DALLAS -- The addition of several vegan items to 7-Eleven's foodservice menu in Manhattan and Philadelphia does not signal a national rollout of such a menu, according to a Dallas Observer food blog report.
As reported earlier this week, Eleven Inc. has added vegan artichoke spinach noodles, vegetable lo mein [actual product not pictured] and two types of dumplings--all minus meat, egg or dairy--to other food offerings at some of its New York City convenience stores. (Click here for previous CSP Daily News coverage.)
"I'm not sure where they got it could expand nationally," 7-Eleven spokesperson Margaret Chabris told the newspaper concerning the reports.
While Chabris did not explicitly rule out the possibility of testing the vegan items in more markets, she said "it's way too soon" to predict if and when customers elsewhere would have the chance to sample the pad Thai noodles, vegetable lo mein, Hunan dumplings and Shanghai dumplings now available at eight Manhattan stores and 15 stores in Philadelphia.
"I don't want [consumers] to think we'll have this anytime soon," she said.
The project was spearheaded by Janice Tancredi, 7-Eleven's Philadelphia market manager, the report said. "She happens to be a vegetarian, and wanted to see if there was interest in vegetarian items," Chabris told the Observer.
Tancredi started stocking Philadelphia-area stores with vegan sandwiches from Moshe's in 2008. "It seemed like there was interest and acceptance, so now they've introduced it in Manhattan," Chabris added.
Chabris conceded that 7-Eleven's current lineup of tuna fish sandwiches, hot dogs, pepperoni pizza, chicken wings and meaty taquitos probably is not especially appealing to eaters on animal-free diets, although she said, "We do have fresh fruit, so there are some foods for those that want to stay vegetarian."
Dallas-based 7-Eleven operates, franchises or licenses more than 8,300 7-Eleven stores in North America. Globally, it operates, franchises or licenses more than 39,000 stores in 16 countries. During 2009, 7-Eleven stores worldwide generated total sales of more than $58.9 billion.
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