Coming to a Food Court Near You

How about a Thai satay with a sticky rice crust? “That’s a legitimate good idea,” said research and development chef Steve Schimoler; “Oriental is trendy.” A hand-held pasta burrito? “A pastarito! Great, Latino food is a total rocket these days.” A tamale that peels like a banana? Schimoler nodded: “The edible package concept is very close.”

Schimoler was leading a workshop on how to develop foods for vending machines at the Branding America 2000 conference-expo, held at the Anaheim Convention Center on Thursday. Outside Hall B, vast tides of schoolchildren surged around for a separate career-day event, but inside, businesspeople were intently exploring branding in the nontraditional quick-serve (don’t call it fast-food) industry.

“Nontraditional” refers to the recent explosion of food franchises in airports, colleges, hospitals, military bases, “c-stores” (convenience stores) and, most obvious of all, shopping mall food courts. And branding is all-important there. A familiar franchise will do 25% to 30% more business in such a location than a no-name place.

As usual at conventions, there were booths for the companies that sell things you have never given a thought to--beverage dispensers, soft-pretzel vending carts, jazzy wall menus, even all those decorative tchotchkes like rustic menu blackboards, rattan baskets full of wheat sheaves and giant bottles of Italian pickles.

And there were new quick-serve brands looking for franchisees. For instance, Lipton’s is rolling out tea’s answer to Starbucks, complete with a stylish dispenser for chailatte (Indian spiced tea with milk--and chocolate too, if you want). There were at least half a dozen smoothie concepts, one featuring LifeSavers flavors.

The really hot concept continues to be co-branding. Nathan’s Famous now offers a package: a hot dog franchise that can include Kenny Rogers Roasters, Miami Subs Grill and Arthur Treacher’s Fish and Chips. Blimpie’s Subs and Sandwiches has developed a family of co-brands--Pasta Central, Maui Tacos, Smoothie Island.

Why co-brand? “We finally figured out that our franchisees pay rent all day long,” Blimpie executive Don Keller genially explained. “Pasta gives them more day-parts.” Or to put it in non-co-branding-ese, while sandwiches sell at lunch, pasta sells at dinner, much of it for takeout, or what the industry calls HMRs (home meal replacements).

So at Branding America 2000 there were booths for food systems--coordinated teams of quick-serve options (say, pasta, sandwich, espresso and cinnamon bun shops)--and for brokers that can customize a food court to your specs from a whole range of well-known brands. And a company named Alto-Shaam had an “alternative to co-branding”: a package of ovens, steamers, freezers and cabinets that would let you make all sorts of foods and put your own brand names on them.

But you could also use Alto-Shaam’s brand, Captain Willie. If you don’t want the world to think you’re out there in the food court all by yourself, that is.