Beyond the dried out hotdog: pizza, sandwiches and roller grills
In Episode 2 of The Counter: A Webinar Series from the Convenience Foodservice Exchange (CFX), Foodservice experts Adam Friedman and Philip Santini discussed the difference between a food trend and a fad; and how to add innovation to roller grills.
Friedman, the vice-president of foodservice, North America, for Bentobox, says that 16% of last convenience store purchases in North America were roller grill items, such as hot dogs, taquitos, or burritos. However, it is time to consider newer options to revitalize the waning days of the hot-dog.
Hand-held foods like burritos, tacos and samosas can bridge the gap between trendy and an affordable snack or meal.
According to research that Friedman and Santini presented, consumers identified two primary barriers to increasing roller-grill or hand-held food purchases:
- Higher quality ingredients (cited by 47%)
- Freshness and age of items (cited by 37%)
Overcoming the roller grill perception problem
Any hot dog that looks old or dried out does not entice visitors to buy in, said Jeremy Poty, regional foodservice growth manager for Core-Mark Canada. During Poty’s talk about evolving foodservice strategies at the 2026 Convenience U CARWACS Show, he noted that it’s worth tossing the rollers full of stale hotdogs. “Consider that your loss leader,” he explained. “Nobody wants to buy dried out food; they’d rather see displays full of fresh, appealing food.”
Pizza accounts for 27% of prepared food purchases. Pizza is a key category where consumers compare store quality directly to traditional quick-service restaurants. Incorporating trending sauce options like vodka sauce or restaurant-style crust builds that travel well can elevate the offer.
Smart menu innovation: balancing trends with stability
Innovation on the roller grill has remained stagnant for years. Upgrading ingredient quality, introducing fresh handheld builds and training staff to actively manage product presentation offers an opportunity to capture commuters seeking portable, high-protein options.
Friedman remains cautious about following too many trends, or jumping on a bandwagon quickly. “We do want to pay attention to as things move along that adoption curve, and as they're moving along, that next stage is adoption. You're seeing it, picked up maybe in some regional fast-casual, you're seeing it at food trucks,” he explained. Once several types of channels use a particular flavour or topping, it’s a safe bet it will stay.
“Historically we have found a lot of times—convenience especially—on any limited-time offers, some new menu items or introductions,” Friedman added. “But we're definitely noticing over the last number of years more, much more of an appetite for some of those proliferation flavours.”
Santini, added “we're trying to get closer to the inception phase where we're really leading the pack and and and communicating or printing out into the world of what we're trying to achieve here as food destinations.” Santini is the senior director of food service and bar strategy for Rutter's.
Translating complex QSR trends into operational success
Santini recommends starting with a basic “rig” or a classic item that allows customers to plug and play in different elements and different ingredients or different categories of the day. “It allows us the opportunity to play with flavour profiles a little bit easier. When we have the base level rig to manipulate spiciness, avocado, hot honey,” said Santini. “There's opportunities for us to dabble in those without going all-in, one way or the other before it's determined as a trend or a fad.”
One suggestions was combining breakfast sandwiches with hot/cold sandwiches and wraps; this category represents nearly 40% of total purchases. Simple executions like herb cream cheese or using pancake elements for breakfast builds offer high appeal with low operational complexity.
Translating complex restaurant trends into executable convenience concepts requires practical adaptation. Rather than attempting complex menu items, retailers should focus on portable, travel-friendly items like meat pies or stuffed flatbreads. Combined with strong employee hospitality and clear communication about freshness, Canadian c-stores can successfully reposition their food programs to capture growing market share.
