Distributors Bring Innovation, Food Programs to Retail
By Steve Holtz on Oct. 19, 2021CHICAGO — Three of the largest distributors to convenience stores held large presence on the trade-show floor of the 2021 NACS Show this month in Chicago.
Here’s a look at what McLane Co., Eby-Brown and Core-Mark featured in their sizable booths ...
McLane Co.
Conference participants visiting McLane Co.’s booth experienced interactive technologies, the latest from McLane Kitchen, a foodservice-at-retail program developed for convenience stores, and Consumer Value Products (CVP), McLane’s private-label products subsidiary.
McLane previewed two new offerings during the show: Java Perks, a new coffee program, and Central Eats, McLane Co.’s new hot foods program. Through Java Perks, retailers can access custom graphics for their coffee bar, countertop units, or walls to highlight the Java Perks brand within the store, allowing them to offer a coffee bar service to their patrons.
McLane’s new hot food program, Central Eats, delivers a turnkey, fully prepared solution, the company said. All products featured in Central Eats come entirely prepared, packaged and labeled for ingredients and nutritional information. These items are ready for sale as refrigerated or heated and ready to eat. Retailers can make a custom label or use the Central Eats brand for this program.
The Consumer Value Products area featured newly debuted private-label products, including:
- General merchandise such as laundry pods, dish tabs and charcoal briquettes
- Household essentials such as bath and facial tissue, kitchen towels and napkins
- Health, beauty and wellness products
McLane Kitchen featured new and existing menu offerings, including Java Perks coffee, Fly Guys Pizza and Fresh Produce+, McLane’s fresh fruit and vegetable offer.
“We are excited to have a booth presence at this year’s NACS show and to see our industry partners and customers,” said Vito Maurici, senior vice president of sales at McLane Co., Temple, Texas. “Despite the pandemic, we have continued to innovate and create value-added products and services that support the needs of our current and prospective customers.”
Eby-Brown
Distributor Eby-Brown provided one of the most extensive food-sampling offers on the NACS Show floor, showcasing products from its numerous foodservice programs. “Our goal is to be the No.1 foodservice provider to convenience,” said Christina Dokos, senior director marketing.
The foodservice offer includes:
- A barbecue program that includes pulled pork, pulled chicken, beef brisket and smoked sausage. Step-by-step recipes and an operations manual assist with execution to keep preparation simple and labor costs low.
- The Contigo Taqueria program, which pays homage to Latin cuisine. The authentic fare includes tacos, burritos, bowls, quesadillas, salads, tortilla chips for nachos and churros and flan for dessert.
- The Perfectly Southern fried chicken program is a turnkey offer intended to provide flexibility, a low cost of entry and full marketing support. It allows operators to offer restaurant-quality food at affordable prices, according to the company.
- The Red Seal Pizzeria program provides par-baked crusts to which retailers add sauce, cheese and toppings before baking. Other elements include subs, hoagies, pasta and more.
- Deli 55 is the newest program, offering sandwiches, subs, salad and sides, with a variety of bread and protein types.
The foodservice programs are available with full branding or eligible for proprietary labeling. Eby-Brown also can help source the kitchen equipment necessary to get each program off the ground.
Eby-Brown also displayed an addition to its Eby SourcePoint 360 software, a conversational artificial intelligence tool known as Eva. The voice assistant is currently in the proof-of-concept phase, and the company said it expects to release the voice assistant in 2022.
Naperville, Ill.-based Eby-Brown is part of Performance Food Group (PFG), Richmond, Va.
Core-Mark
West Lake, Texas-based Core-Mark, now also part of Performance Food Group (PFG), featured a variety of prepackaged refrigerated sandwiches, snacks and dairy products during the NACS Show.
It also highlighted its new My Daily Crave dispensed-beverage program that brings together fresh coffee, tea, frozen drinks, bubbler and other fresh drink options.
The program, launched at the NACS Show and created in partnership with Ronnoco Coffee Co., can include any or all of the following: coffee brewers and pots, cappuccino machines, cream and sugar dispenser, dispenser wraps, ice coffee and cold-brew machines, tea carafes and dispensers, and frozen, bubbler and lemonade machines and more.
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