Knowing that males are emerging as primary shoppers, Westside Market in New York City took a bold but winning merchandising approach: It crafted a “man aisle” stocked with specialty foods to appeal to male shoppers.

Unfortunately, the makeup of a modern restaurant kitchen sometimes has less to do with the latest technology and more to do with high real-estate costs and government regulations. These factors are putting pressure on operators to create back-of-house areas that inhabit smaller footprints and are more environmentally conscious. At the same time, operators are looking to cut energy and labor costs.

You can learn a lot about a foodservice program by simply looking inside the kitchen. How committed is the retailer? How does its program compare to the competition? And what investments should the retailer make to further evolve it?

“Fresh is key in convenience-store foodservice,” says Rachel Kalt, senior strategist with The Culinary Edge, a food and restaurant consulting firm in San Francisco. “Demonstrating freshness is becoming table stakes, so if concepts want to remain competitive, they should consider how to do so in their stores.”

Gaubert Oil is following the pack. Not the convenience-store pack, mind you—the restaurant one.

The Thibodaux, La.-based convenience retailer is bringing restaurant-quality food to several of its Go-Bears stores with its new Go-Bears Southern Eatery. And if the response to the first site is any indication, customers are going to be thrilled about it.

What will become of the old, reliable “three for $5” promotion that has been Monster’s calling card all these years? It’s a staple in many stores, and some retailers speculate it’s probably going to be slightly modified—upward.

Lots of product segments have their ebbs and flows, their bouts with droughts. But when was the last time the energy-drink segment slumped?

Breakfast is the only restaurant day-part with sustained visit growth over the last several years. As a result, classic foodservice breakfast fare such as bacon, breakfast sandwiches and pancakes are riding this wave of popularity, reports The NPD Group.

When I arrived at the NACS Cool New Products showcase at the 2015 NACS Show in Las Vegas, there was a line.

As it turns out, it was worth the wait. In many cases, these new products are just hitting shelves—some won’t be available until next year. But retailers hungry for a new product, service or technology spent time examining each display within.

The NACS Show, as a rule, is full of new products. There is incredible convenience-store innovation around every corner, down every aisle.

Among all the innovations are CSP’s own 2015 Retailer Choice Best New Products Contest winners. After months of nominating and voting, the results are in and on display at supplier booths on the show floor.