Top 5 Foodservice Stories of 2016
By Aimee Harvey on Dec. 15, 2016CHICAGO – As we look back at the foodservice year in review, a number of central themes stand out. Food safety and animal welfare brought health and wellness to the forefront. Convenience retailers and parent companies refocused their efforts toward elevating foodservice. The latest menu-labeling regulations made the c-store industry take notice, and core categories—particularly coffee—capitalized on hot (and cold) trends.
Here are five developments that affected c-store foodservice in 2016 ...
1. Chipotle shuts down ... temporarily
In February, Chipotle closed its restaurants for a few hours to meet with all employees over the importance of food safety. This came on the heels of a major E. coli outbreak that crippled sales beginning in late 2015.
What did it mean for c-stores? As the entire Chipotle crisis unfolded, we discussed the implications of food safety issues on the convenience segment, and how supply-chain issues, coupled with faulty food handling, could seriously affect c-store foodservice.
2. Cage-free eggs are the new health trend
In December, Sheetz became the latest c-store company to commit to going completely cage-free for all egg products. The chain announced that its menu will emphasize animal welfare by using cage-free eggs by 2025. This follows the same commitment made by 7-Eleven, which also set a cage-free goal by 2025, and Casey’s, which also announced that it will work with suppliers to offer 100% cage-free eggs by 2025.
3. Menu labeling throws retailers for a loop
Foodservice operators were delivered two confusing statements on menu-labeling regulations and compliance requirements by the FDA.
After a clarifying statement followed by a backlash of criticism, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in December announced it will publish a final rule making May 5, 2017, both the compliance and enforcement date for menu-labeling regulations.
This changed the agency's announcement just days earlier that the enforcement deadline would be May 5, but the compliance deadline would be Dec. 1.
4. Cold brew is hot
Convenience-store retailers began jumping on coffee’s biggest trend of the year, with Sheetz debuting its take on cold brew in September, and Stewart’s Shops rolling out cold-brew coffee in December. The less-acidic coffee brew propels the iced-coffee trend beyond simply a cold preparation into one that leverages an emerging customer preference for a smoother, sweeter flavor profile.
5. Foodservice revamps and overhauls
This was the year that numerous c-stores upped the ante on foodservice, making variety and customizability a bigger facet of the overall positioning.
- Family Express unveiled Cravin’s Kitchen, an expansive, made-to-order hot foodservice platform.
- Swiss Farms promoted a whole new range of customizable school lunches, breakfast sandwiches, coffee roasts and chef-created dinner entrees.
- Thorntons launched 28 new-concept convenience stores that focus more on food. It calls the program "Real Kitchen. Real Food." Up to 50% of the floor space in Thorntons’ new-concept stores is devoted to foodservice.
- Rutter’s Farm Stores is challenging the fast-casual-pizza category with a new fresh-baked, made-to-order pizza platform. Customers are now able to build their own pie from among 50 different toppings.