We’ve written previous articles for CSP in which we talked about evolving consumers and what the c-store can do to better serve them. In this article we will look at more specific themes and rules of thumb for targeting today’s consumers.
The problem: Existing c-store food offerings are plain and perceived as unhealthy. While we see some promoting new and interesting ideas (e.g., pretzel bread for sandwiches), and some c-stores are doing a better job than most, generally offerings are still traditional “easy” American cuisine, which often means using a lot of salt and fat to make products taste good. So it’s really two problems in one: The aforementioned “plain” perception, along with “over-the-top unhealthy” impressions, prompts two related questions.
A Lateral Approach
To what extent should c-stores pursue health trends in new offerings? Consumers, on the go and often ravenous, think of c-stores as places to get filling, satisfying foods quickly. Foods overtly aimed at health defeat that, because consumers expect milder flavors and less satisfying ingredients in them. “Health food” does not resonate with c-store eating occasions. It is better to approach health laterally, through culinary interest. Letting the food shine brightly as something interesting to eat tends to alleviate health concerns.
Consider Thai food: While some of it is highly caloric and/ or fatty, its vivid colors and flavors form people’s overall impressions of it. It’s an “end run” around health concerns.
This brings us to the next question: How should c-stores pursue food diversity trends (i.e., offering novel, often ethnic, flavors) in departing from their traditional offerings?
A simple formula has evolved for us in approaching this kind of question. When you have a very traditional consumer as well as a more progressive one, please the latter but don’t frighten the former. This means a balancing act of familiarity and difference. While we strongly lean toward new and interesting foods, mitigating factors suggest a cautious, somewhat conservative approach to how they look and feel to shoppers.
For a new, novel food offering, consider taste expectations carefully. If a shopper can’t guess what a food is and what it will taste like, if it is too different, he or she will not be interested. This is even more acute at c-stores, where consumers will take even less time than usual to try to understand what a food is and how it will taste.
Shoppers also want more adventure in foods. But in an “on the go and famished” c-store context, satisfaction outweighs adventure. Again, this makes presenting some level of familiarity extremely important so a shopper can easily evaluate whether or not a food will deliver the level of satiety they desire from a product.
Different, Not Scary
So how should a c-store retailer structure offerings to optimize new, interesting foods?
- Use mostly familiar base ingredients: The majority of a new food’s key ingredients should be very familiar to most shoppers; for example, eggplant would be a no-go. We all know what it is, but many of us don’t like it, haven’t eaten much of it and aren’t sure how it would taste in a lot of contexts.
- Use familiar form factors: For instance, if you are using some ingredients that are fairly new to your customers, consider using them in a sandwich, a highly familiar format. We’ve beat this example to death, but the Bahn Mi sandwich illustrates a good mix of familiar and different: barbecued meats on bread, with the Vietnamese flavors providing the “overlay” on the base sandwich.
- Phrase things in familiar terms: There are many interesting tastes out there with names that will frighten U.S. consumers. A good example is gremolata: It is Italian parsley, lemon zest, garlic and (sometimes) a few other things, which as a bright, refreshing taste would sit well on the American palate. We would just never call it by its given name in a c-store context, but rather come up with a term for it that won’t make Americans think of gremlins.
In short, we would make what is different “the icing on the cake,” with the basic makeup of the cake being readily understandable to every shopper.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.