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Exclusive Technomic report reveals what consumers want
from their c-store foodservice program—and shows who’s delivering it
By Samantha Oller and Abbie Westra || soller@cspnet.com and awestra@cspnet.com
I
f you’re looking for a retailer to
model your foodservice program
after, consider two venerable
operators with radically different
approaches: Wawa and QuikTrip.
It’s not the price that beats all
for these retail leaders. Rather, it’s
their remarkable consistency of
execution and customer service;
their high-quality value and atmosphere;
and their attention to increasingly important side issues, such as portion size and
healthy options, that had consumers rating their foodservice offerings as best in
class in a recent groundbreaking study on
c-store foodservice.
Mike Sherlock, director of foodservice for Wawa Inc., Wawa, Pa., is pleased
with not only his company’s ratings, but
also those of the other top scorers. “Had
you done this study five, 10 years ago,
you probably would have seen very different scores,” he says. “The industry as a
whole is going in the right direction, and
Wawa as well.”
In one of the most comprehensive
consumer-driven studies conducted in
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the channel, foodservice expert Technomic Inc., Chicago, surveyed consumers
to identify the most important attributes they consider when buying food
at c-stores, and then rank how well 20
separate regional and national c-store
brands delivered on these attributes. So
the scores come from the very shoppers
who patronize these convenience chains.
Technomic gave CSP an exclusive look
at its 2012 Consumer C-Store Brand Metrics Study to peel back consumer motives
and perceptions, and find out how the
industry is doing in the race for share
of stomach. We also benchmarked the
results against the restaurant industry
(see “Rating the Restaurants,” p. 54) to
measure how c-stores are competing
against quick-service restaurants (QSR)
and fast-casual chains.
The retail chains featured in the
Technomic study represent a who’s who
of the c-store industry, a collection of
some of the largest companies, all offering prepared food programs of varying
complexity. Of the 20 chains, Wawa and
QuikTrip ranked highest in many of the
10 food and beverage attributes—including food taste and flavor, visual appeal
and variety—and appeared in the top
three nearly every time.
Others represented the next tier of
strong foodservice players, including
Midwest stalwarts Casey’s General Stores
and Kum & Go, the Stripes concept from
Susser Petroleum, travel center behemoth
Pilot Flying J, and Atlanta-based RaceTrac.
Despite the accolades for the leaders,
the overall rating for the c-store industry
and performance of some of the nation’s
largest chains also showed room for
improvement. The c-store channel is
delivering on some important attributes,
but it is barely passing on too many—
especially when compared to QSRs.
That said, among the Technomic
study’s most interesting findings is that
there is a heavy halo effect emanating from
certain chains that transcends the food
itself. This discovery is prompting experts
to agree that a successful program must be
about the food—and the experience.
Some of the study’s other conclusions:
▶ Big Misses: C-stores overall are
Photos by Abbey Lewis
falling short on several fundamentals,
including food quality and taste/flavor.
▶ Good Looks: Several retailers,
notably Wawa, QuikTrip, RaceTrac and
Pilot Flying J, had more than 90% of
consumers ranking them “good” and/or
“very good” on food visual appeal.
▶ Uniquely Yours: When it comes
to unique food items, c-stores perform
modestly, with not one chain hitting
80%. However, four companies—QuikTrip, Wawa, Stripes and Casey’s General
Stores—had scores totaling at least 70%.
The 3,755 consumers in the Technomic shopper panel purchased foodservice from a c-store within two months
of the September 2011 report. They were
asked to rank the level of importance of
approximately 50 attributes, and then
“If you score well within
[attribute] categories, you’re
going to drive loyalty, and
loyalty drives high scores.”
how well 20 large c-store chains delivered
on these expectations.
The operators were selected by store
count, the estimated percentage of units
offering prepared food and foodservice
share of in-store sales. (One major retailer
with a prominent foodservice reputation
that is missing from the list is Sheetz Inc.
The Altoona, Pa.-based chain just missed
the top 20 by these metrics for the study,
according to Technomic.)
Within the top 10 most important
attributes (see chart on p. 52), c-stores
overall are delivering at or above importance levels in only four categories: convenient location, beverage quality, speed
of visit and order accuracy. Food quality,
taste and flavor, service, cleanliness and
value all need work.
When examining the 10 attributes
that focus purely on food and beverage
(as we did for this article), c-stores overall
delivered below expectations on some of
the more important attributes such as
food quality, taste and flavor, variety and
availability of healthy items.
The study confirmed that c-store retailers have mastered dispensed beverages,
meeting consumers’ high expectations for
this critical product with highly satisfying
offers. However, in other areas—quality of
kids’ menus, craveable and unique items,
CSP
June 2012
51
2012
Technomic 2012 Consumer
C-Store Brand Metrics Study
In its first c-store brand-focused study, Technomic Inc. asked an online panel of
3,755 convenience-store shoppers—nationally representative for age, gender,
ethnicity and income—about their last experience at one convenience store that
they had visited in the past two months. If a consumer had visited more than one
store brand in the past two months, that person was randomly assigned one of
those store brands to review for the survey. The chains were assessed by 115 to 200
respondents each, with most being reviewed by 200.
Shoppers were asked to rate the importance of 50 attributes, as well as how
well the c-store chains performed in meeting them.
Importance of Attributes, C-Store Foodservice Visitation
Attribute
Important Very important Total
Quality of food
40%
51%
91%
Taste and flavor of food
40%
51%
91%
Convenient location
41%
50%
91%
Quality of beverages
45%
45%
90%
Pleasant/friendly service
47%
42%
89%
Clean kitchen/food prep area
35%
53%
88%
Speed of visit
49%
39%
88%
Offers good value through low prices
46%
42%
88%
Order accuracy
42%
45%
87%
Offers good value through quick, high-quality service
47%
40%
87%
Source: Technomic Inc.
Base: 3,755, based on most recent visit
For more on the findings, see p. 57.
and limited-time-only offers—chains
were ranked higher than consumer expectations, but those were low to begin with.
A Tale of Two Retailers
Among the 20 chains rated in the Technomic study, Wawa scored highest among
consumers for seven of the 10 food-specific attributes measured.
This is no big surprise. Indeed, “the
Wawas of the world” is a common refrain
for an industry person talking about the
pinnacle of c-store foodservice, leaps and
bounds ahead of most others. Consumers have their own fanatical love of the
chain, whose emphasis is made-to-order
hoagies and a recently revamped coffee
program. Wawa stores sell more than
195 million cups of coffee and 52 million
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hoagies per year.
Wawa’s foodservice legacy goes back to
when the chain began offering deli meats
and cheeses in the 1960s. Along with the
iconic hoagie, Wawa has since pioneered
programs such as smoothies (launched at
the same time as McDonald’s own platform); coffee from airpots instead of glass
carafes; and breakfast items such as the
Sizzli breakfast sandwich. In April, CEO
Howard Stoeckel announced stores will
begin offering full-service, barista-style
coffee and more items that embrace consumers’ desire for “freshness,” such as a
new California Classic Hoagie, with bacon,
avocado and cucumber.
Wawa has now turned its focus to the
store experience, redesigning its prototype to fit Stoeckel’s vision for his chain:
fast casual to go.
“We cleaned up the clutter,” Stoeckel
shared with attendees of CSP’s Restaurant Leadership Conference earlier this
year. Bright colors, sleek display cabinets,
digital menu boards and touch-screen
ordering terminals all make for a streamlined, restaurant-like experience.
“Wawa has always been viewed as a
c-store, but we now want to be viewed as
a restaurant that sells gas. We want to be
more like you when we grow up,” Stoeckel
told the audience of restaurant franchisors and franchisees at the conference.
With nearly 600 stores in the fold and
a new café-style store being unveiled in
Florida, Wawa ranked toward the top of
the study in both theater and fundamentals, scoring high on customer services
and cleanliness. And, like QuikTrip,
the company taps its store associates to
elevate the food experience.
“They are the greatest brand ambassadors,” says Sherlock.
That manifests not only in granular
tools such as employee taste testing and
feedback, but also giving them what they
need to execute consistently. For Wawa,
that has meant investing in new technology
such as touch-screen ordering. It is a service to customers, and it streamlines production as orders appear on the screen in
an intuitive way for employees to execute.
The same thought is given to new
menu platforms, whether it’s a smoothie
program or transitioning from glass coffee
pots to thermals. “How do we make it as
easy as possible for the associates to deliver
a high-quality experience on a consistent
basis?” Sherlock says.
Meanwhile, QuikTrip’s path to foodservice excellence is a winding one. Less
than a decade ago, the Tulsa, Okla.-based
company owned one of the best fountain
programs in the convenience channel.
But its approach to food was driven more
by size than quality. Spokesperson Mike
Thornbrugh said the chain figured out
that wasn’t necessarily the case. (For more
on this topic, see p. 59.)
Then in 2006, the company hatched
QT Kitchens, a bakery and commissary
creation that delivers fresh sandwiches,
wraps, salads, fruit and pastries daily. So
confident is QuikTrip today that the 600store operator most recently launched
what it calls the Generation Three store,
which places foodservice front and center
(CSP—May ’12, p. 18).
The store features a broad array of
prepared foods, nearly two dozen flavors
of smoothies and frozen drinks, more hot
dogs and hot food, and an emphasis on
take-and-bake food, such as lasagna and
pizza.
And while QuikTrip was forced to
embrace a speed course in foodservice
specifics, the company had the critical
intangibles in place: namely, a phenomenal corporate culture and coveted base
of die-hard customers.
So it wasn’t surprising that QuikTrip
ranked first in the Technomic study for
friendly service, staff product and concept
knowledge, as well as store cleanliness—in
addition to food taste and flavor, portion
size for price paid and unique items.
“QuikTrip is leveraging their employees,” says Tim Powell, Technomic’s director
of research and consulting. “They understand they have that point of contact with
the customer.”
It’s this sense of culture and environment that the Technomic report finds to
be at least as important as the food quality
itself in building a dynamic foodservice
program.
“Customers have to trust that the
employees are top-notch,” says Thornbrugh. “You have all these great ideas, but
without people, stores and cleanliness, you
can forget it.”
And despite the strong ranking, the
company is not ready to rest on its laurels.
“Selfishly, we want to be No. 1 in everything,” says Thornbrugh. “We freely admit
this is still new for us. [QuikTrip CEO Chet
Cadieux] has said many times it’s taken us
20 to 30 years to get to be good in selling
gasoline and other merchandise. We’re
going to be patient, continue to learn the
business and continue to get better.”
Consistency Is Key
Despite their different paths to foodservice excellence, what Wawa and QuikTrip both have ultimately achieved is
consistency in execution—a quality that
is built into the DNA of their foodservice
programs, which creates a brand promise
to the customer.
Indeed, a lack of consistency from
store to store is often what separates most
c-stores from QSRs. Franchise models,
stores that were folded in via acquisition
and a general backpedaling to get into the
foodservice game all lead to a collection of
stores at which a customer doesn’t know
what to expect from visit to visit.
“Everyone uses the McDonald’s
model,” says Powell of Technomic, citing
the fast-food behemoth’s reputation for
consistent—if not consistently excellent—
food, despite its franchise base. “Wherever
you buy that hamburger, even if it’s bad,
it’s going to be consistently bad. You know
what you’re going to get.”
Consumers’ uncertainty about c-stores,
meanwhile, bears out even among the
most prominent chains. The Technomic
report shows some national brands scoring in the low 70s for food quality, flavor
and taste, variety and visual appeal. The
number drops even lower—mostly 50s
and 60s—for less significant categories
such as appeal of limited-time-only offers
(LTO) and availability of healthy foods.
“When you’re a little more decentralized and you have franchised stores, it’s
more difficult to keep it consistent,” says
Powell. “That’s just inherent in the segment right now, the inconsistency.”
For San Antonio-based Valero, it
can be challenging to correlate execuCSP
June 2012
53
Rating the Restaurants
Leaders in c-store foodservice will tell
scale (92% for quality, 91% for taste/
you they don’t line their programs up
flavor) and casual dining (93% each).
against fellow convenience retailers. It’s
C-stores, meanwhile, had a compos-
the quick-service restaurants (QSR) that
ite score of 85% for food quality and
keep a fire under their seats.
taste/flavor—a significant gap compared
“If we’re just trying to challenge
to its restaurant counterparts.
c-stores, that’s pretty limited,” says Mike
“These numbers will increase, but
Thornbrugh, spokesperson for QuikTrip
there is still a perception that to get high-
Corp., Tulsa, Okla. “We’re going after the
quality food you might have to get that
food industry in its entirety.”
from a restaurant today,” says Monnette.
“functional intent.” Start with what you
want out of a product or program, such
as extended shelf life. Through that lens,
answer questions of storage, distribution
and operations to find the product that
meets your goal.
“Not training your people properly, along with a complex conceptual
model—you put that with our high turnover ratio in c-stores, and it’s a recipe for
disaster,” he says.
For the Technomic study, consumers’
One bright spot for c-stores is bever-
top priorities for restaurants were similar
ages. Ninety percent of survey respon-
to those of c-stores. “Everybody across
dents said beverage quality was good
Introspection Time
the board wants clean restaurants and
or very good, and they gave retailers a
high-quality food,” says Sara Mon-
composite score of 91%.
With their eyes on the goal, c-store retailers
are attempting to transform consumers’
perception about the quality of food and
the experience in a c-store. But preliminary figures from the NACS State of the
Industry Report of 2011 Data shined a
spotlight on a glaring disparity.
When it comes to foodservice, topquartile players such as QuikTrip and
Wawa generate two to four times the sales
as that of the remaining 75%. Industry
folks therefore suggest that the top performers are raising the rest of the industry.
Can the opposite be said when looking
at foodservice from a consumer perspective? Are the lower performers bringing
down the rest of the channel? Powell of
Technomic says no. “I don’t think customers think like that,” he says. “Consumers
look at wherever that option is within the
radius of where they want to travel and
what they’re in the mood for,” whether it’s
a Kum & Go, a Publix or a CVS.
For Powell, the issue is matter of fact:
“If you’re a c-store, you have to perform
as a restaurant and execute on the basics.
That way, you become an option for
them.”
nette, Technomic’s director of consumer
Monnette was surprised by the
research. From there, consumers put
similar level of importance customers
more emphasis on speed, convenience
place on atmosphere at both restau-
and accuracy of order at restaurants.
rants and c-stores.
Comparing performance in those
“I would have expected that atmo-
top attributes, restaurants performed
sphere is more important at fast food
better than c-stores. QSRs received a
because even though a lot of the occa-
90% performance ranking for both
sions are to-go or through the drive-
quality and flavor/taste. Fast casual
thru, a lot of people are still dining
ranked 94% for each, beating out mid-
inside the restaurant,” she says.
tion with sales projections, says Geoff
DeCastro, senior category manager of
foodservice. This is doubly so because
Valero also does not have the same food
offer available at all sites.
Of its 1,000 Valero Corner Store
locations, only 300 stores offer the full
program—or “real food,” as DeCastro
describes it—which varies from straight
grab and go, such as fresh hot dogs and
other roller-grill products, to breakfast
tacos made with homemade tortillas,
fried chicken and chicken sandwiches.
“We have a good field organization,
but you never really know 100% that the
execution is there or not,” says DeCastro.
Valero area managers each visit 10 stores
monthly to evaluate execution of the
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foodservice offer, while zone managers
and Ecosure perform quarterly checks.
For QuikTrip, consistency comes with
not only offering the same retail offer at
each store, but also vertical integration.
The chain runs its own commissaries and
distribution, ensuring consistent product
and deliveries. “I think we’ve been superb
at it,” says Thornbrugh. “There have been
a couple of times where you’ve had ice
and snowstorms. QuikTrip—not just for
a c-store but any retail outlet—was one of
the few that was still able to get product
out for people to purchase. But our folks
deliver regardless of the weather.”
Joe Chiovera, vice president of foodservice for Alimentation Couche-Tard’s
Circle K Stores, focuses on what he calls
For information on obtaining the complete
Consumer C-Store Brand Metrics study, visit
www.technomic.com.
Quality, Flavor and Taste
Importance:
▶ 91% of consumers said food quality
was an important or very important factor
influencing c-store foodservice visitation
(93% for QSR visits; 94% for fast casual).
▶ 91% said that food taste and flavor
was important or very important (93% for
QSR; 95% for fast casual).
▶ 90% said beverage quality was
important or very important (78% for
QSRs; 80% for fast casual).
Delivery:
▶ 85% of consumers said c-stores were
good or very good at delivering on food
quality expectations, as well as food taste
and flavor.
▶ 91% said c-stores were good or very
good at delivering beverage quality.
A
Leaders:
ccording to Sara Monnette,
flavor, despite having disparate store
director of consumer research
types. The new concept stores [CSP—
for Technomic, the gap between
Jan. ’12, p. 58] are actually intended
importance and delivery is wider than
to address many of those experiential
desired here, especially compared
attributes—specifically service and
with how the QSR and fast-casual
consistent execution. Until then, a
segments scored on delivery (90%
halo effect may be helping boost
Taste and Flavor
for QSRs and 94% for fast casual).
their numbers.
QuikTrip 94%
Wawa
93%
Food Quality (customers citing the food was good or very good):
Wawa 91%
Kum & Go and QuikTrip 90%
Pilot Flying J 89%
Casey’s General Stores 87%
Where do you go from here if
For QuikTrip, with consistency
you’re Wawa, with very strong scores?
comes quality. “It’s one of the reasons
Kum & Go 90%
Focus on the intangibles. “We’re
why QuikTrip wanted to have total con-
trying to look at the whole shopper
trol over everything,” says spokesman
Stripes (Susser Petroleum)
and Pilot Flying J 89%
experience,” says Mike Sherlock,
Mike Thornbrugh. “It would be our
director of foodservice for Wawa. That
workers, our ideas, the way we trans-
includes digital signage and sprucing
ported, the way we merchandised it.”
up the foodservice area to eliminate
QuikTrip’s Generation Three stores
clutter and provide more interaction
offer a wider selection of prepared
between customers and associates.
foods and beverages, including 22 fla-
Kum & Go L.C., West Des Moines,
vors of smoothies and frozen drinks,
Iowa, received a strong score of 90%
and an emphasis on take-and-bake
for both food quality and taste and
food, such as lasagna and pizza.
Beverage Quality
Wawa and Stripes 96%
QuikTrip 95%
Pilot Flying J and Speedway 94%
BP ampm 93%
Source: Technomic Inc.
CSP
June 2012
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Visual Appeal and Portion Size
Importance:
▶ 85% of consumers said food visual
appeal is an important or very important factor influencing c-store foodservice visitation
(88% for QSR visits; 90% for fast casual).
▶ 69% said portion sizes are important or
very important (71% for QSR visits; 74%
for fast casual).
Delivery:
▶ 85% of consumers said c-stores are
good or very good at delivering on food
visual appeal.
▶ 82% said c-stores are good or very good
at delivering on portion size expectations.
W
Leaders:
hile Valero Corner Stores did not
Valero Corner Stores’ foodservice
rank in the top 10 of brands by
program is currently in between the
visual appeal, it has made a real effort
commissary stage and made to order.
Wawa and QuikTrip
92%
to address this attribute, which it sees
To help bridge customers’ assumption
RaceTrac and Pilot Flying J 91%
as a fundamental reason why c-stores
about a lack of freshness, the chain
are not more widely embraced as a
makes a point of removing food from
Casey’s General Stores
and Kum & Go 88%
foodservice option.
its packaging and displaying it in a fix-
Stripes and Kwik Trip 86%
“Take the hot dog as your starting
ture. “Our program is generally grab
point; most c-stores will serve product
and go,” DeCastro says. “If you walk
that they buy packaged, and they just
up to a case, you can see hot, glisten-
heat it up and put it in a warmer,” says
ing kolaches, and not in bags and
Geoff DeCastro, senior category man-
packaging.”
ager of foodservice. “Until customers
Meanwhile, c-stores ranked fairly
can see the product made in the store
well in portion size, with 82% of con-
and understand that it’s fresh, it’s
sumers saying it’s good or very good.
going to be a slow process.”
And yet just 69% of consumers said
Even after this step has been taken,
portion size was important in the first
many customers may still assume that
place. Turns out supersizing may be
the retailer brought the food in from
getting downsized.
the outside, says DeCastro: “Have your
“We thought everything had to be
oven out front, create some theater
big—huge slices of bread, meat, etc.,”
behind the food prep so customers can
says QuikTrip’s Mike Thornbrugh. “We
see you making it, see it coming out of
found out that’s not necessarily accu-
the oven, and then they can start to
rate. People wanted a competitive
really trust you a lot more.”
price and a good-quality food item.”
Food Visual Appeal
(customers citing food visual appeal was good or very good)
Portion Size
QuikTrip 88%
Wawa 87%
RaceTrac 86%
Casey’s General Stores and
Kangaroo Express (The Pantry) 85%
Source: Technomic Inc.
CSP
June 2012
59
Appeal of LTOs, Seasonal Offers, Craveable Items and Unique Items
Importance:
▶ 46% of consumers said LTOs and seasonal
offers are an important or very important factor influencing c-store foodservice visitation.
(46% for QSR visits; 47% for fast casual).
▶ 59% said the same for craveable items
they can’t get at home (68% for QSR visits;
73% for fast casual).
▶ 56% said unique items they can’t get
elsewhere are important or very important
(63% for QSR visits; 65% for fast casual)
Delivery:
▶ 68% of consumers said c-stores are
good or very good at offering appealing
T
he levels of importance here are
to the power of LTOs to generate
actually quite low, so it’s in a
buzz, best exemplified by McDonald’s
retailer’s best interest to focus on the
McRib. “You create this desire by tak-
more critical attributes before tackling
ing it away from them and not being
these types of factors.
apologetic about it,” he says. “[You
LTOs.
▶ 70% said they are good or very good
at offering craveable items they can’t get
elsewhere.
▶ 65% said the same for unique items.
The low importance of such items
could say], ‘It’s working now so let’s
is “not terribly surprising” to Mike
keep it on the menu,’ but it’s going to
Leaders:
Sherlock of Wawa. “Many consumers
lose its sizzle because it’s not a main
are routine-oriented, and LTOs need to
item. Every item you roll out cannot
LTO or Seasonal Offers
simultaneously deliver on the appeal
be a signature item.”
Wawa 83%
QuikTrip 76%
LTOs, which explains its No. 5 ranking
Holiday Stationstores 75%
in this area. The chain charts out its
RaceTrac 73%
of the offer (variety, taste, etc.), as well
Valero Corner Stores has embraced
as value perception to change normal
purchasing habits,” he says.
And yet retailers shouldn’t ignore
programs on a three-month calendar
these attributes altogether. As a pro-
and promotes the LTOs with outside
gram continues to evolve, consumer
signage.
expectations will evolve as well.
(customers citing LTO or seasonal offers were good or very good)
Each LTO offer serves a different
Craveable Items
Wawa 81%
Casey’s General Stores 77%
QuikTrip 76%
Valero Corner Stores
73%
“If you’re not used to seeing
purpose. For example, Valero may sell
healthy options or unique, higher-
a fish sandwich during Lent to maintain
quality food at a convenience store,
sales, while introducing an LTO bakery
Unique Items
you might not expect it or find it to
item to spike sales another month. It
QuikTrip 79%
be important because that’s not why
is also a way to test new options to
Wawa 77%
you’re going there. But then as you
further grow the lunch day-part, a big
Stripes 72%
start to see it, your perceptions and
focus for Valero Corner Stores, which
Casey’s General Stores 70%
expectations change,” says Sara Mon-
is testing an LTO personal-size pizza for
nette of Technomic.
three months to see how it performs as
Joe Chiovera of Circle K points
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a lunch option.
Source: Technomic Inc.
Variety of Offer, Availability of Healthy Items, and Quality of Kids Meals
Importance:
▶ 85% of consumers said variety was
important or very important. (Technomic’s
QSR study did not ask about the importance
of variety.)
▶ 65% said the availability of healthy items
was important or very important (67% for
QSR visits; 69% for fast casual).
▶ 49% said that how kid-friendly a store is
was important or very important (47% said
kids’ menu variety was important; 46% for
fast casual).
V
Delivery:
ariety is important or very impor-
to satisfy their need state for that
tant to 85% of consumers, but
particular experience,” says Wawa’s
Joe Chiovera of Alimentation CoucheTard’s Circle K warns against going
overboard with products.
Mike Sherlock.
While Valero Corner Stores has
no formal healthy program, it has
▶ 82% of consumers said that c-stores were
good or very good at delivering on variety.
▶ 58% said c-stores were good or very good
at offering healthy options.
▶ 57% said that c-stores were good or very
“Variety is the spice of life, but
made an effort to offer products for
not when you’re starting out in food-
different lifestyles. One that has hit a
service,” he says. “Throw your pitch
nerve is sugar-free cappuccino. “We
down the center of the plate and get
got a lot of positive response, almost
Leaders:
it right. Build the foundation and grow
more than anything we’ve ever done,
from there; it’s not like you have to
when we put sugar-free options in the
Variety of Offer
get there tomorrow. You have to go
stores,” says Geoff DeCastro.
good at offering a quality kids’ menu.
(customers citing variety of offer as good or very good)
Wawa 93%
QuikTrip 92%
Stores ranked tops in kids’ meals, the
Pilot Flying J
87%
chain doesn’t offer an official kids
Casey’s General Stores 84%
station to station in this business. Oth-
Interestingly, while Valero Corner
erwise you’ll never be able to sustain
any growth.”
Meanwhile, the paradox of con-
menu. DeCastro suspects that cus-
sumers talking thin and eating fat is
tomers are reacting to its ICEE frozen-
Healthy Options
waning, albeit slowly and dependent
beverage program, which has grown
Wawa 80%
in popularity over the past two years
QuikTrip 71%
from 15% of cold dispensed beverage
RaceTrac 65%
noticed the increased interest, and
sales to 35% of sales in the summer.
Valero Corner Stores 64%
many of its recent rollouts are veering
He credits not only the ICEE’s $1 pro-
toward more healthfulness. Wawa
motional price point during the sum-
is likewise watching healthy trends,
mer, but also the availability of regional
while being careful to offer a balance.
offers for the program’s growth. For
“We’ve found the importance
upon the market.
Mike Thornburgh of QuikTrip has
Kids’ Menu Quality
Corner Stores and Wawa
66%
RaceTrac and QuikTrip
63%
example, in Texas, Valero Corner
APlus (Sunoco), Kwik Trip and
Kangaroo Express 62%
within our offer is variety of options
Stores have found success with Big
Cumberland Farms 56%
for our customers—fruits, salads,
Red flavored ICEEs, while in the South,
etc.—as well as more indulgent offers
Mountain Dew Blue Shock is popular.
62
CSP
J une 2 0 1 2
Source: Technomic Inc.