CHICAGO -- Expanding healthier snack offerings requires careful planning, say the pros.
Here are seven recommendations to get it right ...
“I observe and listen to what my local customers are searching for in the store and ask questions of them as to what I might carry,” says Charles Olenik, owner of Camp Custer Service, an independent c-store in Hardin, Mont.
“Leverage what you can learn from supermarkets’ attempts to capture the healthy consumer,” says Randall Aycock, director of marketing for AU Energy, which operates Shell-branded gas stations and c-stores in the San Francisco Bay Area.
“Look for guidance from your distributors and ask them to help you create a plan-o-gram that integrates healthier snacks,” says Melissa Rosen, owner of Locali Healthy Convenience, which has two locations in the Los Angeles area.
“Try dedicating a high-traffic endcap for healthy products to start with. As you identify winners on the endcap, you can then try to incorporate them into your regular sets,” says Aycock.
“If you don’t at least have any vegan, gluten-free or paleo snack options, you’re immediately at a disadvantage compared to your competitors,” Rosen says.
Group salty snacks, bars and other realted products together, and leverage signage to make these items more visible, says Kelly LaBounty, category development manager for General Mills Convenience & Foodservice, Minneapolis.
“It will take time to build up awareness of your offer,” says Jeff Lenard, vice president of strategic industry initiatives for NACS. “Think less about the shrink in measuring success and more about the sales, especially if they are attached to a larger market basket or a new shopper.”
Click here to read more about selling healthier snacks.
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