Sweet Dreams

Sweet Dreams

C-store operators can improve their dairy selections if they choose to include New Blue Bunny Carb Freedom Yogurt to their frozen foods section. New Blue Bunny Carb Freedom Yogurt is a way for carb counters to reap the nutritional benefits of yogurt while watching their waste lines. Carb Freedom’s four flavors—Strawberry, Raspberry, Peach and Vanilla [...]

Perfecting Nutrition

Perfecting Nutrition

  ZonePerfect’s all-natural, great-tasting nutrition bars and shakes offer balanced nutrition based on a 40/30/30 ratio of carbohydrates to protein to fat, without compromising taste or convenience. The bars reflect the current culinary trends of “indulgent” with new flavors like Chocolate Coconut Crunch, Peanut Toffee and “tropical/fruity”with Orange Cranberry Crunch, Mango Orange Delight and Peach Apricot [...]

Athletic Support

Athletic Support

Jelly Belly Candy Co. set its sights on today’s active adults with its Sport Beans—a first-of-its-kind jelly bean formulated to energize the body during exercise. Sport Beans, made in Lemon Lime and Orange flavors, are larger, traditional-shaped jelly beans with something extra. Each 1-ounce serving contains 25 grams of carbohydrates, 20% of the RDA for vitamins [...]

Smarter Snacking

Smarter Snacking

Peeled Snacks will debut its newest line, Fruit Picks and Nut Picks, 100% natural, healthy treats in portion-controlled single servings. Using only premium organic and natural fruits and nuts, Fruit Picks and Nut Picks help people meet their fruit goals as recommended by the Department of Health, without added sugar, oils, preservatives or artificial ingredients. [...]

Energizing Beverage Sales

Energizing Beverage Sales

Thirteen years after the energy drink market emerged in the U.S. with the introduction of Red Bull, the category remains popular with consumers, who are willing to pay higher prices in a difficult economy for an extra jolt.  But while Mintel reported in July 2009 that the energy drink market had climbed to an estimated [...]

Brands, Packaging Benefit HBC

Brands, Packaging Benefit HBC

With healthcare capturing so many headlines these days, the health and beauty category (HBC) has taken on added importance in the c-store set. Fueling much of the growth: smaller package sizes that save shoppers money and stimulate impulse sales. Medford, Ore.-based Minute Market has jumpstarted its HBC sales by mixing in smaller-sized packaging, according to [...]

Energy for Busy Lifestyles

Energy for Busy Lifestyles

Marathon energy bars offer the sustained energy and nutrients needed for a busy life. As a low glycemic index food, Marathon energy bars provide the brain and working muscles with long-lasting energy and come in five flavors: Chewy Chocolatey Peanut, Chewy Peanut Butter, Crunchy Dark Chocolate, Crunchy Honey & Toasted Almond and Crunchy Multi-grain. Marathon [...]

Vitapak Hits C-stores

Vitapak Hits C-stores

Convenience Valet has partnered with General Nutrition Corporation (GNC) to be the exclusive distributor of GNC Mega Vitapak Program in a convenient daily pack. Consumers are in search of nutritional and health products they know and trust, and this is what the GNC program delivers. With 94% brand awareness GNC’s mainstay has been their vitamin [...]

NACS Showcases Cool New Products

NACS Showcases Cool New Products

Cool Products Unveiled The top new items viewed by retailers at the NACS Show include: • Dippin’ Stix Healthy Snacks, Reichel Foods Inc. • Pringles Extreme Peggable Bags, Procter & Gamble Distributing Co. • Eclipse ELS, ElectraLED Inc. • Stride Gum, Cadbury North America • Dole Fruit Bowls in a Clear Merchandise Glide, Dole Food [...]

Demand Grows for Juices and Teas

Demand Grows for Juices and Teas

Tea Truths The U.S. is the birthplace of iced tea. More than 80% of tea consumed here is still sold as an iced drink. Tea sales in the U.S. are expected to exceed a phenomenal $10 billion in 2010 for both beverage and non-beverage categories, according to Worldteaexpo.com In the U.S., 37% of consumers prefer [...]

High Margins Propel General Merchandise

High Margins Propel General Merchandise

The general merchandise/novelty category provides retailers with a unique opportunity to capture customers’ personal interests in a high-margin item. Novelty has evolved into a core category because retailers can anticipate 30-60% margins on novelty products. With such strong profit potential, chains in major markets can earn about $35,000 a year per store from the novelty [...]

The Night They Burned Tobacco Down

The Night They Burned Tobacco Down

Increases on cigarettes have put the category’s long-term viability in jeopardy. By Jim Callahan, Convenience Store Solutions I recently saw a statistic that declared tobacco was no longer king in convenience stores. While that is not yet true for most of us, it’s about to become an indisputable fact. The entire country now gets to [...]

Specialty Water

Specialty Water

TOP PERFORMERS Glaceau VitaminWater (Coca-Cola Co.) Gatorade, Propel (PepsiCo) SoBe Life Water (PepsiCo) HONORABLE MENTIONS Metromint With demand for enhanced waters showing no signs of abating, it is clear that consumers continue to seek the benefits of vitamins and other specialty ingredients in their beverages. According to a Nielsen study released in November, the unsweetened [...]