Photographed by CSP staff
“Dashboard dining friendly” – food that consumers can eat while behind the wheel and a solution in today’s time-starved environment – is now gaining traction in convenience store foodservice. Masu.
This insight comes from Ryan Markowski, senior director of foodservice and corporate marketing at Coremark in Westlake, Texas.
Also trending right now is restaurant-quality food in convenience spaces, Malkowski said. CSP At Core-Mark's Expo, held March 28 in Schaumburg, Illinois, “Sandwiches and a full range of products from pizza to tacos to burritos, as well as one of our fastest growing categories,” We’re also getting into barbecue sandwiches.”
The expo will feature five brand programs offered through Coremark and its parent company, Richmond, Va.-based Performance Food Group: Red Seal Pizzeria, True Q Barbecue, Contigo Taqueria and Perfectly Southern.・Fresh fried chicken, deli 55) was on display.
“We want to meet our customers wherever they are in their foodservice journey,” Markovsky says.
3 steps
There are three levels of food service, the first being entry level with roller grills and packaged sandwiches.
The intermediate level includes fully cooked items and items that can be baked. “It's very labor-intensive, but it's more than just a pre-packaged product,” Markovsky says.
Finally, there are branded programs, which are part of a more advanced foodservice offering, that allow convenience stores to assemble restaurant-quality food on a component basis and use the components to create delicious or great tacos. It’s what you make,” Markovsky said. -Tasting a barbecue sandwich. ”
At this last stage, when items can be made to order or customized, all components are almost fully cooked, but “employed in a convenient setting with the right equipment and the right framework” “You can,” he said.
Asked about today's trends, Marcouxi said Latinx and Hispanic are among the fastest growing categories, which Coremark is addressing with its Contigo Taqueria program.
This “Latin Fusion” program includes tortillas, street tacos, burrito bowls and more. The program can compete with quick-service restaurants (QSRs) because it can be run as a made-to-order concept, Markovsky said.
In addition to being made to order, the Contigo Taqueria program is also available in a grab-and-go format.
Towards the “extraordinary”
“Sauces can take something ordinary and turn it into something special,” Markowski said of why Latin flavors are becoming more popular. You're going to change that flavor profile, whether it's a peppery profile or a sweet-spicy profile.
“Think of hot honey,” he said. “Today we're using chicken. It's the bite at that temperature that complements the protein and the traditional ingredients. People are looking for that customization, and for me the sauce is about some of the broader flavor profiles. It allows us to rely on you.”
Core-Mark's branded programs allow customers to get in the foodservice game without the complexity of franchise programs, he said.
“It’s already built,” he said. “We have a framework that looks like this: Our program allows you to enter food service without much complexity. Customizable. ”
The core mark is performance food group The company provides a full range of products, marketing programs and technology solutions to approximately 50,000 customer locations in the United States and Canada through 37 distribution centers. We service convenience stores, drug stores, grocery stores, and other stores that carry convenient products.
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