7-Eleven is expanding its hot foods program to add items such as pepperoni pizza and chicken wings to 115 Dallas-area stores, the Dallas Morning News reported.

 

The program is part of a nationwide rollout that is bringing ovens made by Carrollton’s TurboChef Technologies to 1,400 7-Eleven stores this year.

 

7-Eleven has offered grilled hot dogs since the early 1980s, and hot food-which began as a test in 2007 in Salt Lake City-accounts for 30% of the brand’s food offerings, which also include fresh fruit, salads and sandwiches.

 

This rollout, however, marks the first widespread use of the high-speed TurboChef oven that combines radiant heat, microwave and convection cooking technologies.

 

Stores incorporating the new hot food program can serve items such as four-cheese and pepperoni pizza (whole or by the slice), white-meat chicken tenders and three varieties of chicken wings – spicy, breaded; Asian; and barbecue. Stores chosen by the company to participate in the hot food program also will have a breakfast program complete with sausage, egg and cheese quesadillas and hash browns. Prices will range from 79 cents for two hash browns to $9.99 for a large pizza.

 

The move shows 7-Eleven is migrating away from dependence on tobacco sales and toward a food focus.

 

“Foodservice is our future,” said 7-Eleven spokeswoman Margaret Chabris, “We realized this in the 1990s with declining tobacco sales and rising tobacco regulation.” She added, “customers want speed, value and convenience, which is our niche,” she added. “We see a big opportunity with hot foods.”

 

In November and December, some stores will have a banner offering a whole pizza for $6.99, and beginning next year, the company will feature a menu board in the hot foods area inside the store.