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Chef’s Corner: TXB Is Putting Foodservice First
FOODSERVICE
MOVES FORWARD
As the economy reopens, c-stores are focusing on menu innovation across breakfast, lunch and dinner, while keeping operational challenges top of mind.
Isabelle Gustafson • Associate Editor
The pandemic has impacted each daypart differently, and while c-stores remained open, visits dipped as consumers stayed home. As the country reopens, visits are up, but further recovery will depend on consumers returning to workplaces and schools this fall.
#1 PIZZA BRAND IN THE C-STORE INDUSTRY. WE KNOW PIZZA.
A nationally branded pizza program created specifi cally for the c-store industry with delicious products that are easy to make with existing labor. We Know C-stores. We Know Pizza.
Download the Branded Pizza Guide at huntbrotherspizza.com/csd Call 1-800-453-3675
GetGo Café+Market is promoting its barbecue offers throughout the summer, including its new Uncle Jammy’s BBQ Chicken sandwich (left). Come fall, its focus will shift to LTO subs like its Thanksgiving-themed sub, The Pilgrim (above).
“Guest behavior’s really hard to isolate right now because there are so many moving variables,” said Brian Scantland, vice president, fresh food operations and business planning & analysis for Thorntons. “Even by city, or even part of a city, we’re seeing sporadic normalization.”
The Louisville, Ky.-based chain, which owns and operates 208 locations across six states, added 60 kitchens to stores mid-pandemic.
The morning daypart in particular, Scantland noted, is recovering differently at almost every site.
At Pittsburgh-based GetGo Café+Market, “breakfast has slowly started to come back,” said GetGo Vice President & Chief Merchant Jon Cox, “and we are hopeful that in September, when kids go back to school, we will start to get some of the commuter business back.”
For now, lunch continues to be the busiest daypart, he said, and the evening daypart holds the most growth potential.
“We have seen business shift more to the afternoon and early evening,” Cox said, “and with consumers wanting to make fewer trips, we believe there is potential to grow that daypart through offering larger sizes for dinner, meal deals and combos, ready-to-heat meals and different items for customers to either eat in-store or take home and heat.”
In the c-store space, GetGo was an early adopter of third-party delivery through its partnership with Door-
Dash, which helps contribute to dinner daypart sales.
“We usually see larger basket sizes through customers that order on the app, and most of it is later in the day when we may traditionally be slower in-store,” Cox said. “Most major restaurant chains use at least one delivery app, and I believe that this business will continue to grow as customers are looking for new ways to save time.” “ “Guest behavior’s really hard to isolate right now because there are so many moving variables. Even by city, or even part of a city, we’re seeing sporadic normalization. even part of a city, we’re seeing sporadic normalization. — Thorntons Vice President of Fresh Food Operations and Business Planning & Analysis Brian Scantland
Louisiana-based Complete Stop 12’s rural stores see a lot of Hunt Brothers Pizza whole pie orders, especially in the evenings.
Down south, Lafayette, La.-based Complete Stop 12, which operates about 40 stores in Louisiana, offers a range of foodservice options, including Cajun Chicken Express and Zeus, a Greek and Lebanese program, as well as Hunt Brothers, a pizza brand celebrating its 30th year in business this month.
Hunt Brothers’ limited-time offers (LTOs) are super successful at Complete Stop 12 stores — both slices and whole pies — said Complete Stop 12 Owner Ramsey Ali. But it also depends on where the stores are located.
“The slices will do good in a city area, and in a rural area, we do get a lot of whole pizza orders,” Ali said. “With the stores that (sell more) slices, lunch is busier, but in rural areas, where (we sell a lot of) whole pizzas, evening and dinnertime gets busy.”
UNCHARTED TERRITORY
Complete Stop 12’s partnership with Hunt Brothers is a “win-win,” said Ali. It complements the chain’s other foodservice offers but also acts as a great standalone program because of the minimal amount of labor needed.
This is proving more important now than ever, as the economy opening back up has led to staffing and supply challenges for retailers nationwide.
“The spring and summer season has been challenging for developing new foodservice offerings,” said GetGo’s Cox. “Supplier issues as well as staffing have presented us with a challenge of just running our base business effectively.”
For now, GetGo’s focusing on being creative with new sauces and seasonings to add excitement to the existing menu. And it’s promoting its “Summer of BBQ” offers, which includes pulled pork, chicken and brisket. Come fall, GetGo’s focus will shift to LTO subs — some new and some repeats based on past successes.
“In grab and go,” Cox said, “we are working on our expanded market concept that we will begin to pilot in the fall with enhanced grab-and-go items, including ready-to-eat meals, snacks and cooked proteins.”
Thorntons, too, is focused on tightening its product offering so it’s simple on operations and guests can depend on it, Scantland said.
Following the success of its BurgerRito LTO last year, Thorntons launched a new breakfast item at the start of the summer season — the Sunrise Sampler — a breakfast sandwich on a french toast carrier with egg, sausage, ham, four slices of bacon and cheese.
Within two days, Scantland said, it was the No. 1 performing item out of the kitchen.
“It was expected to be an LTO. But we will serve it until the guests tell us not to,” he said, “With the momentum and the uniqueness of that item to our lineup, it has a very good chance of becoming a permanent item.” Ultimately, though, it’s difficult to predict the future, Scantland said. After all, we’re in uncharted territory.
“We’re going to control what we can control,” he said, “and that’s our ability to serve great-tasting food and to make it easy on our operators and our supply partners.” CSD
fast facts:
• As the economy reopens, c-stores report staffing and supply chain challenges. • Creativity when it comes to new menu items or limited-time offers enables c-stores to balance innovation with simplifying operations.
30 YEARS OF PARTNERSHIPS & 8,000 STORES
Hunt Brothers® Pizza began as a family business founded by four brothers. Today, under the leadership of CEO Scott Hunt, the second Hunt family generation (Bryan Meng and Britt, Erin, Adam and Frank Hunt) keeps the original values going strong. This year, the company is celebrating thirty years of growth in the convenience store industry and reflecting on how the four Hunt brothers laid the foundation for a simple branded pizza program built on serving c-store owners well.
Designing their pizza programs with c-stores in mind, Hunt Brothers Pizza approaches their program with the goal of making c-stores more valuable. “We help the stores understand their profitability. If they are successful, we are successful,” adds Bryan Meng, Hunt Brothers Pizza COO.
Having grown to 8,000 stores nationwide, Hunt Brothers Pizza recognizes that any larger growth is a result of strong c-store partnerships. C-store owners across the country have seen results from the way Hunt Brothers Pizza works to be a blessing to them, including financial profits, community relationships and much more.
Let’s explore what sets Hunt Brothers Pizza apart by connecting with the true heroes of the business—the c-store owners themselves.
A BRANDED PIZZA PROGRAM DESIGNED FOR C-STORES
C-Store: Complete Stop 12 Owner: Ramsey Ali Location: Lafayette, Louisiana
Ali’s family began working in the c-store industry in Texas and grew to love the community-centered nature of the business. “Standing there as a cashier in the store, you will very soon know half of the community and they’ll know you by name,” he says.
After partnering with Hunt Brothers Pizza in 2007, Ali found the branded pizza program’s design to be crucial to his company’s success. “You don’t need to include more employees or extra hours to make the pizzas,” he says. “And it’s very cost effective; when cashiers have down time, they can prep and put out the pizza.”
This efficiency helps keep Ali’s business running smoothly while turning a profit. “As a convenience store we don’t have many people behind the register, so we want to make sure we have programs that do not overwhelm our cashiers,” he says.
“Hunt Brothers Pizza is one of the best food programs for convenience stores,” Ali adds. “With minimum labor involvement and a small footprint, we can provide hot fresh pizza and wings to our customers in a few minutes.” By including a branded pizza program with proven success in his store Ali can be a one-stop shop for his consumers, serving the community he loves and making them part of the family.
C-store owner Ali collaborates with a Hunt Brothers Pizza representative. Courtesy: Ramsey Ali
QUALITY, CONSISTENT FOOD OFFERINGS
C-Store: Drop-In Food Stores Owner: Lee Harrill Location: Forest City, North Carolina
Working on the wholesale side of the convenience store business since 1981, Harrill and his son now own six c-stores with four that serve Hunt Brothers Pizza. It was the pizza itself that first drew Harrill in.
The consistent All Toppings No Extra Charge® promotion stands out to Harrill as a key to success. “If you go to the pizza place down the road, every item you add will be an extra dollar,” he says. “The ability to make the pizzas special— whatever anyone wants—for one price is great.”
Harrill also enjoys the way Hunt Brothers Pizza spices up their offerings with Limited Time Offers (LTOs). These offerings in addition to topping flexibility for one price brings in customers and keeps them as repeat business. “People are looking for something quick,” he says, “and with Hunt Brothers Pizza’s quality, they know it’s going to be good.” From the beginning keeping it simple was the name of the game, which continues to help c-store owners like Harrill drive success.
