As foodservice becomes a bigger focus at convenience stores, retailers are leaning into menu innovation, offering more customization and better promoting their food options to customers.
Over the past six to eight months, Duchess convenience stores, which has 120 locations in Ohio and West Virginia, has experienced double-digit growth in its proprietary foodservice segment. Duchess’ Director of Marketing, Nathan Arnold, attributes this healthy hike to the company’s “food-centric focus,” including an emphasis on consistent freshness and always having customers’ favorite core items.
“We recognized that we could do a better job at telling customers our freshness story,” Arnold pointed out. “For fiscal year 2023, we are posting more videos on how our products are made in our on-site kitchens to social media, advertising and on the TV screens we have in many of our stores.”
Arnold added that Duchess has also recently undergone a major audit of all its foodservice and beverage equipment. Analysis of food merchandising led to the move of the pizza sales area to the front counter where customers will see it as they go to check out.
A couple of years ago, the company added a Mexican concept called Tic Tac Taco to four of its stores. The concept has been well received by customers, and expansion into other Duchess stores is planned for the future, Arnold noted. Chainwide, Duchess features either a new product or price point every two months.
The company’s Crown Card rewards program helps entice regular gas-only customers to come into the stores for foodservice items by offering them a high-value or free offer. Arnold noted that a recent rewards campaign achieved an almost 40% redemption by customers who had never come into the stores before.
Emphasize Customization & LTOs
GetGo Café + Market, with more than 260 locations throughout western Pennsylvania, Ohio, northern West Virginia, Maryland and Indiana, prides itself on always being on point with what customers are craving.
“Our guests can enjoy an indulgent meatball sub, or they can choose something light for an afternoon snack,” said Farley Kaiser, senior director of GetGo fresh foods and beverage.
GetGo emphasizes customization of ingredients, sauces and toppings to give customers exactly the flavor profiles they want. Seasonal specialties also keep the menu interesting, Kaiser noted.
“Looking ahead this summer, we expect our barbecue offerings, including a bourbon-glazed barbecue sandwich, to be a big hit,” she elaborated. “And we’re bringing back our popular onion rings.”
She added that limited-time offers (LTOs) like this are “a huge part of the business” at GetGo. The company has found that popular core items provide a “safe place” for people to try new flavors.
“For example, if we launch a new barbecue sauce, guests may try it first on a burger, and once they find that they like it, the next time they’ll get a pulled pork sandwich with that same sauce,” she continued.
GetGo’s advertising is also food centric. A current commercial shows off the extensive menu and ends by saying, “Oh, and we have gas, too.”
Get Out of Your Comfort Zone
Rutter’s convenience stores, with 84 locations and growing in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Maryland, offers something for everyone on the menu, ranging from a four-ounce Angus burger to Asian-inspired wok bowls.
“Our goal for the future is innovation either through growth in our menu or cross-utilization of products we already have to create new items,” according to Chad White, food category manager.
Aside from a wide assortment of “staple items” such as egg rolls, burgers, pizza and breakfast sandwiches, the company is always trying new items “out of our comfort zone,” whether plant-based products or unique regional items like sweet bologna and red beet eggs, he noted.
Rutter’s has run a quarterly promotion on Spam — prepared a variety of ways — during the past two years and is scheduled to repeat it again this year. Customers can have Spam on an egg-and-cheese breakfast sandwich, with mac and cheese, with cheese on a pretzel roll or in a breakfast bowl.
He explained that the company would be doing more bundling through this year. For March Madness, for example, a Big Game Bundle consisting of 12 wings, 10 chicken strips, 12 mozzarella sticks, a liter of soda and a big bag of chips for $29.99 quickly gained traction, he said. A buy-one-get-one-free Taco Tuesday promotion offered through the Rutter’s Rewards loyalty program also resonates with customers, White said.
