Issue link: http://osercommunicationsgroup.uberflip.com/i/386437
C o n ve n i e n c e Re ta i l e r S h o w D a i l y 4 5 W e d n e s d a y, O c to b e r 8 , 2 0 1 4 convenient energy product on the mar- ket. Energems come in milk chocolate, mint chocolate and peanut butter choco- late flavors. In a competitive and packed energy drink-bar-gel market, NRG Innovations has managed to create an entirely new niche, and do it with flair. "In addition to coming up with a product that is great tasting, low calorie, as natural as possible and portable, we also wanted to give con- sumers a little bit of an indulgence," explained Fairleigh. Of those indulging in Energems, 97 Energems ( Cont'd. from p. 4) percent like the taste and 88 percent say they would buy the product if available locally. "It's not a me-too product," explained Fairleigh of Energems' success in a market where countless energy drinks and bars seem to overlap. "The interest in the new single-serve pack was immediate. Numerous retailers around the country, some with several thousand stores, picked us up before we even for- mally announced the launch of this con- venient new pack." For more information, visit www .energems.net, call 866-205-3653, email sales@energems.net or visit booth #569. tortilla made daily in the El Monterey bakery. Simply heat El Monterey Burritos and hold – offering your cus- tomers convenient and delicious hot-to- go options. Flavors include favorites such as: Bean and Cheese; Chicken, Rice and Beans; Beef and Bean Green Chili; Beef and Bean Red Chili; and more! "We understand what your cus- El Monterey ( Cont'd. from p. 4) tomers want," said Cullen, "and we're committed to offering you a variety of great tasting frozen Mexican foods that will 'wow' your customers. It's what we've been doing since Fred and Louis Ruiz co-founded Ruiz Foods – a Real Mexican food company – 50 years ago." Make sure to stop by booth #5579 on Wednesday, October 8th from 2 pm to 4 pm to meet Fred Ruiz. For more information, visit booth #5579. CRSD: What is your current product emphasis? JM: Our current product emphasis for the convenience market is our NSF-certi- fied Double-Sided LED Light Tubes for Coolers, commercial lighting products, and our LED retrofit kits for Bunn and Curtis coffee machines. We are also launching a new gas station canopy light that converts a 400W metal halide fixture into a 96W LED fixture. We're becoming more of a total LED solutions provider for the convenience market. CRSD: What distinguishes your compa- ny from the competition? JM: The commercialization of LEDs in general. They've become more readily available in the market with a lot more increased competition. With increased competition comes a lot of junk prod- uct that we ultimately have to fight through. So a big way that we're over- coming that now is by educating our customers to understand how to pur- chase LEDs, how to make good buying decisions whether it's our LEDs or other brands that we even recommend. Getting out there and meeting with cus- tomers, getting demo installations done for free and showing people that our product is better than others is ulti- mately the goal. CRSD: What is something that you've overcome in the last year? JM: We're bringing over 10 percent of CleanLife Energy ( Cont'd. from p. 1) our production and assembly in-house and set up a state of the art laboratory. We've also invested $100,000 into the city of Brooklyn, Ohio – where we're headquartered – for design testing and manufacturing equipment for LED light- ing products. This is a taste of what's to come for LED light products; a lot more products we're planning to bring in house. CRSD: How do you see the next year in terms of economy, sales, technology and product evolution? JM: We're evolving to deliver more simplistic, easy to understand, LED products that allows us to catch a larg- er customer base rather than only cap- turing niche markets. So as the tech- nology is maturing, the product is going to look simpler and be easier to install, but the cost may not necessari- ly go down. CRSD: Did your marketing strategy in the past year provide you the overall position you had projected? JM: We're really right where we expected to be at this time. We're growing at a rate that allows us to con- tinue to offer reasonable pricing with a high level of customer service and quality while building a platform in an infrastructure that will allow us to scale in the future. For more information, visit www.clean lifeled.com, call 800-316-2532, email Justin at justin@cleanlifeenergy.com or stop by booth #1913. repeat business. CRSD: What new items have you intro- duced? NO: In 2014, we introduced Kajun Katch, a new operator-friendly shrimp and fish product that is not only delicious and pleasing to seafood lovers' taste buds, but exceptionally easy to prepare. Sales of shrimp and fish are off to a great start and we expect seafood to be a dom- inant part of our menu for years to come. Breakfast is also getting a lot of attention from us as the fastest growing day part in the C-store industry. Our Sunrise Breakfast brand, which includes self- serve breakfast sandwiches, kolaches, fresh baked blueberry and honey butter biscuits, is growing quickly. CRSD: Describe your training program. NO: Our training program is the best in the industry. Initially every location we open is provided with a one-week inten- sive in-store training for all foodservice employees. The training includes, among other things: placing the initial order, packaging and storing (conducted by a Serv Safe certified trainer), equipment preparation, cleaning and maintenance, complete cooking instructions, food case merchandising and installation of menu systems with state of the art graphics. We also provide menu analysis, cost and profit profiles and in-depth inventory control for maximizing profitability. CRSD: What do you consider a success- ful store? NO: When a store reaches its full sales Krispy Krunchy ( Cont'd. from p. 1) potential it is a successful store. At that point, we keep it there through long-term training and maintenance. If the customer is not successful in the long term, neither are we. It requires resources, manpower and experience to accomplish this, but that's what we're all about. Our only measure of success is the program's abil- ity to stand the test of time. CRSD: What is your growth forecast? NO: Our sales have been increasing at a rate of 30 percent per year for the last three years and we anticipate the trend to continue, if not accelerate, in the coming year. We've added 300 stores in 2012, 525 in 2013 and are currently averaging 10 store openings per week. We look for that trend to continue. CRSD: What do you anticipate to be your greatest challenge in the year ahead? NO: Technology is changing at warp speed and we want to take advantage of every possible means of advertising the Internet and social media provide. CRSD: To what do you attribute your company's success? NO: We remain focused on the essen- tials: quality products, intensive training and professional updated graphics. In the end we know that our long-term success depends on the retailer's success. Our marketing partners and graphic designers are passionate about their jobs, and their untiring efforts are our greatest assets. For more information, go to www .krispykrunchy.com or stop by booth #7173. with newly brewed. This is challenging to enforce, especially during off-peak hours. It's wasteful. CRSD: Why will the Coffee Press be successful in a C-store? SE: It's perfect in a self-serve environ- ment. Your customers can serve them- selves quickly and be on their way with a premium cup of coffee without wait- ing in line at a specialty coffee house. The reduced waste and labor steps also benefit staff-operated C-store applica- tions. CRSD: Coffee is a high-volume item for most operators. How can you compete with gravity drip brewers? SE: The Coffee Press can brew large quantities by programming it to auto- matically execute multiple brew cycles. These can be dispensed direct- ly into carafes or large containers. The difference being that for our system brewing a batch is an option. It's not inherent. CRSD: What makes it efficient? SE: We only brew what is needed. There is no need to heat and hold large quantities of water or automatically brew extra coffee that will ultimately get dumped out. We say quit serving the drain and increase your coffee pro- gram's ROI instead. Also, we're small Schaerer USA ( Cont'd. from p. 1) at less than 13 inches wide, and very fast. CRSD: So it's a cost saver. Why else would an operator benefit by using it? SE: Taste. That's what really matters. This is a different and better cup of cof- fee. Major operators are stumbling over themselves trying to grow their break- fast business with me-too coffee pro- grams. The Press offers a rare opportu- nity to differentiate your coffee offer- ing from everyone else's and with that, your brand. CRSD: How do I differentiate premium from drip in my store lineup? Does this machine replace my current drip offering or can it co-exist? SE: Both are possible. The Coffee Press can replace your current drip offering, however, it is not necessary to launch it this way. It can easily be marketed as a premium coffee alternative. Over time, you'll find that your customers prefer the freshness of the Press. Either way, you will boost your bottom line. CRSD: Any final thoughts? SE: Think outside the box. Imagine life without an ATM, a smartphone or online banking. Embrace change. Meet the Coffee Press in booth #6759. For more information, visit www.schaerer usa.com, call 888-989-3004, email info@schaererusa.com or stop by booth #6759.