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For four days, attendees will be networking with industry experts, attending thought-provoking and empowering education sessions, and exploring a show floor with the latest merchandise for convenience and fuel retailing.
Convenience Catalyst is a unique opportunity for NACS most influential Retail Members to meet virtually with the newest Supplier Members ahead of the NACS Show allowing for a first look at the latest product innovations while fostering new peer-to-peer business relationships.
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Purchase the Latest NACS State of the Industry Report®
The convenience and fuel retailing industry’s premier benchmarking tool and the most comprehensive collection of data and trends. Discover what’s next and how to get there faster.
Engage in prerecorded and live learning experiences without committing your entire day to a program. Through an easy-to-use digital platform, expert content leaders share their knowledge and facilitate conversations in convenient learning sessions.
Don’t Forget to Renew Your Membership!
Customers at one California location can customize their frozen drinks at the kiosk and order ahead.
SUNNYVALE, Calif. and WILLIAMS, Calif.—Love's Travel Stops has opened its first Jamba by Blendid autonomous robotic kiosk at its Williams, California, store, adding a healthy foodservice option for customers 24/7.
"The official opening of our first Jamba by Blendid robotic kiosk is an exciting day for us and, hopefully, also for our guests. We hope customers visiting the Williams, California, location enjoy this fun new way to quickly access refreshing, delicious smoothies on the go," said Joe Cotton, vice president of food services for Love's.
The Jamba by Blendid kiosk offers visitors smoothie options inspired by Jamba and powered by robotic foodservice solutions company Blendid.
The self-operating kiosk allows customers to customize their smoothie orders by adjusting ingredient quantities or adding boosts directly through the Blendid app. They can order on-site or schedule a preferred pickup time in advance via the mobile app.
"We are dedicated to meeting the rising demand for refreshing quick-serve options; our robotic kiosks give consumers, and now motorists, fast, customizable and delicious food choices," said Vipin Jain, CEO and co-founder of Blendid. "We hope that our Jamba by Blendid kiosks set the standard for the future of foodservice at rest areas across the country."
Jamba by Blendid kiosks leverage Blendid's contactless food automation platform foodOS, a patented machine learning, robotics and artificial intelligence-enabled system, to provide customers with easily accessible, refreshing food options made on-demand and customized to meet individual preferences at any time of day.
Additionally, Love's customers will have the opportunity to meet the new “persona” behind Jamba by Blendid's unique kiosks.
"We began to notice that our guests were really interested in the robots and created personas for them, as they watched them make smoothies and, yes, even dance," said Danielle Fisher, vice president of marketing for Jamba.
It was that observation that led to Jamba engaging with Gestalt Brand Lab, which created the robot's persona and built a distinct visual identity for the Jamba by Blendid kiosks. The robot lives in an uplifting and colorful setting, adorned with a mural by artist Bongang, a street muralist who has frequently worked with the Jamba brand.
Love’s Travel Stops has more than 590 locations in 42 states. Founded in 1964 and headquartered in Oklahoma City, the company remains family-owned and operated, employing over 37,000 people.
Look out for the NACS Magazine article “Pour Me a Drink” in the upcoming October issue, which explores the latest beverage foodservice equipment in the c-store industry, including Jamba by Blendid kiosks.
The 2022 NACS Show, October 1-4, in Las Vegas includes four education sessions on foodservice: Menu Optimization: Think Like a Restaurant, Global Foodservice Trends & Menus, Foodservice Analytics: The Recipe for Success and Gulp! Reinvigorated Dispensed Beverages. Register today to attend the NACS Show.
The pandemic, e-commerce growth, and the war in Ukraine have caused broad disruptions across the supply chain. Price inflation has been a key impact for C-stores and suppliers. Out-of-stocks represent a major challenge too, with an impact on sales, satisfaction and loyalty. To address these challenges, we worked with Coresight Research on a survey of large FMCG retailers and suppliers in NA.
The Association for Convenience & Fuel Retailing