Gull’s bean thinking
Gull Petroleum has fired the latest salvo in the ongoing battle for market share with Coles and Woolworths by providing a suite of new products based on consumer convenience.
Gull believes this is an area the two major retail chains have overlooked.
The roll-out of the new strategy is most evident in Gull’s recently refurbished Como site, where a takeaway coffee concept has been launched.
An intercom on the bowser allows the consumer to order a coffee from a list of options, and by the time they go in to the store to pay for the fuel, the coffee is ready to go.
And while the service is virtually instant, the coffee certainly isn’t.
A deal has been struck with local coffee producer Bonissimo, which operates five up-market coffee shops called Caffissimo.
According to Gull Petroleum general manager Wayne Ferrell, the Bonissimo coffee deal is just one of several convenience offerings the group will undertake.
“We intend to roll-out a first-class coffee offer to prime c [convenience store] sites. We have 20 of those and we are in the process of building more,” Mr Ferrell said.
“We’ve put a manual coffee machine in there and we’re offering good quality coffee.
“The company is repositioning itself to be a convenience company, not a petrol company. Petrol and diesel is a part of the offer but overall we are offering consumers convenience. The coffee component is just on part of a whole range of things we are looking at.
“Throughout the remainder of this year you will see a number of changes.”
Mr Ferrell said that, like drive-through coffee proprietor Muzz Buzz, Gull was capitalising on a growing consumer spend for products bought in-transit.
It’s also a strategy that differentiates Gull from Coles and Woolworths, which offer up to four cents a litre off at selected fuel retailers.
Mr Ferrell said Gull was already incorporating other convenience-orientated consumer goods such as take-home meals and a wider range of fresh foods.
The Gull Como site also incorporates a new cafe, Café Plus where drivers or passers by can sit and enjoy a coffee and cake. The cafe features LCD panel screens with Foxtel coverage for news and sporting events.
