7-Eleven, Wawa, Sheetz Push International Flavors Into C-Stores

7-Eleven launched Selección 7, a Hispanic-inspired line inside its 7-Select private label, last month — and international flavors, not Thanksgiving fare, dominated convenience food innovation over the past few weeks, even as retailers head into the holiday season with limited-time offers and fresh menu items arriving in rapid succession.

What did 7-Eleven introduce?

Selección 7 opened with baked goods: vanilla and chocolate conchas, sweet breads with a frosted topping; mantecadas, fluffy vanilla-flavored muffins sold in four-packs; and panqué con nueces, a loaf-style pound cake with pecans. Select regions also carry candy and snacks under the line, including chamoy peach rings, Chichurritos and Japanese-style peanuts.

The retailer also rolled out a limited-time Flavors of Korea menu with eight items. These include the Bibigo spicy chicken dumpling, Bibigo Korean BBQ-style pizza and gochujang boneless wings. Roller grill options add a Korean-style-BBQ-sauced taquito and Korean-style BBQ-seasoned sausage. Raise the Roost locations are adding the Seoul Style Sweet Heat Chicken Sandwich.

Is Wawa selling sushi?

Wawa is testing sushi at some Philadelphia stores, according to several local news reports. The chain offers six varieties under the Sushi Soko brand, produced by Hissho Sushi. Wawa told CBS and ABC affiliates it is testing the product in express grab-and-go cases. Popular rolls so far include crunchy and spicy varieties.

What is Sheetz bringing back?

Sheetz retired barbecue pork in 2020. It is bringing the protein back due to popular demand. Each of the chain's six Big Pig sandwiches carries six ounces of barbecue pork on a split-top bun:

• Big BBQ Classic — barbecue sauce, red onions and pickles
• Big BBQ Onion / Big BBQ Goldie — crispy onions, pickles, and regular or Carolina Gold barbecue sauce
• Big Boom Boom — bacon, pickles and Sheetz's Boom Boom sauce
• Big Cuban — Applewood smoked ham, Swiss cheese, pickles, mayonnaise and yellow mustard
• Big Sh'picy — jalapeños, pepperjack cheese and jalapeño ranch

Customers can also custom-order a barbecue pork sandwich.

Which Thanksgiving LTOs returned?

Wawa and Sheetz both announced holiday LTO renewals. Wawa's popular Gobbler combines turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce, available in hoagie, wrap or bowl form, per the company's website. Sheetz's Holidaze menu includes the Holidaze Sub — turkey, cheese, gravy, crispy onions and cranberry-orange relish on a roll with stuffing baked into it — plus Flatzgiving, a flatbread with turkey, cheese, crispy onions and cranberry-orange relish, and a turkey bacon cranberry salad.

What else is new?

Casey's General Stores is building on its pizza program with a pan pizza that took around two years to develop. The square pizza has a "fluffy" crust and edge-to-edge toppings. Customers can order any type of pizza on a pan crust, including specialty and breakfast options.

Choctaw Travel Plazas added a Crystal wing sauce chicken sandwich: breaded chicken dipped in Crystal wing sauce, topped with pickles on a brioche bun. It runs through the end of the year at the chain's 18 Oklahoma locations.

Rutter's is adding a hard eggnog to its adult beverage lineup for the holidays. Inspired by the company's traditional eggnog, the drink carries notes of vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg. It comes in collectible bottles and sells through the end of December while supplies last.

Hunt Brothers Pizza, marking its 35th anniversary, is running its first dual LTO. The chicken bacon ranch and Italian trio pizzas come as whole, 12-inch pizzas or grab-and-go slices. The chicken bacon ranch pairs ranch sauce and chicken breast with mozzarella and cheddar, bacon and the brand's Just Rite Spice. The Italian trio starts with marinara, adds mozzarella and Monterey Jack, pepperoni, Italian sausage and sliced meatballs, and finishes with Just Rite Spice.

The breadth of the launches signals where c-store foodservice is heading: chains now treat global flavors and rapid LTO turnover as core traffic drivers heading into the holidays.