Convenience Offers Extra: CRU 2023 Wrap Up

The sparkle and luster of the food and beverage world usually draws me in quickly; new menus, new flavors, being in-the-know before anyone else… I am often drawn to my fellow foodies wherever I go, especially at conferences in the convenience and restaurant world.

But every now and then, I get the opportunity to interact with colleagues running other parts of the store – and I always learn something new. At this year's Convenience Retailing University hosted by Informa Connect Foodservice , I had the honor of interviewing CSP’s Category Manager of the Year nominees for Packaged Beverages. I learned that customers are looking for refreshment in the packaged beverage section of convenience stores with these kinds of needs in mind: Easy to Drink, High Octane, and Full-Flavored. Whether it’s alcohol, energy, or high-performance water, consumers are looking for that little “extra” to get them through.

I also had the pleasure of presenting perspectives on Foodservice Innovation Challenges in Retail Operations with Jason S. Read from Wawa, Inc. . After all, the ultimate goal of innovation in the foodservice world is to drive sales; but what motivates a person to give something a try for the first time? Innovators identify the “extras” that set their brand and their products apart from all the rest; the cutting edge, the trends, the habits, and the unspoken wishes of consumers.

Which got me to thinking: Aren’t we all looking for that little “extra” to get us through? We start the day looking for five more minutes to snooze in the morning; then we hope the traffic lights are ideally timed to go green for us on the way to work; later in the day we hold out hope that two candy bars fall out of the vending machine instead of just one… (that last one can’t be just me, right?) and along the way we are further motivated by the extra smiles, the extra laughs, the extra assurance that we’re on the right track.

I think this is the goal of the hospitality industry, and in particular, the convenience industry: To provide the “extras” to help ease transitions from one moment to the next. So, forgive me for immediately tying all life learnings back to food, but: Meals sustain us and keeps us going for hours upon hours after the three-minute convenience store visit. Providing that high-performance drink, the snack option that perfectly accompanies it, plus an uplifting interaction at checkout, and a clean and well-lit parking lot… It can all add up to an experience that is craveable, an experience that we hope our customers will want to replicate daily.

CRU 2023 literally rocked this year, and was full of “extra” including the professional and hospitable CSP staff, great general sessions, category-specific breakout sections with leading experts and interesting discussions, excellent vendors and a big show floor, thoughtful meeting and networking spaces, good food and drinks, and a beautiful venue. And rock stars… There is just so much extra in the accompanying photograph, I just had to share Carol Valora, CMP , Katherine McLarty .

Let me know what inspires you, and how you or others make the convenience and hospitality world extra special.

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