food Di-
rectorate — encompassing services, food, gasoline and movie theaters — is a brand-focused initiative designed to increase sales at AAFES restaurants in mall areas to drive customer traffic in all venues, including main strores.
According to Phil Story, the ex-change service’s director of Food Programs, the Name Brand Fast Food (NBFF) portion of the directorate’s responsibilities had sales of $888 million in fiscal 2012, a 3.1-percent increase versus prior year sales of $861 mil-lion. Even with this success, Story told E and C News that fiscal 2013 looks to be a “challenging year” for the exchange service’s NBFF portfolio “as we move forward into the uncertainty of commodity costs, stagnant sell prices and increasing competition for the ‘value’ dollar.”
Fast casual offers are moving down towards the pricing on the NBFF segment, which Story said serves to both increase choice as well as split the market share.
“The Exchange has reduced the capital expen-diture program to ensure we are aligned with troop restationing and personnel levels, and to ensure we continue to provide required service levels while maintaining the dividend return to the Army and Air Force,” Story related. “This will reduce our new store openings for fiscal 2013/2014, so sales increas-es will be derived from delivering a positive guest
Exchange customers have numerous food choices when they visit their local food
courts, like this one at Kaiserslautern Military Community Center (KMCC), Germany.
Healthy eating is at top of mind now, with the belief that every restaurant in the portfo-
lio has the potential for this type of fare.
Story
T
New Directorate Focuses on
What Patrons Want
Brand Direct-Run Concessions TotalA&W All American Food 3 0 3Arby’s 4 0 4Baskin-Robbins 46 4 50Blimpie 9 2 11Bruster’s Real Ice Cream 0 1 1Burger King 176 10 186California Tortilla 0 1 1Capt. D’s 10 0 10Charley’s Grilled Subs 104 2 106Churchs Chicken 13 0 13Cinnabon 17 0 17Dairy Queen/Orange Julius 0 1 1Domino’s Pizza 0 12 12Dunkin’ Donuts 7 11 18Einstein Bros. Bagels 18 0 18Froots 1 1 2Godfather’s Pizza 11 0 11Greek Odyssey Café 2 0 2Green Beans Coffee 0 55 55Johnny Rockets 1 0 1Jump Asian 0 1 1KFC 0 6 6Marco’s Pizza 0 2 2
Brand Direct-Run Concessions TotalMcDonald’s 0 5 5Manchu Wok 35 0 35Manhattan Bagels 1 0 1Noble Roman’s Pizza 0 3 3Panda Express 0 1 1Papa John’s Pizza 0 3 3Pizza Hut 29 30 59Pizza Inn 0 6 6Popeyes Chicken 74 6 80Quiznos 0 1 1Seattle’s Best Coffee 8 0 8Smoothie King 0 3 3Starbucks 49 12 61Subway 109 64 173Taco Bell 66 2 68Taco John 13 0 13Tim Hortons 0 4 4U Food Grill 0 1 1Wing Street 11 14 25Wing Zone 6 0 6
Total 823 264 1,087
Current as of April 15, 2013. Source: AAFES
AAFES Name Brand Fast Food Portfolio
EXCHANGE and COMMISSARY NEWS
AAFES Name Brand Fast Food (NBFF)
MAY 2013
negotiation, we cannot provide any more details.” AAFES is also looking at alternative delivery
methods to bring its food choices to a larger seg-ment of the base population.
“We have been watching the food truck ‘phe-nomenon,’ and are seeking operators near our in-stallations to provide that experience this year as an extension of our current operations, to offer variety and to bring the product to loca-tions on the installation that are located away from the main commercial areas,” Story said.
Story said the Exchange develops its restaurants “to meet the needs of the military community based on command requirements for quality of life. Ser-vice to Soldiers, families and retirees is the num-ber-one consideration in deciding which NBFF or AAFES Signature Brand to develop.”
He said that other factors considered in the brand selection decision process include demographics; existing food service, both on and off the installa-tion; brands available for development; anticipated customer frequency of the brand; and the potential for success.
“The AAFES general manager (GM) works closely with the local command to ensure the brand identified best meets the installation’s needs,” he explained.
THE FUTURE“The NBFF business is always changing, as
technology drives improvements in cooking equip-ment and point-of-sale (POS) systems that pro-vide operating data that can be ‘sliced and diced’ — no pun intended — to ensure that restaurant sales and profit are maximized,” Story noted.
“One thing that is constant in our world is no two days will be the same. Embrace the challenges and create a positive environment for associates to grow and have a sense of purpose in serving our military.
“Increasing pressures on margins require a con-stant review of the financials and having each team member understand how they contribute to the suc-cess of the restaurant. More importantly … keep it fun!”
—E and C NEWS
Breakdown By Type of VenueVenue TotalGeneric Concession . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .235 Generic Direct . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .172Plants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7School Feeding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .88 Theaters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .562 Current as of April 15, 2013. Source: AAFES
AAFES “Signature” In-House Brands
Signature Brand TotalAmerican Eatery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53Anthony’s Pizza . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .152Frank’s Franks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4Mainstreet Xpresso/Café . . . . . . . . . . . . .23Reel Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .88 Robin Hood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51Specialty Express Products . . . . . . . . . . . .31Xtreeme Franks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .415 Grand Total: 2,064*
*The cumulative total of NBFF Direct; NBFF Concession; Generic-Concession; Generic-Direct; Plants; School Feeding; Theaters; and Signature Brands.Current as of April 15, 2013. Source: AAFES
EXCHANGE and COMMISSARY NEWS
AAFES Name Brand Fast Food (NBFF)
MAY 2013