Service stations need to abandon Coke and crisps for sushi and smoothies to capture 'flexi-eaters'
11:16
Food and drinks sales have become increasingly important to forecourt sales in recent years. However, forecourt retailers need to carefully select stock as, while consumers seek convenience products, they also want healthy and indulgent options. Retailers that respond to such trends and move away from the traditional crisps and Coke to sushi and smoothies will thus maximize their non-fuel sales.
Service stations have profited from some high-growth areas within the convenience sector as consumers increasingly seek food and drinks that can be eaten on-the-move and fit into their hectic lifestyles. Busy consumers are increasingly parting with their hard-earned cash to buy selected convenience foods and drinks. Cereal bars, functional drinks and chilled ready meals have been particularly high-growth areas across Europe in recent years. All of these categories are also forecast to continue growing at a year-on-year rate of at least 6% over the next few years.
People perceive that they are working long hours and that their lives are increasingly hectic. As a result, they continue to purchase convenience foods and beverages to consume on-the-go or to take home and pop in the microwave.
Cereal bars stand out as experiencing especially strong growth across Europe, and are set to continue to grow at an average annual rate of 7% over the 2005 to 2010 period. Functional drinks, such as energy and sports drinks, represent another high-growth category across Europe, and are forecast to grow at a rate of 6% over the same five-year period.
Consumers increasingly eating out-of-home
Growth of service station shop sales has been bolstered by increasing numbers of consumers eating meals whilst on-the-move. The trend is especially pertinent with regard to breakfasts; across Europe, 7% of all breakfast occasions are taken on-the-move and this proportion is forecast to increase steadily over the next few years.
There has been a rise in so-called 'flexi-eating', whereby food consumption is increasingly adapted to people's needs and lifestyles, rather than people fitting their lives around structured mealtimes. This has led to increasing numbers of consumers eating breakfast whilst on the train or bus or picking something up at the service station on the way to work.
Service station sites benefit from the convenience trend and forecourt retailers already have a large share of the European market for soft drinks, confectionary and savory snacks. Datamonitor's forecourt convenience retailing survey also revealed that oil companies believe that soft drinks and chilled snacks are the most important non-fuel items to profitability and are the most likely to account for a larger proportion of their product portfolio in the future.
Frecourt retailers must respond to evolving consumer trends
Despite seeking convenient food and beverages, consumers also want them to be both healthy and indulgent. However, the problem is that the products people consume on-the-move are rarely simultaneously convenient, healthy and indulgent. This often results in consumers eating in a debits and credits fashion, whereby people move between periods of unhealthy behavior (debits) and healthy behavior (credits) that occur over a given time period.
Snacking occasions are generally either relatively healthy or relatively indulgent, such as crisps or a piece of fruit. As both attributes are seldom available in the one product, consumers often need to choose between the two desires and, more often than not, it is the indulgent varieties of food that are available in on-the-go channels, such as service stations.
The upshot of this is that there is a gap in the market, and, if service stations can offer customers food and beverages that are convenient, healthy and indulgent, they are better placed to maximize the already strong growth of their non-fuel sales over the coming years.
Going forward, the most successful service stations will be those that adapt to changing consumer trends and offer foods and beverages that are convenient, healthy and indulgent. In other words, in the longer term, the emphasis of forecourt retailers' food and drinks offerings will be more about sushi and smoothies, rather than the more mundane traditional offerings.
Service stations have profited from some high-growth areas within the convenience sector as consumers increasingly seek food and drinks that can be eaten on-the-move and fit into their hectic lifestyles. Busy consumers are increasingly parting with their hard-earned cash to buy selected convenience foods and drinks. Cereal bars, functional drinks and chilled ready meals have been particularly high-growth areas across Europe in recent years. All of these categories are also forecast to continue growing at a year-on-year rate of at least 6% over the next few years.
People perceive that they are working long hours and that their lives are increasingly hectic. As a result, they continue to purchase convenience foods and beverages to consume on-the-go or to take home and pop in the microwave.
Cereal bars stand out as experiencing especially strong growth across Europe, and are set to continue to grow at an average annual rate of 7% over the 2005 to 2010 period. Functional drinks, such as energy and sports drinks, represent another high-growth category across Europe, and are forecast to grow at a rate of 6% over the same five-year period.
Consumers increasingly eating out-of-home
Growth of service station shop sales has been bolstered by increasing numbers of consumers eating meals whilst on-the-move. The trend is especially pertinent with regard to breakfasts; across Europe, 7% of all breakfast occasions are taken on-the-move and this proportion is forecast to increase steadily over the next few years.
There has been a rise in so-called 'flexi-eating', whereby food consumption is increasingly adapted to people's needs and lifestyles, rather than people fitting their lives around structured mealtimes. This has led to increasing numbers of consumers eating breakfast whilst on the train or bus or picking something up at the service station on the way to work.
Service station sites benefit from the convenience trend and forecourt retailers already have a large share of the European market for soft drinks, confectionary and savory snacks. Datamonitor's forecourt convenience retailing survey also revealed that oil companies believe that soft drinks and chilled snacks are the most important non-fuel items to profitability and are the most likely to account for a larger proportion of their product portfolio in the future.
Frecourt retailers must respond to evolving consumer trends
Despite seeking convenient food and beverages, consumers also want them to be both healthy and indulgent. However, the problem is that the products people consume on-the-move are rarely simultaneously convenient, healthy and indulgent. This often results in consumers eating in a debits and credits fashion, whereby people move between periods of unhealthy behavior (debits) and healthy behavior (credits) that occur over a given time period.
Snacking occasions are generally either relatively healthy or relatively indulgent, such as crisps or a piece of fruit. As both attributes are seldom available in the one product, consumers often need to choose between the two desires and, more often than not, it is the indulgent varieties of food that are available in on-the-go channels, such as service stations.
The upshot of this is that there is a gap in the market, and, if service stations can offer customers food and beverages that are convenient, healthy and indulgent, they are better placed to maximize the already strong growth of their non-fuel sales over the coming years.
Going forward, the most successful service stations will be those that adapt to changing consumer trends and offer foods and beverages that are convenient, healthy and indulgent. In other words, in the longer term, the emphasis of forecourt retailers' food and drinks offerings will be more about sushi and smoothies, rather than the more mundane traditional offerings.
