As global markets expand, convenience-store operators face heightened risks and responsibilities from counterfeit products, Richard Bergner, COO of Miami-based Integritet Global Consulting & Investigations, told attendees July 9 at CSP’s 2024 Risk Management and Captive Insurance Forum in Schaumburg, Illinois.
During the opening session of the three-day forum, sponsored by the Philadelphia-based law firm of Ballard Spahr LLP; Graham Co., an insurance brokerage and consulting firm based in Philadelphia; and Chicago-based cybersecurity company Pondurance, Bergner informed c-store risk managers how to keep their businesses and customers safe by implementing strategies, including securing their supply chains.
"Convenience stores really need to understand what they’re dealing with as it relates to what they’re selling in stores,” Bergner said. “And when it comes to global sourcing, retailers should be buying from responsible sources.”
In his presentation, Bergner also spoke about the gray market and the selling of counterfeit goods, including copycat food products containing Delta-8 THC that are made both inside and outside the United States and sold in convenience stores.
He displayed images of sample products containing delta-8 THC that mimic popular snack food brands by using similar brand names, logos or pictures on the packaging, making it easy for customers to confuse them with traditional snack foods. “We are seeing a lot of products sold in convenience stores that are potentially dangerous,” Bergner said, emphasizing the importance for c-stores to “really know their supplier.”
When it comes to counterfeit products, Bergner said operators of these products “go to convenience [stores] because they are hoping the consumer is on the run and not taking a close look at the product.”
To fight this global problem of counterfeiting, Bergner said all parties need to get involved. “Everyone needs to work together to get these gray goods out of the supply chain, including c-store operators.”
“Due diligence, reference checking and knowing a retailer’s supplier are all important steps to mitigate risk,” he added.
Tienna Halford, risk manager at OnCue Marketing, Stillwater, Oklahoma, told CSP that most of the products on OnCue's shelves come from McLane Co. Inc. Working with one of the largest distributors in America for retail brands, bypasses product concerns, she said.
“We don’t get a lot of products from vendors that we have concern with,” Halford said.
The convenience-store retailer, which has 69 locations throughout Oklahoma and one storefront in Houston, does have its exceptions.
Halford said there are a few product “outliers,” including phone chargers. “Those are always a concern, but one thing we have been really working towards is being sure that we are doing our due diligence.”
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