Flavorful and healthy are what American consumers are craving, and expect to get it whether it’s made-to-order or grab-and-go. Some retailers explain how they use fresh and—increasingly—ethnic products to satisfy customers’ expectations.
By Marilyn Odesser-Torpey, Associate Editor
In a recent survey by the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS), almost two in three Americans (64%) said that convenience stores are offering healthier, nutritious products.
Moreover, the quotient increases to 67% for females and 75% for Millennials. That’s a long way from a few years ago when most c-stores were viewed as healthful food wastelands—barren of anything nutritious.
Torrance, Calif.-based Famima!! Convenience Stores is one company that caught on to the growing trend toward fresh and healthy early. Sushi has long been a staple of its fresh food offerings.
In 2009, Famima introduced several varieties of vegan entrees in flavors such as soy orange chicken, soy seitan teriyaki and vegan spicy noodle. They are half the calories of similar meat entrees for the same volume of food, said Noriyuki Kinoshita, general manager, merchandising department.
“When we looked at the market trends, we knew we needed to add some low-calorie entrees,” he said.
While they’re not the biggest sellers in the case (they come in about the middle, Kinoshita said), the vegan entrees have particular appeal to female customers, an important demographic that many convenience stores are courting. About 45% of Famima’s customer base is female.
In a blind taste test, consumers could not differentiate between the vegan entrees and meat menu items.
“People don’t want to sacrifice taste to get healthy, but if the taste is nearly the same, some will choose the soy because they view it as the more healthful option,” he said.
For fresh snacking, Famima offers traditional Japanese onigiri or rice “balls.” Actually three-and-a-half-inch triangles, they are made with salted rice and wrapped in seaweed paper.
The rice balls are available with a choice of eight different fillings including tuna, salmon, kombu—or kelp—and umeboshi, a Japanese pickled plum. Between 50-60% of customers purchase at least two at a time.
They, along with the sushi, entrees, sandwiches and salads, are displayed in the stores’ deli cold case for grab and go. Famima stores receive delivery of their deli items every day.
“We think the daily delivery is one major reason our customers trust us to always have fresh foods,” Kinoshita said.
Not every fresh item has to be positioned as health food. Another Asian specialty that Famima shoppers seem to love for snacks or meals is the signature Steamy Bun, which, like dim sum, is a slightly-sweet dough filled with either chicken and mushroom or spicy char siew pork, then steamed. The buns are available for grab and go from the hot case.
HANDHELD SUCCESS
At Mad Max Convenience Stores, a 10-unit chain based in Saukville, Wis., the burritos are always fresh and the customers love them all day long. Egg-, meat- and bean-filled burritos start the day. Then, at lunchtime, chicken burritos take over.
“We cook the chicken in a crock pot all day,” said Janiece Maxwell, Mad Max’s chief financial officer. “We made a conscious decision not to use frozen products. Everything is made in our stores.”
Customers who want to trim the calories or just eat a little lighter can skip the beans and rice. Another new handheld item was inspired when Maxwell was visiting Italy last year. She noticed that people were walking along the streets eating rolled-up crepes.
Recently the paper-thin pancakes were introduced in the company’s West Bend store. Some customers prefer them filled with bananas or other fresh fruit, while others want to indulge a little bit, choosing Nutella or sugar butter.
In addition, crepes are available at the store all day. They are becoming a popular breakfast item and are selling well throughout the day as snacks, according to Maxwell.
ACHIEVING A HEALTH HALO
Whether for meals or snacks, consumers expect top quality.
“The collective patience consumers have for lowering their quality expectations just so they can have convenient food has worn thin,” said a recent report from the Hartman Group, a market research firm based in Bellevue, Wash. But the c-store industry also has a ways to go to convince consumers that they can fill the bill. According the Hartman Group, 42% of consumers look to quick-serve and fast casual operators more than convenience stores (31%) when better flavors is an important consideration.
Aside from fresh and made-to-order, descriptive cues consumers equate with higher-quality food products include premium, organic, natural, local, ethnic and sustainable, the report said. Just grouping locally-produced items, such as sandwiches, juices, wines, beers, wraps and baked goods, together in one display can pique consumers’ interest.
The Hartman Group also suggested c-stores promote “value-added foods” in single servings for immediate consumption.
These offerings can include fruits, vegetables, half-size sandwiches and bento boxes filled with items that have a variety of flavors. In a consumer survey, the Hartman Group found that health is important in 56% of snacking occasions.
Though made-to-order is one of the clearest indicators of freshness and healthfulness, they are not the only ones, said Jeff Lenard, vice president, strategic industry initiatives for NACS.
“Packaged items are not inherently unhealthy,” Lenard said. “The majority of the products sold at Trader Joe’s, which, by the way, started out as Pronto Market Convenience Stores in the 50’s, are packaged, yet they have a halo of freshness. It’s how you handle the products that determines whether you get and keep that halo.”
In a survey released last September by the Nielsen Co. research firm, 54% of respondents said they had chosen fresh fruit as a snack during the past 30 days. Fruit tied with chocolate as the snack consumers said they would choose above all others.
CUP-UPPANCE
For both meals and snacks, fruit cups are also selling like hotcakes at Famima. Kinoshita noted that sales of the fresh cut fruit have increased 50% over the last five years. The size of the cup customers are buying has also increased.
Kinoshita sees many customers buying the fruit cups for lunch in place of other foods.
Honolulu-based Aloha Petroleum makes its fresh fruit cup even easier to eat for customers. It packages a fork right in the cup.
Fresh fruit cups also fit nicely into the car cupholder, making them the perfect convenience food for customers on the go.
“The cupholder is becoming the nation’s dining room,” said Lenard.
U.S. fresh produce sales were an estimated $43 billion in 2013, according to a report published in March by NACS and the United Produce Association. C-stores represent less than 1% of those sales, which opens up a major opportunity for the channel, the report said.