As summer heats up, so does demand for frozen-dispensed beverages.
Coca-Cola Co.'s director of retail foodservice strategy, Randy Raymond, said flavor and color options are injecting new life and vitality into the segment.
"Frozen beverages today are largely driven by teens and millennials, who are attracted to these drinks because they are fun," he said in a recent Coke Solutions newsletter. "This group loves new, interesting flavors, and they love having the opportunity to mix and match both colors and flavors to create highly personalized drinks that reflect their mood and personality."
One significant trend he pointed out: Traditional frozen carbonated beverages (FCBs) are being supplemented by frozen uncarbonated beverages (FUBs), which tend to be smoother in texture, without the light and fluffy expansion of FCBs.
Key to making frozen beverages work in convenience stores is understanding consumer preferences, he said.
Here are six statistics based on Coca-Cola market research to keep in mind ...
Pictured above: The frozen-dispensed set at an Alon Brands 7-Eleven convenience store.
Pictured above: The frozen-dispensed set at a CST Brands Corner Store convenience store.
Pictured above: The frozen-dispensed set at a Dash In convenience store.
Pictured above: The frozen-dispensed set at a Murphy Express convenience store.
Pictured above: The frozen-dispensed set at a QuikTrip convenience store.
"My biggest advice to convenience-store operators is: Don't let your frozen drink offerings get stale. That's the worst thing you can do," he said. "This drink category has tremendous potential to drive new consumers into your stores, provided you keep it interesting by constantly rotating both new and traditional flavors."
Pictured above: The dispensed-beverage set at Coen Oil's Ruff Creek convenience store.
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