We’ve known for a while that THE fastest growing category in the industry is the “ready-to-eat” one, which basically includes hot or cold prepared meal either by a third party or directly on-site.
A recent tour of convenience stores illustrates how complex this category has become, as much to implement as to define and classify.
To get a better idea, let’s review some of the most common applications from the simplest to the most sophisticated.
Cold meal wrapped (here, in a Boni-Soir depanneur). The ready-to-eat category has always existed, but it has long been just that: small wrapped sandwiches, which can be kept several days in refrigerated counters. It is the simplest, safest formula and the one generating and the least losses. The selection has, indeed, grown tremendously over the years to include salads, croissants, raw vegetables, cheeses, cut fruits, yogurts and so forth. It is still the most common ready-to-eat application because it is the easiest to implement.Anybody can make sandwiches!Hot meals, starting with hot dogs (here, an Ultramar Dépanneur du Coin from Parkland)! This popular meal requires minimal handling and the equipment used does not require any kitchen space. Note that this product blends perfectly with the other categories sold at the depanneur: soft drinks, chips, confectionery …The hot meal counter (here, a Super Relais Petro-Canada from Suncor). The depanneur is now quite serious with its ready-to-eat offering. It must devote a lot of precious room for a kitchen, ovens and other cooking equiment as well as training employees to cook. This requires a variety of MAPAQ licenses including a mandatory food safety training. But once this done, a depanneur can then offer a real hot meal menu such as fries, fried chicken, pizza and others. Everything is of course to take out and eat on the go.The cafeteria (here, in a Dépanneur du Coin from Parkland). Well yes: even in a 2,500 square foot depanneur, there is a way to cram a real cafeteria with its trays, its own cashier and its full menu! We are quite far away now from the wrapped sandwiches!Bistro style counter (here, in a Couche-Tard). When offering hot meals, it’s nice also to allow your customers to eat on-site. Even if the decor is far from the Fouquet’s and the atmosphere is not that of the Toqué, the commodity obtained is well worth it.And finally, the branded restaurant annexed to the convenience store (here, a Couche-Tard with Tim Hortons). This is the most achieved form of restaurant integration to a convenience store. You can sit down and eat a full menu. The restaurant then becomes a second pole of customer attraction so that either the depanneur or restaurant benefit from secondary sales of the other.
