VIDEO: Discovering the Flavor of New Orleans at the 2018 CSNews Foodservice Summit

NEW ORLEANS — The 2018 Convenience Store News Foodservice Summit, presented in partnership with Tyson Convenience, focused on the role of food in a community. 

"The reason we chose this theme is because our stores are members of communities," said CSNews Editorial Director Don Longo as he welcomed the group of 12 convenience store foodservice executives to the Crescent City.

"Each of you knows how to run your businesses — the metrics, the standards, the processes, all those things we see inside our stores. But our goal this year was to start a conversation for our industry about looking outside, through our store windows at the community around us. Who are we, and what role can we play in the communities our stores are in?" said Longo.

As in previous years, the 2018 CSNews Foodservice Summit featured a wide variety of foodservice learning experiences, such as:

• A visit the Southern Food & Beverage museum, which is centered around the role of food and the culture of the local regions;
• A guided tour by Propeller, a nonprofit business accelerator program for small businesses, featuring a visit to two convenience stores that are helping to rebuild their communities and promote healthier eating in neighborhoods that don’t usually hear that type of message;
• Roundtable discussions on a variety of topics, including new technology that enhances the customer experience, how to balance great food with speed of service, and what retailers are currently doing to plug into their local communities;
• A visit to The Goldring Center for Culinary Medicine and Liberty’s Kitchen, two other organizations utilizing food to do good; and
• An exclusive, interactive conversation with former Whole Foods Market co-CEO Walter Robb.

Participants in the 2018 CSNews Foodservice Summit, held in April, included foodservice executives from 7-Eleven Inc.,ampm, Circle K Stores, Country Fair, Kum & Go LC, Maverik Inc., RaceTrac Petroleum Inc., Rutter's, Sheetz Inc. and Wawa Inc.

Click on the video below for a flavor of this unique industry event.