Sushi? 7-Eleven Hopes Consumers Will Bite

What flavor Slurpee goes with sushi? Or fettuccine Alfredo? Or Szechwan beef?

Those are the questions that customers at 7-Eleven could be faced with as the nation’s largest convenience store chain today begins rolling out freshly made meals at its stores daily.

The move, announced late Tuesday, is an aggressive attempt to boost sales in the convenience store business by capturing the growing number of “dashboard diners” who eat on the go.

But removing the bad taste left by decades of rubbery hot dogs, soggy burritos and aging shrink-wrapped sandwiches will be no easy task.

“One of the biggest things will be getting over the [image] in the consumers’ minds of what convenience store food is,” said Des Hague, vice president of fresh foods at Dallas-based 7-Eleven. But “we expect fresh food to represent a pretty meaningful percentage of our growth.”

Indeed, if the concept catches on, it could turn up the heat on supermarkets and fast-food chains, which have struggled to increase their sales in recent years as a variety of retailers have begun catering to consumers’ growing demand for grab-and-go food.

The lines between types of food retailing are blurring, said Karen Brown, a spokeswoman for the Food Marketing Institute, which represents grocers. “Everybody is in everybody else’s business.”

Some, like San Diego-based burger giant Jack in the Box Inc., have decided to join the convenience store fray, rather than risk losing food sales. The company announced in September that it is opening up Quick Stuff convenience stores and gas pumps next to some of its restaurants.

Supermarkets are adding refrigerated cases with prepared meals at the front of stores so shoppers don’t have to trek through the aisles to find a meal.

Entrees at 7-Eleven’s 692 locations in Southern California will range from fresh-made seafood salads to enchiladas and California rolls, as well as meals such as lasagna, fettuccine and Szechwan beef bowls that can be taken back to the office for quick heating and eating.

Prices for these items will range from $2.49 to $5.99 for some higher-end salads.

Keeping in mind the primary reason why customers shop at its stores -- for the convenience -- 7-Eleven has been working with chefs and manufacturers to make all of its food portable, ready to be either stashed in a briefcase or put in a cup holder and nibbled on while driving.

“The lunch hour has shrunk from 60 minutes to 20-odd minutes,” Hague said. “That’s put consumers under tremendous stress. We are trying to differentiate ourselves with high-quality portable foods.”

Increasingly, he said, 7-Eleven shoppers are demanding not only more healthful fare but a wider variety beyond the more traditional convenience store offerings of chips, frozen burritos and packaged doughnuts.

Today, sales of prepared food are still just a small part of the $283-billion convenience store industry, falling well below cigarettes and soda, according to the National Assn. of Convenience Stores.

But food sales are growing as time-strapped Americans look for meals to eat on the go.

A survey last December by Leo Shapiro & Associates found that 65% of shoppers who visited a convenience store bought food.

As 7-Eleven expands its offerings at its 5,000 U.S. stores to include more prepared entrees, appetizers and desserts in the next five years, it expects fresh-food sales to quadruple. The company, with $8 billion in annual revenue, does not break out food sales.

Ultimately, Hague hopes that 7-Eleven will become known as a place for takeout, as it is in Japan, where multiple food deliveries are made to each store daily for each meal rush.

“7-Eleven is redefining what a convenience store is,” said Bill Bishop, president of Willard Bishop Consulting in Barrington, Ill.

The new offerings may not be restaurant quality. But they are a big leap from the weeks-old vending machine-style sandwiches most convenience stores dished up in the past.

The new gourmet sandwiches will be made with such ingredients as bourbon mustard sauce, and all will be preservative-free, made at one of 13 local commissaries with a one- to two-day shelf life clearly marked on the package.

7-Eleven’s new fresh-food system with its 22 distribution centers, including one in Fullerton, and fleets of trucks has been “costly” to set up, Hague said, declining to be more specific.

But he said he expects the investment to more than pay for itself because prepared foods, as opposed to packaged grocery items and candy, are more lucrative.

For the convenience store industry, prepared foods make up only 13% of sales, excluding gasoline purchases, but generate 25% of profits.

However, Bishop cautions it’s a big leap from Slurpees to sushi. It could be difficult for 7-Eleven to convince its consumers that fresh convenience store food isn’t an oxymoron.

“Old habits die hard,” he said. “They will have to work hard to win a reputation in this area.”