C-Stores Pizza Party Proves Popular

One sure way to track success in the retail food industry is year over year same store sales comparisons. With convenience store sale sales of fresh prepared food up 9.7% for the last year.  Calls were coming in asking why?

Regular readers know we have been touting the successful impact that pizza has had on Casey’s General Stores  

 Well they are not alone. In a recent release from The NPD Group they found that “Cases of pizza crust and dough shipped to convenience stores from broadline foodservice distributors increased by 27 percent, and servings of pizza ordered by convenience store customers increased by more than 20 percent in the year ending February 2015 compared to year ago”

The report went on finding that, “Total dollars of pizza crust and dough cases shipped from broadline distributors to convenience stores increased by more than 30 percent” Complementing the increase in pizza crust and dough case shipments was a 4 percent increase of pizza box case shipments to convenience stores in the year ending February compared to one year ago according to findings from NPD’s SupplyTrack.

This highlights the willingness of consumers to sample, test, and retry an avenue of distribution largely ignored for a decade. The convenience store sector is fast becoming a competitive threat to traditional quick service restaurants, specifically those units focused on Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food. 

The same report found “the double-digit growth in pizza servings at convenience stores contrasts with flat servings at quick service pizza restaurants and a 1 percent increase at traditional quick service restaurants.”

Foodservice at convenience stores is now the top category for in-store gross profit dollars and is number two for sales, according to NPD. Yes, Grocerant Niche fresh prepared food works. 

Do you know how can you work grocerant niche products into your establishment to grow profits and capture customers while they are in your store? Call 253-759-7869 as for the Grocerant Guru™,

visit  www.FoodserviceSolutions.us or Email: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us