CHICAGO — Building a strong foodservice culture was one of the key topics during the retailer panel at this year’s C-Store Foodservice Forum in Chicago. Companies that often fail at foodservice do so because they don’t have a steady foodservice culture, Jerry Weiner, a foodservice consultant for convenience stores and restaurants, said during the panel.
Weiner, who was formerly the vice president of foodservice for Rutter’s and director of foodservice for MAPCO, said developing a foodservice culture means having everyone—from upper management to cashiers—on board with the idea of new foodservice concepts coming into your stores.
“Until you’ve got the breadth of understanding [foodservice] throughout your chain, it’s difficult to move forward,” he said. “There are going to be hurdles: Developing the culture and understanding how to offer food and executing food safety is difficult. But we have to understand our role.”
Here are three ways to build a strong foodservice culture in c-stores …