WESTLAKE, Texas —Core-Mark International has chosen four start-up or emerging brands to become part of its 41,000-store network through the distributor’s Core-Mark Curated program.
Core-Mark’s first-ever Curated Showcase event, held virtually in August and featuring eight finalists, yielded the four additions to the line of convenience-retail products offered by Core-Mark:
- Love Corn, a line of premium snacks made from corn, sea salt and sunflower oil.
- Popsalot, a collection of hand-crafted gourmet popcorns.
- OmniBev, a ready-to-drink Vietnamese cold-brew coffee.
- Riverside Natural Foods, the creator of healthy snack products branded MadeGood and Good to Go.
“These four innovative, high-quality brands are going to receive meaningful exposure to the convenience channel,” said Chris Murray, executive vice president of marketing for Core-Mark International. “Their selection illustrates the effectiveness of Core-Mark Curated, which we created to uncover and steward the best and brightest new products so that our convenience customers can further improve and differentiate their services to consumers.”
Three of the new offerings—Love Corn, Popsalot and OmniBev—are available exclusively through the Core-Mark International c-store distribution network.
“We are excited to partner with Core-Mark through the Curated program, which has been designed to help emerging challenger brands, like Love Corn, enter the convenience-store channel,” said Gavin McCloskey, cofounder of Love Corn.
The newly selected product lines were chosen after presentations to a team of Core-Mark category management and marketing leaders at the Core-Mark Curated showcase event. Another Core-Mark Curated virtual trade show will take place later in 2021.
Core-Mark Curated, a hybrid of start-up accelerator and incubation programs, is the latest innovation to the company’s Retailer Programs and Retailer Solutions, designed to help make c-stores more efficient, profitable and a preferred destination for the most discerning consumers, the Westlake, Texas-based company said. It is a key component of Core-Mark’s Center of Excellence (COE), a state-of-the-art facility enabling convenience retailers to immerse themselves in the retailing experience and drive new ideas, products and solutions to grow their businesses.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.