mini-mart food Archives - Eat Out Eat Well

How many ketchup drips, chocolate smears, coffee stains, and random crumbs do you have in your car (or on your clothes)?

Is your road trip to the shore or mountains or the big game an endless fest of fast food, junk food, and all kinds of snacks with your dashboard or vacant passenger seat as your table?

If you’re nodding your head, you’re a dashboard diner.

It’s way too easy to indulge your dashboard dining gremlin when doughnut shops and fast food restaurants have drive-thruus and gas stations come equipped with mini-marts that serve that comes regular,, decaf, dark velvet and hazelnut coffee and baked goods so your coffee doesn’t get lonely.

Mini-Mart And Rest-Stop “Gotchas”

Candy:

Candy is an impulse purchase; 49 percent of shoppers admit to unplanned purchases of candy. We want to treat ourselves and candy is an affordable luxury. Chocolate bars are the main choice — followed by gum; bagged, repacked peg candy; candy rolls; mints and drops; non-chocolate bars; seasonal candy and novelties.

Check out the placement of candy the next time you’re in a mini-mart or convenience store. It’s positioned to grab your attention. Its vividly colored wrappers reach out to you from high-traffic areas of the store: the checkout area, the aisle that leads to the check out, and on the way to the restrooms. Know that your senses are going to be assaulted and have a plan for what you will and will not buy. If you’ve decided you want M&Ms go straight to them and don’t get sidetracked by a new kind of chips, or seasonal displays, or the latest and greatest deal on a king– sized package of some kind of candy.

Coffee:

Unlike candy, coffee isn’t an impulse purchase. Nearly 96% of customers intend to buy a cup of coffee before they walk in. That’s why the stores put impulse-buy merchandise —candy, baked goods, and chips — near the coffee to entice you to buy them. As a man standing in line at a popular gas station mini-mart muttered, “I stop here for coffee every morning and I’ve gained 20 pounds since they put in the Krispy Kreme donut display between the door and the cash register.”

Some Helpful Tips:

Go for the nuts got protein and crunch, won’t cause swings in your blood sugar and are almost always stocked. Tread a little gently — nuts are not low in fat or calories.
Some mini-marts have fruit (oranges and bananas come in their own natural wrapper and don’t have to be washed) and almost all have dried fruit — but balance the higher sugar content of the dried fruit with the fat and protein in the nuts.
Sometimes you can find individual bowls of Cheerios or whole grain cereals. Grab a small container of non or low-fat milk or a container of yogurt.
Popcorn is a great choice and some stations stock fat-free soy crisps or pop chips. Be aware of portion sizes. Sometimes a bag has more than one serving.
Protein bars can be good, better, and best. Check the labels for higher protein and lower sugar. Some can be the equivalent of a candy bar and are so large (with so many calories) that they are made to be meal replacements.
If you’re really hungry choose a sandwich or burrito over donuts, pastry, and cookies. Check out how fresh it is, though. What’s appealing early in the morning when the shelves are first stocked might not be so appealing at 10PM if it has sat around all day and lots of people have picked up the sandwich, squeezed it, and put it back again.
Beef jerky or beef sticks (or nuggets) are good, portable protein snacks. A 1-ounce serving can have around 80 calories and 3 grams of fat or less. A hard– boiled egg is a good choice, too. Just make sure they’re refrigerated and haven’t been sitting around for a couple of days!
If you must go with crunchy stuff, stick with pretzels or look for baked or popped chips. Look for single-serve bags to keep portions in check. Remember that the salty stuff will make you thirsty so stock up on water. There’s something to be said for snacks that take time to eat one by one when you’re driving.
It may take away some of the road trip spontaneity, but when you pack up your car you can pack some food, too. Fill a cooler with water, fruit, yogurt, sandwiches — hatever you think you will eat and that will keep you alert and energized (aim for some complex carbs and protein). Why not throw in someportion bags of nuts and popcorn, too? Planning ahead means you’re not at the mercy of the vending machines and racks and racks of candy, chips, and baked goods.
Use an app or your GPS to find nearby restaurants as you drive through various communities. A little searching can help you find places with healthier options than you might find at a rest stop. This can be really helpful for anyone with allergies or special dietary requirements.
If you just want to leave your rest stop purchases to chance at least have your own mental list of some good, better, and best choices of food to buy. The danger is that the candy, chips, fries, and doughnuts call your name the minute you walk in the door. If you know that you’re going to head straight for the nuts, or popcorn, or even a burger, that’s great, as long as the giant chocolate chip cookie and the bargain 32–ounce soda for 99 cents doesn’t grab you first. Try to decide what you’re going to buy before you go in and then stick to your decision.
Remember that too much sugar causes a spike and then nose dive of your blood sugar levels. The consequence is that you’re initially energized and then can get very drowsy and unfocused as your blood sugar plummets. Not exactly what you want when you’re driving.

Have you noticed that a lot of renovated gas stations now have mini-marts or convenience stores with clean(er) bathrooms and coffee that comes regular or decaf but also dark velvet, hazelnut, and vanilla?

Are Gas Stations The New Convenience Stores?

Convenience stores sell about 80& of the gasoline purchased in the United States each year.

Many gas stations now view gas as a loss leader – a sale they’re willing to take a loss on or only make a very small profit. They want to lure people into their mini-mart or full-fledged convenience store to shop.

Most stations don’t want to — or can’t — cut gas prices and there isn’t much they can do to jack up demand. In general, people are driving less gas stations need something to woo their competitors’ customers – so they use food.

Some station owners say they make more on a cup of coffee than on gas. They advertise their convenience marts and other services – a gas station near my house has a dry cleaner drop-off — and work to build a base of customers who, although they could get gas anywhere, choose to buy it where they know there’s an open pump and clean bathrooms.

Road Trip Food Stops

If you’re planning a road trip you’ll most likely stop for a snack or a meal along the way. With the proliferation of service stations or rest stops with incorporated mini-marts you probably don’t even need to leave the major roads to find a place to eat. But, can you get something decent to eat?

Walk into most of the rest stop mini-marts and you’re assaulted by an array of vending machines, candy racks, franks on rotating grills and pre-wrapped sandwiches, donuts, coffee, and every bottled drink under the sun. You’re a captive consumer and after driving for some time you’re probably want something to:

Keep you energized and awake
Help with the boredom
Reward you for endless hours of driving (especially if you have complaining or fighting kids with you)
Perhaps bring back memories of summer road trip food you had when you were a kid (as a parent I can admit that you often give in and buy all kinds of stuff for your kids because they’re driving you crazy)

The Trap And The Danger

An endless stream of high carb, high fat, high calorie, and processed food is just begging you to plunk down your money so you can immediately indulge (watch how many people start eating the food they’ve bought before they even pay) or to take with you (in case there’s a famine around the next turn).

The real danger – aside from the damage to your waistline – is that high-carb processed foods spike then crash your blood sugar —making you really tired and cranky.

Drowsy drivers are most definitely not safe drivers.
Cranky drivers make life miserable for everyone in the car – not a great tone to set if you’re going on vacation.

Candy

Candy is an impulse purchase in convenience stores — 49% of shoppers say that their candy purchases were unplanned. Candy sales are steady, generating a high margin (typically 35-40%). People will always want to treat themselves and candy is an affordable luxury.

Candy sold in convenience stores accounts for approximately 15% of all candy sold at the retail level. Chocolate bars are the winner followed by gum; bagged, repacked peg candy; candy rolls; mints and drops; non-chocolate bars; and novelties/seasonal candy.

Check out the placement of candy the next time you’re in a mini-mart or convenience store. It’s positioned to grab your attention. It’s vividly colored wrappers reach out to you from high-traffic areas of the store: the checkout area, in the aisle that leads to the check out, and near or on the way to the cold cases holding the drinks.

Coffee

According to the National Coffee Association, more than three out of four adult Americans say that they drink coffee either daily or regularly and convenience stores are one of their preferred destinations with people stopping to buy coffee more than they fill up their cars.

Industry data show that about 95% of all convenience stores sell coffee — about 78% of hot beverage sales. The second best seller is specialty coffee and cappuccino – about 13% of hot beverages.

Unlike candy, coffee isn’t an impulse purchase. Nearly 96% of customers intend to buy a cup of coffee before they walk in. The average visit is about two minutes so it makes putting other impulse-buy merchandise — like candy, baked goods, and chips — near the coffee bar as a way for the store to get you to spend more money. Some retailers find that people who typically purchase coffee will also buy bottled water; a grab-and-go breakfast item; or a packaged snack like an energy, protein, or granola bar.

Some Ideas About What To Buy And What To Eat

Before you go into the mini-mart at least have your own mental list of some good, better, and best choices of food to buy. The danger is that the candy, chips, fries, and donuts call your name the minute you walk in the door. If you know that you’re going to head straight for the nuts, or popcorn, or even a pre-wrapped sandwich, that’s great, as long as the giant chocolate chip cookie and the bargain 32 ounce soda for 99 cents doesn’t grab you first. Try to decide what you’re going to buy (hopefully, a good choice) before you go in – and then stick to your decision.

Some Choices To Think About

Go for the nuts. Some stations have fruit (oranges and bananas come in their own wrapper and don’t have to be washed) and almost all have dried fruit — balance the sugar with the fat and protein in the nuts.

Sometimes you can find individual bowls of Cheerios or whole grain cereals. Grab a little container of non-fat/low-fat milk or a container of yogurt.

Popcorn is a great choice and some stations stock fat-free soy crisps, and Kashi products.

Protein bars can be good, better, and best. Check the labels for higher protein and lower sugar. Some can be the equivalent of a candy bar.

If you’re really hungry choose a sandwich or burrito over donuts, cookies, and pastry.

Beef jerky or beef sticks are good high protein snacks. So are hard boiled eggs – just make sure they’re refrigerated and haven’t been sitting around for a couple of days!

Crackers with cheese or peanut butter and trail mix help round out the list. If you must go with crunchy stuff stick with pretzels. If it absolutely must be chips, look for baked varieties. Remember that the salty stuff will make you thirsty so stock up on water.

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