Dive Brief:
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Total packaged pastry and doughnut sales increased 3.62% to $1.54 billion last year, Information Resources Inc.'s Total All Scan convenience store data found, according to Convenience Store Decisions.
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Pastries, Danish and coffee cakes saw the biggest sales gain in this category, jumping 4.9% to $719 million. Granola bars and snack bars also rose 5.75% to $911 million in 2016, and health bars saw a sales increase of 6.53% to $626.32 million during that time.
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“I think the healthier options are going to continually keep popping up and being more important as time moves on,” Guy Morgano, vice president of Illinois-based PRIDE stores, told Convenience Store Decisions. “We’re actually starting to scratch the surface with the non-GMO products in an attempt to attract a different demographic than in a typical convenience store consumer.”
Dive Insight:
Today's consumer is busier than ever, and seeks opportunities to buy high-quality meals and snacks on the go. Grocery stores have accommodated this shopping behavior by introducing prepared food stations, meal kit endcaps and even restaurants to their store formats, but most convenience stores don't have the square footage to squeeze hot and cold food bars within their aisles.
Instead, c-stores are improving the quality of the items that customers already frequently buy there. Some locations are baking pastries in house, playing off the success of grocery store bakery sections. Pre-packaged pastries will always fly off the shelves, but adding more premium pastry offerings could expand a c-store's consumer base and boost sales.
C-stores can also capitalize on shopper desire for healthy offerings by selling value-added nutritional snacks to their shelves. Protein, granola and meat snack bars are all in high demand, but c-stores should also consider adding premium yogurts and hummus snack packs to their refrigerated cases. Dry goods will always be a mainstay for c-stores and a popular snack choice for consumers on the go, but if chains want to capture new shopper demographics, they should diversify their health offerings.