Supplier Spotlights: D&S Car Wash Supply, GSTV, The Hershey Co. & NexChapter

Cantaloupe Inc.

Cantaloupe and Monumental Markets teamed up to enhance operational efficiency and address critical challenges in the latter's 500-plus micro market and pantry locations. 

Monumental Markets will utilize Cantaloupe's Seed Markets platform to help streamline operations, improve scheduling and elevate the guest experience. 

"Seed Markets provides a complete platform that seamlessly integrates a customer's various hardware providers into one view, enabling significant time and cost savings in service visits, inventory management, route scheduling and reporting," said Ravi Venkatesan, Cantaloupe CEO. "We're thrilled to implement our solutions into Monumental Markets' business to enhance their operational efficiency and drive growth for their business." 

Monumental Markets had previously encountered difficulties managing two separate micro market systems and one OCS pantry system, which resulted in challenges with month-end subsidy billing, inventory management and route scheduling. To address these issues and gain better visibility into their business, Monumental Markets sought a more streamlined solution and chose Seed Markets as its new platform. 

According to Cantaloupe, the adaptation has led to improved operations, reduced manual labor and better overall efficiency for the company. 

D&H United Fueling Solutions

Gilbarco Veeder-Root recognized D&H United Fueling Solutions, a portfolio company of Wind Point Partners, as a recipient of its 2023 Circle of Excellence Award.

The Circle of Excellence Award is bestowed upon distributors demonstrating outstanding performance in critical areas such as year-over-year revenue growth and leadership with Gilbarco Veeder-Root branded products and services.

"We are thrilled to receive Gilbarco Veeder-Root's Circle of Excellence Award," stated Tracy Long, D&H United CEO. "This recognition underscores our steadfast commitment to delivering superior fuel management solutions to our valued customers. We are deeply grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with Gilbarco Veeder-Root and their continued support in our pursuit of excellence."

D&S Car Wash Supply

Car wash equipment manufacturer D&S Car Wash Supply acquired WashCard Systems Inc.

Headquartered in Centerville, Minn., WashCard creates payment hardware and software technology for the car wash sector. The company's loyalty software allows owner-operators to potentially build up traffic, average transaction and profitability with a program that provides transparency into their businesses and customer base. 

Washcard also adapted changing technologies into its platforms, including the adoption of tap-based payment methods, QR codes, a mobile app and pay station hardware, the latter of which can integrate with the customers' experience. 

"We're thrilled to welcome aboard WashCard Systems pioneering technology to complement our D&S cutting-edge solutions within the car wash industry," said Tim Huntington, D&S CEO. "By integrating the expertise of this leading innovator, we're poised to drive innovation to new heights in the car wash industry."

Gardners Candies Inc.

Chocolatier Gardners Candies Inc. launched a new growth strategy to infiltrate grocery and convenience store shelves across the country.

New Chief Operating Officer Jim Westover, who joined the company earlier this year, is leading the initiative, which includes bolstered production capabilities. Previously president of Pittsburgh-based LandOpt, Westover also has helped drive sales growth at Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park Camp-Resorts and Bruster's Real Ice Cream.

Gardners Candies' products are sold in more than 150 retail locations, including Sheetz Inc., Giant Eagle Inc., GetGo convenience stores, Giant Food Stores and CVS. Sales in those outlets have surged by 30% over the past two years, according to the company. 

The brand plans to focus on introducing its premium confections to customers of Wawa Inc., Kroger, Publix, UDF and Menard's, as well as other national grocers and c-store operators.

GSTV

Fuel retailer video network GSTV entered into a partnership with Samba TV, provider of TV technology for audience data and omniscreen measurement. 

The collaboration will entail some of the first research to quantify campaign-specific deduplicated reach across linear TV and a nontraditional national video platform. 

Samba has already conducted proof-of-concept studies on some GSTV showings, including campaigns for a national quick-service restaurant (QSR) brand and a national consumer packaged goods brand, to analyze the reach and frequency of GSTV campaigns compared to national and local TV schedules.

Results so far have included analyses that quantify the deduplicated reach between linear TV and the GSTV platform, revealing GSTV added meaningful, double-digit incremental reach to national linear campaigns. Additionally, GSTV efficiently reached light TV viewers, delivering more than five times the impression share of light TV viewers compared to linear TV on the same QSR brand's campaign, according to Samba.

The deployment of this new measurement solution is now available to national advertisers looking to reach and measure incremental audiences.

The Hershey Co.

The Hershey Co. protein bar brand Fulfil teamed up with the Association of Pickleball Players (APP) to become the official protein bar of the 2024 APP Tour.

"We've designed Fulfil to be so delicious you'd think it's candy, but we swear, it's a protein bar," said Garrett Adrian, Fulfil brand manager. "That's why our partnership with the APP felt like such a natural fit — pickleball is a sport that's so fun but is a great way to stay active. Through our role as the official protein bar of the 2024 APP Tour, we'll be giving the pickleball community a tasty way to fuel their play all year long."

Through July 19, Fulfil will bring its eye-catching truck to APP Tour stops across the United States, including layovers in Florida, Ohio, New York and California. The truck features a pickleball skills challenge, photo booth, pickleball swag and free Fulfil bars for both players and fans.

Lil' Drug Store Products

Lil' Drug Store Products (LDSP) is now the preferred distributor of Procter & Gamble's Rolaids brand to convenience and travel retailers nationwide. The collaboration is intended to solidify LDSP's role as the convenience distributor of choice for Rolaids. 

According to the company, Rolaids has set a clear vision to become the number one antacid brand in the convenience sector by 2028 and views its partnership with LDSP as a significant step towards achieving that goal. 

In the future, the brand will also be undergoing some new flavor and texture upgrades across a variety of products, including Ultra Mint Chewable Roll, Ultra Soft Chew Strawberry and Advanced Soft Chew Berry, among others. 

Motion Technology Inc.

Ventless equipment manufacturer Motion Technology Inc. (MTI) entered into a partnership with FreshFry Inc., a supplier of oil maintenance solutions. The collaboration will provide MTI's customers with an exclusive rebate program.

Customers who purchase an AutoFry from MTI will receive one free case of FreshFry Super Pods, a solution designed to extend oil life, improve food quality and promote sustainability in commercial frying operations.

"We are thrilled to team up with FreshFry to offer this exciting rebate program to our valued customers," said Danielle Fantasia, MTI marketing manager. "At MTI, we are committed to not only delivering top-notch frying equipment but also supporting our customers throughout their operational journey. Partnering with FreshFry, Inc. allows us to further enhance the post-purchase experience by providing innovative solutions to extend oil life and improve food quality."

The rebate program featuring FreshFry Super Pods is available immediately for all new AutoFry purchases. 

NexChapter

NexChapter partnered with The Insight Shop to mark the debut of NexCX, a suite of customer experience solutions purpose-built for the convenience store industry.

Comprised of two components — Channel Understanding Assessment and Current State Experience Review — NexCX is designed to give c-store operators insight into the desires of consumers in an omnichannel environment.

Through NexCX, brands can potentially gain new visibility into critical areas such as fostering consumer trust, expanding product offerings, optimizing physical store layouts and enhancing digital touchpoints. 

Coinciding with the platform launch, the company appointed Mike Templeton as its vice president of digital strategy. Templeton will partner with c-store clients as they seek to transform their businesses to compete in a digital age, as well as leading an industry-wide digital assessment for NexChapter that evaluates c-store retailers' current capabilities and overall digital maturity.

Templeton comes to NexChapter with a 15-year history in the c-store industry, most recently at Casey's General Stores Inc., where he served as head of digital and was responsible for the company's highly digitized order-ahead pizza business, as well as the launch of Casey's Rewards program in 2020. Before Casey's, he led similar initiatives at Kum & Go, developing the company's first mobile app and loyalty program.

Ready Training Online

E-learning solutions provider Ready Training Online (RTO) partnered with UL Solutions to include driver safety training in UL Solution's learning management system, trainingGrid. 

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UL Solutions provides safety and security solutions for the automotive and mobility industries. The company's partnership will allow RTO to provide customers with access to dozens of driver safety training modules that cover topics such as:

• Distracted driving;
• Reasonable suspicion for alcohol and substance abuse;
• HAZMAT:  
• Driver fatigue;
• Defensive driving; and  
• DOT vehicle and roadside inspections.

RTO has produced its own training content for frontline workers since the company was founded in 2005, in addition to developing custom content and videos for customers. Since then, its library has expanded to include hundreds of service-related training topics.

Rich Products Corp.

Rich Products Corp. has begun the second phase of its Brownsville, Texas, manufacturing facility expansion. 

National New Markets Fund, an affiliate of Los Angeles-based SDS Capital Group, will invest $17.5 million of its New Markets Tax Credit allocation to support the 150,000-square-foot expansion, which will increase Rich's production capacity for its branded appetizer business. The company received the funds as part of a complex $25.5 million tax credit financing package. 

"We've seen a huge influx in customer demand within our growing seafood and appetizer business, so adding capacity is key for continued growth," said Kevin Spratt, president, Rich's U.S./Canada region. "As a proud member of the Brownsville community for over 60 years, we're fully committed to strengthening our local impact with the right combination of associates, products and infrastructure."

The $117 million project, Rich's largest capital campaign to date, consists of two phases. The first phase began in 2023 and included the development of a new frozen warehouse that is expected to open this summer. Phase two, slated to be completed in July 2025, will add capacity for greater production capabilities and storage. 

Upon completion, the expansion is expected to create more than 130 full-time jobs, 70% of which are slated to be filled by members of Brownsville's marginalized communities. Rich's also plans to offer workforce training to local residents, including computer literacy courses in partnership with Texas Southmost College. 

Titan Cloud

Fuel asset optimization software platform Titan Cloud acquired Truefill, a fuel supply management and logistics platform. 

The company will integrate Truefill technology into its existing platform, giving fuel retailers, wholesalers and carriers a more holistic system to help them reduce fuel supply costs, increase fleet utilization, decrease runouts, lower freight costs and minimize the time required for efficient carrier management. 

"This is the natural next step in Titan Cloud's journey to provide fuel operators with the best technology to tackle issues like supply disruptions, price volatility and inefficiencies throughout the fuel supply chain," said David Freese, CEO and chief product officer of Titan Cloud. "Together, we'll ensure seamless collaboration and complete visibility from terminal to pump, ultimately delivering lower costs and a more positive experience for consumers at every stop."

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Coinciding with the deal, Titan Cloud brought on board Brandon Huff as its new senior vice president in global fuel logistics and president of global operations. Huff will play a pivotal role in integrating Truefill's technology into the Titan Cloud platform.