C-Store Chain 7-Eleven Features its New, Premium Fresh Prepared Foods Line; Innovations Like Fresh Fruit Merchandising at Colorado Roadshow Event

Convenience store giant 7-Eleven is going upscale in the prepared foods category as we first reported in this March 30 piece about the C-store retailer's new, extensive line of higher-quality specialty and ethnic ready-to-eat and ready-to-heat prepared foods which it plans to start rolling out nationally, beginning next month in Florida.

The U.S. arm of international C-store chain 7-Eleven has taken its upscale, specialty and ethnic prepared foods line on the road, doing shows for company retailers in various parts of the country.

This week, the new higher-quality creations were on display for retailers at the annual "University of 7-Eleven" educational, marketing and food show event at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver.

At the event, 7-Eleven corporate brass also announced a new twist to the new, upscale prepared foods line. That twist is that the C-store retailer is "localizing" a number of the products to the various regions of the U.S., based on the respective region's ethnic and demographic characteristics.

For example, on Wednesday in Colorado, the 7-Eleven road show featured a number of premium-quality prepared foods items geared specifically for the Western USA's extensive and fast-growing Hispanic population. Among those items include: Carnitas pita sandwiches using a high-quality pita bread, premium beef and green chili burritos, and sugar-cinnamon twist pastries.

While the new 7-Eleven higher-quality prepared foods line isn't nearly on par with say the quality of prepared foods offerings a Whole Foods Market, Inc. store or other upscale grocer sells, the quality is pretty high and the price reasonable, especially compared to what the C-store chain currently sells, and basic mid-level supermarket and C-store prepared foods items in general.

As we wrote in our March 30 piece, 7-Eleven's new, better-quality prepared foods line, which is named Signature 7, includes premium specialty sandwiches, Asian and Hispanic ethnic foods, salads, fresh fruit parfaits, desserts, beverages and lots of other ready-to eat and ready-to-heat prepared foods items.

Raj Singh, a merchandising manager for 7-Eleven, told us the C-store chain wants to offer more premium-quality prepared foods, similar to what supermarkets offer, in order to give consumers an additional option in its stores. That's one of the main reasons the upscale Signature 7 line was created, he said.

The roadshow also featured a mock 7-Eleven store for retailers to view. Included in the mock store were new merchandising ideas featuring increased grocery products in the stores, including some specialty grocery items.

Additionally, 7-Eleven is encouraging its retailers to merchandise and sell fresh fruits in its stores as an additional offering. The mock store features merchandising ideas for the fresh produce, such as merchandising fresh fruit items in attractive baskets on the store end-aisles.

The giant C-store chain isn't moving away from its positioning as a quick--the average customer spends about 90 seconds in a 7-Eleven store, according to company research--convenient, limited assortment shopping venue. Rather, the chain is trying to enhance its product offerings in the fresh foods categories because it believes it's customers want more premium foods offerings, items like fresh fruits and some other options.

In other words, the Slurpees, hot dogs in the plastic cases rolling around on heated rollers, glazed doughnuts and the 99-cent frozen microwave heat-and eat burritos aren't going away anytime in the near future. Rather, the premium prepared foods items and other offerings like the fresh fruits are being added to this existing basic mix.

Additionally, 7-Eleven would like to extend its customers average shopping trip time so that they pick up a few more items--especially the higher-end prepared foods products--and as a result spend more money which will increase the stores' average ring or market basket purchase.

Officials of 7-Eleven told us at the Colorado road show that tests of the new, upscale or premium prepared foods line have been rather successful. They also said retailers who are selling more fresh items like fresh fruits in their stores are telling them they are seeing more repeat customers, as well as getting lots of positive customer comments for adding the more healthy produce offerings.

The key is adding a quality line of premium prepared foods that's still convenient and priced reasonably, said John Vaughan, a fresh foods manager for the chain. He added the food "has to portable and it has to be easy to eat" since "I'm not sure anybody sits down and eats three meals a day anymore."

We also asked a couple 7-Eleven executives at the Colorado roadshow about the "localization" strategy with the Signature 7 prepared foods line. They said the C-store chain realizes that tailoring as many of its offerings to regions and areas based on the unique demographics of that respective region is the future of food retailing, especially they said in 7-Eleven's case with its ready-to-eat and ready-to-heat prepared foods across the board.

The retailer has even come up with different types of sandwiches and other prepared foods items in the Hispanic category for Florida (where there are many Cuban American's and Puerto Rican's) and the Western U.S. (where most of the Hispanics are from Mexico or Central). America.) This is savvy of 7-Eleven because although there are similarities in the native cuisines of those three Latin countries, there also are numerous differences.

The 7-Eleven roadshow, which is showcasing the Signature 7 premium prepared foods line, as well as featuring the mock store with its new ideas like selling fresh produce in the convenience stores, is continuing its travels throughout the U.S. In less than a month, the new prepared foods items will start hitting 7-Eleven stores.

Tesco World: Tesco plc. News Roundup

Fresh & Easy's (New Store Opening) 'Pause'

Today's newspapers in the United Kingdom are all reporting on Tesco Fresh & Easy (USA's)Neighborhood Market's three month 'pause' in opening new grocery stores as we reported here yesterday. The British papers don't have as much information in their reports today as we had yesterday in ours...However, you might want to read what they're saying about the 'Pause.'

Read what today's edition of the UK's Guardian has to say on the Fresh & Easy 'Pause' here. The Daily Telegraph also has a piece which you can read here. Read what the Irish Examiner says here, and read the report from the Scotsman newspaper here.

To Russia With Love: Is Russia Next on Tesco's Agenda?

The London Times is reporting that Tesco plc. is poised to continue its international retailing march by opening up its first stores in Russia, according to its sources who told the publication and Bloomberg News that Tesco representatives have met with at least three property agents in its search for possible store locations in Russia. Read the report here.

Tesco Getting More 'Local' in the UK

Representatives of the food and agriculture sector in the Midlands UK community of Melton were recently successful in pressing Tesco, the UK's largest retailer with a 33% share of the grocery sales market, to agree to buy more locally-produced food products from the area's farmers and food and grocery purveyors, according to a report in the local Melton Times.

Melton is a "rural capital" of food (and beverages like micro-brewed beer) in the region. It's farmers and food suppliers have long been questioning why Tesco wouldn't buy more of the local region's foods to sell in its areas stores. Last week Tesco revealed plans to put more of the local food (and beverage) products on its store shelves. Are you listening Fresh & Easy USA?

Tesco also recently agreed with farm groups and others throughout the UK to source more "local" food products, including fresh produce, fresh meats, dairy and other goods, for the retailer's stores. Read more about these local initiatives here. Still not listening Fresh & Easy USA?

More Tesco in the UK: The Telegraph.uk.co is reporting a UK seaside resort is set to lose its only nursery, along with hundreds of jobs, because Tesco bought the town's Lyme Bay Holiday Village resort in Seaton, Devon and plans to close it in January, 2009 to make way for a Tesco supermarket. Read the piece here. Spare the rare bird...please: Tesco recently hired a marksman to shoot a gaggle of birds inside a Tesco Extra store in the UK town of Greenock, according to a report here in the Greenock Telegraph. However, a woman who lives in the neighborhood where the store is located, has begged store officials to spare one of the birds, a rare"leucistic" sparrow, which she spotted on the store's grounds. Read more here.

Additional Tesco UK News

The case of the missing trout: Tesco plc. has launched an "urgent investigation" into a Scottish fish supplier after 4,000 farmed trout escaped into one of Scotland's most famous salmon rivers, according to a report in the Scotsman newspaper. Read the story here. Tesco is considering dropping the fish supplier in light of the "fishy" circumstances surrounding the incident.

Tesco wind turbines get approval: As part of its green retail initiative in the UK, Tesco is looking at renewable wind energy to provide part of the energy to power its supermarkets and other retail stores in the UK.

A major part of that renewable energy strategy involves putting wind turbines right in the parking lots of its stores. Of course, such actions require permits and approvals from town councils and the like. One such town council, in the city of York, just gave the retailer the go ahead to install two tall wind turbines in the parking lot of one of its stores in the city. Read all about the development here

Category Compitition: 7-Eleven to Rollout Prepared Foods Line in May

Tesco's U.S. Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market chain, which currently has 59 stores open in Southern California, Arizona and Nevada, is basing much of its merchandising philosophy (and potential success or failure) on consumers' beating a path to its stores for the retailer's extensive selection of fresh, prepared foods, ranging from basic sandwiches and entrees like macaroni and cheese, to more upscale ethnic foods offerings.

Convenience store giant 7-11, which has a store on nearly every corner in the U.S., is getting into the prepared foods business in its stores in a big way beginning in May. The C-store chain is introducing an extensive line of ready-to-eat and ready-to-heat prepared foods it's calling its Signature 7 store brands line.

Among the offerings in the Signature 7 line include: 31 snacks, including cookies, chips, trail mix and candies; a line of ready-to-heat upscale Asian food products called "Asian Rollers," which include varieties like orange chicken and szechuan beef; a line of sandwiches such as Cuban-style ham geared to Hispanics (or those who love Hispanic foods); and a line of fresh fruit pastries flavored with such Latin and island-inspired flavors as guava fruit and pineapple.

The C-store chain also is introducing a line of upscale, artisan sandwiches to its stores on May 5. The gourmet-quality sandwiches will sell for $3.99 each, compared to the same quality sandwich which CEO Joe Pinto tells us generally sells elsewhere for seven bucks each. Interesting.

Pinto says the new fresh, prepared foods offerings will be high quality but low-price. They will be produced at a central commissary, then delivered daily to the stores. The first region in the U.S. to get the new Signature 7 line of prepared foods will be Florida. If all goes well, the chain expects to then rollout the higher-quality but value-priced prepared foods products to other parts of the U.S.

If the across the category Signature 7 fresh, prepared foods items are as good tasting as Pinto says they are, at the prices they're going to sell for, 7-Eleven could become not only an even bigger retailer of prepared foods than it currently is, but also a player in higher-quality fresh foods retailing just by the mere virtue of all the stores it operates in the U.S.

Tesco to Build Compact, Mini Malls in Thailand

Tesco plc's Tesco-Lotus retail operation in Thailand recently said it would build compact, community mini malls in that country as a way to jump-start and increase the retailer's market share in the nation.

The first mall, a prototype, just opened less than a month ago in Nonthaburi, Thailand.

Tesco-Lotus tells us it will build three different types of community, mini malls, based on an area's demographics, spending power and lifestyle orientations. Each type of mall even has its own name. Those names are: The Park, The Garden and The Oasis.

The community malls are targeted to suburban neighborhoods with populations of between 30,000-50,000 residents. Suburbs are a fairly new but fast-growing phenomenon in Thailand. Tesco-Lotus wants to "own" the mall category in these fast-growing suburbs, which tend to have far more affluent residents than the country's urban centers.

We aren't aware of a retail chain doing anything similar to this concept which Tesco-Lotus is introducing in Thailand. It should prove to be an interesting development, especially since a single retail chain is building the entire mall. The second Tesco-Lotus community mall is scheduled to open in the next few months in Soi Pravit Lae Pern, according to a Tesco-Lotus spokesperson.

End-Piece: Waitrose's 'Chubby Grocer' Loves to 'Dig' His Rivals in Blog

Grocery retailing in the United Kingdom is overall much more fun than it is in the United States, or most elsewhere in the world for that matter. Just ask Mark Price, the CEO (official title is Managing Director) of UK supermarket chain Waitrose, which is among other things a bit of a rival of Tesco in the UK, although its much smaller and more high-end customer focused.

Price, who calls himself the "chubby grocer" because of his ample girth, writes a blog on the Waitrose website. In his blog, the "chubby-grocer-in-chief" chronicles his efforts to reduce his girth, as well as using the platform to write about whatever suits him, which often means making friendly digs at his rival UK supermarket CEO's, including Tesco plc. CEO Sir Terry Leahy.

The food and grocery industry publication Natural~Specialty Foods Memo has two pieces from last week about "chubby grocer" Price and his blog. We suggest you have a read here.