Innovation in Customers' Hands at New 7-Eleven® Lab Store Retailer Celebrates New Sylvan | Thirty Location with March 22 Grand Opening News provided by 7-Eleven, Inc. Mar 27, 2019, 09:30 ET Share this article IRVING, Texas, March 27, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Made-to-order smoothies and agua frescas … street tacos on handmade tortillas … a growler refill station pouring local craft beers … baked-in-store cookies and croissants … patio and inside dining areas … The newest 7-Eleven® location is a lab store and an experiential testing ground, where customers can try and buy the retailer's latest innovations in a revolutionary new store format. The newest 7-Eleven location in Dallas is a lab store and an experiential testing ground, where customers can try and buy the retailer’s latest innovations in a revolutionary new store format. 7-Eleven, Inc. celebrated the grand opening of its new lab store in Dallas – and the only one in the U.S. – March 22. The store is located at the Sylvan | Thirty retail and restaurant development on Sylvan Avenue, north of Interstate 30. This location is less than two miles from the original Southland Ice House in Oak Cliff where 7-Eleven pioneered the convenience retailing concept more than 90 years ago. "Convenience retailing is light years away from the days of bread and milk being sold from ice docks in 1927, and the industry is changing at a faster rate than ever before," said Chris Tanco, 7-Eleven executive vice president and chief operating officer. "7-Eleven stays at the forefront by pushing the boundaries and being unafraid to try new things. This new lab store will serve as a place to test, learn and iterate new platforms and products to see what really resonates with customers and how we can use those learnings to influence future store designs."The lab store is also the first 7-Eleven location to incorporate the Laredo Taco Company® taqueria, and the first Laredo Taco Company location in Dallas. 7-Eleven acquired the taqueria along with Stripes® convenience stores in South Texas as part of the 1,000-store acquisition from Sunoco in 2018. Laredo Taco Company is famous in South Texas for its handmade tortillas made from scratch in stores every day as well as its popular salsa bar with on-site, daily prepared salsas, guacamole and pico de gallo. Tacos, quesadillas and plate meals include specialties not always seen in quick-serve Tex-Mex restaurants such as carne guisada, barbacoa, picadillo bistec, carnitas and breakfast tacos made with hand-cracked eggs.Some of the other innovative ideas customers will see at the new 7-Eleven lab store include: Made-to-order coffee drinks, cold-pressed juices, smoothies and agua frescas that give customers the option to customize their drinks in a full-service beverage format. Additionally, it carries novelty beverages on tap such as nitro cold brew, kombucha and organic teas. "The Cellar," an alcove dedicated to an expanded selection of wines and craft beers, with a nearby growler station that features a rotating selection of local craft beer, cider and ales on tap. At the growler station, customers can enjoy a draft of their favorite beverage with their meal onsite or fill a growler to take home. A cold treats bar with frozen yogurt, ice cream and multiple toppings Cookies, croissants and more baked-in-store daily Digital initiatives that enhance the shopping experience. Scan & Pay technology that allows customers to skip the checkout line and pay for their (non-age-restricted) purchases on their smartphones. Indoor and patio restaurant-style seating in the Laredo Taco Company portion of the store as well as bar-seating across the front windows in the retail space. Many of the new items in this 7-Eleven "innovation station" are limited-time offerings. "A lot has changed in retail and continues to change rapidly, especially the shopping experience," Tanco said. "This lab store is customer-focused and will explore new ideas that weren't even on the retail radar a few months ago."The new 7-Eleven lab store is also providing local jobs, and the company is looking for outgoing, customer-service-oriented employees for this innovative new retail-restaurant concept. To join the Sylvan | Thirty location as a sales or restaurant associate, interested people can apply online at: https://careers-7-eleven.icims.com. Under "Start your job search here," input 54716 for sales associate or 54817 for restaurant associate.About 7-Eleven, Inc.7-Eleven, Inc. is the premier name and largest chain in the convenience-retailing industry. Based in Irving, Texas, 7-Eleven operates, franchises and/or licenses more than 67,000 stores in 17 countries, including 11,800 in North America. Known for its iconic brands such as Slurpee®, Big Bite® and Big Gulp®, 7-Eleven has expanded into high-quality salads, side dishes, cut fruit and protein boxes, as well as pizza, chicken wings, cheeseburgers and hot chicken sandwiches. 7-Eleven offers customers industry-leading private brand products under the 7-Select® brand including healthy options, decadent treats and everyday favorites, at an outstanding value. Customers also count on 7-Eleven for bill payments, self-service lockers and other convenient services. Find out more online at www.7-Eleven.com, via the 7Rewards® customer loyalty platform on the 7-Eleven mobile app, or on social media at Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.SOURCE 7-Eleven, Inc.

Innovation in Customers' Hands at New 7-Eleven® Lab Store Retailer Celebrates New Sylvan | Thirty Location with March 22 Grand Opening News provided by 7-Eleven, Inc. Mar 27, 2019, 09:30 ET Share this article IRVING, Texas, March 27, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Made-to-order smoothies and agua frescas … street tacos on handmade tortillas … a growler refill station pouring local craft beers … baked-in-store cookies and croissants … patio and inside dining areas … The newest 7-Eleven® location is a lab store and an experiential testing ground, where customers can try and buy the retailer's latest innovations in a revolutionary new store format. The newest 7-Eleven location in Dallas is a lab store and an experiential testing ground, where customers can try and buy the retailer’s latest innovations in a revolutionary new store format. 7-Eleven, Inc. celebrated the grand opening of its new lab store in Dallas – and the only one in the U.S. – March 22. The store is located at the Sylvan | Thirty retail and restaurant development on Sylvan Avenue, north of Interstate 30. This location is less than two miles from the original Southland Ice House in Oak Cliff where 7-Eleven pioneered the convenience retailing concept more than 90 years ago. "Convenience retailing is light years away from the days of bread and milk being sold from ice docks in 1927, and the industry is changing at a faster rate than ever before," said Chris Tanco, 7-Eleven executive vice president and chief operating officer. "7-Eleven stays at the forefront by pushing the boundaries and being unafraid to try new things. This new lab store will serve as a place to test, learn and iterate new platforms and products to see what really resonates with customers and how we can use those learnings to influence future store designs."The lab store is also the first 7-Eleven location to incorporate the Laredo Taco Company® taqueria, and the first Laredo Taco Company location in Dallas. 7-Eleven acquired the taqueria along with Stripes® convenience stores in South Texas as part of the 1,000-store acquisition from Sunoco in 2018. Laredo Taco Company is famous in South Texas for its handmade tortillas made from scratch in stores every day as well as its popular salsa bar with on-site, daily prepared salsas, guacamole and pico de gallo. Tacos, quesadillas and plate meals include specialties not always seen in quick-serve Tex-Mex restaurants such as carne guisada, barbacoa, picadillo bistec, carnitas and breakfast tacos made with hand-cracked eggs.Some of the other innovative ideas customers will see at the new 7-Eleven lab store include: Made-to-order coffee drinks, cold-pressed juices, smoothies and agua frescas that give customers the option to customize their drinks in a full-service beverage format. Additionally, it carries novelty beverages on tap such as nitro cold brew, kombucha and organic teas. "The Cellar," an alcove dedicated to an expanded selection of wines and craft beers, with a nearby growler station that features a rotating selection of local craft beer, cider and ales on tap. At the growler station, customers can enjoy a draft of their favorite beverage with their meal onsite or fill a growler to take home. A cold treats bar with frozen yogurt, ice cream and multiple toppings Cookies, croissants and more baked-in-store daily Digital initiatives that enhance the shopping experience. Scan & Pay technology that allows customers to skip the checkout line and pay for their (non-age-restricted) purchases on their smartphones. Indoor and patio restaurant-style seating in the Laredo Taco Company portion of the store as well as bar-seating across the front windows in the retail space. Many of the new items in this 7-Eleven "innovation station" are limited-time offerings. "A lot has changed in retail and continues to change rapidly, especially the shopping experience," Tanco said. "This lab store is customer-focused and will explore new ideas that weren't even on the retail radar a few months ago."The new 7-Eleven lab store is also providing local jobs, and the company is looking for outgoing, customer-service-oriented employees for this innovative new retail-restaurant concept. To join the Sylvan | Thirty location as a sales or restaurant associate, interested people can apply online at: https://careers-7-eleven.icims.com. Under "Start your job search here," input 54716 for sales associate or 54817 for restaurant associate.About 7-Eleven, Inc.7-Eleven, Inc. is the premier name and largest chain in the convenience-retailing industry. Based in Irving, Texas, 7-Eleven operates, franchises and/or licenses more than 67,000 stores in 17 countries, including 11,800 in North America. Known for its iconic brands such as Slurpee®, Big Bite® and Big Gulp®, 7-Eleven has expanded into high-quality salads, side dishes, cut fruit and protein boxes, as well as pizza, chicken wings, cheeseburgers and hot chicken sandwiches. 7-Eleven offers customers industry-leading private brand products under the 7-Select® brand including healthy options, decadent treats and everyday favorites, at an outstanding value. Customers also count on 7-Eleven for bill payments, self-service lockers and other convenient services. Find out more online at www.7-Eleven.com, via the 7Rewards® customer loyalty platform on the 7-Eleven mobile app, or on social media at Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.SOURCE 7-Eleven, Inc. Related Links

Oh Thank Heaven for 7-Eleven!®A success story fueled by customers’ needs “Give the customers what they want, when and where they want it.” Joe C. Thompson Jr. | 7‑Eleven Founder The 7‑Eleven brand is known and loved around the world, and our iconic products are a big part of the American culture. And although we’ve grown significantly over the years, our focus stays fixed on making life easier for customers. This simple idea is the reason we’re the marketplace leader. It’s also why our customers, employees, Franchisees and community leaders are proud to be part of the 7‑Eleven story. Nonstop Innovation & Customer Obsession We Did 7‑Eleven has a legacy of innovation. We were the first to provide to-go coffee cups, offer a self-serve soda fountain, operate for 24 hours a day, and yes, we even coined the phrase “BrainFreeze®” in honor of the world’s favorite frozen drink. Then came the innovation of some of our most popular menu items: the SLURPEE® drink, the BIG GULP® and then the BIG BITE®. Now, we continue our history of innovation and power it through digital initiatives. We Will From our humble beginning as the world’s first convenience store, 7‑Eleven continues its pursuit of innovative ways to cater to a new, digital-savvy generation of shoppers. As technology redefines how customers shop, we make sure to remain two steps ahead. At 7‑Eleven, we are customer-obsessed. We always poll customers to ensure we are bringing them solutions that they can’t even imagine. From offering convenient and user-friendly technology that earns our customers free products to having an ice-cold SLURPEE® drink delivered straight to their door, we are the leader in convenience and we constantly put our customers at the center of design and development. We Are It’s no secret: customers are starved for time as our world becomes increasingly connected and on the go. Our digital team strives to be at the forefront of innovation, providing effortless and convenient solutions for our customers’ needs before they even know to ask for them. We are committed to developing experiences of the future by bringing our stores to our customers wherever they are and whenever they need us. We are continuing our long-standing legacy of innovation through software and technology enhancements. We are transforming our business, one digital initiative at a time. We are redefining convenience. Learn More About Our Apps The best kind of neighbor Convenience may be our focus, but serving is our business. And that business extends beyond our stores into the communities where our customers, employees and Franchisees live, work and play. Being a great neighbor is all about investing and getting involved. It’s also about responsibility, which is one of our key business principals. That’s why we put such a focus on serving people, improving our products and protecting the planet. 7‑Eleven is proud to set the standard for responsible retailing in the convenience industry. Learn more Our Culture To lead, we serve 7‑Eleven has always been about serving the needs of our customers. This philosophy has also extended to our 7‑Eleven team, which is why our Leadership Principles play such a big part in our organization. To lead, we serve. It’s a big idea and it makes a tremendous difference in the lives of our customers, our Franchisees and our licensees. All kinds of people with one focus: making life easier We’re the convenience leader for a reason – and it has everything to do with our diverse and multi-talented team of men and women who are passionate about making life convenient. For decades – nine to be exact – we’ve counted on their unique perspectives to help us innovate and grow. They are the reasons we continue to lead in the industry. Room to move around and grow Cross-functional learning is not just allowed at 7‑Eleven, it’s applauded. We’ve got the size, stability and resources that make it possible for employees to find rewarding careers. People in all facets of our global organization discover opportunities with room to move around, try on new roles and discover untapped talents. We know that when people love what they do, everyone wins. A top-five franchisor 7‑Eleven is a brand that’s recognized worldwide. We’ve also made a reputable name for ourselves in the franchise business, and are consistently ranked as a top-five franchisor. A turnkey business model, world-class training, ongoing corporate support and special financing programs are available to increase the success rates of our Franchisees. The Store Support Center: the engine behind our stores If our stores are the fuel for busy communities, then our Store Support Center is the fuel for our stores. This is where the innovating, strategizing, forecasting, training and troubleshooting take place. From operations management and logistics to real estate, IT and human resources, our Store Support Center teams work hard to further our mission of convenience, not only for customers, but also for our Franchisees, employees and the communities we serve.

Oh Thank Heaven for 7-Eleven!®A success story fueled by customers’ needs “Give the customers what they want, when and where they want it.” Joe C. Thompson Jr. | 7‑Eleven Founder The 7‑Eleven brand is known and loved around the world, and our iconic products are a big part of the American culture. And although we’ve grown significantly over the years, our focus stays fixed on making life easier for customers. This simple idea is the reason we’re the marketplace leader. It’s also why our customers, employees, Franchisees and community leaders are proud to be part of the 7‑Eleven story. Nonstop Innovation & Customer Obsession We Did 7‑Eleven has a legacy of innovation. We were the first to provide to-go coffee cups, offer a self-serve soda fountain, operate for 24 hours a day, and yes, we even coined the phrase “BrainFreeze®” in honor of the world’s favorite frozen drink. Then came the innovation of some of our most popular menu items: the SLURPEE® drink, the BIG GULP® and then the BIG BITE®. Now, we continue our history of innovation and power it through digital initiatives. We Will From our humble beginning as the world’s first convenience store, 7‑Eleven continues its pursuit of innovative ways to cater to a new, digital-savvy generation of shoppers. As technology redefines how customers shop, we make sure to remain two steps ahead. At 7‑Eleven, we are customer-obsessed. We always poll customers to ensure we are bringing them solutions that they can’t even imagine. From offering convenient and user-friendly technology that earns our customers free products to having an ice-cold SLURPEE® drink delivered straight to their door, we are the leader in convenience and we constantly put our customers at the center of design and development. We Are It’s no secret: customers are starved for time as our world becomes increasingly connected and on the go. Our digital team strives to be at the forefront of innovation, providing effortless and convenient solutions for our customers’ needs before they even know to ask for them. We are committed to developing experiences of the future by bringing our stores to our customers wherever they are and whenever they need us. We are continuing our long-standing legacy of innovation through software and technology enhancements. We are transforming our business, one digital initiative at a time. We are redefining convenience. Learn More About Our Apps The best kind of neighbor Convenience may be our focus, but serving is our business. And that business extends beyond our stores into the communities where our customers, employees and Franchisees live, work and play. Being a great neighbor is all about investing and getting involved. It’s also about responsibility, which is one of our key business principals. That’s why we put such a focus on serving people, improving our products and protecting the planet. 7‑Eleven is proud to set the standard for responsible retailing in the convenience industry. Learn more Our Culture To lead, we serve 7‑Eleven has always been about serving the needs of our customers. This philosophy has also extended to our 7‑Eleven team, which is why our Leadership Principles play such a big part in our organization. To lead, we serve. It’s a big idea and it makes a tremendous difference in the lives of our customers, our Franchisees and our licensees. All kinds of people with one focus: making life easier We’re the convenience leader for a reason – and it has everything to do with our diverse and multi-talented team of men and women who are passionate about making life convenient. For decades – nine to be exact – we’ve counted on their unique perspectives to help us innovate and grow. They are the reasons we continue to lead in the industry. Room to move around and grow Cross-functional learning is not just allowed at 7‑Eleven, it’s applauded. We’ve got the size, stability and resources that make it possible for employees to find rewarding careers. People in all facets of our global organization discover opportunities with room to move around, try on new roles and discover untapped talents. We know that when people love what they do, everyone wins. A top-five franchisor 7‑Eleven is a brand that’s recognized worldwide. We’ve also made a reputable name for ourselves in the franchise business, and are consistently ranked as a top-five franchisor. A turnkey business model, world-class training, ongoing corporate support and special financing programs are available to increase the success rates of our Franchisees. The Store Support Center: the engine behind our stores If our stores are the fuel for busy communities, then our Store Support Center is the fuel for our stores. This is where the innovating, strategizing, forecasting, training and troubleshooting take place. From operations management and logistics to real estate, IT and human resources, our Store Support Center teams work hard to further our mission of convenience, not only for customers, but also for our Franchisees, employees and the communities we serve. Convenient Facts 7‑Eleven was the first convenience store to offer ATM services. The 7-Select brand was born in 2004. The #1 market in the world for Slurpee® sales is Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, followed by the greater Detroit, Michigan, area. When 7‑Eleven® started selling Slurpee® drinks they were called Icees. The 7-Eleven story in years 1927 The World's First To make life a little easier on his customers, “Uncle Johnny” Jefferson Green has the bright idea to start selling everyday staples from the dock of a local icehouse in Dallas, Texas. The world’s first convenience store is born. 1933 Drinks for Everyone Prohibition is repealed and the ice docks start selling beer and liquor, which dramatically impacts store growth. 1937 The Idea Spreads Southland Ice Company President and Founder Joe C. Thompson Jr. takes Uncle Johnny’s idea to other local ice docks. Within a decade, locations selling the new product line triple in numbers. The new “convenience stops” are called Tote’m Stores 1946 A New Name The name changes from Tote’m Stores to 7-Eleven to reflect the new extended hours – 7am to 11pm, seven days a week. 1950s Beyond Texas The one-stop shopping locations offer everything consumers need, including gas. New stores open in Florida, Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania. 1963 Driving in Cars More and more people now own cars, which means the need for convenience is on the rise. 7-Eleven opens the 1,000th store – and counting. 1963 All Night Long A 7-Eleven location near a university in Austin stays open all night to accommodate students. The 24/7 idea is a hit and soon catches on in other locations. 1964 Franchise This 7-Eleven enters the franchising business with the purchase of several Speedee Mart franchises in California. 1965 The Drink Revolution It starts with the launch of the Slurpee® drink and the world’s first coffee to go. 1969 Crossing Borders 7-Eleven goes international and opens locations in Canada, bumping up the number of stores to 3,500. 1970s The Self-Service Movement 7-Eleven leads the way, offering self-serve gas and the first self-serve soda fountain. Americans are also introduced to the Big Gulp® fountain drink. 1980s World Traveler 7-Eleven continues opening new international locations, including stores in Australia, Sweden, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Guam, Malaysia and the Philippines. 1990s Getting Healthy 7-Eleven starts shipping fresh food products daily to meet the needs of health-conscious consumers. Present No Signs of Stopping With 60,000 stores – and counting – located around the globe, we’re more determined than ever to continue innovating and delivering “what the customers want, when and where they want it.” Our leadership Demonstrating customer obsession to provide 21st century convenience. Ken Wakabayashi Senior Vice President and Head of International Ken Wakabayashi is the Senior Vice President and Head of International for 7‑Eleven, Inc. He also serves as a Board Director for 7‑Eleven Mexico. Ken began his career with Seven-Eleven Japan in 1994 and held positions in Operations and Corporate Planning before transitioning to Ito-Yokado Co., Ltd. in Overseas Finance in 2002. In 2004, Ken moved from Tokyo to Dallas and joined 7‑Eleven, Inc. as Director, Operations Support and was promoted to Vice President, Operations Support in 2006. After serving in a variety of leadership roles at 7‑Eleven, Inc., Ken went to Japan in 2014 for a one year assignment at Seven-Eleven Japan and returned to 7‑Eleven, Inc. in 2015 as the Senior Vice President of Planning. Ken has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Montevallo where he graduated Cum Laude in 1994. Ken is a collector of 7‑Eleven artifacts and memorabilia, and his favorite colors are Orange, Green and Red. He lives in Coppell, Texas with his wife Harumi and daughter Koharu.   Joseph M. DePinto President and Chief Executive Officer Joe DePinto is the President and CEO of 7‑Eleven, Inc. and leads the premier company in convenience retailing. Globally, there are more than 69,000 7‑Eleven stores of which some 11,800 stores are in North America. Before being appointed Chief Executive of 7‑Eleven, Inc. in 2005, Joe was President of GameStop Corporation. He has also held executive positions at PepsiCo, Inc. and Thornton Oil Corporation. Currently, Joe is a Board Director of 7‑Eleven, Inc., Seven & i Holdings Co., Ltd. (TYO: 3382), and is the Chairman of the Board of Brinker International (NYSE: EAT). In December 2017, Joe was appointed a Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army. He also serves on the Board of the National Association of Convenience Stores, the Business Executives for National Security, the Johnny Mac Soldiers Fund, the UT Southwestern Medical Foundation, and the Global War on Terrorism Memorial Foundation. Additionally, Joe is a Council member of the George W. Bush Presidential Center Military Service Initiative, the Kellogg School of Management Global Advisory Board, and the Dallas Stars Ownership Advisory Group. A native of Chicago, Illinois, Joe earned a bachelor’s degree in Engineering Management from the United States Military Academy at West Point and a Master of Business Administration from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Stanley Reynolds Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer & Chief Administrative Officer Stan Reynolds is Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer & Chief Administrative Officer for 7‑Eleven, Inc. He is responsible for the company’s Finance, Planning, Development, and Information Technology functions. Reynolds joined the company as Manager of Corporate Finance in 1997 and was named Assistant Treasurer in 2000. He was promoted to Vice President and Treasurer in 2001, added responsibility for strategic planning in 2005, and was named CFO later that year. In 2016, Reynolds assumed the additional role of Chief Administrative Officer. Prior to joining 7‑Eleven, Reynolds was Vice President in Corporate Banking at NationsBank and previously worked as a Staff Accountant at Ernst & Whinney. Reynolds was appointed to the Board of Directors of The Children’s Place, Inc. in November, 2014. He is a Certified Public Accountant and maintains professional memberships with Finance Executives International and the Association for Finance Professionals. Reynolds earned a MBA in finance from Vanderbilt University and a bachelor’s degree with summa cum laude honors from Henderson State University. Jack Stout Senior Vice President, Merchandising and Demand Chain Jack Stout is Senior Vice President, Merchandising and Demand Chain at 7‑Eleven, Inc. In this role, he is responsible for the company's merchandising operations, category management, new product introductions, new category and profit center development, store sets, marketing and merchandise communications, fresh foods and commissaries, as well as the combines distribution centers that serve 7‑Eleven, Inc.'s stores. He also is a member of 7‑Eleven's executive committee. Stout joined the company in 2003 as Operations Planning Manager. He went on to hold positions as Director of Store Development Strategy, Senior Director of National Franchise and Vice President of Business and Financial Planning prior to his joining the Merchandising Leadership team in 2015. Before joining 7‑Eleven, Stout served as an officer in the U.S. Air Force, achieving the rank of Captain. He was awarded the Air Force Commendations Medal and selected as a Professional Performer by the Inspector General. After serving in the military, Stout held positions with TXU Energy and Booz Allen and Hamilton. He currently serves on the board of Café Momentum, a non-profit culinary and restaurant organization that provides mentoring, support and work experience to at-risk youth in North Texas. Stout Graduated from Duke University, Durham, N.C., where he studied Mathematics and earned his BS degree. He also holds a MS degree from Wright State University in Applied Statistics and an MBA from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business. Chris Tanco Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Chris Tanco is the Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer for 7‑Eleven, Inc.  He leads all aspects of operations for 7‑Eleven’s stores and has the following functions reporting to him: Field Operations, Operations Support, Fuels, Franchising, and Canada Business Unit.  He continues to serve on the board of 7‑Eleven Mexico and represents 7‑Eleven, Inc.’s joint-venture interests there.  He is also a member of 7‑Eleven’s Executive Committee. Previously, Tanco was as an Executive Vice-President and led 7‑Eleven’s  International business that included the company’s global portfolio of more than 30,000 licensed, franchised and joint-venture stores operating in 18 countries. Before joining 7‑Eleven, Tanco was the Chief Franchise Officer for Pizza Hut. With nearly 20 years of experience, he served in various operations, international, general management, and franchise leadership roles with Yum Brands.  Prior to Yum, Tanco was a successful entrepreneur in the Philippines. Tanco holds a Bachelor’s degree from the Ateneo de Manila University and a Master’s degree from the University of Virginia Darden Business School.  Tanco speaks four languages and has lived and worked on several continents.  He serves on the boards of Catholic Charities of Dallas, 7‑Eleven Mexico, and Max’s Group Inc., the largest casual dining publicly traded firm in the Philippines. Rankin Gasaway Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary Rankin Gasaway is senior vice president, general counsel and secretary for 7‑Eleven, Inc.  He leads the company’s legal, government affairs, compliance and asset protection teams. Prior to his appointment by Joe DePinto, president and CEO of 7‑Eleven, Inc., Rankin served as vice president and deputy general counsel for 7‑Eleven.  In this capacity, he was responsible for all legal support for human resources, merchandising, logistics, information systems, trademarks, environmental and general corporate matters. Rankin is a 25-year veteran of 7‑Eleven and has handled a variety of corporate matters during his tenure with the company.  He joined 7‑Eleven in December 1991 and served as senior counsel with primary responsibility for litigation and employment law. Rankin began his career as an associate at Gardere & Wynne.  He holds a bachelor's degree in government and law from the University of Texas, and earned a juris doctorate from Texas Tech University School of Law. Scott Hintz Senior Vice President, Human Resources Scott Hintz is the Senior Vice President of Human Resources for 7‑Eleven, Inc.  He leads 7‑Eleven’s talent strategy including talent acquisition, talent management, training & development, total rewards, and employee relations.  He is also a member of 7‑Eleven’s Executive Committee. Scott has over 20 years of experience in compensation, benefits, international and HR business partner roles for industry leading companies including Atlantic Richfield (ARCO), Sabre, Essilor of America, and Maxus Energy.  He joined 7‑Eleven in 2005 and has served in a variety of leadership roles.  Scott has an extensive background in executive compensation working closely with Compensation Committees and Boards of Directors. Scott has a BA in economics from DePauw University and an MBA from the University of Illinois.  He lives in Dallas, Texas with his wife Lee and their three children.     Looking for franchise opportunities? Visit Franchising Want to start a career with us? Visit Careers Contact Us About Us Corporate Social Responsibility Media Contact Us Franchising Careers 7‑Eleven Consumer We are h

7-Eleven moves to support animal welfare By Nick Hall | 17 Feb 2019 View comments Global convenience chain, 7-Eleven has made major changes to its supplier sourcing agreement, eliminating caged eggs for the first time. The move follows ongoing criticism of the Australian cage egg farming industry, with several brands and chains making the early decision to move to wholly sustainable sourcing in-line with welfare standards. Working closely with suppliers across all states, 7-Eleven has now ensured that only free range eggs would be available for order by all stores. Clayton Ford, General Manager Corporate Affairs, 7-Eleven said the decision to phase out cage eggs was developed in accordance with franchisee wishes, with the convenience giant announcing it will increase support to assist in the transition. “Whilst our franchisees are free to engage with alternative suppliers due to our franchise agreement, we will continue to work alongside them to encourage their involvement in this initiative by sourcing free range eggs via our centralised supply chain,” Ford said. “We recognise that this is just one step, and we will continue to review animal welfare commitments in our supply chain and 7-Eleven branded products as opportunities arise.” Want to launch a convenience store of your own? Take a look at all available franchising opportunities here.

Global convenience chain, 7-Eleven has made major changes to its supplier sourcing agreement, eliminating caged eggs for the first time. The move follows ongoing criticism of the Australian cage egg farming industry, with several brands and chains making the early decision to move to wholly sustainable sourcing in-line with welfare standards. Working closely with suppliers across all states, 7-Eleven has now ensured that only free range eggs would be available for order by all stores. Clayton Ford, General Manager Corporate Affairs, 7-Eleven said the decision to phase out cage eggs was developed in accordance with franchisee wishes, with the convenience giant announcing it will increase support to assist in the transition. “Whilst our franchisees are free to engage with alternative suppliers due to our franchise agreement, we will continue to work alongside them to encourage their involvement in this initiative by sourcing free range eggs via our centralised supply chain,” Ford said. “We recognise that this is just one step, and we will continue to review animal welfare commitments in our supply chain and 7-Eleven branded products as opportunities arise.” Want to launch a convenience store of your own? Take a look at all available franchising opportunities here.

WHEN it comes to the state of the environment, it’s easy to get swept up in the doom and gloom of it all. Global warming, high pollution levels, climate change and waste disposal all dominate the headlines, painting a bleak picture of what’s to come. But just because it seems hopeless doesn’t mean it is.T roubled times call for ingenious solutions, and Australia is home to some of the brightest ecovators in the world, like Robert Pascoe, Managing Director of environmental solutions company Closed Loop.Through its Simply Cups initiative, Closed Loop is tackling Australia’s overwhelming waste problem by teaming up with 7-Eleven to save 70 million coffee cups from landfill this year — equivalent to the number they sell each year. While the most sustainable option is forgoing a disposable cup for a reusable one, some circumstances are beyond your control. Like your inability to remember anything before you’ve had your morning coffee. Which is a bit of a catch 22, isn’t it? That’s why 7-Eleven are installing dedicated coffee cup recycling bins in over 200 of their stores nationally, as well as funding 50 other large-scale locations including offices, universities and construction sites as part of the initiative. Coffee cups are one of the largest contributors to litter waste in Australia, with an estimated one billion ending up in landfill each year because they are not recycled.Yep, unfortunately you read that right: one billion cups.Coffee cups are one of the largest contributors to litter waste in Australia, with an estimated one billion ending up in landfill each year because they are not recycled.“T here’s a lot of misinformation out there,” Mr Pascoe said. “The consumers aren’t at fault because ultimately they don’t know what can be recycled and what can’t. I think if we can get that information out there, then people will demand products that are made from recycled materials.”For the majority of us, learning that our disposable coffee cups fall into the category of what can’t be recycled is both confusing and devastating. But, as Mr Pascoe says: “You can’t unknow something once you know it.”“Part of the problem is they didn’t know they weren’t being recycled. A lot of people said, ‘oh no, I put my coffee cup into the recycling to be recycled’, but of course, they’re not,” he continued.A nd why is that, exactly? It’s because most paper coffee cups are lined with a waterproof plastic that makes them hard to recycle — but not impossible. And that’s where Simply Cups comes in. “We’ve come up with a system that can actually recycle these cups if we keep them separate. We’ve got technology available now to do it, but we have to have coffee cups kept as a separate stream. Or anything that has the plastic lining of milk cartons or juice boxes,” Mr Pascoe said. The technology he’s referring to is “kind of like an organic solvent” that works to separate compound materials. Invented by Dennis Collins in Ballarat, the technology was initially designed to separate the PVC material from the hessian used in truck liners and advertising banners.“Dennis called us and said, ‘I’ve got a solution for your coffee cups’,” Mr Pascoe said. “So now we’re building a plant that can process around 150 million coffee cups per year, which is about 1.5 thousand tonnes. That will only be about 10 per cent of disposable coffee cups alone, so we’re going to need quite a few of these plants eventually. We have the solution, but we really need the coffee cups. “That’s why we started the Simply Cups program.”And that’s where coffee addicts come in. Once they drop their coffee cups into a designated recycling bin, they will then be taken to a processing plant using this new technology. The inner plastic lining of the cups will be removed and then recycled into things like plastic outdoor furniture, safety equipment and food trays.A nother eco-minded initiative helping solve Australia’s waste problem is the anti food-waste website, Yume. The website fights food waste — which is a huge problem in Australia — by allowing consumers to buy surplus and unsold food from restaurants and cafes at half the price. The ‘wholesale marketplace for surplus food that saves you money while saving the planet’ shares the same idea as ‘YWaste’, an app allowing retailers to sell food that would otherwise be thrown away.Over its 40-year history, Patagonia has donated about $114 million to grassroots environmental organisations. Over its 40-year history, Patagonia has donated about $114 million to grassroots environmental organisations. Their advertising has begged consumers not to buy things they don’t need (even their own products) and they’ve implemented a program that repairs their products for free rather than replace them. Their commitment to the environment is reflected in the materials of their products too; wetsuits are made of natural rubber and raincoats are made from recycled plastic bottles. This year, the company launched Patagonia Action Works, a digital platform that aims that aims to connect people with environmental nonprofits, helping them get involved through events, petitions, and volunteering.H &M, too, are doing their bit to close the loop on fashion waste with their global campaign encouraging customers to recycle their clothes. They launched their garment collecting initiative in 2013, asking customers to drop off any unwanted items from their closets. Depending on the condition of the clothing, the items are either distributed to second-hand stores for resale, or recycled into other items like yarn, rags, and insulation materials.And just look at Elon Musk. He’s raking in bajillions of dollars every minute almost exclusively thanks to Tesla and SolarCity, which have disrupted an entire industry. While some snigger at his grand ideas — let’s colonise Mars! — the accomplishments of how he has changed the way we shop for cars are hard to deny.A fter a complicated relationship with French beauty giant L’Oreal, The Body Shop is now in the hands of ethical Brazilian beauty brand Natura, promising to return to its pioneering ethical business.“All of us share the aim of doing business as a transformational force for good and a force for change for society and for the environment. We couldn’t think of a better union to nurture our brand’s commitment to naturality and sustainability,” said the Body Shop’s Communications Manager, Jessica Styles. “In 2016, The Body Shop launched its new sustainability plan, Enrich Not Exploit, supporting the brand’s vision to be the most ethical and sustainable global business in the world.”“All of us share the aim of doing business as a transformational force for good and a force for change for society and for the environment. We couldn’t think of a better union to nurture our brand’s commitment to naturality and sustainability,”Jessica Styles, Body Shop’s Communications Manager The plan set fourteen targets to help The Body Shop become a "truly sustainable business", including powering all its stores with 100 per cent renewable energy, overhauling product packaging by slashing the use of fossil fuel-based wrapping and designing new sustainable innovations. This year there’s a special focus on protecting Red Pandas in Nepal, a species currently on the endangered list.“Now more than ever, companies have the platforms and frameworks to not only voice doing good for the planet and people but to also act on it. The more we see big brands doing their bit, the more it becomes entrenched as something that not only employees but customers should be thinking about,” Styles said. “It’s the big corporations of the world that can help foster and influence this through their own businesses.” Skin care brand Youth to The People has made a conscience decision to use 100 per cent recyclable packaging. Co-founder Joe Cloyes says the decision reflects the brand’s philosophies.“We believe in creating as little waste as possible, we believe in cruelty-free products, and we believe in sourcing the best ingredients for your health and your skin. It's just that simple,” he said. “Modern consumers care about their environment just as much as they care about their healthy skin, and they're very much connected. We have found it's very important to people.”FIND OUT how many cups of coffee you could be recycling EVEry yearHow many cups of coffee do you drink every day?How many days per week do you drink coffee?How many weeks per year do you drink coffee?Calculatecups of coffeecould be recycled These are but a few eco-minded initiatives that offer Australians the chance to do their part in securing a cleaner future for generations to come. For every company that spills millions of gallons of oil into our oceans, there are plenty more companies operating under a socially responsible ethos. They recognise enterprise and environmental responsibility can in fact go hand-in-hand.“I think every organisation should have a sustainability policy,” Mr Pascoe said. “There are plenty of organisations around that can have a positive impact on the environment. We’re talking about the effect they have on the environment, the way they consume energy, and the way they manage their waste. In my world, there’s no such thing as waste.” Over one billion cups end up in landfill each year because they are not recycled. That’s why 7-Eleven has joined forces with Simply Cups to establish cup recycling in Australia. Save your cups by placing them in a Simply Cups bin at any participating 7-Eleven #cuprescue. Story by Erin Bromhead | news.com.au

WHEN it comes to the state of the environment, it’s easy to get swept up in the doom and gloom of it all. Global warming, high pollution levels, climate change and waste disposal all dominate the headlines, painting a bleak picture of what’s to come. But just because it seems hopeless doesn’t mean it is.T roubled times call for ingenious solutions, and Australia is home to some of the brightest ecovators in the world, like Robert Pascoe, Managing Director of environmental solutions company Closed Loop.Through its Simply Cups initiative, Closed Loop is tackling Australia’s overwhelming waste problem by teaming up with 7-Eleven to save 70 million coffee cups from landfill this year — equivalent to the number they sell each year. While the most sustainable option is forgoing a disposable cup for a reusable one, some circumstances are beyond your control. Like your inability to remember anything before you’ve had your morning coffee. Which is a bit of a catch 22, isn’t it? That’s why 7-Eleven are installing dedicated coffee cup recycling bins in over 200 of their stores nationally, as well as funding 50 other large-scale locations including offices, universities and construction sites as part of the initiative. Coffee cups are one of the largest contributors to litter waste in Australia, with an estimated one billion ending up in landfill each year because they are not recycled.Yep, unfortunately you read that right: one billion cups.Coffee cups are one of the largest contributors to litter waste in Australia, with an estimated one billion ending up in landfill each year because they are not recycled.“T here’s a lot of misinformation out there,” Mr Pascoe said. “The consumers aren’t at fault because ultimately they don’t know what can be recycled and what can’t. I think if we can get that information out there, then people will demand products that are made from recycled materials.”For the majority of us, learning that our disposable coffee cups fall into the category of what can’t be recycled is both confusing and devastating. But, as Mr Pascoe says: “You can’t unknow something once you know it.”“Part of the problem is they didn’t know they weren’t being recycled. A lot of people said, ‘oh no, I put my coffee cup into the recycling to be recycled’, but of course, they’re not,” he continued.A nd why is that, exactly? It’s because most paper coffee cups are lined with a waterproof plastic that makes them hard to recycle — but not impossible. And that’s where Simply Cups comes in. “We’ve come up with a system that can actually recycle these cups if we keep them separate. We’ve got technology available now to do it, but we have to have coffee cups kept as a separate stream. Or anything that has the plastic lining of milk cartons or juice boxes,” Mr Pascoe said. The technology he’s referring to is “kind of like an organic solvent” that works to separate compound materials. Invented by Dennis Collins in Ballarat, the technology was initially designed to separate the PVC material from the hessian used in truck liners and advertising banners.“Dennis called us and said, ‘I’ve got a solution for your coffee cups’,” Mr Pascoe said. “So now we’re building a plant that can process around 150 million coffee cups per year, which is about 1.5 thousand tonnes. That will only be about 10 per cent of disposable coffee cups alone, so we’re going to need quite a few of these plants eventually. We have the solution, but we really need the coffee cups. “That’s why we started the Simply Cups program.”And that’s where coffee addicts come in. Once they drop their coffee cups into a designated recycling bin, they will then be taken to a processing plant using this new technology. The inner plastic lining of the cups will be removed and then recycled into things like plastic outdoor furniture, safety equipment and food trays.A nother eco-minded initiative helping solve Australia’s waste problem is the anti food-waste website, Yume. The website fights food waste — which is a huge problem in Australia — by allowing consumers to buy surplus and unsold food from restaurants and cafes at half the price. The ‘wholesale marketplace for surplus food that saves you money while saving the planet’ shares the same idea as ‘YWaste’, an app allowing retailers to sell food that would otherwise be thrown away.Over its 40-year history, Patagonia has donated about $114 million to grassroots environmental organisations. Over its 40-year history, Patagonia has donated about $114 million to grassroots environmental organisations. Their advertising has begged consumers not to buy things they don’t need (even their own products) and they’ve implemented a program that repairs their products for free rather than replace them. Their commitment to the environment is reflected in the materials of their products too; wetsuits are made of natural rubber and raincoats are made from recycled plastic bottles. This year, the company launched Patagonia Action Works, a digital platform that aims that aims to connect people with environmental nonprofits, helping them get involved through events, petitions, and volunteering.H &M, too, are doing their bit to close the loop on fashion waste with their global campaign encouraging customers to recycle their clothes. They launched their garment collecting initiative in 2013, asking customers to drop off any unwanted items from their closets. Depending on the condition of the clothing, the items are either distributed to second-hand stores for resale, or recycled into other items like yarn, rags, and insulation materials.And just look at Elon Musk. He’s raking in bajillions of dollars every minute almost exclusively thanks to Tesla and SolarCity, which have disrupted an entire industry. While some snigger at his grand ideas — let’s colonise Mars! — the accomplishments of how he has changed the way we shop for cars are hard to deny.A fter a complicated relationship with French beauty giant L’Oreal, The Body Shop is now in the hands of ethical Brazilian beauty brand Natura, promising to return to its pioneering ethical business.“All of us share the aim of doing business as a transformational force for good and a force for change for society and for the environment. We couldn’t think of a better union to nurture our brand’s commitment to naturality and sustainability,” said the Body Shop’s Communications Manager, Jessica Styles. “In 2016, The Body Shop launched its new sustainability plan, Enrich Not Exploit, supporting the brand’s vision to be the most ethical and sustainable global business in the world.”“All of us share the aim of doing business as a transformational force for good and a force for change for society and for the environment. We couldn’t think of a better union to nurture our brand’s commitment to naturality and sustainability,”Jessica Styles, Body Shop’s Communications Manager The plan set fourteen targets to help The Body Shop become a "truly sustainable business", including powering all its stores with 100 per cent renewable energy, overhauling product packaging by slashing the use of fossil fuel-based wrapping and designing new sustainable innovations. This year there’s a special focus on protecting Red Pandas in Nepal, a species currently on the endangered list.“Now more than ever, companies have the platforms and frameworks to not only voice doing good for the planet and people but to also act on it. The more we see big brands doing their bit, the more it becomes entrenched as something that not only employees but customers should be thinking about,” Styles said. “It’s the big corporations of the world that can help foster and influence this through their own businesses.” Skin care brand Youth to The People has made a conscience decision to use 100 per cent recyclable packaging. Co-founder Joe Cloyes says the decision reflects the brand’s philosophies.“We believe in creating as little waste as possible, we believe in cruelty-free products, and we believe in sourcing the best ingredients for your health and your skin. It's just that simple,” he said. “Modern consumers care about their environment just as much as they care about their healthy skin, and they're very much connected. We have found it's very important to people.”FIND OUT how many cups of coffee you could be recycling EVEry yearHow many cups of coffee do you drink every day?How many days per week do you drink coffee?How many weeks per year do you drink coffee?Calculatecups of coffeecould be recycled These are but a few eco-minded initiatives that offer Australians the chance to do their part in securing a cleaner future for generations to come. For every company that spills millions of gallons of oil into our oceans, there are plenty more companies operating under a socially responsible ethos. They recognise enterprise and environmental responsibility can in fact go hand-in-hand.“I think every organisation should have a sustainability policy,” Mr Pascoe said. “There are plenty of organisations around that can have a positive impact on the environment. We’re talking about the effect they have on the environment, the way they consume energy, and the way they manage their waste. In my world, there’s no such thing as waste.” Over one billion cups end up in landfill each year because they are not recycled. That’s why 7-Eleven has joined forces with Simply Cups to establish cup recycling in Australia. Save your cups by placing them in a Simply Cups bin at any participating 7-Eleven #cuprescue. Story by Erin Bromhead | news.com.au MORE IN THIS SERIESOur shocking coffee cup problemAre you one of Australia’s recycling experts?The psychology behind our recycling habits

What’s the harm in sharing company data with the government? Three recent news stories demonstrate the significant human rights risks that arise when companies share data with law enforcement agencies: Motel 6 was fined over US$7 million for sharing guest lists with U.S. immigration authorities. Bloomberg News reported that 7-Eleven Inc. had shared information with U.S. immigration that led to raids in over 100 of the company’s franchises. And in China, the Associated Press revealed that more than 200 automotive manufacturers, including Tesla, Volkswagen, BMW, Daimler, Ford, General Motors, Nissan, and Mitsubishi, are sharing location information and other important data to government-backed monitoring centers. There are many good reasons why companies share data with law enforcement agencies. This can include transport and logistics companies addressing human trafficking and smuggling, travel and tourism companies seeking to prevent child sexual abuse, and financial services companies tackling money laundering and the illegal funding of terrorist organizations. There are also many ways in which companies are called upon to assist with criminal investigations or with matters of public safety and national security. However, these scenarios come with two common challenges: The first is providing appropriate assistance to law enforcement efforts that have the protection of human rights as a core purpose, while at the same time protecting the privacy rights of customers and users. Second, companies must work out how to constrain assistance to law enforcement efforts that may not have the protection of human rights as a core purpose, as can be the case in governments that don’t respect the rule of law, or that regularly violate the human rights of their citizens. This leads me to my central theme: the public currently lacks sufficient insight into how companies are navigating these two challenges, the strategies companies and governments can deploy to enhance human rights protections, and the transparency necessary to scrutinize whether these human rights protections are being implemented. The public currently lacks sufficient insight into ... the strategies companies and governments can deploy to enhance human rights protections and the transparency necessary to scrutinize whether these human rights protections are being implemented. Encouragingly, the technology industry has developed practices that indicate a path forward. In 2010, Google published the world’s first law enforcement relationship report (which the company called a “transparency report”) listing the number of requests the company received from governments to restrict content or hand over user data. The report explained how relevant legal processes worked and described when and how Google chose to challenge these requests to protect their users’ rights to freedom of expression and privacy. Since then, more than 70 internet and telecommunications companies have started publishing regular law enforcement relationship reports. While much remains to be done to ensure that data are managed appropriately, this transparency has brought three essential benefits: Awareness: The reports have substantially raised awareness about the complex data sharing relationships between governments and companies, resulting in higher quality public policy proposals on key human rights issues. Advocacy: The reports have enabled civil society organizations and human rights defenders to advocate for improved privacy protections. More strikingly, companies have used the reports to expose privacy violations committed by governments and advocate for greater human rights protections on behalf of their users. Accountability: The reports have provided a place for companies to explain the processes and procedures in place to respect and protect the human rights of their users, allowing them to be held accountable for their approach by civil society organizations and users. The reports have also enabled civil society organizations around the world to better understand the nature and volume of data requests made by their home governments, advocate for improved rule of law and data protections, and hold governments to account. However, as the three cases of Motel 6, 7-Eleven Inc., and automakers in China illustrate, technology companies are not the only ones receiving requests for data and assistance from law enforcement agencies. These requests extend to companies in the transport and logistics, travel and tourism, retail, healthcare, financial services, and other sectors as well. Indeed, with the emergence of the internet of things, facial recognition, and artificial intelligence, the amount of data collected, processed, and shared by non-technology companies is exploding. And there is no doubt that law enforcement agencies will increasingly demand access to this information. In a world of increasingly ubiquitous data, it is essential that all companies incorporate data sharing considerations into their human rights due diligence and strategies. There is an urgent need to enhance disclosure practices across all industries that receive requests for data and assistance from law enforcement agencies. For this reason, I believe there is an urgent need to enhance disclosure practices across all industries that receive requests for data and assistance from law enforcement agencies. By establishing the norm that all companies, regardless of sector, issue thorough, transparent, and informative law enforcement relationship reports, we increase the likelihood that personal data will be better managed by the private sector and that civil society, business, and governments are more able to hold each other accountable.

Four Ways C-stores Can Enhance Traceability & Transparency By Angela Fernandez, GS1 US - 10/02/2018 Get great content like this right in your inbox. Subscribe With greater access to product information comes greater scrutiny over how a retailer or brand is meeting consumer demands for transparency. Are they providing nutritional information? Are they accommodating my gluten-free diet? How can I be sure this food is safe to eat? Convenience stores that take steps to definitively address these questions are more likely to remain relevant with today’s consumers. Several leading c-stores, including 7-Eleven Inc., are collaborating with their suppliers and distributors through the use of global supply chain standards, specifically GS1 global product identification numbers and barcodes, to share data more efficiently. Through standards, they can minimize the limitations created by data silos and proprietary systems. C-store systems become more interoperable with those of their distributor or supplier partners, enabling faster food traceability and improved linkages between product data, which ultimately enables more transparent and informed consumer research. Why is this so important? Widespread food safety scares, such as the romaine lettuce E. coli outbreak, have chipped away at consumer trust. According to a recent survey from FoodLogiQ, 50 percent of consumers believe that one to two days is an acceptable amount of time for a food company to fully address a foodborne illness outbreak. On top of this high expectation, it’s not even guaranteed a customer will return after an outbreak. In the survey, 35 percent said they would avoid the company for a few months and "maybe return," while only 27 percent said "I’ll return as soon as it’s resolved." Another 23 percent would never visit again, and 15 percent said they would switch to a competitor for a while. Consumers are more health-conscious in the long term, as well. Another study by Response Media found that 70 percent of consumers surveyed said their purchases are always or often influenced by the transparency of product content. Almost all respondents said they would pay more for more "transparent" products. By leveraging GS1 standards in the following four ways, c-stores can enhance traceability and transparency, demonstrating they are more in tune with these concerns and expectations: 1. Collaborate With Trading Partners Since foodservice offers one of the biggest opportunities for growth over the next few years, c-stores need to stay educated on best practices for driving efficiency. The Foodservice GS1 US Standards Initiative is a collaborative industry group composed of manufacturers, distributors, retailers, foodservice operators and solution providers, who agree upon best practices and the integration of standards into key business processes. This work has been shown to reduce supply chain redundancy, streamline operations and improve consumer experiences. By focusing on the big picture, companies are able to understand trends, consumer concerns and regulations, and decide on a unified approach to data sharing that benefits the entire industry. 2. Uniquely Identify Products & Locations There are two key standards that are foundational to creating more consistent and open data exchanges between trading partners. The Global Trade Item Number (or GTIN) uniquely identifies a product and can be encoded into a barcode to track individual items as they move through the supply chain. Many companies also use Global Location Numbers (GLNs) to help identify supply chain event locations. Using both of these standards establishes a uniform way to identify both the "what" and the "where" within the supply chain. 3. Implement Case-Level Traceability Specialized case labels with the GS1-128 barcode are important to a traceability program because it encodes the product GTIN, as well as date codes and batch or lot numbers, onto a case, carton or pallet. By being able to identify units at this level, all supply chain partners can manage fast and accurate tracking of inventory — a critical piece of conducting precise recalls. Recently, Subway’s Independent Purchasing Co-Op realized a significant ROI from adopting these barcodes. Without a traceability program in place, the system incurred high costs and endured arduous recalls — up to $500,000 in costs to visit 5,700 restaurants in one instance. It could have avoided $420,000 in costs by only visiting the 980 locations that were actually impacted. With case-level traceability, the co-op was recently able to pinpoint five specific cases of affected product, and eliminated the need to visit more than 700 restaurants, saving $60,000. 4. Leverage the Global Data Synchronization Network The Global Data Synchronization Network (GDSN) enables the electronic transfer of standardized product information between trading partners and the continuous synchronization of that information over time. This network ensures all partners have access to the same, accurate information for more than 1 million food items. Shamrock Foods, a foodservice distributor, recently shared that that it experienced a 20 percent sales lift after leveraging the GDSN to share product information. Ultimately, standards provide the necessary framework for c-stores to evolve their supply chain processes to meet and exceed consumer expectations. With increased automation, enhanced efficiency and more accurate data, c-stores can secure their relevance among an increasingly digital consumer base. Angela Fernandez is vice president of foodservice and retail grocery at GS1 US. She leads the industry engagement strategy to drive broader adoption of GS1 Standards and is an authority on food traceability. Editor's note: The opinions expressed in this column are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the views of Convenience Store News.

Nonstop Innovation & Customer Obsession We Innovate We Collaborate We Inspire We Innovate 7Rewards through the 7-Eleven App Since its launch in 2012, millions of customers have joined 7Rewards® in an effort to gain access to exclusive offers, find their favorite stores and, of course, get their free 7th drink for every six beverages purchased. Due to its increasing popularity, the loyalty program has launched a new points system that allows customers to earn and redeem rewards on an expanded assortment of products in-store. We pride ourselves on being a one-stop shop for a variety of products: from chargers, to pizza, to Pepto-Bismol™, to beer, customers can get it all from us. We know product variety is also important to our customers, so we have extended that flexibility to 7Rewards. To sign up and earn points, download the app from the Apple or Google Play store, or visit the 7Rewards mobile website at 7Rewards.com. Previous Next Bill Pay App The 7‑Eleven Bill Pay App means more convenience for our customers than ever before. Powered by PayNearMe, the app was launched in 2011. Bill Pay allows U.S. customers to pay over 20,000 national and local billers with cash using a convenient barcode scan at participating 7‑Eleven stores. Customers can pay bills at their neighborhood 7‑Eleven thanks to a 7‑Eleven-branded smartphone app that can be downloaded from the Apple or Google Play store. This is just the beginning of establishing 7‑Eleven as a financial service destination. Previous Next 7-Eleven NOW 7‑Eleven is elevating customer convenience with our new 7‑Eleven NOW smartphone app. In select markets, 7‑Eleven is testing on-demand ordering for delivery and in-store pickup. The delivery orders will be processed by 7‑Eleven NOW, prepped by 7‑Eleven store associates and delivered by our courier partners. Customers can order from a breadth of options, making their delivery experience even more convenient, 24/7. 7‑Eleven NOW is expected to roll out in other U.S. locations soon. Previous Next $(document).ready(function(){ $(".slideshow").slick({ centerMode: true, // autoplay: true, // autoplaySpeed: 8000, speed: 200, dots: false, prevArrow:'<button type="button" class="slick-prev"><span class="icon arrow-left"></span><span class="sr-only">Previous</span></button>', nextArrow:'<button type="button" class="slick-next"><span class="sr-only">Next</span><span class="icon arrow-right"></span></button>', slidesToShow: 1, variableWidth: true, // responsive: [ // { // breakpoint: 768, // settings: { // arrows: false, // dots: false, // centerMode: false, // variableWidth: true, // slidesToShow: 1 // } // } // ] }); }); We Collaborate Postmates 7‑Eleven teamed up with Postmates in 2015 to bring ultimate convenience to customers through delivery. Now, 7‑Eleven has expanded our relationship with Postmates and is a Postmates Plus partner. The delivery service is available in most Postmates markets across the U.S. To use, shoppers simply download the app, select 7‑Eleven from the list of retailers, click on products to order and pay with the app. Postmates coordinates the delivery from the most convenient 7‑Eleven location, and a nearby courier will fulfill the order in minutes. Facebook & Conversable Now 7‑Eleven customers are able to engage with the brand within one of the world’s most popular social channels: Facebook. 7‑Eleven launched a trailblazing chatbot platform for customers to easily and quickly communicate with 7‑Eleven by chatting with the 7‑Eleven bot on Messenger. Users can sign up for the 7Rewards® customer loyalty platform, find a store location near them, learn about the latest discount offers and so much more, 24/7. We Inspire The legacy of innovation at 7‑Eleven is, and has been, powered by the passion of our dedicated employees. On the digital team, we look for people who are willing to test their ideas and learn from both their successes and failures in order to create something disruptive. If you have a desire to explore beyond boundaries, solve consumer problems and be a part of a company that is changing its landscape through digital, we invite you to apply to one of our open positions. Come inspire us and leave a mark on one of the largest retail brands in the world. Find a Job Visit our YouTube channel to learn more about our digital team and the opportunities we offer.

7-Eleven CDO And CIO Creates Experiences Of The Future For Customers Peter High Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. Enterprise & Cloud Share to facebook Share to twitter Share to linkedin 7-Eleven is a big retailer. It operates 65,000 stores in 18 countries, has 55 million customers in stores on a daily basis, and conducts 20 billion transactions annually. Like most retailers, it is in need of transformation. Enter Gurmeet Singh. With a Ph.D. in Engineering from Rice, and stints with leading companies like FedEx, Intuit, and Capital One, Singh joined 7-Eleven in August of 2016 as the chief digital officer. He would add the chief information officer title in November 2017.  Singh joined the company with a mandate from 7-Eleven CEO Joseph DePinto to make the company a digital leader. Singh embarked on a multi-year journey to become a digitally-enabled organization, including a “full stack transformation” approach which encompasses consumer-facing technology, back-end technology, infrastructure, and the organizational stack. He also expanded the company's loyalty program from its initial focus on beverages to a full-fledged loyalty offering that is available on mobile, web, digital loyalty card, and even through chatbots. Singh notes that "the closest store to a customer today is in the palm of [his or her] hand," and he wanted to go beyond pushing customers from mobile into stores and allowing customers to interact with 7-Eleven on their terms, through the interface of their choice. To foster this, Singh's team helps the rest of the organization understand the art of the possible through constant experimentation with new technology. He describes his path to innovation in great detail herein.  (To listen to an unabridged audio version of this interview, please visit this link. This is the 38th interview in the CIO-plus series. To read the prior interviews with CIO-pluses from companies such as Intel, P&G, Biogen, Kroger, and Cardinal Health, please click this link. To read future articles in this series, please follow me on Twitter @PeterAHigh.) Peter High: You are the Chief Digital and Chief Information Officer of 7-Eleven. Could you describe your role? Today In: Tech Gurmeet Singh, Chief Digital and Chief Information Officer of 7-Eleven Credit: 7-Eleven Singh: I started at 7-Eleven as the Chief Digital Officer, with my primary responsibility being driving digital transformation. This company founded convenience at a global scale, with 65,000 stores in 18 countries, 55 million customers visiting the stores every day, and 20 billion transactions on an annual basis. You take that, and you overlay the consumer trends and the new technology trends like big data and digital payments, and you have the perfect formula for redefining convenience. PROMOTED Forbes Insights Deloitte BrandVoice  | Paid Program When It Comes To Readiness, The Fundamentals Still Matter .str-more-from-forbes .thumbnail-wrapper{margin:0 !important;}.str-more-from-forbes .str-opt-out{height:12px !important;width:12px !important;background-size:12px 12px !important;min-height:12px !important;max-height:12px !important;min-width:12px !important;max-width:12px !important;}.str-more-from-forbes.str-editorial-true .str-voice{display:none !important;}.str-more-from-forbes.str-insights-true .str-voice{display:none !important;}.str-more-from-forbes.str-insights-true .str-insights{display:inline-block !important;}.str-more-from-forbes h3.headline{font-size:0.7em;line-height:1.6em;color:#333;letter-spacing:0;margin:0.3em 0;color:#333;letter-spacing:0;}.str-more-from-forbes .str-bv{font-size:.9em;letter-spacing:0;margin-bottom:2px;} (function(){ var el = document.getElementsByClassName("ntv-ad")[0]; el.style.display = 'block'; })(); Forbes Insights Forbes BrandVoice  | Paid Program The Vizio D Is On Sale For $480 At Walmart .str-more-from-forbes .thumbnail-wrapper{margin:0 !important;}.str-more-from-forbes .str-opt-out{height:12px !important;width:12px !important;background-size:12px 12px !important;min-height:12px !important;max-height:12px !important;min-width:12px !important;max-width:12px !important;}.str-more-from-forbes.str-editorial-true .str-voice{display:none !important;}.str-more-from-forbes.str-insights-true .str-voice{display:none !important;}.str-more-from-forbes.str-insights-true .str-insights{display:inline-block !important;}.str-more-from-forbes h3.headline{font-size:0.7em;line-height:1.6em;color:#333;letter-spacing:0;margin:0.3em 0;color:#333;letter-spacing:0;}.str-more-from-forbes .str-bv{font-size:.9em;letter-spacing:0;margin-bottom:2px;} (function(){ var el = document.getElementsByClassName("ntv-ad")[0]; el.style.display = 'block'; })(); Forbes Insights Grads of Life BrandVoice  | Paid Program More Than What’s On Paper: Dedication Has Its Rewards .str-more-from-forbes .thumbnail-wrapper{margin:0 !important;}.str-more-from-forbes .str-opt-out{height:12px !important;width:12px !important;background-size:12px 12px !important;min-height:12px !important;max-height:12px !important;min-width:12px !important;max-width:12px !important;}.str-more-from-forbes.str-editorial-true .str-voice{display:none !important;}.str-more-from-forbes.str-insights-true .str-voice{display:none !important;}.str-more-from-forbes.str-insights-true .str-insights{display:inline-block !important;}.str-more-from-forbes h3.headline{font-size:0.7em;line-height:1.6em;color:#333;letter-spacing:0;margin:0.3em 0;color:#333;letter-spacing:0;}.str-more-from-forbes .str-bv{font-size:.9em;letter-spacing:0;margin-bottom:2px;} (function(){ var el = document.getElementsByClassName("ntv-ad")[0]; el.style.display = 'block'; })(); My role as the Chief Digital Officer is to make this happen for our customers, our franchisees, our store associates, and our employees. One of our strategic pillars is to become a digitally-enabled organization. In my role as the CDO, I set the strategy and the vision. We are developing new business models and new digital product experiences, which also includes establishing a product management discipline, user experience design, data scientists, digital marketers, and digital technologists. Technology is a key element of a digital transformation and it is also key to becoming a digitally-enabled company. Initially, we started off with what most companies have been doing and what most consulting companies have been citing as a strategic approach, which is building a two-tier architectural model. A two-tier architectural model means you have digital technology capabilities that are being developed at a higher speed, and then decoupled from that, you have your legacy enterprise systems which have longer release cycles at slower speeds. Additionally, enterprise and legacy work was being managed in long cycle processes as projects, not as products. Old models in any company are always changing, and they should be changing. They are a function of maturity of the company, the need of the hour, and the market factor. As we evaluated the speed of our transformation, we felt that we were not getting to the speed we needed. To get there, we needed what I call a full stack transformation. When I say full stack transformation, I am talking all the way from the consumer-facing technology to back-end technologies, all the way to infrastructure and cloud. It even goes beyond that to encompass the organizational stack. To bring more efficiency and effectiveness to our decisions, our prioritization, while driving the productization of IT, we decided to combine the CDO role and the CIO role. This allows us to drive vertical product slices while working on horizontal capabilities. If you are doing one after the other, you are taking too much time to get the business transformed. If you do not do a vertical slice, you do not know what customer problem you are trying to solve. Combining the functions gets us there faster. It is harder, but you end up driving more synergies. We drive higher team engagement. You speed up your transformation journey, and you end up creating a stronger pool of talent as one team. What we did was then combine digital and IT, which we call DIGIT, which is very much digital. High: You are clearly thinking multiple years out. The changes require hard work to be done in the near term to make the organization nimbler for the long term. How difficult was the process of selling this internally? Was it difficult in having your peers among the executive leadership understand the rationale behind all the hard work to be done in the near term for a better outcome for the long term? Singh: It was not that difficult, which is the great part of being at 7-Eleven. Our entire executive team meets regularly, and we often share our progress with each other. The key here was Joe DePinto, our CEO, and his vision and his desire to become a digitally-enabled organization and make it a strategic pillar. Joe is fully supportive of our full stack transformation. Once we realized that the change must be beyond our borders and immediate sphere of influence, it did not take long to gain executive buy-in. For us to move fast and drive the transformation we need, we can do both things together. It is all about talent. If we can get the right talent and the right people, we can make it happen. High: With so much technology change, people often focus on the technology. However, it is the people that are ultimately needed to drive that change. The skills necessary for this type of transformation are in great demand, and I am wondering how you attract top talent. How do you get top technical talent to come work for 7-Eleven? Singh: The talent needed to drive this kind of transformation is in high demand. However, based on my background at FedEx, Intuit, and Capital One, I am able to tell these talented individuals my story and show them what I can achieve at scale. Additionally, we have a great story and it is an incredible opportunity for anyone seeking out a problem who wants to be part of the solution. This story helped sell me on the organization, as I saw the company was sitting on such a strong infrastructure, and I knew we could do great things if we combined it with digital. Up until now, the success of 7-Eleven has been based on a strong operations team and a strong merchandising team. The success of the future is operations, plus merchandising, plus geeks. That is why we are looking for talent. We have been able to attract great talent, and as you start building momentum, it gets easier to attract more talent. That is why it is critical for us to go out and build stuff in the market and share the success. We want people to know what a huge opportunity we have. High: You have also set a goal to, "Redefine convenience with software." Can you describe what you mean by that and the methods of doing so? Singh: We have been a global leader in convenience, but just being physically convenient and having a store physically available, conveniently accessible, and open 24/7 is not enough for the future. The closest store to a customer today is in the palm of their hand. It is in their voices assistant, or their connected car, or their connected home. That is why I believe most retailers have struggled. Most of them do not think out of the box. They focus on creating the store of the future and driving traffic to the stores. At 7-Eleven we are focused on creating what I call “experiences of the future,” which are convenient and delightful. Our stores play an important role, but they are not the whole equation. When I talk about redefining convenience, I am talking about how we can be in the consumer's ecosystem of mobile devices and voice assistants and maps. We want to be wherever our customer is spending their time. When we bring the store to them, how will we bring it to them? We will bring it to them through partnerships, through delivery, and through APIs. To create these delightful experiences and in-store experiences, we require technology. We need to be acting like a software company, an API company, a big data company, and truly become a technology first company. For example, Airbnb, Amazon, and Uber are software companies at their core. Uber redefined convenience in the taxi business through software and ended up creating a new market. Another key element to redefining convenience with software is talent. We need to bring in the product management mindset to how we work, how we are agile, the design thinking, the technology to solve customer problems, and create a maker culture. High: You are also rethinking loyalty. You have the Seven Rewards programs. Could you talk about the evolution of that and the role that it plays in combination with some of the themes you have already discussed? Singh: At 7-Eleven, we want every customer interaction to be valuable and delightful. We can do this by building personalized connections with our customers. Loyalty becomes a key element of building those personalized connections. We have expanded our already successful loyalty program which is focused on what we call the cups program. When customers would buy six cups of our proprietary beverages, they will get the seventh one free. We have extended that in many ways. We give customers more ways to participate in the program. Before, it was only through the mobile app. We have since added mobile web, we added a loyalty card, and we added a digital loyalty card through our Facebook Messenger chatbot. That gives our customers more ways to engage with the program. We also give them more ways to earn and drive more engagement. Customers can earn points on most items they purchase and get bonus points. It creates this gamification aspect because they can earn points here and then they can earn more points when they buy more. It gets our customers more engaged with our program. They can choose to redeem these points through a menu of products in the store, which is something we have expanded as well. Think about the program going from only a cups program to more ways to engage, more ways to join, more ways to earn, and more ways to get value out of the program. We have 12 million users of our app, and our App Store ratings have increased substantially. We went from an iOS rating of 1.5 to 4.8. On the food and drink category in the App Store, we were as high as number four. If you look across all apps, we were at number 57 very recently. That speaks to the new user experience we provided in the app and all the new capabilities we are offering our customers. High: Customers have evolved to the point where they now expect mobile and digital technology to complement the physical experiences of traditional retail. Can you talk about the methods that you use to keep up with these evolving desires? Singh: Being usable is not good enough. You must create experiences that delight the customer and drive emotion. Users are expecting things to just happen for them. Customers expect recommendations, frictionless experiences, and for things to just happen. You have to put yourself in the customer’s shoes and be conscious of the customer journey. This includes not just the journey of today’s customer but the potential journey of the customer tomorrow. Additionally, being able to provide the customer more than what they expected, what I like to call innovating the customer, is critical. An example I like to use is the combination of user interfaces and new technologies. Specifically, voice search and voice technology is something I find quite interesting because it can really drive new user experiences. Data tells us that 50% of all future searches will be voice searches. This is an example of a frictionless experience because while a typical person can only type 40 words per minute, they can speak 150 per minute, which drives the new user experience. Technology has become part of the equation, but the number one thing is we want to look at what the journey is, where the pain points are, and what problems we are trying to solve. All that goes back to the methodology of design thinking, journey mapping, and the whole product management mindset. We do A/B testing and build minimal viable products. Doing this continuous learning helps you evolve. These are the types of combinations we are looking at when we think about the customer journey and friction points. We are focused on delighting them and anticipating what they want even if they did not ask for it. First, we think through the experience, and then we think about what technologies can drive that experience. These are the technologies we continuously test and make improvements on. High: You mentioned machine learning and voice-enabled technology. These are a couple of examples of a broader panoply of emerging technologies that you and your team are experimenting with. Could you talk about your thought process on engaging with some of these newer technologies? Do you have a portion of your team that is focused on the art of the possible or an innovation lab? Singh: To become a full stack technology organization and provide these experiences to the customers, a lot of the back-end technologies have to move from batch oriented to real time. Hence, the combination of transformation cannot be only on one layer. It must cut across all the layers. We are putting together an R&D center, but we already test new technologies. We have a CTO function that reports to me. Part of the purview of that CTO function is to test new technologies and conduct proof of concepts. The way we think about them is in two categories. One is technologies that are already proven and are ready to scale. Number two is what we call emerging technologies. We are building capabilities with production-ready technologies even beyond things like serverless microservices-based architectures, chatbots, big data, and AI. These are areas where we are looking to scale as we drive the business benefits back to our customers, back to our store associates, back to our franchisees, and even back to our internal stakeholders like merchandising and operations. For the emerging technology, what we do is closely watch and actively experiment. Today, a lot of software libraries are open-sourced, such as TensorFlow from Google. They allow others to experiment because they want companies creating proof of concepts (POCs) with them. Facebook Messenger is one example where we leveraged the chatbot for loyalty signup. That has not been done before. We were able to take the physical card and convert that into a digital card on Facebook Messenger. We are continuously trying to experiment with technologies like blockchain, and we are building POCs to validate and test in the market. We are going to formalize a full R&D group into an innovation lab, but while that is going on, that is not stopping us from testing these things. From an emerging technology and testing approach, the fact that we have a global scale and presence is a huge benefit. Not long ago, I wrote a blog post on LinkedIn titled “Thinking Glocally” which means think globally and act locally. The customer trends and technology trends that we are encountering today are global. I have visited Korea and China, and I see that all these countries are facing the same customer and technology trends. Of course, they may be at different stages of maturity, and some are leaping ahead. When I was in China, I saw the massive adoption of digital payments. I was surprised that the US is so behind with digital payments compared to what I saw in China, which is primarily driven by WeChat and AliPay. When I visited our South Korea team, they had introduced an interesting concept of biometrics and unmanned stores with pay-by-hand. What I learned was the veins in your palm are better for biometric authentication than your fingerprints. They are more secure and more sanitary. You end up registering your palm, link it to a payment method, and off you go. Our stores in Thailand just announced the launch of facial recognition. Beyond our labs, these stores give us a presence in the world and provide an opportunity to test. We do not have to prioritize them here, we can test them outside, bring them back, and vice versa. That has helped us in multiple ways on experimenting with emerging technologies and testing new concepts. All of this is in service to the customer experience and the store experience. Peter High is President of Metis Strategy, a business and IT advisory firm. His latest book is Implementing World Class IT Strategy. He is also the author of World Class IT: Why Businesses Succeed When IT Triumphs. Peter moderates the Forum on World Class IT podcast series. He speaks at conferences around the world. Follow him on Twitter @PeterAHigh.

7-Eleven, the world's largest grocery store chain, has over 68,000 locations worldwide. Each store contributes to the devastating plastic waste crisis by supplying customers with single-use plastic bags with every visit, while animals are forced to try to survive in life-threatening habitats that are rapidly becoming plastic wastelands. Please urge 7-Eleven to phase out single-use plastic bags before it is too late! Every year, eight million metric tons of plastic waste enters the world's oceans, including single-use plastic bags. A staggering 1 trillion single-use plastic bags are used annually worldwide, which is equal to an unimaginable 2 million bags per minute. While most bags are used for just a few minutes, it takes roughly 500 years for many of these bags to degrade. However, know that they will never actually biodegrade, but instead will turn into toxic microplastics which continue to pollute the environment forever. Up to 80% of plastic in the oceans drifts away from coastal areas and is pulled out to deeper water. Plastic waste is responsible for killing over 1 million marine animals every year. Currently, an estimated 100 million tons of plastic waste can be found in the oceans. If this disastrous trend continues, plastic waste is expected to outweigh all of the fish in the oceans by 2050. Hundreds of species of marine animals, including fish, seabirds, turtles, sharks, whales, sea lions, and dolphins, are at risk of entanglement, choking, or starving as they're forced to live in marine habitats that are rapidly becoming inundated with plastic waste. Sea turtles often mistake plastic bags for jellyfish and unknowingly consume them as do whales and other animals. Seabirds also mistake pieces of bags and other small pieces of plastic waste for food. As their stomachs fill with plastic that isn't passed out of their systems, animals slowly starve to death. Powerful images created by international marine wildlife conservation organization Sea Shepherd Conservation Society highlight how animals become trapped or entangled in bags causing painful injuries, strangulation, suffocation, and death. Single-use plastics bags not only harm the environment and animals when they are discarded; their production is also extremely destructive. The United States alone uses 100 billion plastic bags every year; the average American family uses a staggering 1,500 plastic bags per year—which requires 12 million barrels of habitat-destroying oil to manufacture. Only 1% of these bags are ever recycled. The vast majority end up in landfills, and ultimately, the oceans. When 7-Eleven stores throughout Thailand encouraged customers to opt for reusable bags, 169 million single-use plastic bags went unused in just two months! If all 7-Eleven locations offered customers the option of purchasing reusable bags made of recycled and environmentally-friendly materials, countless animals could be spared painful deaths caused by plastic!     With thousands of locations worldwide, 7-Eleven has an unprecedented opportunity to drastically reduce the amount of plastic waste that is destroying ocean habitats and killing defenseless animals in the process. Please comment on 7-Eleven's social media accounts and then fill out the form on this page to send our email urging the convenience store to ban single-use plastic bags! 1. Comment on 7-Eleven's Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram! Example: "Please phase out single-use plastic bags and offer reusable options at all 7-Eleven locations to save marine animals from entanglement, choking and slow starvation as well as the environment! Every year, one trillion single-use bags pollute habitats all over the world!" 2. Email 7-Eleven's President and CEO, Joseph M. DePinto by filling out the form on this page.

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7-Eleven Reducing Environmental Footprint Jul. 11, 2016 FacebookTwitterLinkedIn View All Slides IRVING, Texas -- 7-Eleven Inc. is working with nonprofit group Conservation International to set measurable corporate social responsibility (CSR) goals to reduce its environmental footprint. 7-Eleven’s goal is to:Reduce its energy footprint in stores and offices by 20% by 2025.Reduce its packaging footprint by 20% by 2025.Increase corporate giving to 1% of operating net income annually, beginning in 2017.Using 2015 as a baseline, 7-Eleven will continue to reduce its carbon footprint and increase community engagement in the United States and Canada by concentrating on energy, packaging and philanthropy, it said.“These goals are specific and measurable,” said Joe DePinto, 7-Eleven president and CEO. “We’ve already taken important steps to reduce our carbon footprint, and these new targets will help us focus our efforts to make even greater strides.”7-Eleven's CSR mission has three focus areas, it said: “planet, products and people.” Click through for details.Next Slide  View All Slides Planet7-Eleven has decreased electricity use in store operations by an estimated 21% over the past seven years through projects including installing LED lighting, energy management systems and high-efficiency HVAC units. The retailer has also joined CI’s Business and Sustainability Council, a forum for corporate leaders taking positive environmental actions in their businesses, to explore mutually beneficial ways to further reduce its environmental impact.CI is a nonprofit organization “dedicated to building a healthier, more prosperous and more productive planet through science, policy and partnerships.” It seeks to protect the nature people rely on for food, fresh water and livelihoods.“It is no secret that the conveniences that make each day better for us all require resources from nature,” said Peter Seligmann, chairman and CEO of Conservation International, Arlington, Va. “7-Eleven’s 2025 goals reveal how a company can make decisions that support their business as well as our planet’s future. Conservation International is thrilled to support 7-Eleven in this endeavor.” Previous SlideNext Slide  View All Slides ProductsIrving, Texas-based 7-Eleven, which operates, franchises and licenses more than 10,700 convenience stores in North America, is designing eco-friendly packaging in order to reduce waste, including a recyclable stay-hot coffee cup, private-brand beverage bottles made with recycled materials and hot-foods packaging made with less material.  Previous SlideNext Slide  View All Slides PeopleStarting in 2017, 7-Eleven will tie its corporate giving to its performance, giving back 1% of its operating net income annually with a focus on expanding participation in two of its most successful programs benefiting youth: Project A-Game, which has awarded nearly 1,800 financial grants totaling more than $900,000 to local schools and youth sports organizations; and Operation Chill, which partners with more than 900 local law-enforcement agencies to reward young people caught in the act of “doing good” with a free Slurpee drink coupon.  Previous SlideprevnextTrendingFuelsPump Price Slippage ResumesRetailers gain gasoline margin { "@context": "http://schema.org", "@type": "Article", "headline": "Pump Price Slippage Resumes", "mainEntityOfPage":{ "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://www.cspdailynews.com/fuels/pump-price-slippage-resumes" }, "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "CSP Daily News", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://cdn.winsightmedia.com/platform/files/sites/media/cspdn/images/logo-cspdn-json-ld.png", "width": 600, "height": 60 } } ,"description": "Retailers gain gasoline margin " ,"image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://cdn.winsightmedia.com/platform/files/public/2019-10/background/shutterstock_691363474_1572279552.jpg?UE69APIEq5718xsWrjCRtM_CSjjhElZB" } ,"datePublished": "2019-10-28T14:46:24+00:00" ,"dateModified": "2019-10-28T17:03:42+00:00" ,"author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Trilby Lundberg", "url": "/profile/trilby-lundberg" } ] } Foodservice7-Eleven to Offer Halloween Pizza SpecialsDeals include buy one, get one free pie, as well as other offers through 7Now app { "@context": "http://schema.org", "@type": "Article", "headline": "7-Eleven to Offer Halloween Pizza Specials", "mainEntityOfPage":{ "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://www.cspdailynews.com/foodservice/7-eleven-offer-halloween-pizza-specials" }, "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "CSP Daily News", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://cdn.winsightmedia.com/platform/files/sites/media/cspdn/images/logo-cspdn-json-ld.png", "width": 600, "height": 60 } } ,"description": "Deals include buy one, get one free pie, as well as other offers through 7Now app" ,"image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://cdn.winsightmedia.com/platform/files/public/2019-10/background/7ELV-19-0003_1572279334.jpg?cbooL9v4RLLOSwXqUxX0xX7DArArhNy2" } ,"datePublished": "2019-10-28T14:21:56+00:00" ,"dateModified": "2019-10-28T18:57:45+00:00" ,"author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Brett Dworski", "url": "/profile/brett-dworski" } ] }

Executive Summary: 7-Eleven is known in the United States as a convenience store chain where customers can grab snacks, drinks and other everyday products on the go. In most parts of the world, it is a no-frills store with little emphasis on decor. But in Indonesia,7-Eleven has been positioned as a trendy spot where young people spend time, surf the Internet and meet friends. This case study of 7-Eleven illustrates how a brand needs to and can benefit from adapting to a local market.It's one of the hippest places to hang out in Jakarta. And it isn't some trendy new French restaurant in a Dutch-era heritage building. Instead, thousands of people in the Indonesian capital spend their evenings sipping coffee or beer on pavement tables at their neighbourhood 7-Eleven, the international convenience store synonymous with anytime, on-the-go shopping in most parts of the world.Indonesia's 7-Elevens are, clearly, a long way from the original concept behind the world's largest convenience store chain. "At 7-Eleven, our purpose and mission is to make life a little easier for our guests by being where they need us, whenever they need us," says the company's website. And that's what it has been doing all over the world since the first convenience store was born after a Southland Ice Co employee in Dallas started selling milk, eggs and bread from an ice dock in 1927.The 7-Eleven chain has about 49,500 stores in 16 countries across the world, over 10,000 of them in North AmericaToday, the chain has grown to about 49,500 stores in 16 countries, more than 10,000 in North America itself, but its core customer remains the same: people on the go who need a one-stop shop to quickly buy everyday products. Typically, most 7-Eleven stores all over the world are conveniently located in office areas and are open around the clock.Initially, 7-Eleven spread its wings slowly. In its early years, it grew strategically in suburbs in the United States and areas too small for a supermarket: by 1963, it had 1,000 stores across the country. But it began to grow at breakneck pace after it adopted a franchisee model the following year. In 1969, 7-Eleven began expanding beyond US borders and set up shop in Canada. In the 1970s and early 1980s, it expanded to Mexico, Japan and Asian markets such as Taiwan, Singapore and the Philippines. With the increasing importance of emerging Asian markets such as Thailand, the Philippines and Malaysia, 7-Eleven Corporation moved its corporate headquarters to Japan in 2001.Traditionally, 7-Eleven's entry strategy is to target urban markets and tailor stores to local tastes. For example, customers in Hong Kong can pay their phone and utility bills at a local 7-Eleven; in Taiwan, they can service their bicycles or photocopy at the convenience store; and in the US they can pick-up their online Amazon shopping there. By offering these services - often exclusively - customer traffic can be increased significantly. To achieve this customer orientation and competitive advantage, almost all stores arfe operated by franchisees, who understand the local environment.7-Eleven in Indonesia has everything local markets offer, and more. It also has live entertainment and wireless connectivitySo, when 7-Eleven entered the Indonesian market in 2008, the question was: what was the Indonesian customer looking for and where should the retailer position itself? The Southeast Asian country was an ideal market for a retailer. It was among the world's largest growing economies with a population of 240 million and a growing class of consumers.But Indonesia had some typical traits not found in other markets. For one, just hanging out and doing nothing is so deeply embedded in Indonesian culture, the local language has a special word for it: nongkrong.People traditionally gather at street markets and share stories, eat in local markets and roadside food stalls called warungs or Western fastfood chains such as McDonalds, Dunking Donuts or coffee shops such as Starbucks which entered Southeast Asia a whi le ago.Moreover, Indonesia is highly plugged-in: the country had an estimated 20 to 30 million Internet users in 2009, a big chunk of them between the ages of 15 and 19. 7-Eleven studied the culture, habits and tastes of the Indonesian population and realised Indonesia lacked places where young people could hang out, eat, drink and follow their new passion: being online. It adopted a unique business model in the country: it blended a small supermarket with inexpensive readymade food and seating to cater to Jakarta customers looking for outdoor recreation space in a city where traffic jams often restrict mobility.7-Eleven in Indonesia included everything local markets and street vendors offered - and more. The store is open 24 hours, has hasslefree parking, offers leisure activities such as concerts, is air-conditioned and, most importantly, has wireless connectivity. Sixty-five per cent of the Indonesian franchise's customers are less than 30 years old and love social networking. 7-Eleven also featured local artists or live bands to further attract the nongkrong-ing crowds at its stores.

Diverse employees at 7-Eleven score the company 64/100 across various culture categories, placing 7-Eleven in the bottom 45% of companies in the United States with 10,000+ Employees for Comparably's diversity score. The Diversity score provides insights into how diverse employees feel and rate their work experience at 7-Eleven across various culture dimensions.Women at 7-ElevenCWomen at 7-Eleven have rated Environment, Manager, and Work Culture as the highest categories they have scored.BOTTOM45%7-Eleven ranks in the bottom 45% of other companies in the US with 10,000+ Employees for Gender Score.Diversity at 7-ElevenCDiverse employees at 7-Eleven have rated Environment, Executive Team, and Work Culture as the highest categories they have scored.BOTTOM45%7-Eleven ranks in the bottom 45% of other companies in the US with 10,000+ Employees for Diversity Score.

#BuatBaikTogether 7-Eleven Malaysia initiated its third donation drive #BuatBaikTogether, which came into inception in 2017. The campaign is held during the year end in efforts to extend further support for the underprivileged community. Walk in-customers can donate necessities such as food, beverages, household essentials and other supplies purchased from 7-Eleven stores and place them into the collection box. Contributions will then be distributed to a list of selected beneficiaries. Furthermore, with every contribution of selected partner brands, 7-Eleven Malaysia will also donate 10 cents to a selected charity organization.

Latest Entries View All 23Oct Oct 23 7-Eleven Park Ridge now open! 7-Eleven Australia Our newest store is now open at 17 Park Ridge Road, Park Ridge, Queensland. 22Oct Oct 22 Love is in the air at Colour Run 2019 with 7-Eleven Australia 7-Eleven Australia 7-Eleven Australia teams will be part of the happiest run under the sun as part of The Colour Run Love Tour in November. 16Oct Oct 16 7-Eleven's award winning fuel app reaches 2M downloads and $16.8M in savings for Aussie drivers 7-Eleven Australia 7-Eleven Australia’s award winning fuel app has hit two million downloads, and Aussie drivers have collectively saved more than $16.8 million dollars on their fuel since January 2017. Top Stories View All 23Oct Oct 23 7-Eleven Park Ridge now open! 7-Eleven Australia News Our newest store is now open at 17 Park Ridge Road, Park Ridge, Queensland. 4Oct Oct 4 7-Eleven and Mobil are set to go big at Bathurst with Brad Jones Racing 7-Eleven Australia News 7-Eleven and Mobil are proud to collaborate with Brad Jones Racing for Australia’s most iconic race – The Bathurst 1000. Drivers Nick Percat and Tim Blanchard will be behind the wheel of the BJR Holden Commodore as they head into the first event of the Pirtek Endurance Cup.  8Sep Sep 8 Send parcels 24/7 with 7-Eleven ParcelMate 7-Eleven Australia Innovation Australians can now send parcels 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year with 7-Eleven’s technology led, parcel service. 7-Eleven ParcelMate has just launched a new service in partnership with Toll that allows consumers to send parcels at more than 280 7-Eleven ParcelMate locations nationwide. News View All 23Oct Oct 23 7-Eleven Park Ridge now open! 7-Eleven Australia News Our newest store is now open at 17 Park Ridge Road, Park Ridge, Queensland. 16Oct Oct 16 7-Eleven's award winning fuel app reaches 2M downloads and $16.8M in savings for Aussie drivers 7-Eleven Australia 7-Eleven Australia’s award winning fuel app has hit two million downloads, and Aussie drivers have collectively saved more than $16.8 million dollars on their fuel since January 2017. 4Oct Oct 4 7-Eleven and Mobil are set to go big at Bathurst with Brad Jones Racing 7-Eleven Australia 7-Eleven and Mobil are proud to collaborate with Brad Jones Racing for Australia’s most iconic race – The Bathurst 1000. Drivers Nick Percat and Tim Blanchard will be behind the wheel of the BJR Holden Commodore as they head into the first event of the Pirtek Endurance Cup.  8Aug Aug 8 7-Eleven Australia opens store 700 7-Eleven Australia Western Australia is the home to 7-Eleven Australia’s 700th store with the official opening of its new store in Banksia Grove, Western Australia on Thursday 8 August. Our people View All 8Sep Sep 8 7-Eleven celebrates the extraordinary at 2019 Spirit Awards 7-Eleven Australia Our people 7-Eleven Australia’s state based teams have recognised and celebrated extraordinary team member contributions at the company’s conferences held in each state. 16Aug Aug 16 7-Eleven joins convenience industry in recognising great talent at 2019 AACS Awards 7-Eleven Australia 7-Eleven joined competitors and suppliers to recognise and celebrate amazing achievements at last night’s 2019 Australian Association of Convenience Stores (AACS) gala dinner and awards. 15Mar Mar 15 Store leader profile: Ganesh Natarajan 7-Eleven Australia Working close to home in regional New South Wales and being able to balance his family responsibilities was important to Ganesh Natarajan. 7Mar Mar 7 People profile: Joanne Hodgson, Corporate Store Manager and Relief Retail Business Manager 7-Eleven Australia I have been back with 7-Eleven since 2016. One of my highlights was in 2017 when I won the Women in Retail Convenience Award for Store Operator of the year. From then I have achieved a lot. Our community View All 22Oct Oct 22 Love is in the air at Colour Run 2019 with 7-Eleven Australia 7-Eleven Australia Our community 7-Eleven Australia teams will be part of the happiest run under the sun as part of The Colour Run Love Tour in November. 12Sep Sep 12 7-Eleven Chairman steps up to an 11-year-old's call to action 7-Eleven Australia When 11-year-old Georgia Holt wrote to our Chairman, Michael Smith earlier this year, her impassioned letter called for 7-Eleven to take action on sustainability and plastic pollution.Georgia didn’t just get action, she got a visit from Michael. 13May May 13 7-Eleven signs new partnership to support the youth of Australia 7-Eleven Australia Our 7-Eleven Good Cause program continues to develop, with our youth pillar partnership with ReachOut launching today. 30Apr Apr 30 AMES Australia impact day volunteering 7-Eleven Australia Recently, 7-Eleven team members used their day’s volunteering leave to be part of the AMES Australia Impact Day event. Ten team members from across the business, including our chair Michael Smith, attended three AMES Australia classrooms in Melbourne to support, guide and coach the students on finding a job and working in Australia.

Products 2025 Goal: Reduce our packaging footprint by 20%. Creating environmentally friendly packaging 7‑Eleven is committed to continually looking for ways to improve product packaging. Many of our solutions are paper-based, derived from sustainable resources and, whenever possible, we work hard to reduce packaging materials without compromising product quality or safety. We focus on correct sizing and material selection to best fit and deliver our products in the most efficient manner. A good example is the redesign of our hot dog carton. In an attempt to improve the package performance and customer experience, we were also able to reduce the materials used, reducing consumption of paperboard by 2%. This equated to an estimated reduction of 50 tons of paper on an annualized basis. The nutritional options customers are looking for 7‑Eleven provides healthy, convenient food and beverage options to customers through our Better-For-You menu. Our goal is to create nutritious, flavorful and affordable foods that fit customers’ healthy lifestyle needs. Our fresh food menu includes: Entree and side salads with low-fat dressings Better-For-You sandwiches Yogurt parfaits with fresh fruit and granola Vegetable and hummus snack packs Fresh-cut and whole fruit Hard-boiled egg

Planet 2025 Goal: Reduce our energy footprint in stores and offices by 20% using a baseline of 2015. Reducing our impact on the environment is a major focus for 7‑Eleven. We’ve taken big steps by strategically investing in several energy and sustainability programs that increase efficiency and reduce waste and resource consumption. We’ve implemented several innovative measures, like LED lighting, energy management systems and high-efficiency HVAC units. As a result, 7‑Eleven has reduced annual CO2 emissions by an estimated 300,000 metric tons and decreased annual electricity use by 21%. LED lighting - a bright idea in energy conversation 7‑Eleven’s LED lighting program is part of our energy-efficient store design standard. LED lights are energy-efficient, reduce the use of hazardous materials and comply with local regulations to reduce light pollution. Plus, they improve the quality of lighting, which supports a safer store and a better shopping experience for customers. This program is a big contributor to our overall CO2 reduction goals. Conserving a natural resource 7‑Eleven understands that efficient use of water helps reduce the demands on our water supply and preserve an essential natural resource. To reduce water consumption, we’re installing low-flow aerator faucets as part of our standard energy-efficient design plan for all new stores. Managing the energy we use 7‑Eleven has strengthened our energy management strategy by implementing energy management systems (EMS) in stores. They’re used to monitor, control and optimize the performance of HVAC and refrigeration equipment. EMS enables remote control of HVAC and other energy-consuming equipment, and generates real-time data used to perform self-diagnostic and optimization routines to reduce energy consumption and manage costs. Memberships that promote a healthier planet To enhance our role as positive stewards of the environment , 7‑Eleven holds memberships with prominent environmental organizations.Learn more.

Making a bigger community impact with a smaller footprint 7‑Eleven expects to grow dramatically over the next 10 years. Our CSR strategy demands that we limit the impact of this growth on our planet and the people in the communities we serve. To help us set long-term goals for reducing our carbon footprint over the upcoming years, we partnered with Conservation International, a nonprofit organization dedicated to building a healthier, more prosperous and productive planet. Our strategy focuses in on three measurable goals: Reducing our energy footprint in stores and offices by 20% by 2025 Increasing corporate giving to 1% of operating net income annually, beginning in 2017 Reducing our packaging footprint by 20% by 2025 People 2025 Goal: Increase corporate giving to 1% of operating net income annually. Communities built for youth 7‑Eleven stores play a vital role in healthy, growing neighborhoods. We’re committed to making a difference in these communities by getting involved and giving back through programs that directly benefit the well-being of youth. The Project A-Game program is a community outreach program created to provide meaningful youth development opportunities through education, fitness, safety and hunger relief, so children establish a strong foundation that supports their future success. Learn more A tasty reward for staying cool – that’s the Operation Chill program. This 7‑Eleven community outreach program is designed to reduce crime and enhance relations between police and youth. Learn more

The business of doing good As the world’s largest convenience store chain, 7‑Eleven is uniquely positioned to help sustain communities around the globe. Our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy was created to help us best leverage our business to do the most good in the world. Our focus:

Un 7-Eleven de la ciudad de Brisbane deberá pagar casi 200.000 dólares de multa por aprovecharse de sus trabajadores extranjeros y crear registros falsos para encubrir estas acciones ilegales. Este caso se suma a la serie de escándalos de explotación que afectan a esta franquicia, seis de ellas en la capital de Queensland. Updated Updated 05/06/2018 By R.O. Share Share on Facebook Share on Twitter  Un Tribunal del Circuito Federal multó a Avinash Pratap Singh, gerente y dueño parcial de una gasolinera 7-Eleven en East Brisbane, con 32.130 dólares y a la empresa que dirige S & A Enterprises con otros160.650 dólares tras una investigación realizada en 2015 por la Defensoría de Empleo Justo (Fair Work Ombudsman).Los inspectores de la Defensoría hallaron que los empleados, todos ellos jóvenes estudiantes provenientes de la India, recibieron 5,593 dólares menos en total por los períodos en que trabajaron en la gasolinera en 2014.Singh y su empresa admitieron que pagaron a sus empleados 14,14 por hora, que está por debajo del salario mínimo legal, y que además no les dieron a estos jóvenes el dinero que les correspondía por horas extras trabajadas ni por las jornadas durante los fines de semana y los días festivos.A otro empleado de la gasolinera se le pagó un 25 por ciento menos de lo que le correspondía (4,439 dólares) por los cinco meses que trabajó, mientras que a otro joven se le dio 1,154 dólares menos durante las siete semanas que estuvo empleado en ese lugar (41 por ciento menos(.Singh y S & A Enterprises también proporcionaron datos falsos a la oficina central de 7-Eleven sobre los salarios, según un comunicado de la Defensoría de Empleo Justo.El juez Angelo Vasta indicó que la entrada de datos falsos sobre las horas y los salarios dados a los empleados de esa gasolinera en el sistema de pagos “crearon registros en los que parece que los empleados recibieron las tasas de salarios fijados por los laudos actuales, incluyendo las tasas de recargo y las pagas por horas extraordinarias de trabajo, las cuales no tienen relación con las horas de trabajo o las tasas reales por hora (que se les pagó)”.El juez además obligó a los responsables a pagar a la Defensoría 2,247 por los costes legales.

Mr Chang admitted his company had paid flat hourly rates as low as $13 an hour. 7-Eleven investigation 7-Eleven playing 'statistical tricks' in worker compensation scheme'He made me scared': 7-Eleven worker speaks of intimidationExploitation integral to 7-Eleven business model: insider7-Eleven staff work twice as long at half pay rate7-Eleven business model rips off workers, former ACCC boss saysConvenience store empire 'built on something not much different from slavery' This resulted in significant underpayment of the minimum hourly rate, casual loadings and penalty rates for shift and weekend work that employees were owed under the General Retail Award 2010.Judge Michael Jarrett found Mr Chang knew the relevant Award that applied but had "established a business model that relied upon a deliberate disregard of the employees' workplace entitlements and a course of conduct designed to conceal that deliberate disregard".Judge Jarrett found no evidence the company's contraventions were motivated by poor cash flow.He said "rather, it seems, the company's profit has been enhanced by the underpayments concerned".The FWO confirmed all underpayments had been rectified."Businesses should be in no doubt that lawful obligations to pay minimum wage rates, keep appropriate employment records and issue pay slips apply to all employers in Australia and they are not negotiable," Fair Work Ombudsman Natalie James said."The deliberate nature of the underpayments and the lengths that Mr Chang went to in order to hide his conduct from us and from the 7-Eleven head office is of grave concern."Mr Chang was fully aware of his lawful obligations and chose to manipulate the system in order to undercut the entitlements of vulnerable workers. "We are pleased that the court has seen fit to penalise such blatant conduct and hope that this serves as a warning that such behaviour will be penalised."Mr Chang and his company sold the 7-Eleven franchise in late-2016 and the franchise is now operated by an entity unrelated to these contraventions.The FWO said it had taken legal action against nine 7-Eleven operators since 2009, and that cases against three operators were still before the courts.7-Eleven's Australian head office has since commented on the court decision."7-Eleven welcomes the Fair Work Ombudsman's actions pursuing these wage underpayment claims dating back to 2013-14," a company spokesperson said."The Franchisee concerned is no longer part of our store network."We have introduced comprehensive reforms to ensure our Franchised store network operates at the highest standards we expect, and will take action where those standards are not being met."

The penalties are the result of a legal action by the Fair Work Ombudsman after its investigation found that 21 employees across the two stores had been underpaid a total of $31,507.27 over a 12-month period. Viplus Pty Ltd, which operated a store in Adelaide Street until July 2017, was penalised $88,140, while Vipper Pty Ltd, which operated a store in George Street until May 2017, was penalised $68,262. Penalties totalling $36,559 were also handed down against Jason Yuan, a director of both companies. The stores were two of 20 7-Eleven outlets targeted for surprise night-time visits by the Fair Work Ombudsman as part of a tri-State operation in September 2014. The Fair Work Ombudsman has taken legal action against 11 7-Eleven operators since 2009. In this matter, inspectors found that the workers at both stores were paid flat rates for all hours worked, save for public holidays where they received an additional $20 per hour in cash.  Given the 24 hour, seven-day nature of the businesses, this resulted in significant underpayments of Saturday and public holiday penalty rates, overtime rates and shift work rates stipulated by the General Retail Industry Award 2010. Two workers at the Adelaide Street store were also found to have been paid at the incorrect classification. Individual underpayments ranged from $98.36 to $5080.16. They have all now been rectified The respondents were also penalised for failing to meet record-keeping and payslip requirements, including by failing to include information in respect of cash payments made to some of the employees. In her judgment, Judge Mercuri noted that the underpayments were “substantial”, particularly given the low-skilled nature of the work and the vulnerability of the workers due to their age and, in some cases, their visa status. “Given that many of the employees of both Viplus and Vipper were in Australia on various visas, with many being young workers, the impact of the underpayments was significant for each of the affected employees,” Judge Mercuri said. In determining the penalties, Judge Mercuri also pointed out that Mr Yuan had been running the stores for over twelve years, had a background in finance, banking and project management and had access to significant training and support from the 7‑Eleven head office. In addition, her Honour noted the Fair Work Ombudsman had previously issued Vipper and Mr Yuan with a letter of caution in 2013 after an investigation found that workers at the Adelaide Street store were not being paid applicable weekend and public holiday penalty rates. At the time, the Fair Work Ombudsman advised Mr Yuan about his obligations to pay penalty rates as stipulated under the Award. Judge Mercuri found this “continued failure to ensure compliance with the Award following the issuing of a letter of caution to Vipper Pty Ltd” to be a relevant factor in determining the penalties for Vipper and Mr Yuan. Acting Fair Work Ombudsman Kristen Hannah says that the regulator takes a particularly dim view of employers who continue to breach workplace laws after being explicitly advised of their obligations. “Employers must recognise that significant consequences will follow when they knowingly flout the law,” Ms Hannah says. “There is no excuse for continued non-compliance by a business when it has been placed on notice and we will not hesitate to pursue serious enforcement action when this occurs. “We have no patience for business operators who fail to respect the law and ignore our advice, and the penalties handed down in this case reflect the seriousness with which such matters will be dealt.” Ms Hannah says that the Fair Work Ombudsman takes the exploitation of young workers and visa holders particularly seriously. “We know that these cohorts face specific vulnerabilities in the workplace due to a lack of awareness of workplace laws and a reluctance to speak up if something is wrong,” Ms Hannah says. “There is no place for the deliberate exploitation of vulnerable workers in Australian workplaces.” Ms Hannah says the commencement of the Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Vulnerable Workers) Act 2017 has increased the maximum penalties for employers who knowingly exploit workers. “Businesses should be aware that serious breaches of workplace laws have increased ten-fold and can now attract penalties of up to $630,000 per contravention for companies and $126,000 for an individual,” Ms Hannah says. 7-Eleven entered into a Proactive Compliance Deed with the Fair Work Ombudsman in late 2016, committing to a range of measures designed to ensure all its workers receive their lawful entitlements through strong accountability for all operators across its franchise network and supervision by the Fair Work Ombudsman. Employers and employees seeking assistance can visit www.fairwork.gov.au or call the Fair Work Infoline on 13 13 94. An interpreter service is available on 13 14 50. Information on the website can be translated into 40 languages other than English. NOTE: Vipper Pty Ltd and Viplus Pty Ltd no longer own or operate the Adelaide Street or George Street 7-Eleven stores in Brisbane. The Fair Work Ombudsman makes no allegations against the current operators.