Meet the Buyer x Convenience Retail Solutions

Our Meet the Buyer sessions are designed to connect passionate food entrepreneurs with potential customers, buyers, and/or category managers. Monthly, we invite buyers from all different categories of the food scene, like supermarkets, online retailers, hotel chains, wholesale, restaurant owners, etc. These sessions offer exclusive sales opportunities, feedback, and/or professional connections that you won’t get anywhere else. In this session, we welcome Convenience Retail Solutions!

About Convenience Retail Solutions
Convenience Retail Solutions is responsible for the convenience retail strategy within the petrol station channel for Lekkerland. They develop and manage the food and beverage assortment for this channel, aiming to increase customer traffic and drive alternative revenue (especially as tobacco sales will be banned by 2030). Their focus is on relevant, easy-to-implement solutions for high-traffic, on-the-go retail locations.

Requirements Convenience Retail Solutions
During this session we will focus on 2 categories: foodservice/convenience & sweet.

Foodservice / convenience
They are looking for finished products (e.g. sausage rolls, chilled ready-to-eat items) and semi-finished ingredients (e.g. sauces, marinades, flavour bases) that meet the following criteria:
– Suitable for foodservice or convenience retail
– Accessible in taste and concept: not too niche or premium (Note: most customers are outside urban areas)
– Taste is more important than origin, sustainability or health (but these are welcome extras)
– Suitable for on-the-go consumption
– Requires minimal preparation and must be “idiot proof”

Shelf life & delivery conditions:
– Supply via wholesaler Lekkerland
– Finished products (fresh or frozen): fresh: ≥ 5 days (preferably 8) upon delivery, frozen: ≥ 6 months
– Semi-finished products (ambient preferred, or fresh/frozen): ambient: ≥ 6 months, fresh: ≥ 5 days (preferably 8), frozen: ≥ 6 months

Confectionary / sweet snacks
They are interested in sweet snacks and indulgent products (e.g. candy bars, protein snacks, gum) that meet the following trends:
– Instant appeal – shoppers decide in 1.9 seconds
– “Snackification” – from treats to purposeful snacks (e.g. high protein, low sugar, added nutrients)
– Extreme flavours (sweeter, sourer), bold colours, local & ethnic relevance
– Products influenced by youth culture and platforms like TikTok
– Lifestyle-driven: healthier indulgence without guilt

Shelf life & delivery conditions:
– Supply via wholesaler Lekkerland
– Shelf life of at least 3 months from delivery

Who will you meet during this session?
Helga van Bokhoven – Category Manager Confectionery
Lianne Donkers – Category Manager Foodservice
Patrick Janssen – Concept & Category Manager Foodservice

KR’s requirements:
– Be a member of the KR Community
– Arrive on time, assets prepared (tasting materials/presentation documents prepped) and ready to pitch
– As space is limited and time precious, please understand that KR and the guest buyer will select the most relevant food companies to see during each session as it relates to the buyer/companies focus.
– You can also leave your product(s) behind for the buyer, Kitchen Republic will collect your feedback.

How does it work?
– We offer time slots of 10 minutes per company. This might sound short, but it’s definitely long enough to make a lasting impression.
– Application for this MTB session closes on September 8. If selected, we will contact you the week prior with time slot details.