Don’t count cigarettes out.

This heavyweight category still tops the list of convenience-store merchandise categories in terms of sales, even though it falls behind in gross-profit dollars and margin percentages, according to preliminary numbers released at the NACS State of the Industry (SOI) Summit, held April 4-6 in Rosemont, Ill.

When Alabama c-store operator Narayan Baddam replenishes his refrigerated case with packaged single-serve Dannon yogurts, he owes his stock to his trusty “distributor”: his local supermarket.

Owner of Fuel Zone and Danville Park Shell in Decatur, Ala., Baddam buys yogurt for his c-stores during grocery excursions, eventually stocking them next to the cheese, milk, cottage cheese and sour cream in his refrigerated case. He makes 20% margin on rings of Dannon single-serve yogurt. What he doesn’t sell, he eats.

Repeat after them: “This is not an energy shot.”

Makers of natural/organic supplement shots are on a quest to establish retail relevance and distance themselves from energy shots.

In addition to the buzz around better-for-you products, convenience-store customers are also looking to satisfy their indulgent cravings. Because of this and other cross-channel candy consumerism, the global confectionery market, which was valued at ­$184 billion in 2015, is projected to reach $232 billion by 2022.

There is no shortage of innovation in the alcohol-beverage category: New products and flavor extensions “keep things interesting for myself and the shoppers,” says Chris Kaden, category manager for Odessa, Texas-based Alon Brands. But with space at a premium, it’s also a challenge.

Here’s how Kaden approaches new-product pitches and how he thinks the category will take shape.

Q: How do you approach new alcohol-beverage items?

Snacks owe their growth in part to consumer sensibilities. Consumers want more options, and they want to eat them more often.

The category is such big business that tried-and-true convenience-store favorites ­potato chips, pretzels, popcorn and jerky‑ aren't even the biggest movers in the category. Healthy alternatives, such as chips made with vegetables, are enjoying considerable growth and revitalizing the category as a whole, according to Packaged Facts' report, Snack Food Nutrition Trends: Pulses, Vegetables and Grains in Salty Snacks and Crackers.

It’s working in other categories in the c-store. Why not in tobacco, too?

Products positioned as “natural” is an attractive subcategory for convenience retailers to consider in the premium-tobacco space. And Illinois retailer Mark Gil is doing just that.

Natural cigarettes are a winner in his single store, he says, because they conjure up a perception of organic, Mother Earthiness—and he considers it well worth the premium price point the subcategory commands.

At this year’s NAFEM foodservice-equipment show in Orlando, Fla., some operators sought upgrades to their tried-and-true kitchen equipment. Others had radical ambitions. But both groups were focused on the same themes: advanced technology and energy-saving features.

For a while I just stood back and stared at it.

Its reedy tentacles reached up to the cold Chicago clouds. Its woody roots dug deep into the ground, under the fence, under the garage, under the cement in the alley.

The trumpet vine—aka Campsis radicans, aka trumpet creeper, aka huge pain in the a$$—was pulling my fence apart. It eased a piece of siding off my garage to wind itself around an old bike trailer inside and swallow up an old basketball pump discarded next to the wall.