what’s cookin’?
Behind the Scenes of MTgo and Shweetz
Getting new sandwiches, snacks and donuts onto the shelves of our MTgo and Shweetz cases involves many steps and lots of planning. Courtney Williams, prepared foods manager (picturd here), directs the entire
process, which includes scouting trends at food shows, product testing, developing private label items and sourcing third-party products. To keep up to date on what’s hot in ready-to-eat (RTE), Courtney hits the road at
least quarterly, attending food conferences and seeking out foodservice trendsetters. “We look to a wide variety of food environments for ideas, from airports to fine
dining,” Courtney said. “Even though fine dining may not seem obvious for us, we can take flavor profiles and apply them to our products.” In the past year, Courtney attended the Fancy Food Show and the International
Dairy, Deli, Bakery Association Expo, where she spent three days sampling from every sort of deli meat and cheese and tasting some of the more than 2,000 types of icing on display! She also visits establishments that have been featured on the Food Network to get new ideas, and she makes sure to check out our competitors to see if they’ve introduced any intriguing products we could improve upon or make our own in some way. The constant exposure to innovation inspires us to create a satisfying—and ever
changing—mix of products for our customers. Courtney says that we’ve got two years’ worth of ideas in development for Sheetz Bros. Kitchen, much of it already tested at Penn State’s Center for Food Innovation’s sensory lab. “We take everything to the lab,” Courtney said. “We’ve tested a list of sandwich
descriptions to get an idea of what sounds appealing to customers. And we’re testing signage there now to see what best draws attention to the bakery and Sheetz Bros. Kitchen cases. Our research told us there are still customers who can’t recall seeing the MTgo case in the store!”
Courtney works with Sheetz Bros. Kitchen when they’re purchasing new
equipment and also sources the third-party items like fruit and cheese and meat trays in the MTgo case. Her team also handles our private-label offerings for the MTgo case. Our Sheetz yogurt will be joined by fruit cups, cheesecake and cheese in 2011. In addition to developing new products, Courtney tweaks existing products and
incorporates feedback she gets from store employees. “We heard your suggestions about the Cinna-Shmonster,” Courtney said. “We’re
working on new icing so the product can be held hot without melting the icing all over the box.”
Coming soon to MTgo and Shweetz: Buffalo Chicken Wrap • Updated Asian Wrap • Pastrami Sandwich • Chocolate & Peanut Butter Parfait Cherry Chocolate Donut • Chocolate Peanut Butter Donut • No Bake Bites
In test for MTgo New impulse racks, testing in District #1
Shwingz!
They’re rated the most popular appetizer with consumers and they’re a perfect fit for our brand. Shwingz will start test in Districts #6, 7 and 8 and Store #354, Altoona, PA, this spring! The breaded wing is available plain or in the traditional buffalo hot variety. Chef Dan Coffin
has also come up with two original wing sauces that will be exclusive to Sheetz: Dr. Pepper® Sweet BBQ and Szechuan Fire. “The Sweet BBQ sauce is mild, and the Dr. Pepper gives it an interesting twist,” Dan said. “The Szechuan Fire is really spicy. With today’s consumer, if you say it’s hot, it’s gotta be hot.” The breading makes the wings crunchier and improves their ability to travel. As the test goes on, we’ll keep you updated on any expanded rollout plans.
8 Family Matters APRIL
Prepared Foods Manager, Courtney Williams
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