McLane Expo Looks at the Future of Convenience
TEMPLE, Texas — McLane Co. Inc. kicked off McLane Engage, its annual trade show and conference, on Aug. 28 in Nashville, Tenn., with a refreshed format and product announcements.
The event featured a conversation between keynote speaker Padma Lakshmi, acclaimed culinary expert and "Top Chef" personality, and Farley Kaiser, McLane's senior director of culinary innovation.
During the session, Lakshmi and Kaiser discussed Lakshmi's career journey, personal reflections and cultural influences while underscoring the importance of culinary expertise and innovation on the future of retail foodservice.
[Read more: McLane Opens Dedicated Hub for Development & Innovation]
The first day of the event included a two-part educational session. The first part, "Smart Convenience: Embracing AI for the Future of Retail," featured Gray Taylor of Conexxus and Eric Hildenbrand, McLane's chief strategy officer, covering artificial intelligence (AI) fundamentals and their real-world applications. Then, "Designing for the Future: Trends Shaping Next-Gen Convenience Stores" featured Hildenbrand and Joseph Bona, president at Bona Design Lab, as they explored the latest trends and innovations in convenience store design.
Additional sessions included:
- "Tech-Driven Transformation: Revolutionizing Convenience Retail," led by Art Sebastian, CEO of NexChapter Inc., discussing convenience retail trends while presenting a comprehensive technology roadmap and highlighting key areas such as loyalty, e-commerce and retail media networks.
- "Fresh Ideas, Safe Practices: Innovating and Safeguarding Convenience Store Foodservice," hosted by Vito Maurici, McLane's customer experience officer; Terry Levee, senior director of food safety with McLane; and Jon Cox, vice president of retail foodservice with McLane, which focused on key aspects of convenience store foodservice, including enhancing customer experience, innovation and food safety compliance.
Exhibitor space at McLane Engage reached capacity this year. Brands such as The Hershey Co., Kraft Heinz and Mars Wrigley showcased a broad range of products, while Emerging Brands, McLane's digital marketplace, featured several exhibitors, adding to its roster of 140-plus brands and 1,000 products, including recent expansions in health, beauty and wellness, and general merchandise categories.
"The diversity of brands and products showcased at this year's event speaks to the innovation going on within the industry," said Chris Smith, president of McLane Retail. "We're committed to staying ahead of industry trends and continually evolving to meet the ever-changing needs of our customers while providing our supplier partners unique opportunities to showcase their latest products and services. We are proud McLane Engage continues to evolve, ensuring we remain a trusted and forward-thinking partner in the industry."
The event also included the unveiling of new McLane Fresh offerings, such as the launch of Better Case Bakery, a curated on-the-go bakery program featuring top-selling items like doughnuts, premium cookies and muffins. McLane Fresh also introduced a seasonal CupZa! pumpkin spice shot, new rack merchandiser and the opportunity to sample all four varieties of Prendisimo pizza: cheese, pepperoni, three-meat and supreme.
Finally, McLane's private label subsidiary, Consumer Value Products Inc., debuted four new products from its Beau Dacious line of quality dog accessories and treats: egg and bacon flavor chewy treats, pumpkin cranberry chewy treats, peanut butter biscuit bones and big bone crunchy treats.
The invitation-only event was open to McLane customers and suppliers.
Founded in 1894, McLane is one of the largest distributors in America, serving convenience stores, mass merchants and chain restaurants. With headquarters in Temple, McLane has more than 80 distribution centers across the country, employs more than 25,000 teammates and delivers to nearly every zip code in the United States.
McLane is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.