Data Drives Leading C-store Suppliers

2022

DATA DRIVES LEADING C-STORE SUPPLIERS

Seventeen companies earn recognition in this year’s Category Captains awards

BY SUSAN DURTSCHI, PAST TIMES MARKETING

THE WINNERS in Convenience Store News’ 2022 Category Captains awards program bring insights and innovative solutions to their retailer partners, while navigating supply chain and labor issue workarounds.

As they head toward a post-pandemic environment, these Category Captains have built physical and digital research hubs to provide convenience store retailers with the latest research and support needed to maximize sales and profits in key product categories.

Seventeen suppliers and distributors — including one new award for overall multiproduct category management excellence — have been chosen as this year’s honorees. Now in its ninth year, the Category Captains program celebrates outstanding category management by suppliers to the c-store industry. All entries were judged based on:

• Product innovation; • Creativity in merchandising, marketing, promotion and advertising; • Use of consumer insights to drive entire category sales; • Innovative and dynamic category management tools; • Demonstrated commitment to meeting the specific needs of retailer customers; • Efficiently lifting sales for the entire product category; and • Fact-based evidence of market-specific or account-specific results. Past Times Marketing, a consumer research and product evaluation firm based in New York, once again judged the entries based on information supplied by participating companies.

The 2022 Category Captains are:

ALTERNATIVE SNACKS:

Jack Link’s

Jack Link’s Protein Snacks has established itself as a trusted category advisor and partner in the world of snacking and has expanded its reach into other alternative snack subcategories, such as refrigerated protein snacks and the nutrition category.

Its winning entry cited:

• Investment in developing category management, shopper insights, business insights, and an array of other research projects to inform shelving and front-end strategies benefitting the world of protein snacking. • Focus on increasing basket size to combat the pandemic-fueled drop in retailer foot traffic. It

executed a 20-percent lift in meat snack sales at stores that added a queuing line with Jack Link’s guidance. • On top of another year of amazing growth in protein meat snacks, Jack

Link’s has not had a recall in 35 years and experienced zero plant shutdowns in 2020-2022 even during the COVID-19 pandemic.

BEER/MALT BEVERAGES: Anheuser-Busch

Anheuser-Busch (AB) continues to leverage IGNITE, its retail category strategy grounded in a deep understanding of consumers, shoppers and occasions. AB has connected with more than 20,000 people in the last year, leveraging both established industry research partners and cuttingedge providers to inform how the alcohol and beer category will grow. Throughout the pandemic, Anheuser-Busch has led the conversation with the industry in terms of consumer insights, evolving occasions, shopper behaviors, and supply planning.

Its entry cited:

• Bringing new insights and shelf placement recommendations to the skyrocketing Hard Beverages category. • Supporting several national retailers in assortment optimization strategies, leveraging national insights that can be customized to individual retailers to drive an optimal assortment approach. • Bringing omnichannel solutions to increase the relevance of meals and alcohol pairings in convenience. AB activated promotions against beer and coffee (delivering a 14-percent increase in basket dollars per trip), and beer and pizza (a 13-percent increase). • Launching “The Vault,” a unique, technologically advanced collaboration center on the company’s St. Louis brewery campus, where AB can showcase the changing world of consumers, shoppers and occasions.

CANDY:

The Hershey Co.

Hershey continues to lead the candy category by leveraging internal partnerships between shopper insights and retail experience. During the pandemic, it developed the Hershey Insights Network (HIN), a newsroom-style setup that uses Microsoft Teams to bring customers into its Global Customer Insight Center (GCIC) virtually. Through HIN, Hershey subject matter experts can lead virtual tours through the GCIC in a dynamic and engaging way. Guests find channelspecific content, complete with a full, 12-foot-long candy aisle that illustrates Hershey’s “strike zone” optimization and merchandising strategies.

Its entry cited:

• Delivering a 10-12 percent lift for the confection category when implementing Hershey shopper insights principles. To date, 32 retailers have met with Hershey’s shopper insights, retail experience and category management teams. • Bundling high-margin and high-impulse items with foodservice to counter low foot traffic due to

COVID-19. Testing at two retailers saw an average increase of $580 per store for the bundled SKU, or a 23-percent increase. • In 2021, Hershey delivered 25 food bundling solutions across 21 different retailers. In more than 15,000 stores, the food bundling increased baskets by an average of 20 percent and increased dollars per store by $550 in measured stores.

CBD:

E-Alternative Solutions

Over the next few years, CBD beverages, vapor devices and tinctures are poised to drive CBD category growth in convenience stores. Forth CBD, from E-Alternative Solutions, has been a leader in introducing dynamic category management to the CBD channel. Since the inception of the Forth brand, it has always been a priority to not only provide adult consumers with form factors that easily fit into their daily routines, but also supply retailers with what sells best.

Its entry cited:

• Forth CBD’s form factors, value price points and small packaging sizes are designed to meet convenience store shopper needs. Its offerings are able to address CBD trends while lowering barriers to entry for adult consumers interested in CBD products for wellness, so retailers can focus on their stores, revenues and profits. • In developing its products, Forth employs the latest consumer research and insights to best understand the evolving demand and expectations from c-store shoppers. Armed with the knowledge that these shoppers rank taste as the most important attribute when selecting a CBD product to purchase, Forth invested heavily in creating a drink formulation with real fruit juice ingredients that work in tandem with the natural taste of CBD. • Parent company E-Alternative Solutions continues to innovate within the Forth brand. Retailers can look for new product launches this year that segue into CBD products featuring functional and novel ingredients.

FOODSERVICE/COLD & FROZEN BEVERAGES:

Frazil

Frazil is the largest frozen uncarbonated beverage (slush) brand in the United States, sold in more than 15,000 convenience stores across all 50 states. The Frazil program is unique in that its business model has proven to unlock significant value for retailers, while allowing operators to hit the “easy button” on running a turnkey frozen beverage program.

Its entry cited:

• Developing incredible flavors. • Providing innovative marketing. • Loaning machines to stores, so they can get into the category with no risk or capital outlay. And covering all service costs of the machines, eliminating

service-cost risk and proactively managing the service experience. • Providing internet-connected machine technology so that stores can see which of their machines are on, working and full. • Providing a category management portal that gives real-time performance updates and program improvement recommendations. • Launching Frazil University, an industry information and training platform designed to share content and drive improvements in the category.

FOODSERVICE/HOT BEVERAGES:

SEB Professional

Throughout 2021, convenience store retailers still recognized the elevated importance of safety and hygiene, while contending with labor shortages, trip erosion and supply chain issues. SEB Professional, which offers bean-to-cup and espresso-based beverage equipment from three brands (WMF, Schaerer and Curtis) worked alongside c-store retailers to navigate these challenges. Its main focus was being a partner that brainstorms new ideas and offers innovation.

This year's Category Captains have built physical and digital research hubs to provide convenience store retailers with the latest research and support needed to maximize sales and profi ts in key product categories.

Its entry cited:

• Successfully taught operators how their coffee program can drive traffic into stores and boost revenue despite an ever-changing environment. • Introduction of the first bean-to-cup solution from the Curtis brand. The

Curtis Genesis is designed for small- to medium-sized convenience store operators to deliver a fresh cup of coffee while reducing waste and labor costs. • Completion of large-scale rollouts for c-store operators across the U.S., including Casey’s, Speedway and

Thorntons. Casey’s introduced a freshbrewed bean-to-cup program with the

Schaerer brand alongside the launch of its new breakfast menu. • Played a part in its retailer partners being recognized for their hot beverage programs, such as Circle K being named the Hot Beverages Innovator of the

Year in Convenience Store News’ 2021

Foodservice Innovators Awards.

FOODSERVICE/PREPARED FOODS: Rich Products Corp.

Over the last year, Rich’s continued to invest, innovate and grow its foodservice operations despite the worldwide pandemic. The company developed new ways to serve c-store operators, such as investing in virtual meetings, contributing culinary expertise, developing a website with turnkey solutions, innovating with new products, and offering incentives and rebates.

Its entry cited:

• Investments in video and sound equipment at the company’s Innovation

Center in Buffalo, N.Y., to enhance communication with retailers and bring culinary ideas to life. • Providing c-store operators with a resource to find turnkey solutions with one click by launching the website,

richsmarketplace.com. C-store operators are seeking ways to minimize labor and maximize investment, so turnkey programs make it simple for them to identify and implement new product lines. • Partnering with a national c-store chain to welcome spring 2021 with a flavorful, seasonal cookie that featured the right balance of on-trend flavors, profitability and quality. • Helping a Northeast chain elevate its frozen beverage program by adding Rich’s Mallow topping to create unique frozen beverage and smoothie products.

GENERAL MERCHANDISE:

BIC International Inc.

BIC saw an opportunity in the market for an innovative lighter that allows consumers to light hard-to-reach places while keeping their fingers away from the flame. Extensive research was executed prior to launch, and the BIC EZ Reach Lighter delivered on consumer needs. With more stay-at-home activities occurring, including lighting candles, fires, grilling and camping, the BIC EZ Reach Lighter reaches potential customers outside of tobacco for lighting occasions.

Its entry cited:

• Research showing high purchase intent for this type of product, especially for candles. • An innovative marketing strategy featuring Snoop

Dogg and Martha Stewart. • EZ Reach is seeing strong trial and repeat sales, with incrementality being 70 percent to the lighters category. The product now accounts for a 4-percent share of the non-refillable pocket lighter category. It is also a major driver of overall lighter performance as the BIC brand is growing by 5.3 percent vs. the prior year.

HEALTH & BEAUTY CARE:

Lil’ Drug Store Products

Lil’ Drug Store Products provides a turnkey, unbiased and data-driven solution to help retailers maximize health and beauty care (HBC) category sales and profit dollars. The team utilizes customer-

specific data coupled with syndicated national data, consumer research and a proprietary national retail database to deliver business reviews, trends analysis and recommendations on products, retail pricing, and merchandising.

Its entry cited:

• Category performance outpacing the c-store industry average across all timeframes over the past year, according to Nielsen. This was accomplished by optimizing selection and retails leading to improved top- and bottom-line dollars and margin percentages. • Transitioning retailers to triple dose trial-size options, which drove total category growth, improved trade-up, and increased market baskets. • Total category unit growth at retailers ranging from 2.6 percent to 12 percent, as well as retail dollars up from 16 percent to 28 percent, and gross margin dollars up by 17.5 percent at one company. • Testimonials from retailer category managers praising the Lil’ Drug Store

Products category management team for their professionalism and insights.

OTHER TOBACCO PRODUCTS/CIGARS: Cheyenne International

To Cheyenne, each retailer is unique and treated as such. The company’s goal is to enable retailers to feel confident in their cigar set. Compliance is key and Cheyenne has always been on the forefront of regulatory issues in the tobacco industry. The supplier offers uncomplicated contracts and simple ways in which retailers can grow their sales. Cheyenne also has a strong digital platform and was able to easily pivot during the pandemic to meet merchandising and marketing needs.

Its entry cited:

• Being the leading filtered cigar brand nationwide. • Holding a 28-percent share of the market. • Having the top four SKUs nationwide: full flavor, menthol, wild cherry and classic. • Accounting for 86 percent of the volume among the top five SKUs nationwide. • Having the only growing filtered cigar brand in the country. • Always being there to assist its retailer partners in driving traffic and register rings with in-store merchandising and POP to digital marketing programs.

OTHER TOBACCO PRODUCTS/ E-CIGARETTES & VAPOR PRODUCTS:

E-Alternative Solutions

Regulatory challenges, developing consumer demand and rapid growth are just a few of the factors shaping emerging alternative tobacco products. Thanks to having the right combination of compliance, marketing, leadership and financial resources, E-Alternative Solutions (EAS) is able to continue marketing its Leap brand of vapor products without interruption while awaiting marketing orders from the Food and Drug Administration. Its two modern product lines, Leap and Leap Go, have remained fixtures in the OTP category.

Its entry cited:

• Maintaining a strong place in the market throughout 2021 while many pod-based vapor manufacturers experienced hardship due to flavor bans and the popularity of disposable e-cigarettes.

This year's Category Captains bring insights and innovative solutions to their retailer partners, while navigating supply chain and labor issue workarounds.

• Stores with EAS products in their assortment reaped the benefits of e-category growth, with chain stores carrying EAS brands selling an average of 81 e-category UPSPW — a significant jump up from 70 UPSPW in 2020. • Expansion of its Leap Smart Rewards loyalty program, which offers seasonal giveaways and sweepstakes to the most engaged Leap fans and entices consumers to come back to the store.

Currently, Leap Smart Rewards is developing market research surveys to better understand the evolving attitudes, desires and lifestyles of adult vapers. It is also building a catalog of prize incentives to best complement this shopper.

OTHER TOBACCO PRODUCTS/OVERALL:

Swisher

Swisher combines product innovation with leading adult consumer insights, superior customer relationships and definitive action, entrenching its position as a Category Captain in the OTP category. Last year, the OTP category was under a great deal of stress and uncertainty due to the pandemic’s effect on supply chain, manufacturing and logistics. Hundreds of retail chains relied on Swisher’s category management to get them through these market challenges.

Its entry cited:

• More than 180 chains nationally worked with Swisher’s Space Planning Team on merchandising and assortment decisions. The department built 2,500-plus planograms implemented in upwards of 14,000 retail locations nationwide. • Investments in staffing, tools and services to: fund research and testing to deepen consumer understanding and enhance decision-making; improve point-of-sale communication, guide concept and product development; and optimize marketing programs. Also, utilized

Blue Yonder software that integrates multiple data sources to analyze and build strategy. • Alignment of marketing departments to focus on

Swisher Sweets Cigar Co., Fat Lip Brands, Drew

Estate, Hempire and Rogue Holdings, which have proven to be essential for the continuous growth of the entire OTP category.

PACKAGED BEVERAGES:

The Coca-Cola Co.

In 2020, The Coca-Cola Co. set out to fill a whitespace in the U.S. beverage market by creating a new subcategory that would lift sales for the entire packaged beverages category: refreshment coffee for the afternoon pick-me-up. Coca-Cola identified that three in four Coke drinkers already drink coffee, and 90 percent of younger consumers are interested in hybrid drinks. To address this opportunity and meet evolving consumer needs, Coca-Cola with Coffee launched in the United States in January 2021.

Its entry cited:

• Coca-Cola with Coffee was launched with a 360-degree, integrated marketing campaign that included a variety of local and national elements. Marketing channels included digital/ social, experiential, outdoor, radio, TV advertising, trial-driving sampling (via e-commerce to adhere to COVID safety guidelines), and in-store merchandising. • As of December 2021, Coca-Cola with Coffee generated $69 million in sales for measured channels in its first 10 months. This resulted in an incremental volume increase for the entire RTD coffee category of 43 percent. • In the convenience channel, Coca-Cola with Coffee generated $20.1 million in sales in its first 10 months. One convenience retailer saw $1.68 million in Coke with Coffee revenue, and another reported sales totaling more than $975,000. • Vanilla’s success as the No. 1 Coca-Cola with

Coffee SKU showcased consumers’ desire for a flavored coffee experience. With this in mind, the Coca-Cola with Coffee lineup expanded in

February 2022 with the addition of Mocha.

PACKAGED SWEET SNACKS: Hostess Brands

The Hostess Brands category management team captained the annual assortment review process for many large retailers in 2021, focusing on category-centric metrics designed to lift the performance of all brands in sweet baked goods. The company further supported retailers in the review process by leveraging its planogram-building and maintenance capabilities and software, building more than 190 planograms at 100-plus retailers. The category team provided continued assortment analysis throughout the year to measure and maintain category growth.

Its entry cited:

• Using virtual meeting software to double the number of category reviews compared to prior years between its category management team and retail partners. This analysis included information on what’s driving the retailer’s category performance at the brand and item levels, what the key opportunities are to improve category performance, and what the threats are that could hinder performance moving forward. • Driving overall growth in the packaged bakery category, Hostess Brands was responsible for more than $99 million of growth vs. the prior year, an increase of 19 percent. Already the category share leader going into 2021, it has grown the overall category, which is up 6.6 percent year to date and up an average of 9.7 percent at customers in which

Hostess Brands is the category captain. • Leading innovative research to better understand the shopping behaviors of convenience store customers and the emotions they associate with the channel. The supplier shared this information with its retail partners so they can better understand who is in their stores.

SALTY SNACKS:

Conagra Brands

Through core business growth and new innovation expansions like the launch of Slim Jim Savage Sticks Mild, David’s Seeds Bacon Mac ’n Cheese, Bigs Takis Seeds and Andy Capp’s Onion Rings, Conagra Brands is positioned to be a driving force of growth in the salty snacks category. The company is delivering growth of 20.1 percent vs. a year ago — a 26-percent faster rate of growth than total snacks in the convenience channel.

Its entry cited:

• Slim Jim Savage Sticks Mild delivered a 57-percent incremental increase to the meat snacks segment. • Bigs Takis Seeds delivered a 64-percent incremental increase to the seeds category. • Andy Capp’s Onion Rings is currently growing 2.5 times faster than the overall category. • Angie’s Boom Chicka Pop is growing at a rate 6.7 times faster than the overall category, according to

Nielsen and IRI data.

WINE & LIQUOR:

E. & J. Gallo Winery

The wine and spirits category continues to evolve within the convenience channel. Since 2008, Category Captain E. & J. Gallo Winery has been collecting data to understand who the primary shopper is in this channel (millennials), what types of wines are favored by new consumers in the category (sweet), and why cold box shoppers purchase (immediate consumption).

Its entry cited:

• Using research takeaways to recommend an expanded wine assortment that ensures top sellers are available chilled, with an adjacent unchilled standard wine assortment, including an assortment of small sizes for impulse buys. • Partnering with Kum & Go, the 400-plusstore chain based in Des Moines, Iowa,

E. & J. Gallo identified that top market sellers were not consistently available across each state in Kum & Go’s footprint due to multiple store configurations, resulting in a loss of sales. Starting in early 2021, the company helped Kum & Go streamline its assortment by identifying the best sellers nationally and by state, and generated a marketspecific core list incorporating the multiple store configurations. Then, by clustering store configurations by state, the supplier could provide a consistent assortment at the right price points and introduce new items. Kum & Go saw an 8-percent increase in wine sales. • For the latest 26 weeks, wine sales were up 8 percent year over year, outpacing total sales in the convenience channel, which were up 5 percent, according to IRI.

LEADERSHIP AWARD FOR COMPREHENSIVE MULTI-CATEGORY MANAGEMENT:

Core-Mark & Eby-Brown

This is a brand-new award in the Category Captains program. The team at Core-Mark/ Eby-Brown put together an extremely compelling entry illustrating how the wholesale distribution firm is a true retailer partner concerned with growing sales across many different product categories. c-store operators need every advantage — information specific to their stores, strategies that addresses their challenges, and a keen understanding of their priorities. A customized visit to the firm’s Center of Excellence provides a day immersed in these advantages. Available to all retail customers, from independent stores to large chains, this proactive approach to driving store sales uncovers what a retailer needs beyond the basics of distribution. The entire visit is rich in relevant data and affords access to experts in every facet of the convenience business, delivering research, strategy, innovation and, most importantly, solutions.

The 14,000-square-foot Center of Excellence is designed with “hubs” of activity. A visit might include a stop at each hub to garner valuable information across the enterprise, each one specific to the customer. Those with a more defined goal might delve deeper into just one or two hubs. This flexibility allows the Center to create a fully customized customer experience.

The hubs include:

• The Collaboration Hub, where customers hear directly from company leadership on consumer trends, data and more. • The Core Solutions Hub, where retailers consult with experts in all facets of marketing and get overviews of Core-Mark’s tools. • The Food Forward Thinking Hub, where retailers can address the growing demand for fresh and prepared foods and utilize the Center’s test kitchen for discussions with foodservice team members. • The Store Innovation Hub, where retailers step inside the store of tomorrow and discover all the c-store could be, with trending products and cutting-edge technology — like SKIP, Core-Mark’s contactless mobile checkout system — giving store owners a tactile experience of how such advances could impact their operation. • The Data & Insights Hub, where customers can acquire an unbiased assessment of product performance. Totally data-driven and without emotional ties or sponsor influence, products are ranked via Blue Yonder’s Assortment Optimization

Function, pointing the way to what’s working best and what’s selling most.

At its Center of Excellence, the firm curates an environment for out-of-the-box thinking with no barriers to aspirational ideas or future dreams. Instead, it urges conversation and supports those discussions with hard data, strategic insights and expert advice. Customers who visited the Center reported their samestore non-cigarette sales grew 5 percent higher than Core-Mark customers overall. They also had nearly twice the sales dollars per store compared with the overall Core-Mark base. CSN