Those white-jacketed chefs cooking up a variety of foods in the McLane Co. booth during the distributor’s national trade show weren’t just feeding the masses; they were an integral part of McLane demonstrating the breadth of its foodservice offering for convenience stores. A little something from Tyson Foods here and a dash of Pillsbury there, add a splash of a Gehl’s topping and even fresh vegetables from McLane Kitchen, and a retailer can create a unique menu item available nowhere else.
The new booth, which retailers also will see during the NACS Show, showcased a fully functioning kitchen with multiple chefs and new menu offerings that retailers could experience throughout the show. New recipes included a Southwest chicken salad and a decadent Buffalo chicken grilled cheese, all created entirely from ingredients available through McLane Co., Temple, Texas.
“We’re trying to raise awareness of the capabilities we have in helping develop a foodservice program,” said Holly Veale, McLane’s product director for foodservice. “Every [retailer] has different goals. We want them to know how to leverage their suppliers to get the right fit for their stores.”
The foodservice offer was just one highlight of a trade-show floor packed with products, trends and ideas.
Bottled Water to Dog Treats
During the trade show, held in late August in Dallas, McLane revealed its rebranded private-label company, CVP (Consumer Value Products), and five new product lines that will join its already well-received Road-Tech and Work Fare brands. They include:
Hometown Market. This snack and condiment line will offer a variety of products, from banana-nut granola, nuts, trail mix and yogurt pretzels to sugar and creamer, that support c-store foodservice operations.
Pristyn Purified Water. Pristyn is a purified bottled-water line to be sold in 100% recycled individual bottles and 24-packs.
Excursion Beef Jerky. The line delivers trend-driven flavors including Smokey BBQ Pork Jerky, Teriyaki Beef Jerky, Cracked Pepper Beef Jerky and Smokehouse Beef Jerky.
YumBees. The YumBees line offers various hard, gummy and chocolate candy products, as well as variations on favorite name-brand products.
Beau Dacious Biscuits. This new line of dog-treat products is available in peanut butter, grain-free yogurt and cranberry bites, and other assorted treat flavors.
Product Bonanza
Elsewhere on the trade-show floor, new products in several categories demonstrated trends retailers should be able to bank on in coming months:
- Sour is the flavor of the day for candy makers with products such as Haribo’s Twin Snakes, Ferrera’s Trolli Sour Brites, Wrigley’s sour varieties of Skittles and Starburst and Albanese adding sour flavors to its gummy bears.
- Protein continues to dominate the new-snack pipeline, including Pure Protein Crunch from United States Nutrition, Kraft Foods’ Portable Protein Pack with Planters honey-roasted peanuts, MET-Rx’s newest meal replacement bar in Crispy Apple Pie, and Nature Valley Protein bars.
- Beverages as a snack get a boost in several new products featuring high protein, such as Chobani Drinks, repackaged Original Protein Water, 5 hour Energy Protein+, Nesquik Protein Plus and TruMoo High Protein milks.
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