Plain bottled water continues its popularity among consumers, but new flavors and features will bring opportunities to both bottled water and sports drinks in 2021. “Bottled water is dominated by the big brands from the major companies,” said Gary Hemphill, managing director of research at Beverage Marketing Corp. “They have the infrastructure and the economies…
Love’s Triples Annual School Donations
Love’s Travel Stops is donating $300,000 to 11 school foundations in the Oklahoma City area — where its corporate offices are located — to fund classroom projects. Since 2016, Love’s has given $100,000 annually to Oklahoma City Public Schools Foundation. This is the first year the company is donating to additional foundations that support other…
Perfect Storm Gathering for CBD Edibles?
While acceptance of CBD products has been slowly gaining momentum in the U.S. as the number of mainstream retailers increases, cannabis edibles are becoming the preferred entrée for new CBD users. Those consumers are looking for relief from ailments like anxiety, insomnia, chronic pain and soreness from occupational and athletic exertion. Cannabis-infused foods revenues –…
Casey’s Adds Made-From-Scratch Breadsticks to the Menu
Casey’s General Stores has added new, made-from-scratch cheesy breadsticks to its lineup of foods made in store kitchens across its 16-state footprint. The breadsticks are baked with dough prepared fresh each day and topped with real whole milk mozzarella cheese. Casey’s teamed up with comedian and self-proclaimed cheesy dad Joel McHale to see if he’s…
Retailers Look Forward to Pre-Pandemic Levels of Summer Traffic
Convenience retailers anticipate that leisure travel and routine customer trips will return to pre-pandemic levels this summer, according to the results of a new NACS survey of U.S. convenience store owners. Convenience stores, which sell 80% of the fuel purchased in the country, experienced a 13% decrease in fuel sales and less customer traffic throughout…
Harris Tea Acquires Tetley Harris Food Group
Harris Tea Co. announced that it has acquired Tetley Harris Food Group from Tata Consumer Products Co. For the past 18 years, Harris Tea was a part owner of the Tetley Harris Food Group with a focus on global sourcing, innovation and manufacturing of beverage products for the foodservice industry. With this acquisition of the…
Labor Management in the Age of COVID-19
CStore Decisions and Humetrics, for the 13th consecutive year, have collaborated on the annual Human Resources (HR) Benchmarking Survey, which polled c-store retailers between Jan. 4 and March 1, 2021, about HR practices, labor challenges and headwinds. Given the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, the past 12 months have brought unprecedented operational…
Energy Drinks Enjoy Upswing
As customers hunkered down during 2020 lockdowns due to COVID-19, many looked to energy drinks to help them power through lockdown and pandemic fatigue. According to IRI, the convenience store channel during calendar year 2020, ending Dec. 27, saw sales top $9.8 billion, a 2.5% increase. Leading the way in the category were Red Bull,…
Bakery Looks to Rebound
In 2021, c-stores are looking to recoup fresh bakery sales after the COVID-19 pandemic sent 2020 bakery sales plummeting. Nouria Energy, which has 127 convenience stores in Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire and Rhode Island, had big plans to expand its two-year-old fresh bakery segment last year, but the pandemic brought those plans to a sudden…
Sheetz Donates $10,000 to Mid-Ohio Food Collective
Altoona, Pa.-based Sheetz announced a donation of $10,000 to the Mid-Ohio Food Collective to help those in need access nutritious meals. Last month, Sheetz launched a challenge to Columbus fans, encouraging them to post about Sheetz coming to Columbus using the hashtag #SheetzIsComing. If Columbus residents posted enough to break Sheetz’s “Freak-o-Meter,” the retailer would…