Chef Andrew Zimmern is a self-proclaimed “hot dog guy,” and said his love for hot dogs was born from c-store roller grills.
During the closing General Session at the 2024 NACS Show in Las Vegas, Zimmern and fellow chef David Chang (who once operated a c-store in New York) put on a cooking demo to showcase the versatility of convenience store food staples by transforming ingredients found on most c-store shelves into craveable, high-quality, made-to-order dishes.
On Zimmern’s menu: a hot dog of course, but with a twist. He cooked an accordion hot dog nestled in a bed of fried cheese and crushed spicy chips, topped with coleslaw and condiments in an oversized bun. And on Chang’s: instant ramen noodles and potato chips blended to create a dough for gnocchi and a sauce made from the ramen seasoning packet and powdered coffee creamer, topped with shaved beef jerky meat sticks.
“There are a thousand versions of a hot dog to be made out there, just like there are 1,000 ways that you could make noodles,” said Zimmern. “The point being, whether you're going high, low, or anything in between, it's all doable. Both of these dishes show you that there is [already] everything in your store to create something new and different without adding extra pieces of equipment.” (Both chefs cooked their dishes on hot plates and portable grills.) “If you don't look at ingredients in a way that is insular, then you open yourself up to more delicious things,” Zimmern continued.
At the same time, as much as there is room for creativity and innovation, “This dish … is still a hot dog,” said Zimmern. “I think we need to lose this high versus low aspect of food … this box we put ourselves in where we say, that's ‘an elevated dish,’ or that's ‘restaurant-quality.’ Food is food and you can make something super delicious with the ingredients you have on hand. It’s more about your intent and the point of view.”
Zimmern, who said he spends a lot of time eating in convenience stores while traveling and filming his TV shows, said that the biggest growth he has seen from the c-store industry as both a chef and a customer over the last decade is how many c-stores are “pushing the envelope when it comes to food. They’re not only broadening the choices of packaged goods, but are also broadening the choices of quick-serve foods.”
Of course, with labor being a significant challenge in the industry, the chefs noted that not all stores have to start running large made-to-order operations resembling a restaurant, but there is still a lot of opportunity to compete in the food space.
According to Zimmern, retailers can lean into high-quality sandwiches, both hot and cold. “You can fry chicken cutlets and have them at the ready with marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese and make a great chicken parm sandwich. If you have a deli counter, you can compete with any sandwich restaurant that is down the street,” he said.
The chefs also noted that they’re seeing an uptick in the popularity of Asian flavors and Asian cuisine becoming much more mainstream. Though Chang said that while the short-term answer to being competitive in the food space is to capitalize on flavors that are “hot and trendy,” the long-term strategy is “just making the things that are never going to change, like sandwiches and prepared meals, better. There's a lot of work that can go into that, but it can be done, and I know it's going to happen. If retailers continue to push that quality, customers will be able to see the difference.”
“The lure of food is very powerful, so the growth opportunity is there. People recognize quality so if you put it in front of them, it’s only a matter of time before that’s how stores start differentiating themselves when great food is available at every price point,” Zimmern added.