DALLAS -- While some restaurateurs and retailers have chosen to rev up their coffees with added caffeine, 7-Eleven Inc. has taken a more natural approach with the introduction of Fusion Energy coffee, believed to be the first fresh-brewed, to-go coffee blended with natural herbal extracts.
The product is now available nationally at the Dallas-based company's participating stores.
Fusion Energy combines 7-Eleven Exclusive Blend coffee with guarana, ginseng and yerba mat a, herbs that are thought to boost energy and sharpen mental [image-nocss] alertness. The herbal-enhanced Fusion Energy coffee tastes no different than 7-Eleven stores' best-selling Exclusive Blend variety, the company said, but allows 7-Eleven to now provide customers with an entirely new coffee product.
The Fusion coffee concept was born at a 7-Eleven coffee roasters summit in Vancouver, during which 7-Eleven beverage executives met with its coffee suppliers from the United States and Canada. 7-Eleven Coffee category manager Donald Driver asked the experts around the table if it was possible to develop a functional hot beverage.
Fusion offered a whole new direction for us, Driver said. We asked our roasters if they could take our idea of marrying energy and coffee and make a functional hot beverage a reality. Herbal energy drinks have taken the noncarbonated market by storm. Antioxidants are good in wine; why not coffee? Could we create an herb-enhanced coffee with better-for-you aspects that didn't distort our great coffee taste and without any bitterness or unpleasant aftertaste?
A roaster at the meeting had heard about a small Canadian company called Fusion Coffee that was blending natural herbs with coffee for online and retail sales on a small scale. Tested successfully in Canadian 7-Eleven stores last summer, Fusion Energy coffee was given the green light to launch nationally in the United States.
Mother Parkers Tea & Coffee produces approximately 80% of all the coffee brewed at 7-Eleven stores and developed a process to blend the herbal extracts with 7-Eleven stores' fresh-roasted ground coffee. The company's Fort Worth plant receives the proprietary blend of the three herbs, ground and ready to be infused with the fresh coffee. Imported 100% Arabica green coffee beans are shipped directly from the countries of origin through the port of Houston and on to the Fort Worth facility where they are roasted, ground, blended and packaged to 7-Eleven's specifications.
Because of the flexibility and technology designed into our state-of-the-art facility coupled with our strong relationship with 7-Eleven, we could quickly and easily respond to Donald's request to make and package this innovative new product, said Dennis Paynter, Mother Parkers vice president of U.S. operations.
Performance-enhancing foods and beverages are incredibly popular right now, Driver said. Witness the explosive growth in functional protein and energy bars, supplements, energy drinks and protein shakes. We know our customers want coffee and energy. Our new Fusion Energy coffee offers both.
Fusion Energy coffee retails for the same price as any hot beverage at 7-Eleven. Driver anticipates 7-Eleven continue to develop and bring to market more new performance-based products this year under the Fusion brand.
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