Agenda
Tuesday, September 12, 2017
9:00 AM - 4:00 PMRegistration  
1:00 PM - 1:10 PMWelcome - Don Longo 
1:10 PM - 1:55 PMKeynote Presentation: C-store Food -- What's Driving the Purchase & How To Attract the Next Wave of Consumers
Despite the improvements made by c-store brands, preconceived ideas of c-store foods are ultimately preventing more consumers from becoming c-store foodservice customers. Join us as we analyze consumer attitudes toward c-store foodservice offerings and how to shift consumer perspectives. We’ll identify why “heavy” c-store users drive overall c-store satisfaction and what prevents non-consumers from buying more c-store foodservice products. We’ll also discuss how c-store operators can increase the perceived quality of their foodservice offerings by making changes to their coffee, prepared food, and even CPG programs. 
2:00 PM - 2:40 PMGeneral Session 1: Translating On-Premise Insights Into Successful Foodservice Strategies
Strategies for convenience executives to take on-premise restaurant insights and behaviors and convert them into successful food service sales and conversions.  Retailers will hear these key takeaways:
* How convenience stores can utilize the right restaurant marketing tools to enhance the guest experience;
* Why staff is the greatest asset to gaining trial on foodservice items; and,
* How utilizing occasions and shopper missions can encourage bundling, trade ups, and higher dollar rings.
2:50 PM - 3:25 PMBoardroom Briefings
Room 21:
2:50 - 3:05 pm Eloma
3:10 - 3:25 pm Ruiz Foods
 
Room 22:
2:50 - 3:05 pm J&J Snack Foods
3:10 - 3:25 pm Rancilio Group
 
Please check your scheule for your assigned room location (listed by retailer).
3:25 PM - 4:05 PMFoodservice Breakout 1: Menu Innovation for C-store Gains
Currently, C-Stores are one of the fastest growing sectors of the food industry. As the lines between c-stores and restaurants have never been more blurred, c-stores across the board are upping their offerings for all occasions and making on-the-go eating easier, healthier and more satisfying.

Datassential, a leading market research firm providing insights and thought leadership to the food industry, maintains the largest database of menu data on its MenuTrends platform. These data provide a framework for understanding and predicting the culinary trends across the food industry from emerging ethnic cuisines to the next wave of handhelds. This session will identify the keys to developing successful c-store innovations, and explore such topics as why ethnic is not ethnic anymore, distinguishing trends from fads, a consumer’s view of local food, c-stores and snacking, and food “with a story.”
3:25 PM - 4:05 PMBeverage Breakout 1: Retailer and Supplier Trends in Beverage Consumption
One of the retail and CPG industry’s foremost analysts, Bonnie Herzog of Wells Fargo, will address the major trends impacting soft drinks, energy drinks, bottled water, etc. in the convenience channel. This session will include feedback from retailers on the state of their beverage business, and the status and prospects for new beverage products being introduced by the major beverage companies.
 
4:10 PM - 4:50 PMBeverage Breakout 2: Sparkling Water: The “Now Big Thing.”
Sparkling water is no longer the “next” big thing, it’s the “now” big thing. Bottled water has been growing steadily for the past two-plus decades. This should come as no surprise to anyone. In fact, bottled water has now passed carbonated soft drinks as the most consumed packaged beverage in the United States. What may surprise you is that sparkling water is currently growing more than 50 percent faster than still water. What was once a small, niche subsegment is now a significant part of the beverage landscape. As soft drinks continue to decline, sparking water is poised to play an increasingly important role in beverage growth and profitability for convenience store retailers. Are you prepared to take advantage of this “bubbly” opportunity?
4:10 PM - 4:50 PMFoodservice Breakout 2: How to Compete with Fast-Food Drive-Throughs
The presentation will concentrate on how convenience stores can compete with fast-food drive-throughs. This will include convenience stores that currently have drive-throughs, those contemplating adding drive-throughs, and those who do not plan on adding drive-throughs. Fast-food and convenience store companies doing a good job with their drive-throughs will be profiled along with specifics on what makes their drive-thru experience better than their competitors. The presentation will also focus on a fast-growing “challenger” to the drive-through service model: digital and mobile ordering apps for curbside service, take-out and delivery.
4:55 PM - 5:25 PMFoodservice Breakout 3: Understanding the Convenience Foodservice Shopper
This presentation will share key shopper insights and trends in foodservice, using results from the industry tracking program, CSI MegaStudy with data from over 80 million c-store trips. Who are foodservice shoppers? Where are the biggest opportunities for improving conversion and loyalty? How does the store layout impact foodservice performance? How does the shopping behavior vary by day-parts and its implication on the foodservice strategy? What are the key regional variations in foodservice purchase behavior?  What role does different levels of foodservice have on the overall c-store performance?
 
4:55 PM - 5:25 PMBeverage Breakout 3: Leveraging Virtual Reality for Beverage Wins
InContext Solutions CEO Mark Hardy will explain how virtual can help retailers and beverage category managers create, evaluate, and bring winning concepts to market faster and more profitably. Among the lessons from this session:
  • How a retailer could save millions and improve compliance by replacing dated print planograms with virtual images and videos;
  • How beverage category managers can create retailer- and region-specific category recommendations based on real data; and,
  • How retailers can increase sales by modeling and evaluating a range of signage concepts in virtual before creating anything in the real world.
5:30 PM - 6:30 PMOpening Reception in Solution Showcase
Sponsored by:
6:30 PMCFBE Foodservice & Beverage Leadership Awards Dinner
Sponsored by:
  
Wednesday, September 13, 2017
7:00 AM - 1:00 PMRegistration 
7:30 AM - 8:15 AMBreakfast in the Solution Showcase
Sponsored by:
    
8:15 AM - 8:20 AMWelcome 
8:20 AM - 8:50 AMGeneral Session 2: What C-Stores Should Do To Win in the Hyper-Competitive Foodservice & Beverage Market
Presenting highlights of AlixPartners’ recent publication, “What convenience stores should know—and do—in 2017,” this session combines a consumer study of the choice and preferences of convenience store shoppers as well as an industry snapshot and outlook for the convenience store industry. Findings in the survey point to the need for c-stores to master four imperatives to succeed in the space and sharpen their competitive edge -- enhancing their execution of foodservice programs, improving the customer experience, building and leveraging scale, and developing comprehensive enterprise-improvement programs that deliver year-over-year productivity savings. Our presentation will dive into what each of these focus areas should look like for operators. 
8:50 AM - 9:05 AMBreak
Sponsored by 
9:10 AM - 10:45 AMSpeed Networking Meetings 
10:50 AM - 11:30 AMGeneral Session 3: Capitalizing on Health & Wellness Trends
Americans are more focused on Health & Wellness (H&W).  They are exercising more, eating healthier foods, reading product labels, and seeking health related information online.  That’s because there are several macro factors converging.  An aging population with increasing needs has created a more proactive relationship with H&W, while rising healthcare costs have caused consumers to make tradeoffs in how they care for themselves. In addition, shoppers across all generations are demanding transparency in the foods they eat and the products they consume. This has led to the growth of natural, organic, and several other transparency driven wellness claims to outpace the total store.
 
The convenience channel has also made great strides in providing healthier fresh foods, snacks, and beverages in order to meet consumer demand for better-for-you products. In this session, find out how convenience stores are winning with the health seeking consumer, and what the future holds.
 
11:30 AM - 12:30 PMLunch in the Solution Showcase
Sponsored by:
12:35 PM - 1:15 PMFoodservice Breakout 4: Balancing Great Guest Experience with Safety Compliance 
12:35 PM - 1:15 PMBeverage Breakout 4: The Beverage Tsunami:  How ‘Better For You’ Drinks will Disrupt the Category
Health & Wellness trends continue to drive consumer purchase behavior, and an increasingly rapid response from manufacturers and retailers alike.  The shift from traditional sugary soft drinks into better-for-you beverage brands that combine functional benefits such as protein, energy, or greens with cleaner nutrition profiles are creating new categories and transforming C-Store cold vault merchandising.  What are the major consumer forces at play and implications for C-store retailers to capitalize on this latest wave of shifting consumer preference?
 
1:20 PM - 2:00 PMFoodservice Discussion Group: "Being Different….and Better"
Jerry Weiner and Larry Miller, two of the c-store industry’s leading foodservice gurus, will lead an interactive discussion looking at ways c-store retailers can differentiate their business from their competition. There are many ways to accomplish being different, but what makes you better. That is what actually drives customer shopping decisions. From presentation, offer, and marketing we will look at the action points.
1:20 PM - 2:00 PMBeverage Discussion Group: From Millennials to Boomers, Maximizing Dispensed Beverage Sales
Tim Powell of Q1 Consulting LLC will lead an interactive discussion, supported by exclusive research, on shopping attitudes, behaviors and trends among millennials and other key consumer groups that impact dispensed beverage sales in the convenience store.
 
2:00 PM - 2:10 PMBreak 
2:10 PM - 2:50 PMGeneral Session 4: How to Use Strategic Thinking to Navigate Health, Consumer, Beverage, Food & Flavor Trends
This session will help retailers better recognize and predict the opportunities and pathways for making food and beverage products and menu items successful in the marketplace. It will also show how to adapt to upcoming changes in trend direction and how to differentiate between long-term trends and short-lived fads.
2:50 PM - 3:15 PMClosing Remarks
Enjoy your grab and go snack! 
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