Innovation, from new equipment to unique drink offerings, is helping c-stores elevate their cold and frozen dispensed beverage programs.

“The fountain remains the king of cold and frozen beverages,” said Jamie King, vice president of deli and food operations for Pilot Travel Centers based in Knoxville, Tenn. “Our guests love the variety available at our travel centers’ soda fountains.”

Pilot’s dispensed beverage offering also includes raspberry tea, root beer and frozen coffee. Smoothies and juices are also popular purchases.

Pilot values innovation, King continued, especially when it comes to creating food and beverage choices for guests.

“There has been tremendous expansion into frozen offerings, including coffee and functional beverages. Guests can enjoy our French vanilla frozen coffee, mocha frozen coffee and a flavorful range of ICEE flavors,” he said.

Overall, iced coffee remains a top choice among c-store consumers.

“Our guests can make each cup uniquely theirs by combining our refreshingly smooth cold brew with their choice of add-ins from the wide variety of seasonal creams and flavors offered at our travel centers’ coffee stations,” said King.

Along with beverage customization, consumers focus on freshness. To ensure freshness, Pilot uses bean-to-cup machines, which allows guests to brew their own cup on the spot, and also brews coffee through traditional drip machines fresh every hour.

Options include cold brew, iced coffee, specialty cappuccinos and custom-created blends.

“Our in-house innovation team brings decades of culinary experience into each hand-crafted recipe,” King noted.

Each new item goes through multiple rounds of research, taste testing, focus groups and sourcing to produce the best possible option for guests.

To pump up sales, Pilot focuses on consistency while providing a clean and friendly environment.

Investing in Variety

At Yatco, based in Marlborough, Mass., fountain soda, f’real and slush programs are all selling well.

“This time of year, with the warmer weather and more people on the road, beverage sales in general increase,” said Hussein Yatim, vice president of Yatco, which operates 13 stores in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut.

Key to fueling greater sales, Yatim added, is investing in a wide variety of offerings in the category. “That way, when a customer walks into the store, they are drawn to an extensive beverage area that is attractive to the consumer,” he said.

Yatco recently added Smoodi machines in some of its locations. The units offer a healthy, self-serve, self-cleaning, self-sanitizing, blended-to-order product with no added sugar and all-natural ingredients.

“Customer preferences vary,” said Yatim, “but we believe the key to a successful dispensed beverage program is testing exciting new and trendy beverage varieties to attract customers’ attention to the category. We believe that customers are looking for new and healthier options.”

Yatim said he has found that food offerings can serve as a big driver to a convenience store’s dispensed beverage programs.

“As customers come in for food, being able to run programs that couple-in a dispensed beverage adds sales to the category,” he said. “Also, offering ample amounts of flavors and drink options adds sales.”

Resonating With Shoppers

Allison Engroff, buyer — snack avenue/food services for the Army & Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES), said that Express convenience stores’ top two frozen dispensed beverages are uncarbonated Jolly Rancher Cherry and Blue Raspberry.

“Jolly Rancher is a known brand, which resonates with shoppers. The Exchange has also seen growth in the iced coffee and cold brew segments,” she said.

Express stores have introduced frozen coffee and frozen Hershey beverages. There are plans to add PURE Craft Beverages, including Blackberry Lemonade, Grape Elderberry Juice, Raspberry Hibiscus Tea and Pineapple Papaya. The Exchange is seeing growth in non-carbonated dispensed beverages, according to Engroff.

“We are focusing on rotating flavors and keeping barrels full,” she continued.

Management is working on introducing bubbler dispensing machines into some of the system’s larger locations, with healthier, more natural options including teas, lemonades and juices.

“The advantage of bubblers is that the PURE Craft Beverages products being introduced can be used in both bubblers and non-carbonated frozen machines,” she said.

The other new equipment being added is the nitro cold-brew coffee machine, as younger shoppers tend to enjoy specialty coffee drinks and place more importance on quality, Engroff noted.

“Convenience stores can build sales by staying in touch with the evolving market, whether it be new equipment or new flavor profiles,” she said. “Summer promotions are a great way to drive customers into stores.”