Mystery Shop Recognizes Enmarket for Its Sandwich Cooler

By Chuck Ulie, CSP
Enmarket convenience stores has its sandwich cooler operation down to a science, thanks to a program the Savannah, Georgia-based chain of 130 stores developed and implemented more than a year ago. In the revealed audit of CSP's 2024 Mystery Shop, Enmarket scored 93.9% on the sandwich cooler.

The Mystery Shop audit is completed in partnership with Intouch Insight  and assesses convenience-store chains with two types of studies: a revealed audit, which accounts for 60%, and a covert audit, which accounts for 40%. A total of 1,003 store visits were conducted between April 3 and May 9, 2024, Nouria Energy, Worcester, Massachusetts, received  first place;
Stinker Stores, Boise, Idaho, took home second place; and Tri Star Energy, Nashville,  scored third overall
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The company’s automated production planning system assists stores regarding what volume to put out based on previous sales, said Ryan Krebs, director of foodservice.

“It looks back at what they sold the day before and one week before and gives them a number of sandwiches and cold items, parfait, fruit cups, whatever fresh items are produced,” he said.

The system is based on sales, “plus we add a buffer in there,” Krebs said. “So, if they sold 10 yesterday, then we would tell them to put out 12 or 14 of that item.”

Prior to this production planning system, it was more guesswork, he said, adding that the system “has made a huge, positive impact.”

He adds, “That’s been a complete game-changer for us in terms of having the data to make wise decisions on what to produce in fresh product. You’re not overproducing and you’re not wasting at a high rate, but you’re not underproducing and missing those sales.”

The system pulls scan data for sale, which is loaded into Enmarket’s system, he said. Employees still must keep an eye on their case, Krebs said, because the algorithm does not account for an unusual surge.

Sale data is specific to inventory each store carries, he said. “It’s sent to them internally, and then they can print it out and then refer to it. It’s really just a baseline for what to produce,” he said. “But then obviously the human component is reacting to that throughout the day.”

To maintain freshness, Enmarket prints labels indicating the time a product is made and an expiration date. The company, however, doesn’t push an expiration date to the limit, instead opting for shorter shelf times. “We have expirations on all our fresh products way under to keep items fresh and the quality that we expect,” Krebs said.

Enmarket also has cooler cleaning schedules and adds a second temperature-monitoring device in each unit as backup in case the built-in one fails.

Krebs emphasizes the importance of the cooler. “It’s really front center in your store,” he said. “When a customer walks in, it’s the first impression. You see fresh sandwiches, fresh-cut fruit, and it really makes the customer know you’re in the food business, in the fresh business.”

Enmarket has more than 50 SKUs its stores can choose from, all made in-house. There are core, high-selling items like turkey, roast beef and ham, along with secondary options, Krebs said. Options include subs, wraps, sandwiches and different breads like ciabatta, regular burger buns and croissants.
They also make their own fruit parfaits—blueberry and strawberry with yogurt granola. Enmarket also makes banana pudding cups and chocolate pudding cups with Oreos and vanilla wafers. And, it cuts all of its fresh fruit, including cantaloupe, honeydew and grapes, he said.

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