7-Eleven In-Store Cooked Foods Program Proliferates

DALLAS -- CSNews Online has learned Japanese retailer Seven & I Holdings Co. plans to increase the number of its 7-Eleven convenience stores in the United States that sell in-store hot cooked meals.

Company spokeswoman Margaret Chabris said the initiative is based upon the successful baked in-store hot foods campaign that was launched in March in approximately 100 Chesapeake, Va.-area stores.

"Our pilot program in southeast Virginia has been going well, and we do plan to expand it starting later this year and into 2009," Chabris told CSNews Online. "We plan to first expand in that region."

Seven & I Holdings expects to rollout approximately 800 stores by yearend and eventually making products available to all 6,200 locations, which could happen within two years.

"[There is ] no timeline available yet on the number of stores or other specific geographies where the hot foods program will be expanded to next," Chabris told CSNews Online.

The trial foodservice program includes five items, including spiced beef patties and barbecue chicken wings. To date, similar food offerings count for roughly 10 percent of foodservice sales. Once all stores are compliant, that number is expected to increase to 40 percent.
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