In the fall 2014, 7-Eleven announced a partnership with Tony Horton Kitchen and will begin testing a new line of “nutritionally balanced” food items in stores across the Los Angeles area. The Tony Horton Kitchen is the next big idea from P90x Fitness DVD creator, Tony Horton.
As Tony Horton says in all his DVDs, “Do your best and forget the rest.” Sounds like 7-Eleven is doing just that.
The new line of fresh, nutritionally focused, value-priced foods is aimed at the “fitness-oriented” Millennial customer, as they are a core consumer to the 7-Eleven chain. Nevertheless, Millennials are not the only demographic target, and other age groups may benefit from their menu extension into healthy food and drink items. The main driver in adding this new line is customers continually requesting healthier options in 7-Eleven stores.
The food and beverages currently in testing include a grilled chicken sandwich with blueberry mustard on whole-grain bread; a spicy quinoa salad with chimichuri dressing; a spicy black bean hummus and vegetable wrap; and four cold-pressed juices which include ingredients like ginger, beets, parsley, celery, and apple. The price of food items range from $4.75 to $6.50, while juices are $4.99. Average calorie count of all food items is about 360 calories.
7-Eleven knew the brand still had to overcome the unhealthy stigma that came with most convenience stores. Thus, their partnership with the Tony Horton Kitchen brand was their strategy to help consumers drop the stigma and try their new products. Leveraging the “name brand” connection between the P90X founder and other brands that struggle with a less-than-healthy reputation could be a worthwhile venture.
As mentioned above, customers of 7-Eleven have been requesting more healthy choices in the stores. The company saw this as an opportunity to not only give customers a wider selection of foods and beverages when visiting, but also as a way to establish themselves as a trailblazer among c-stores, as a one-stop shop for convenient healthy meals. Now, 7-Eleven is able to compete with healthier limited service restaurant players, like Panera, with an advantage in terms of speed and convenience.
To learn more about healthy dining trends, click here.
Katrina Fajardo joined Mintel’s Foodservice reports team with a background that includes data analysis, presentations to restaurant operators and food manufacturers, and consumer behavior tracking. She is now involved in researching and writing reports that cover the broad, evolving world of Foodservice, including commercial, non-commercial, and menu exploration. Her focus is to create insightful and actionable reports that deliver valuable takeaways for clients.
