Fighting back against supermarkets - US style

US supermarkets (these days including Tesco) are now firmly in the 'restaurant meal replacement' business, Nancy Kruse says, hiring chefs to enhance their culinary credentials with cost-conscious, stay-at-home consumers. Restaurants' share of the supper market is in decline.

Wholefoods Markets is now doing more take-out hot food than Applebees, Dardens or Outback. If not already, restaurants should be fighting back, urges Kruse. While supermarkets might have convenience, value and a reputation for healthy, organic and locally-produced food, restaurants can still win on quality and freshness, superior service and providing an affordable escape fro life's stress and strain.

Restaurants also employ cooking techniques that cannot be duplicated at home or in store - searing or slow-cooking, for example. Restaurants should be 'touting technique' right across their menus, she says.

Kruse is also encouraging restaurants to mimic supermarkets by offering sampling opportunities. "Get small bites into customers' hands. If people are waiting for a table, give them samples of new menu items. You can do it even while they are sitting at the table."

Sampling fits well with an existing and still growing US trend towards 'miniaturisation' of main dishes, which is aimed at enhancing value and encouraging sharing. Many chains now offer mini-burgers or 'sliders', not to mention mini-hotdogs, mini-sandwiches and mini-desserts.