Tapping the pulse of customer demands and maintaining a fresh menu is a full-time feat for c-stores, but Rutter’s is up to the challenge.
By Erin Rigik Del Conte, Senior Editor
Rutter’s Farm Stores, which operates 68 convenience stores in Pennsylvania, continues to fortify its position at the forefront of c-store menu innovation.
Convenience Store Decisions sat down with Ryan Krebs, the retailer’s director of food service, to learn its evolving approach to keeping the menu exciting and fresh, while staying up to date with ever-changing consumer demands.
Convenience Store Decisions (CSD): How is Rutter’s upgrading its menu to fit with the latest consumer demands?
Ryan Krebs (RK): Consumer “demand” today heavily revolves around customization, transparency and quality. No matter what is on the menu, these key components should be taken into consideration. Rutter’s has added a seafood line, clean label products and propriety items, to name a few, to meet those demands. Keeping pace with the ever-evolving landscape can be a challenge, in understanding customer behaviors; it allows us to focus on specific priorities that will satisfy their needs and wants.
CSD: In January of this year, Rutter’s introduced hot hold bags in order to add more sides from the prepared food side to the grab-and-go section. Has Rutter’s added any new items since then?
RK: In addition to 15 items already offered, including mozzarella sticks, chicken wings, French fries and beef short ribs, we’ve added our new seafood line to include fried shrimp, fried clams, fried scallops and tavern-battered cod. To follow suit with the seafood lineup, Rutter’s also launched a crab and roasted corn chowder.
CSD: When thinking about menu development, what are some key considerations? Do you focus on condiments or cross-utilize ingredients to make the menu more diverse?
RK: Certainly condiments can add a unique eating experience for a similar item. Rutter’s uses a cross-utilization approach wherever possible, particularly with proteins. This can provide a dozen different options for the customer while using a singular SKU. With space and storage at a premium, maximizing each item to its fullest is critical. Rutter’s always takes customer feedback and store employee ideas into consideration, as they are the eyes and ears of the business. We’ve added customer requests to the menu, as well as used recipes suggested by our team members.
CSD: How do you determine when it’s time to add a new item and what to add?
RK: Some items you just “know” are going to resonate, as Rutter’s did with our funnel cake fries and PA Dutch Chicken Pot Pie. Both were delicious and local; essentially no brainers. Decisions can also be made either based a specific category focus we want to build on or, other times, it may be a singular, on-trend item we want to offer. The relationship with manufacturing partners is critical, which can provide a first-to-market idea or specific customization that fits our specific needs.
Rather than just looking at an independent item, I try to look holistically at the food experience. I don’t just want to provide a fish sandwich and say we’re in the seafood business; I want Rutter’s to be a full category destination for our customers. Whether it’s a local focus or an ethic experience, we have the ability to capture dining experiences while others (quick-service restaurants and specialty restaurants) may only have a singular focus. The quality must match the offering, but our diversity can satisfy any need state of any customer if done correctly and with purpose.
CSD: How does Rutter’s cross-utilize ingredients to make the menu go further and how is this helpful to menu development?
RK: Cross-utilization, in my opinion, is critical. It helps control product on hand, waste and execution. At the same time, it can result in varying eating experiences…a fried chicken that can be a chicken Parmesan sub, a breakfast burrito, a kid’s meal, an independent side or a pizza topping. It expands the menu to meet the customization demand. There are circumstances, of course, where cross-utilization may not be possible, such as funnel cake fries. But if the success of a singular item is strong, it can stand alone in its offering.
CSD: Rutter’s recently added new black chef coats this past February. Why did Rutter’s make this change?
RK: Loaded question, but you did ask. So here goes. I remember standing on a chair next to my grandma watching her cook, so my love of food began at an early age. When deciding to attend culinary school, I was blessed with working at a prestigious hotel under a chef who became my first true mentor. I started by wearing a regular employee cook shirt. I’ll never forget the day the chef walked up to me with a brand new chef coat, with the company and my name stitched on the chest, handed it to me and said, “Now go make me proud.” I knew by that gesture what the chef coat meant to him and what he was telling me. I remember that moment every time I put one on.
When I started this position, I knew without a doubt that Rutter’s restaurant quality, customer service and our management team aligned with the definition of what it means to wear chef coats. And, I felt strongly that our management deserved to wear a coat that stands behind that type of industry image.
CSD: How does the company’s chef coat program influence customer perception?
RK: Customers love the chef coats. It sends the visual message that we are a top-tier organization, providing first-class service and quality to our guests. It makes the management easily identifiable and lets the customers know that we have the best, most talented food people in the industry. CSD
