What’s new and exciting in your category?
What’s exciting to me is being able to offer new and innovative products to our guests and encouraging them to have fun in our stores while they make their favorite drinks, their way. Seeing them express themselves through the beverages they’re creating is one of the best parts of my job.
What do you love about your category?
I love how dispensed beverages are such an important part of our guests’ daily rituals. Whether they’re stopping in every morning for a cup of our Farmhouse Blend coffee or grabbing a colorful Hyperfreeze for their child before every soccer game, they’re getting to know our team members and our stores, and vice versa. We are incredibly lucky to be a part of their lives.
What trends are you watching?
We’re watching trends around the growing demand for cold beverages, fun new flavors, functionality within beverages—including different types of energy or immunity drinks as well as the demand for customization across the board.
What products performed well in the past year?
Our mainstay products such as Farmhouse Blend Coffees and Hyperfreeze frozen beverages did well last year. We also offered fun LTO flavors like Cookie Butter syrup that our guests raved about.
What are your goals/most looking forward to in 2025?
I’m looking forward to finding new ways to offer our guests the best products and the best value and to continuing to partner with our valued vendors, whom I really enjoy working with.
What are the biggest challenges?
The biggest challenges we face in dispensed beverage are finding ways to stay competitive while offering the best possible products for the best value to our guests. It takes creativity and thinking outside the box, and it takes time to genuinely listen to our guests and their needs.