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| Hot Food Display, Photo provided by 7-Eleven. |
The new hot food program offers items such as whole or by-the-slice four-cheese and pepperoni pizza; chicken tenders; sausage, egg and cheese breakfast quesadillas; hash brown potatoes and three flavors of chicken wings.
The chain will be able to serve the pizzas using high-speed TurboChef ovens, which combine radiant heat, microwave and convection cooking methods to cook foods 12 times faster than the standard oven, the company says.
Margaret Chabris, a spokeswoman for 7-Eleven, told Slashfood Friday that each oven is equipped with a credit-card sized card that automatically programs the method and the cooking time for the various menu items. The ovens cook a 7-Eleven pizza in 90 seconds and the wings in 3 minutes.
The national expansion of the prepared foods menu comes as a direct response to the decreasing sale of tobacco.
"One of our biggest categories in sales in the 1990s was tobacco," Chabris explained. "We recognized it's a waning category with prices and taxes continuing to rise and the health concerns making an impression on people. It's a category that's decreasing."
After a successful hot foods small-scale pilot program in 2007, 7-Eleven decided the hot foods sector was their next niche.
"We know that when a lot of people get a sandwich, they like them fresh and they like them hot," Chabris said.
Prices will range from 79 cents for two hash browns to $2.99 for three chicken wings to $9.99 for a large pizza.
The name 7-Eleven originated in 1946 when the stores were open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Today, 7-Elevens are open 24-hours a day, seven days a week.
7-Eleven, Inc. is the world's largest convenience retail chain -- operating close to 29,600 7-Eleven and other affiliated convenience stores around the world.
Would you buy a slice from 7-Eleven?
[Via The Dallas Morning News]















