Phononic, Inc., a provider cooling and heating technology, has partnered with Mars to deploy its innovative solid-state merchandising freezers at approximately 1,500 Circle K retail convenience stores in 14 regions across North America, kicking off the 2021 ice cream season.
Building off of a successful year-long pilot in the Southeast region that saw a significant increase in incremental year-over-year ice cream sales, U.S. consumers positively responded to the availability of their favorite frozen treats directly at the point-of-sale. With its stable of world-recognized brands, including M&M’S, SNICKERS, and TWIX, Mars is now uniquely positioned to leverage Phononic’s sustainable solid-state technology to drive sales of their leading ice cream novelty brands by increasing visibility at check-out. Convenience stores are now able to better leverage valuable point-of-sale real estate because of solid-state advantages where traditional refrigeration was previously off limits due to the constraints of incumbent vapor compression technology – allowing retailers to more efficiently monetize their existing footprint.
“At Mars, we work tirelessly to understand our consumers’ evolving needs and adapt to them,” said Chantal Templeton, General Manager Ice Cream US at Mars. “We see this partnership with Phononic as an outstanding opportunity to showcase our premiere frozen novelty brands right in front of consumers in the most sustainable and disruptive merchandising platform available.”
With its compact countertop design and near-silent operation, Phononic’s solid-state F200 Merchandising Freezer is uniquely designed for frozen impulse products at point-of-sale, offering food brands a higher-profile impulse purchase and retailers the ability to maximize sales by revitalizing the most lucrative space in the store. Given evolving consumer habits, this prime location is now paramount.
