7-Eleven's Private Label Products Take Home Innovation Awards

IRVING, Texas — 7-Eleven Inc.'s private label products took home the highest honors in the Private Label Manufacturers Association's (PLMA) highest honors.

The convenience store retailer took home three 2019 Salute to Excellent awards in the Deli/Prepared Foods/Meal Kits, Cookies & Crackers, and Mexican/Latin American Foods categories, respectively, for:

• 7-Select Gourmet Snack Trio: Made with high-quality, 100 percent dry cured pork genoa salami and provolone cheese, free of fillers and MSG, the 7-Select Gourmet Snack Trio has already become one of the best-selling fast-food items at participating 7-Eleven stores, according to the retailer. The Trio is also available with pepperoni, mozzarella and bread sticks.
• 7-Select French Macarons: The 7-Select French Macarons are sourced from Belgium and customers can choose raspberry and vanilla or chocolate and pistachio.
• 7-Select Fresa Paleta: Created as a refreshing Mexican-style frozen treat, 7-Select Fresa Paleta bars are made with real fruit and cane sugar. Both the strawberry and coconut varieties are certified as kosher.

For this year's competition, PLMA had 750 product submissions and 60-plus retailers represented. The 7-Select entries and other winning products will be featured on a special Salute to Excellence Awards website and displayed at PLMA's 2019 Private Label Trade Show to be held Nov. 17-19 in Chicago.

"With PLMA's record number of entries, competition was tougher than ever, but the 7-Eleven private brands team was up to the task, continuing to raise the bar, both in quality and innovation," said Tim Cogil, 7-Eleven senior director of private brands. "The diversity of our products that received awards shows that our customers can expect the very best whenever they see the 7-Select brand. I would put them up against any other retail or national brands."

In the annual PLMA competition for top private brand honors, food and beverage entries are reviewed for concept, packaging, taste and value for money. Non-food products are judged on concept, innovation, presentation and value for money.

Judges for the awards are selected based on past and current experience with product concepts, packaging, quality, product performance, supply chain management, and retail marketing and merchandising. Judges are divided into panels of six to eight members. Every panel also includes consumer representation.

7-Eleven private brand products continue to be recognized each year in national and international competitions. Since 2014, 7-Eleven private brand products have won 28 awards for product innovation, quality and package design, including 12 PLMA Salute to Excellence awards. Award-winning items have ranged from sea-salt chocolate caramels and Yosemite Road Pink Moscato wine to frozen thin-crust pizza, yogurt-drizzled fruit and nut bars, and decadent dessert cookies.

"Since you can only get 7-Select items at 7-Eleven, we try to create products that are so delicious and unique that they bring customers back to our stores because they can't find anything like it anywhere else," Cogil said. "In every category, our private brands really set us apart from the competition."

The 7-Select private brand product lineup includes hundreds of items across all categories.

Based in Irving, 7‑Eleven operates, franchises and/or licenses more than 69,000 stores in 17 countries, including 11,800 in North America