The January 2014 email was pretty straightforward: “Have you ever been arrested … and can you pass a background check?”
For the record, not yet and yes. But that’s not the point.
These emails are instantly recognizable to many of us in the Washington, D.C., area: You might be invited to something important.
In this case, the note came from Jim Bressi, director of product development for Kwik Trip. And while the details were minimal, it was obvious that Kwik Trip was doing something big. And it was: The company was about to be recognized as the first convenience-store chain to sign a commitment with Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA), the group in which first lady Michelle Obama serves as honorary chair. Not only does she have a high profile as first lady, but she also is considered by many to be the most influential voice in the nutrition community.
Fast forward to May 2016 at Partnership for a Healthier America’s annual summit. The first lady had just watched a PHA-produced two-minute video about convenience stores. (Watch the video at www.nacsonline.com/refresh.) “I. Love. That!” were her words of praise about how our industry is addressing the country’s obesity crisis.
What a difference from the same person who identified c-stores as being among the culprits of the country’s obesity problem.
Part of the Solution
If you had told me a few years ago we would be singled out for our food on such a big stage, my first reaction would be to convene a crisis communications team. But not today. In a few short years, we went from being perceived as a cause of the obesity solution to a big part of the solution.
Of course, we aren’t changing because of purely altruistic reasons. We are changing because it’s good for business. We’ve all seen the numbers showing that consumers—especially women and millennials— want more healthy options.
But there is still a major hurdle to overcome: time. It takes time—often lots of it—and the help of others to change how we sell items and how consumers perceive our offer.
The good news is that help is all around. Our strategy for the NACS reFresh initiative is to communicate our industry’s image, especially related to the food we sell and our role in communities. To accomplish our strategic objectives, we set out to attack our challenges from every possible angle, from big-picture strategies for growing sales to operational tools needed for achieving our objectives.
Specifically:
- We developed important relationships with the nutrition community via the Project on Nutrition and Wellness.
- The United Fresh Produce Association helped bring together produce suppliers and retailers, along with distributors, to create toolkits and share best practices.
- The Hudson Institute, a D.C.-based policy research organization, has identified focus areas for success.
- The Cornell Food and Brand Lab created research-validated methods to set your stores and grow your sales.
- And, of course, PHA added important credibility and visibility plus the expertise of nutritionists beyond what most stores can develop on their own.
That said, we know working with PHA is not for everyone. PHA standards of certification are rigorous, and you need to make good on your commitment. There are no mulligans here.
But there are enormous benefits. Not only is there an initial big media splash around the partnership announcement, but the six convenience retailers that have signed commitments (Kwik Trip, Sheetz, Twice Daily, Loop, U-Gas and enmarket) have continual communications support to garner media coverage across channels to help celebrate their successes and elevate their image on both a national and local level. (Editor’s note: As CSP went to press, U-Gas was acquired by Wallis Cos.)
There also is access, not just to a team of nutritionists but also to hundreds of other like-minded partners across virtually all business sectors.
Shelves of Options
One final point worth mentioning: Healthy options are often “fresh,” but they don’t need to be. PHA features two separate campaigns centered on categories c-stores already sell. Its Drink Up campaign encourages water consumption—and that’s a great idea for our channel, which already sells 50% of immediate-consumption bottled water. The campaign has helped increase water sales by 5% year over year among a target group of key consumers nationwide. That means: By simply participating in the Drink Up campaign, you are likely to sell more water.
Another campaign—FNV, short for Fruits N Veggies—was developed to use messaging and celebrity “endorsements” to sell more produce. The best part about FNV is that fruits and vegetables don’t have to be those highly perishable fresh items; FNV also encourages sales of dried fruit such as raisins, bagged and pegged items and even canned and frozen produce—as long as added sugar or sodium is minimal.
The FNV campaign targets teens, a group we all pursue. And, in truth, it feels tailor-made for our channel. After all, how many kids walk into a grocery store to shop? Data from Technomic and others says that Gen Z trusts us for their satiation and frequent our stores regularly.
At each of the past two NACS Shows, Partnership for a Healthier America CEO Larry Soler has joined us in announcing new commitments and celebrating our industry’s success. I have every expectation he will be joining us again this October; we have a lot to celebrate.
According to NACS consumer data, 64% of consumers say that convenience stores are offering healthier items, up from 55% two years ago. And 48% say we are a place to get fresh food, a healthy 5% increase from a year earlier. This is all great news and even better that groups such as PHA help us celebrate it.
We know we have only started this journey and there are countless opportunities to get engaged, whether with PHA or other organizations that make us better.
I guess we’ll know we made it when the spouse says, “Honey, can you pick up some kale at the gas station on your way home?”
Until then, we have some work to do—and I look forward to working with you on our collective journey.
Jeff Lenard is vice president of strategic industry initiatives for NACS. Reach him at jlenard@nacsonline.com.
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