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S A T D O V R E E RT P O R R O I F A I L LE FOOD-TO-GO IS SO HOT RIGHT NOW You may have heard that food is the future of the petrol and convenience industry - but what does that mean for the average store operator? It means that you can experience meaningful sales growth by adding convenient meal options to your customer offering. Did you know that ‘food on the go’ was the second-fastest- growing product category in the Australian petrol and convenience sector, delivering $659 million in sales during 2019? Also, 92% of ‘food on the go’ shoppers planned to buy the item they purchased, which just goes to show that food alone can drive sales. The other great thing about food, particularly hot food, is that it helps you to grow sales in other categories like beverages, confectionery, groceries, and fuel. During 2019, when food-to-go was part of a purchase, the average basket size value was 15% higher than the average transaction across all sales. If customers know they can get a good feed, they’re likely to combine their journey with refueling or picking up some extra groceries. And who buys a hot pie without a cold drink!? Victorian based multi-site operator, Vantage Fuels has demonstrated the advantage of a strong focus on food during the COVID-19 pandemic. Vantage Fuels Managing Director Haydn Tierney explained, “an established food and coffee offer has enabled \\\[our in store café\\\] Bowser Bean to maintain the majority of its in store trade despite a significant decline in fuel sales due to COVID-19.” If you thought food handling and preparation required space, skilled labour, and lots of complex processes and procedures, you’re wrong. With the right food products, packaging, and equipment it can be simple enough for your current store layout and staff to accommodate. This is where Meris Food Equipment comes in. At Meris, we are all about helping petrol and convenience stores grow their sales via our clever food-to-go equipment solutions. Our innovative range of food equipment is designed to produce and hold/display high-quality fast food without the need for expensive installation or skilled operation. This brings food-to-go within reach of businesses who had assumed it would be too much of a hassle. We can also help businesses with existing food-to-go offerings to lower overheads by identifying food production processes that can be made more efficient. Or, we can help you grow sales by assisting you to expand and enhance your food-to-go offerings. Meris Food Equipment is a solutions focussed equipment supplier. We not only work with our customers to develop the right equipment solution, we also assist with the design and placement of equipment installation, menu development, relationships with appropriate food and packaging suppliers, the implementation of standard operating procedures, and ongoing support around measurement and improvement. We provide great customer service, whether you are a single or multi-store operator, city-based, or in a remote regional location. To learn more, visit our website at meris.com.au. All statistics quoted in this article are sourced from Convenience Measures Australia, State of the Industry Report 2019, commissioned and published by the Australasian Association for Convenience Stores (AACS). SEP/OCT, 2020 CONVENIENCE WORLD 9 STORE PROFILE > No kitchen required > No extra staff required > Great margins Find out why hot food is the next big thing in petrol & convenience. Visit meris.com.au or call 1800 265 771 to learn more.