DALLAS -- The beverage category often relies on innovation and new products to drive traffic into convenience stores. But with no breakout product category showing significant traction over the past year, retailers may need to turn back to the tried and true for the coming year.
"You really don't see an emerging segment in search of distribution as we have in previous years," Tom Fox, partner in CM Profit Group, said during CSP's 2012 Cold Vault Summit this week in Dallas. "But there are a lot of established segments that are performing very well. We've got to hold on to that."
Specifically, Fox noted growth in the beer, carbonated soft drink and energy drink segments. "Together, those three segments account for 76% of cold-vault sales," Fox said.
Still, he cautioned retailers to strike a balance. "We can't forget that growth comes from innovation," he said, "but you can't go overboard."
Last year at this same meeting, several retailers walked away prepared to bring relaxation drinks into their coolers; 12 months later, most are still waiting for the payback.
"It just hasn't taken off," said Jim Monroe, director of foodservice for Handee Marts Inc.
Added Fox, "People have allocated a lot of space to those [relaxation drinks], but I'm not seeing much traction."
The closest Fox came to offering up a newer beverage segment as a "hot" trend was coconut water. But even that, he admitted, isn't exceeding his personal hurdle rate.
"It's still small and not very established," he said. "There's less than 10% availability [in terms of distribution]. I'd like to see at least 24% availability before I call it the next go-to [product segment]."
Instead, he said, "The core is healthy. The challenge is to get sales from existing segments while capturing necessary growth from emerging segments."
CSP's 2012 Cold Vault Summit continues through Friday in Dallas. Watch for complete coverage in the May issue of CSP magazine.
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