Foodservice + Food Safety

Food Is Our Future

An Industry Differentiator

Our industry’s robust foodservice offer is a key component of the convenience retail value proposition.

The past few years showed how retailers made strong inroads meeting the demands of consumers through restaurant-quality offerings, an expanded focus on healthy and fresh menu items, technology-enabled ordering, preparation and delivery options, and the in-store programs and promotional tie-ins that greatly contributed to the more than 165 million transactions our industry completes each day.

Protecting Public Health

During the early weeks of the pandemic, NACS hosted a weekly forum for food safety professionals to convene and discuss pressing issues. The group grew from three convenience retail companies to 12, and support from these individuals led to identifying forward-thinking industry initiatives like advancing food safety culture.

As a result, NACS is working with renowned food safety consulting company Cultivate to develop the industry’s first and only Convenience Store Risk Culture Maturity Model. The model captured the feedback of nearly two dozen global convenience retail companies at various stages of food safety maturity. We anticipate that the model will be available in early 2023.

NACS will host the first conference tailored for the convenience retail food safety community on October 1 at the NACS Show. Details will be available when NACS Show registration is live at nacsshow.com in April.

“To be ‘best in class’ in the foodservice and retail food sales arena, you need to work hard on details and education within the entire food system: from procurement, processing/production, distribution to food safe retail practices.”

Jay L. E. Ellingson
Ph.D., chief science officer, Kwik Trip (NACS Magazine)

Jay L. E. Ellingson
Ph.D., chief science officer, Kwik Trip
(NACS Magazine)

Last Mile Solutions

Consumer expectations for same-day, next-day and one- or two-hour delivery windows has created a robust last-mile landscape with multiple solutions.

Navigating these fast-paced changes can also be daunting. NACS Research asked convenience retailers around the world how they are creating or enhancing a last-mile fulfillment strategy and highlighted the findings in the Last Mile Fulfillment in Convenience Retail white paper. Retailer feedback highlights how convenience retailers are adopting last mile fulfillment, delivery services, options for accepting orders, and the difficulties retailers face with adopting last mile fulfillment services.

*NACS Research*: *Last Mile Fulfillment in Convenience Retail white paper*

Innovating for the Future

Consumer expectations for same-day, next-day and one- or two-hour delivery windows has created a robust last-mile landscape with multiple sol

A seismic shift is here that’s related to how we win the battle for the convenience customer in an increasingly digital world.

Online ordering, voice searches and last-mile delivery are all changing how people search and shop—will they find your stores?

As consumers adopt technology, the path to purchase has become increasingly digital. Convenience is evolving to an outcome or a state of mind, not just a physical location.

NACS sees the evolution of digital in our industry as a catalyst for the future of winning trips and building bigger baskets. A new solution is coming this year that taps into how well customers can—or cannot—find the nearest convenience store and the products and services offered when they initiate an online search. This new digital NACS service, which uses an AI and natural product language platform, puts retailers in control of the facts about their business across more than 150 digital services globally.

https://youtu.be/rFDtNX4eQXM

Be First in Winning Search in Your Market (https://youtu.be/rFDtNX4eQXM)

Be First in Winning Search in Your Market

Join us in building the future of convenience and register your interest in improving your digital presence and winning search at convenience.org/winningsearch.