Smucker’s offers a full line of distinctive portion-control products, and the opportunity to add comfort and value to any foodservice operation by displaying America’s most trusted brand of jams, jellies and preserves. customers crave comfort food in times of economic recession—food that reminds them of a simpler time and fills a psychological need for emotional…
Community Cries Foul Over Canned Canine
Customers are standing behind their favorite convenience store employee, Cody, a chocolate Labrador recently banned from his post at a BP convenience store in Clearwater, Fla., by the state’s Department of Agriculture. Cody had long accompanied store-owner Karim Mansour to the store a couple times a week, except during a short period of time when…
Targeting Customers with Prepaid
TOP PERFORMERS PaySpot (dba epay) Coinstar HONORABLE MENTIONS Incomm First Data Prepaid services are changing the way customers do business. Low-income families, unbanked and underbanked customers, students, those with poor credit and customers that spend much of their time on the road are among those taking advantage of prepaid debit cards and bill services that…
Smokeless Sales Stay Strong
TOP PERFORMERS Copenhagen (Altria Sales & Distribution/US Smokeless) Grizzley (Conwood/Reynolds America) Skoal (Altria Sales & Distribution/ US Smokel) HONORABLE MENTIONS Longhorn, Red Man and Timber Wolf (Swedish Match) Kodiak (Conwood/Reynolds America) The effect of tobacco taxation and smoking restrictions has made it much more difficult to rely on cigarette sales as the primary category for…
Opportunities Exist for Cigars
TOP PERFORMERS Altria Sales & Distribution (John Middleton) Swisher Swedish Match HONORABLE MENTIONS Altadis USA Republic Tobacco The SCHIP tobacco tax rates that hit in April 2009 are costing cigar smokers more, but sales continue to persevere. As of April, the federal taxes on large cigars rose from 20.719% of the wholesale price with a…
Protecting Cigarette Sales
TOP PERFORMERS Altria Sales & Distribution (Philip Morris USA) R. J. Reynolds Lorillard HONORABLE MENTIONS Liggett Vector Natural American Spirit/Santa Fe (Reynolds American) Commonwealth Brands Despite the wild nine-month ride that saw a large federal tax increase and the Food & Drug Administration gain control over the category, cigarettes continue to dominate in-store sales, accounting…
Baked Goodness
TOP PERFORMERS Oreo (Nabisco/Kraft) Kellogg’s/Keebler Chips Ahoy (Nabisco/Kraft) HONORABLE MENTIONS Bon Appetit Mrs. Freshley’s (Flowers Foods) Prairie City Bakery Sweet snacks purchases are on the rise at convenience stores creating new sales opportunities across all dayparts. Packaged sweets accounted for 2.6% of the $114,010 stores acquired through average monthly sales in 2008, according to the…
Healthy Options Push Salty Snacks
TOP PERFORMERS Frito Lay Cheez-It (Kellogg’s) Chex Mix (General Mills) HONORABLE MENTIONS Combos (Mars) Cape Cod (Lance) Pringles (P&G) The down economy has inspired a consumer trend toward eating in and choosing less expensive home-entertainment options, which has been a boost to the salty snacks category. Customers are likely to choose snacks they perceive as…
Meaty Sales in the Snack Aisle
TOP PERFORMERS Jack Link’s Beef Jerky Slim Jim (ConAgra) Old Wisconsin Sausage HONORABLE MENTIONS Old Trapper Smoked Products World Kitchens Oberto Sausage Flavored products from hot and spicy to teriyaki and smoked are driving the meat snacks category as customers look for new varieties of their favorite snacks. Stick sales are reportedly up, and as…
Chocolate Sweetens Candy Sales
TOP PERFORMERS Hershey’s Mars HONORABLE MENTIONS Nestlé Ghirardelli While the current recession has slowed down sales of everything from cars to organic groceries, people seem happy to keep shelling out for chocolate, and convenience store owners couldn’t happier. Chocolate is one of the more recession-resilient food sectors. With consumers eating out less and eating at…