PENNSAUKEN, N.J. — J&J Snack Foods Corp. has entered the frozen breakfast category with its Mary B’s Buttermilk Biscuit Melts.

Offering two popular breakfast favorites–sausage, egg & cheese and bacon, egg & cheese–Mary B’s Biscuits have now become a meal. These handmade biscuit melts are made with whole eggs, real cheese and premium meats.

According to Technomic’s report, 37% of consumers skip breakfast because of lack of time, and while 20% of people eat breakfast away from home, that doesn’t mean they’re solely going through the drive-thru. Most consumers source their breakfast at home to save money, and eggs dominate this meal time with 53% of consumers agreeing that eggs are good for their health, according to Technomic, as cited by J&J.

“We are excited to enter into a new category in frozen retail and offer consumers a meal solution for their on-the-go needs,” said Tony Hess, vice president/general manager for Hom/Ade Foods Inc., a division of J&J. “Mary B’s is a leader in frozen biscuits, frozen breakfast is on the rise, and these melts seem to be the perfect fit.”

Pensacola, Fla.-based Hom/Ade Foods Inc., acquired by J&J Snack Foods Corp., Pennsauken, N.J., in 2007, has been manufacturing and distributing Mary B’s biscuits for over 20 years. It is a natural progression for this brand to expand beyond the frozen-dough category and into one of the fastest growing categories in retail frozen food today, the company said.

HERSHEY, Pa. — Candy maker The Hershey Co.’s Ice Breakers brand is now available with Amazon Dash Button, a new way for consumers to easily re-order their favorite products via Amazon Prime (AP). AP members now have the opportunity to purchase “Dash Buttons” for Ice Breakers, making re-ordering the mints as easy as hitting a button.

“Ice Breakers is excited to team up with Amazon to provide our millennial fans this new in-home, e-commerce experience,” said Bill Blubaugh, senior director, sweets and refreshments, The Hershey Co. “Our Ice Breakers mints are a must-have for people whose active, social lifestyles demand a steady supply of unique refreshment products. Dash Button ensures that one of millennials’ favorites is simple to re-order in the midst of their connected, on-the-go lifestyles.”

Ice Breakers, Hershey’s second-best-selling brand through Amazon, does well among millennials online. The top consumer segment to visit the Ice Breakers pages and purchase the product are people between 21 and 24 years old. Ice Breakers brand sales on Amazon.com are up 70% year over year, which is growing twice as fast as the U.S. candy, mint and gum category, according to the company. Additionally, the repeat order rate is 31%, more than double the average of other Hershey brands on Amazon.com.

“Having a strong relationship with Amazon has given us the opportunity to participate in their most innovative initiatives, and we are thrilled to be among the brands available through the new Dash Button,” said Denise Vivas, director of e-commerce, The Hershey Co.. Hershey, Pa. “We continue to expand our partnership with Amazon as the opportunity for confection and snacks in the e-commerce channel grows exponentially; we expect online grocery sales to surpass $80 billion by 2020. It’s exciting to be at the forefront of delivering beloved treats to consumers online.”

According to Nielsen, more than half of global consumers are willing to buy groceries online, and one-quarter are already doing so, Hershey reported. Millennials are most likely to be shopping online today and to use future e-commerce options due to a high comfort level with technology. Most are early in their careers and establishing households, making them an important demographic to reach with innovative e-commerce solutions.

DOWNERS GROVE, Ill. —Dover Corp. will acquire the fuel dispenser and systems businesses of Tokheim Group S.A.S. in a $465 million deal expected to close in early 2016.

After the deal, Downers Grove, Ill.-based Dover plans to fold the dispenser and systems businesses into its OPW business unit.

Tokheim is not selling its sales and service divisions; instead, they will become part of a standalone company.

Paris, France-based Tokheim is a manufacturer of fuel dispensers, retail automation systems and payment systems. It has manufacturing operations in Europe, China, India and Brazil. Its dispenser and systems businesses have estimated 2015 annual revenue of $310 million.

With the acquisition, Hamilton, Ohio-based OPW will present a full “station-in-a-box” retail fueling offer. Its current retail fueling equipment lineup includes gasoline dispensers, compressed and liquefied natural gas nozzles, Stage II Vapor Recovery equipment and electronic tank gauge systems.

“We are excited about the acquisition of Tokheim’s dispenser and systems businesses,” said Robert A. Livingston, president and CEO of Dover. “The acquired technology fits perfectly with OPW’s strong suite of products and systems, and Tokheim’s strong presence in Europe, Africa and Asia complements OPW’s global presence. Together, the combined business will offer unparalleled solutions for the growing retail fueling market.”

DEL RIO, Texas — Pico Petroleum and its parent company Westex Capital LTD have sold its 26 convenience stores, as well as its bulk fuel plants and propane storage yards to multiple buyers, effectively exiting the petroleum business in south Texas.

NRC Realty & Capital Advisors LLC announced the completion of the multi-tiered sale today of substantially all of the assets of Westex Capital LTD and partner Bohica Investment LTD of Del Rio, Texas. The assets consisted of 26 convenience stores in several markets in South Central and West Texas, as well as a fuel and propane distribution business with six bulk fuel-plant locations and five propane storage yards.

In March, NRC completed the sale of three convenience stores with gasoline located in South Central Texas to Farid Meghani. Two of these stores are unbranded and one is branded Valero.

In April, NRC completed the sale of eight convenience stores with gasoline located in and around the San Antonio market to a wholly owned subsidiary of Sunoco LP. Six of the eight sites are branded Valero.

Also in April, NRC finalized the sale of seven convenience stores with gasoline located west of the San Antonio market to Maxey Family Limited Partnership. Six of these stores are unbranded and one store is branded Shell.
In June, NRC concluded the sale of one convenience store with gasoline, located in Boerne, Texas, to Charles Reichenau. The store is branded Shamrock (an affiliate of Valero).

At the end of August, NRC completed the sale of one unbranded convenience store with gasoline located in Poteet, Texas, to Karman Partners LLC, as well as the sale of six stores to WTG Fuels Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of West Texas Gas. These assets included six convenience stores with gasoline located in and around the Midland and Odessa market. Five of these stores are branded Shell and one store in Alpine is unbranded.

NRC acted as exclusive financial advisor to Westex and its affiliates in connection with the sale.

Watch CSPnet.com and CSP Daily News for additional information on the deals.

LAS VEGAS — A lawsuit that accuses Circle K Stores Inc. of failing to pay overtime wages to convenience-store managers may proceed as a national class action, a federal judge in Las Vegas ruled in late August, reported The Las Vegas Review-Journal.

In the case before U.S. District Judge Richard Boulware II, the plaintiff, store manager Charles Grahl, filed the motion on behalf of 124 other current and former Circle K store managers who the suit claims were misclassified by Circle K as “exempt” from the Fair Labor Standards Act’s (FLSA) overtime provisions.

The class encompasses all current and former employees of Circle K for the three years immediately preceding the date Grahl filed his complaint, Feb. 27, 2014.

Las Vegas attorney Andrew Rempfer, who represents approximately 250 plaintiffs in the case, told the newspaper that number could grow to the “thousands.”

According to the court documents obtained by CSP Daily News:

• The store manager job description is the same at all stores. Circle K corporate sets the store policies, practices related to management and employees governance on a nationally uniform and structured plan.
• The corporate schedule is a mandatory overtime schedule for store managers, who are all treated as salaried exempt employees.
• When hourly employees do not show up for work or unable to show up for work, store managers are required to report to the store and work that person’s shift.
• Circle K has a corporate mandate that store managers work at least Monday through Friday, 5 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Saturdays 6 a.m. to noon. That equals a minimum of 56 hours per week store managers must work per week without overtime compensation.
• The store managers do not exercise independent judgment and discretion in matters of significance affecting the company or store. All important decisions are made by market managers.
• They spend approximately 80% of their time performing the same tasks and job duties as the clerks and cashiers and other hourly employees in the store such as assistant managers, such as working the register, clearing the store, cleaning the bathrooms and gas pumps, performing food preparation, stocking shelves, inventory, taking care of the shelves, unloading the merchandise and servicing customers of the store. Their primary duties do not require any decision-making on significant matters affecting the store. Their limited management duties, if any, involve placing orders and filling out forms and counting and reporting money.
• They are all paid on a salary basis and have never been paid for their overtime hours.

Circle K—the U.S. convenience-store arm along with Kangaroo Express of Laval, Quebec-based Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc.—owns and operates more than 3,300 convenience stores throughout the United States.

Circle K has not responded to a request for comment on the case.

CHICAGO — BP has launched a new fall promotion that allows consumers to pass savings at the pump to others for the first time, with no additional fees to wholesale customers.

The promotion, known as “Give a Reward, Get a Reward,” builds on the recent success of the new BP Driver Rewards loyalty program by letting members give three friends or family members a reward of 25- cents-per-gallon discount on their next fill-up of up to 20 gallons. The promotion runs September 2 through November 3 at participating BP retail locations.

“We know consumers always enjoy discounts at the pump in whatever form they come,” said Jo Brecknock, director of brand and communications for BP Fuels North America. “With this promotion, our focus is on building loyalty, which is absolutely critical to business growth. And, we believe that continuing to invest in and improve BP Driver Rewards is the best way to achieve that goal.”

BP Driver Rewards members who participate in the promotion will automatically be entered in a weekly sweepstakes to win one of 10 gift cards equivalent to a year’s worth of gasoline.

The promotion will be supported with TV and radio advertisements in select markets and on site at participating retail locations, as well as through digital advertising and an email marketing campaign across BP’s entire U.S. retail network.

With U.S. headquarters in La Palma, Calif. (West), and Warrenville, Ill. (East), BP markets more than 15 billion gallons of gasoline every year to U.S. consumers through more than 11,000 BP- and ARCO-branded retail outlets and supplies more than four billion gallons of fuel annually to fleets, industrial users, auto and truck manufacturers, railroads and utilities.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Hunt Brothers Pizza has announced its international expansion. The company, a leading brand of made-to-order pizza for the convenience store industry, has opened its fifth location in Germany at the Pulaski Express on Vogelweh Air Force Base in Kaiserslautern.

The existing four locations include:

• Clay Kasern Troop Store at U.S. Army Garrison Wiesbaden
• Ramstein 24-Hour Express at Ramstein Air Base
• Grafenwoehr Express at U.S. Army Garrison Grafenwoehr
• Grafenwoehr Rose Barracks Express at U.S. Army Garrison Bavaria

All five Hunt Brothers Pizza locations in Germany are located within an Army & Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) retailer. In the United States, Hunt Brothers Pizza partners with nine AAFES locations.

“We have grown a loyal fan base in the U.S., and we are proud to bring Hunt Brothers Pizza overseas to offer this taste of home to our servicemen and women, their families and other supporting civilians,” said Bryan Meng, chief operating officer of Hunt Brothers Pizza. “We appreciate the sacrifice these men and women make to defend our freedom, and we are honored to serve them through the simple act of providing a wholesome, delicious and affordable product like Hunt Brothers Pizza.”

With more than 7,300 locations in 28 states, Hunt Brothers Pizza offers original and thin crust pizzas with all toppings no extra charge; breakfast pizzas; and Hunt Brothers Wings and WingBites.

Based in Nashville, Tenn., Hunt Brothers Pizza is family owned and operated with more than 50 years of experience in offering all of the food products, marketing programs, equipment and training for convenience stores to operate their own turnkey pizza program.

TULSA, Okla. — SageNet, a leading Managed Network Solutions provider, has announced that it has acquired the cybersecurity division of IT consulting and staffing firm Turnberry Solutions Inc. and has named a former convenience-store cybersecurity executive to head it up.

The acquisition provides SageNet customers a suite of cybersecurity solutions and access to a seasoned team of cybersecurity experts. The acquisition bolsters SageNet’s Advanced Threat Protection and PCI compliance services with a robust range of cybersecurity services, including security strategy, security assessments, audit and compliance assessments, risk management, cloud security, security intelligence, e-discovery, managed security programs, virtual CISO services and managed security operations.

Industry cybersecurity expert Paul Truitt will lead SageNet’s Security Services team. Prior to developing the cybersecurity practice at Turnberry Solutions, Truitt served as the head of information security for a major convenience-store retailer Wawa Inc. and as a senior leader for large consulting firms, including Andersen, Deloitte, Smart and Turnberry.

Truitt served as senior manager of information security and network for Wawa, Pa.-based Wawa from 2008 to 2014.

“I am truly excited to welcome Paul and his team to the SageNet family,” said SageNet CEO Daryl Woodard. “Security is top of mind for all of our clients, and there is ever-increasing demand for in-depth and managed security services. As vice president of cybersecurity services, Paul brings our customers the expertise, experience and proven tools the new information security environment demands.”

He added, “We are also happy to welcome a number of new SageNet clients for whom the team’s cybersecurity solutions are already at work, helping to predict, prevent, detect and respond to cyber threats.”

SageNet president Brad Wise said, “The addition of Turnberry Solutions’ Cybersecurity practice to SageNet’s established suite of managed network services, and U.S.-based Network Operations Centers marks the next step in our quest to become the industry’s preeminent provider of managed network and security solutions for large multi-site enterprises.”

As part of the acquisition agreement, SageNet and Turnberry Solutions will enter a broad-based strategic alliance under which SageNet will be the preferred supplier of cybersecurity solutions to Turnberry, and Turnberry will serve as a valuable resource providing IT staffing solutions to SageNet clients.

The companies did not disclose the terms of the deal.

Based in Blue Bell, Pa., Turnberry Solutions is an IT consulting and professional services firm that delivers large-scale technology projects. As an Advanced Consulting Partner of Amazon Web Services, Premiere Partner of Splunk, and Microsoft Gold Certified Managed Partner, Turnberry’s team of highly skilled consultants and technologists have designed, implemented and deployed some of the world’s most scalable business enablement platforms for enterprise and mid-market clients.

Tulsa, Okla.-based SageNet designs, implements and manages fast, secure and reliable networks. Formed by the merger of SageNet, founded in 1998, and Spacenet, founded in 1981, SageNet offers a broad and deep understanding of local and wide-area networks through deploying customer-focused technology solutions.

APPLETON, Wis. — U.S. Oil, the petroleum and renewable energy distribution division of U.S. Venture Inc., has acquired a refined products terminal in Indianapolis.

This acquisition will strengthen U.S. Oil’s relationships with unbranded and independent marketers as well as branded dealers in the Midwest, more specifically those located in the North/Central Indiana corridor.

The acquisition will also allow U.S. Oil to further optimize the facility through enhanced biofuel opportunities and additional capital investment projects.

The new terminal adds 410,000 barrels of capacity and expands U.S. Oil’s existing distribution network to 21 terminals in North America.

U.S. Oil owns and operates strategicallylocated terminals in Chippewa Falls, Green Bay, Madison and Milwaukee, Wis.; Cheboygan and Rogers City, Mich.; Bettendorf, Iowa; and Bryan, Fort Worth and Houston, Texas.

U.S. Oil acquired the Milwaukee-area terminal from Marathon Petroleum Corp. (MPC) Findlay, Ohio, in March.

The addition of the Indianapolis terminal expands U.S. Oil’s network east with supply logistics through the Chicago complex via Buckeye, Gulf Coast via Enterprise and Marathon’s Robinson, Ill., refinery pipelines.

“Our strategic plan supports acquisitions such as the Indianapolis terminal to continue growth of our distribution, wholesale, branded and logistics businesses,” said Mike Koel, vice president of business development. “We hope to expand the capabilities of this terminal upon completion of planned capital investment projects, while maintaining the strong service levels established by its terminal associates.”

U.S. Venture is a leader in the distribution of petroleum and renewable energy products, lubricants, and tires and parts for the automotive aftermarket. Based in Appleton, Wis., the company’s business divisions are U.S. Oil, U.S. AutoForce, U.S. Lubricants and U.S. Gain. U.S. Oil is recognized by customers and partners for its value-adding approach in the distribution, marketing, trading and operations of fuel and renewable energy products in the United States and Canada.