7-Eleven Launches Private Label, Adds Video Games
Arizona Firm Developing Biofuel
Company Fined For Selling Additive Without EPA Approval

7-ELEVEN LAUNCHES PRIVATE LABEL, ADDS VIDEO GAMES

DALLAS, TX. — Convenience store chain 7-Eleven has made two major announcements in the past month to expand the company's product offerings and increase their store traffic.

In the first move, 7-Eleven Inc. is expanding its private label line of of snack foods which will be carried in the company's stores.

7-Eleven had been utilizing its own 7-Select brand for marketing paper products, batteries, and other non-food items. Under the company's new plan, the 7-Select line will relaunch with 32 "convenience store staples," including cookies, candies, nuts, chips and beef jerky.

7-Eleven officials say they plan to expand the SKUs sold under 7-Select to 180 items by spring.

In its second move, 7-Eleven announced that they are entering the video gaming retailer market. In December, participating 7-Eleven stores will introduce a line-up of seven top video game titles for sale.

The c-store retailer will also market prepaid gift cards for another growing gaming phenomenon — Massively Multi-player Online Games, or MMOGs — as well as Xbox Live Marketplace and the PlayStation Network.

"This is not just a holiday promotion for us," stated Michael Jester, category manager for gaming and electronics, "but a brand-new product line-up that will be available year-round. We may not be a total entertainment destination...yet, but we're hoping to expand our selection beyond the high-dollar, hot-selling games to include options for all budgets, like value-priced video games as well as DVD movies."

As part of the company's cross-marketing, 7-Eleven and Slurpee have a presence in some video games. There players can receive a Slurpee Machine to place in their virtual game spaces.

"We can compete with the major players and offer consumers a more convenient place to purchase games and accessories," said Jester. "They can pay a deposit and reserve their copies ahead of time and pick them up starting midnight on the release date at locations closer to their homes."

The move to video games is being seen as a good match for the convenience stores' target audience; the average video gamer is a male in his early 30s.

ARIZONA FIRM DEVELOPING BIOFUEL

GILBERT, AZ. — Diversified Energy Corp., based here, says it is only three to four years from commercializing a biofuel that would be an effective substitute for gasoline.

"The hurdles we have to pass now are no longer scientific," said Phillip Brown, president and chief executive officer of Diversified Energy Corp. "Now it's a matter of engineering and scaling up the technology to make it commercially viable."

Brown says that the fuels the company is producing, using a process called Centia, could be used in engines as well as transported, stored, and distributed in an identical manner to fossil fuels. The fuel could be manufactured to serve as alternatives for jet fuel, diesel, and gasoline.

"It's a completely different approach than where the country is going right now with ethanol and alcohol fuels," Brown said. "Every car that can use unleaded gas can use 100 percent concentrations of these fuels."

The Centia process uses oils from agricultural crops, algae or animal fats as its base stock.

Brown said that the company will focus first on commercializing its process for manufacturing a gasoline replacement product because of the huge market for gasoline. The company had originally planned to manufacture a jet fuel as its first product but "We've done our homework on how difficult it is to get a new fuel qualified for the aviation community," said Brown.

COMPANY FINED FOR SELLING ADDITIVE WITHOUT EPA APPROVAL

COVINA, CA. — Biofriendly Corporation, based here, has agreed to pay a $1.25 million penalty for selling Green Plus, an unregistered fuel additive.

The fine was levied by the Environmental Protection Agency as a Clean Air Act violation after Biofriendly failed to provide the EPA with information on the chemical composition and structure of the additive prior to marketing the product.

It is the largest penalty ever levied for violation of the Clean Air Act's registration requirements for fuels and fuel additives.

Biofriendly officials say they have turned in the required paperwork and that the EPA has approved new product registrations for its Green Plus product.

Green Plus is being marketed as a liquid catalyst that improves diesel fuel combustion and, consequently, reducing air pollutant emissions.

Originally published in the December 2008 issue of O&A Marketing News.
Copyright 2008 by KAL Publications Inc.