2025 Category Excellence in Exclusive Production Collaboration: 7-Eleven Inc. & The J.M. Smucker Co.
This collaboration combined two iconic brands: 7-Eleven’s Slurpee and Hostess' Twinkie. Years in the making, the idea to create a special Twinkie flavor aligned with a Slurpee drink flavor came to fruition with the debut of the Cherry Twinkie inspired by the Cherry Slurpee drink.
Extensive research and tastings were done by the supplier to determine the top flavors to present to 7-Eleven for consideration. Once the cherry flavor was selected, J.M. Smucker worked with 7-Eleven's Packaged Bakery Category Manager Steve Rosati to coordinate detailed communication, advertisements and promotional events to ensure the success of the campaign. Together, they focused on designing impactful displays and packaging while collaborating closely with key partners, ensuring seamless execution throughout the process.
Leveraging creativity and a can-do attitude, Rosati helped make this partnership a success by collaborating with 7-Eleven's proprietary beverage category team, as well as the retailer's internal marketing team to ensure a successful launch. He also successfully advocated for additional promotional signage to help drive customers to the product in-store.
Stores displayed the Cherry Twinkie near the Slurpee drink machine, as well as in other high-traffic areas around the store. There were various in-store, loyalty rewards and 7NOW Delivery promotions from June 26 through Aug. 28 that included the Cherry Twinkie, Original Twinkie and Chocolate Lovers Twinkie.
The collaboration drove sales and brought in new buyers. The Cherry Twinkie grew almost triple digits in dollars and units vs. both year-ago and the weeks prior to the promotion. Almost three-quarters of the buyers had not bought Hostess in the 13 weeks prior to the promotion and more than half had not bought the packaged bakery category over the same period.
Click here for the full winners' list for the 2025 Convenience Store News Category Excellence Awards.