Maverik Stores Breakfast is Fresh and Fast

 

Consumers around the world define what they like to eat for breakfast by what they buy and where they buy it. More and more grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh food is being consumed that is bought at convenience stores.

Maverik — Adventure's First Stop is unveiling the top products sold across its convenience stores in 2022 and with 12 million inside transactions a month its very interesting and insightful according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Now get this in the top 30 items purchased with a 12-ounce Red Bull, 10 of those items were breakfast products. Now that’s quite a kick-start. Even more interesting, most frequently purchased last year at Maverik were the retailer's breakfast items.

According to the report, when it comes to combinations:

·         The food items most frequently purchased with extra-large fountain drinks are maple and chocolate bar doughnuts, corn dogs, and sausage, egg and cheese breakfast burritos.

·         Sausage, egg and cheese burritos are most often purchased with a hot dispensed beverage, or another breakfast burrito, usually a Bacon or Chorcheezo burrito. 

·         Twelve-ounce Red Bull cans are sold most frequently with other Red Bull flavors, particularly Watermelon or Coconut Berry, and the Chorcheezo Breakfast Burrito 

Across Maverik's 12-state network, the top sold items by state were:

1.       Arizona — Biscuit and Gravy Scramble Bonfire Foods, Red Bull and Nacho Cheese Doritos

2.       California — Breakfast Burrito Bacon Scramble Bonfire Foods, Red Bull and Ruffles: Cheddar & Sour Cream

3.       Colorado — Breakfast Burrito Bacon Scramble Bonfire Foods, Red Bull and Ruffles: Cheddar & Sour Cream

4.       Idaho — Breakfast Burrito Bacon Scramble Bonfire Foods, Red Bull and Ruffles: Cheddar & Sour Cream

5.       Nebraska — Breakfast Burrito Bacon Scramble Bonfire Foods, Red Bull and Ruffles: Cheddar & Sour Cream

6.       New Mexico — Donut Tri Glazed Bonfire Foods, Red Bull and Flaming Hot Cheetos

7.       Nevada — Breakfast Burrito Chorcheezo Scramble Bonfire Foods, Red Bull and Ruffles: Cheddar & Sour Cream

8.       Oregon — Breakfast Burrito Moab Scramble Bonfire Foods, Red Bull and Reese’s Fast Break

9.       South Dakota — Breakfast Burrito Chorcheezo Scramble Bonfire Foods, Red Bull and Nacho Cheese Doritos

10.   Utah — Tornado Egg Cheese Bonfire Foods, Red Bull and Ruffles: Cheddar & Sour Cream

11.   Washington — Breakfast Burrito Chorcheezo Scramble Bonfire Foods, Red Bull and Ruffles: Cheddar & Sour Cream

12.   Wyoming — Breakfast Burrito Sausage Scramble Bonfire Foods, Red Bull and Ruffles: Cheddar & Sour Cream

Salt Lake City-based Maverik operates nearly 400 stores.

For international corporate presentations, regional chain presentations, educational forums, or keynotes contact: Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions.  His extensive experience as a multi-unit restaurant operator, consultant, brand / product positioning expert, and public speaking will leave success clues for all. For more information visit GrocerantGuru.com, FoodserviceSolutions.US or call 1-253-759-7869

C-Stores Continued Innovation Drive Sales at Maverik

While restaurants and grocery stores are battling each other for an increased share of stomach and share of dollars.  The convenience store sector continues to drive top line sales and bottom line profits while garnering customer from both the grocery and restaurant sectors leveraging innovation in fresh food, and brand positioning according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  

This year Maverik Inc. was chosen as the 2018 Prepared Foods Innovator of the Year in Convenience Store News ’seventh-annual Foodservice Innovators Awards program. Yes, for regular reader of this blog you are right this is the fifth time that Maverik, has won a Foodservice Innovators Award.

"With the combination of Adventure’s First Stop and Bonfire Grill, Maverik has been very innovative with branding itself and using its foodservice program to become a serious food destination in the company’s core markets," said one member of the CSNews Foodservice Advisory Council, who were impressed with the retailer’s prepared foods offering. Other significant moves that have built up Maverik’s foodservice program are:

·         Experimenting with creative LTOs, some of which become mainstays on the menu, such as the MOAB (Mother of All Burritos);

·         Examining its products and improving the quality of ingredients used;

·         Hiring a new corporate chef, Kyle Lore, a fine-dining culinary expert who’s brought a new perspective to the business; and

·         Creating a taste profile that is spicier and more flavorful compared to its c-store, quick-service and fast-casual competitors.

This year, Maverik launched a new fresh sandwich line to replace its hoagies, which consisted of meat and cheese in a hoagie roll that the customer purchased and then dressed themselves.

The new, fresh line of ready-to-eat sandwiches starts with new bread and also includes new meats and cheeses, and new sauces. Preparation steps have been developed that allow Maverik team members to dress the new sandwiches without them getting soggy.

Varieties include California Club, Turkey Gouda, Righteous Italian, and Buffalo Chicken Ranch. The new sandwiches were first tested in two stores, then expanded to a 10-store test to see actual sales results, and then moved to 30 stores to ensure ingredient distribution was right before being rolled out across all locations.

"Foodservice is an important part of Maverik’s business model, and is becoming even more critical," said Brian Sullenger, the retailer’s FRESCH category manager for grab-and-go. "We’ve been in the foodservice business a long time and our customers have come to trust that we have quality food for a competitive price."

Sullenger also told Convenience Store News that Maverik recently extended its Hispanic menu into nachos and salads, and plans are in the works for line extensions in the retailer’s most successful prepared food segments.

So, how are you planning to drive new customers to you retail brand?  Does our menu look more like yesterday than tomorrow? Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing ideations look more like yesterday than tomorrow? Interested in learning how www.FoodserviceSolutions.us can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization?  Email us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or visit:  www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information.

C-store Maverik’s Private Label BonFire Drives Sales

Brand messaging is very important and consistency in messaging not only edifies the customer to the brand it drives incremental value to new product introductions according to Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®, Grocerant Guru® Steven Johnson.

Rich Green, director of foodservice for Maverik understood that Maverik BonFire brand launched in 2009 alongside a revamp of Maverik's coffee program, BonFire tied Maverik's food items together under a single identity with an adventurous theme and color-coded labels based on the type of product, such as a red flame for high-traffic hot items and a green flame for fruit and salads.

Consumers were moving on buying Grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food and the team at Maverik knew it was time elevate BonFire to the next level. Enter Maverik’s new BonFire Grill made-to-order program provided a platform to capture customers searching for fresh food.

Maverik’s, BonFire Grill concept, "That effort, particularly in new stores, definitely swung the pendulum more toward foodservice," Green.  Just as the team at Maverik’s had anticipated. Here are a few of the things Maverik did to build up its foodservice program:

1.        Experimenting with creative, "out of the box" limited-time offers (LTOs), some of which became mainstays on the menu, like the M.O.A.B. (Mother of All Burritos).

2.        Reexamining what went into its products and improving the quality to become a more ingredient-based operation

3.        Hiring a new corporate chef who brought a different perspective to the business. Chef Kyle Lore spent much of his career working in fine-dining restaurants.

4.        Creating a taste profile that is spicier and more flavorful — something that differs from its competitors, which include quick-service and fast-casual outlets, as well as other convenience stores.

So, just what is next Maverik may include a made-to-order beverage program, which the company is in the initial stages of exploring. Green acknowledges that such a program is a "tough one" for the company, describing how he's observed sudden beverage orders like a made-to-order milkshake disrupt the rhythm of the kitchen.

Then Delivery as Maverik is working with third-party delivery services, such as Uber Eats or DoorDash, is also something the company is exploring. However, the logistics are more complicated than they seem, particularly when taking into account the multiple delivery services customers use and the labor necessary to fulfill delivery orders during all dayparts, Green explained. Are you ready for grocerant niche fresh food?

Invite Foodservice Solutions® to complete a Grocerant Program Assessment, Grocerant ScoreCard, or for product positioning or placement assistance, or call our Grocerant Guru®.  Since 1991 www.FoodserviceSolutions.us  of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche. Contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or 253-759-7869