Country Pure Chills on Store Counters

Akron, OH -- Country Pure Foods looks to a new low-maintenance cooler that doubles as a countertop display to put its single-serve orange juices front-of-mind with convenience store shoppers.The cartons of Natural Country orange juice launch this month in a proprietary electric refrigerator display employees need only to plug in. Thanks to advanced microchip technology, the new chiller operates without Freon, compressor pumps or water trays. Each side of the unit features 100,000-hour blue LED lights not only to sell customers on the idea of a cool drink, but also to indicate whether the chiller is working."It's that quiet," assures CEO Ray Lee. "There are no moving parts." He's optimistic units will last between eight and 10 years. Country Pure Foods worked with designer Nottingham-Spirk, Cleveland, to create the cooler, which addresses several challenges. Currently, convenience stores sell an average of one or two juices per day, because only dedicated juice drinkers head for the back vault cooler and then shell out a more expensive $1.50 for the bigger sizes, says Jon Hanley, Country Pure Foods' vice president of retail sales. The 4-foot by 4-foot chiller offers 16 eight-ounce bottles priced at 99 cents each directly at the coffee counter or cash register -- excellent placement to encourage grab-and-go purchases among the company's target audience of adults picking up breakfast items. The open-top unit keeps the juice at an optimal 38 to 42 degrees, even in normal room temperatures.The simplicity of the chiller adds convenience for store employees, correcting a mistake from the company's previous launch attempt. Country Pure Foods had tried selling single-serve sizes of its Natural Country orange juice and apple juice in convenience stores at the turn of the millennium, using ice chests as a delivery medium. "It failed miserably," Lee says. "Store employees had to put ice in it. They had to drain the ice. Refill the ice." With little maintenance and no mess, the new display promises better compliance.Finally, because they designed it with a proprietary footprint, Lee isn't worried convenience store owners will stock his chiller with competitors' drinks. "We don't have a national brand, so if we wanted to play in this space, we needed something different," Hanley points out.Two chains made a commitment to stock the display in a total of 125 stores, with additional convenience store players lined up behind the initial order. Country Pure Foods is selling each unit for $200 -- a price point that will ensure an ROI measured in months for those individual stores that move eight or more bottles of juice a day.Lee looks to gain placement in convenience stores that already sell complementary breakfast products, because if it misses the magic eight-unit throughput number, refill products risk sitting too long in inventory. Lee is doing his part to ensure sales via a promotional DVD demonstration of the product, and a header board that fits in the chiller's back panel. They will also offer danglers and posters to drive customers.Behind the scenes, the company is negotiating with a national broker that represents complementary breakfast foods to help with the push.

Country Pure Chills on Store Counters

P2PI MEMBERS

JOIN P2PI

Related Images

Business Topic

Market Segment

P2PI MEMBERS

JOIN P2PI

Related Images

Related Articles

Business Topic

Market Segment