Menu innovation is imperative for food-forward convenience store retailers to compete in a market where customers have a plethora of restaurant options available to them. Whether or not a new menu item will become permanent, the excitement of new and seasonal choices will renew customers’ enthusiasm for the brand.
For retailers like Clifford Fuel Co., which has 21 Cliff’s Local Market locations in New York, change of season is its cue to add new limited-time offers (LTOs) to its menu, said Derek Thurston, Cliff’s director of foodservice operations. An example is its recent three-item “Taste of Summer” collection, featuring seasonal fruits, including a salad of strawberries, blueberries, candied walnuts, goat cheese, baby spinach and sweet Vidalia onion dressing. Another simpler LTO from the collection was a single-serve bowl packed with fresh-cut watermelon.
Cliff’s doesn’t limit its innovations to the lunch and dinner dayparts. Earlier this year, the stores brought out a new three-meat French toast stack, composed of two slices of cinnamon swirl French toast, an egg patty, sausage, bacon, ham and American cheese.
“This sandwich was phenomenally successful, accounting for between 17-18% of all breakfast sandwiches ordered from January through March,” Thurston reported.
For the first quarter of 2025, Thurston is working on LTOs that will spotlight turkey burnt ends, which he described as “the first new, innovative turkey in years.” Unsure that customers would respond to the description “burnt ends,” he plans to christen the product “smoked brisket-style turkey.” For this rollout, he will develop a wrap, sandwich and melt.
“A beef brisket LTO we introduced last year did really well, so we expect a good response to the turkey,” Thurston pointed out. “Turkey has a health halo while also being a comfort food, so it hits on different notes for the winter months.”
Beef brisket was also a winner when Sayre, Pa.-based Dandy Mini Mart added it to its menu last spring, according to James Fry, foodservice director for the chain, which has 60 stores in Pennsylvania and New York. For that LTO rollout, Dandy introduced the meat as a topping for pizza with barbecue sauce, cheese and ranch dressing; in a brisket mac and cheese; and on a flatbread.
LTOs generally remain on Dandy’s menu for two to three months.
“We want to constantly create excitement, especially for our regular customers, but not grow our menu,” Fry said.
Knoxville, Tenn.-based Pilot Co., with nearly 900 locations in 44 states and six Canadian provinces, recently launched a spicy chicken sandwich that has garnered much customer acclaim, explained Paul Sagnella, the company’s research and development chef.
To come up with new products, “we gather feedback from our guests about their preferences, as well as work with our vendor partners to evaluate upcoming cuisine styles, flavor profiles and overall trends in the marketplace,” he stated.
Two other items Sagnella is excited to see recently added to the menu as LTOs are a spicy Italian pizza and a Southwest salad, which he pointed out is a healthier option combining chicken, jalapeños and corn.
LTOs Gain Permanence
Some LTOs become so lucrative that they are added to the menu year-round.
An LTO item that earned a permanent spot in Cliff’s grab-and-go selection, for instance, is a chipotle turkey and bacon sandwich.
“Even though this is a premium item with a slightly higher price point than other items in the case, it accounts for 28% of all of our grab-and-go sandwiches,” Thurston stated.
At Dandy, breakfast LTOs have done well, Fry noted. For example, waffles as a sandwich carrier stirred up so much excitement among customers that they were added to the permanent menu.
Some of Pilot’s LTOs, too, returned to the menu due to popular demand, Sagnella commented. This year, the company brought back its popular Pilot Big Dog, a half-pound, 100% all-beef hot dog wrapped and baked in a garlicky dough. Nashville Hot Wings, which the company debuted a couple of years ago, were so popular that they were added to the permanent menu. The same goes for several breakfast sandwiches.
All three retailers pointed out that they use as many ingredients already in inventory as possible when creating new menu items.
Fry also explained that a key question when considering an LTO’s success is whether the new items can be executed at store level, even if the store is short staffed.
