As convenience stores grow their foodservice offerings, finding the proper balance between minimizing foodservice waste while maintaining enough product to meet sales goals is essential. From making ingredients stretch across the menu to finding sustainable options to manage waste, retailers are implementing innovative strategies to boost efficiency, control costs and enhance overall operations.
At York, Pa.-based Rutter’s, the foodservice team actively cross-utilizes ingredients across multiple menu items to reduce spoilage and to help streamline the chain’s supply chain. That means that a single protein or sauce might be used in breakfast items, sandwiches, bowls and even salads.
“By designing our menu around versatile, high-usage ingredients, we not only reduce the risk of product expiration but also simplify ordering, storage and prep,” said Philip Santini, senior director of advertising and food service for The Rutter’s Cos., which operates 89 stores in Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia.
What’s more, by having a flexible core set of ingredients from proteins and cheeses to sauces and fresh produce that are used across multiple dayparts and menu categories, Rutter’s provides extensive customization for its foodservice customers without overextending its inventory, Santini explained.
The chain avoids specialty ingredients or low-turn items that are exclusive to a single dish, which simplifies inventory management and reduces the risk of spoilage. Meanwhile, customers still experience variety and personalization given the combinations of ingredients in stock.
“It’s a balance that supports both operational efficiency and a fresh, high-quality food experience,” Santini said. “This strategy enables us to offer a broad menu with minimal waste, helping us strike a balance between operational efficiency and customer choice.”
It also helps Rutter’s forecast more accurately, allowing the chain to confidently order larger volumes of core ingredients that serve multiple purposes across dayparts,” Santini said.
Like Rutter’s, La Crosse, Wis.-based Kwik Trip also cross-utilizes ingredients across multiple menu items, which helps prevent excess, noted Selia Kleine, director of foodservice for Kwik Trip, which operates 900 Kwik Trip and Kwik Star stores in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan, Illinois and South Dakota. Cheese, for example, is used on about 20 different items, she pointed out. A condiment bar allows guests to customize their order with the toppings they desire.
Forecasting Demand
Foodservice operators at c-stores have the challenge of forecasting demand to prevent overproduction while still ensuring they have enough inventory to meet customer needs and grow sales.
“Our strategy at this point has been to look at the weekly sales and waste report and adjust quantities based on the reports,” noted James Fry, food director for Dandy Mini Marts, which operates 63 stores in Pennsylvania and New York.
When it comes to critical food items, Dandy prefers that its stores have a week’s worth of inventory on hand in order to withstand any delivery interruptions, Fry explained.
Kwik Trip relies on an hourly sales-on-demand report to help it manage waste.
“It gives you a guideline of what to make every hour on the hour or what you’re selling on the hour, so you can see the ebbs and flows of the business,” said Kleine. “So, if normally, at noon, you sell 30 cheeseburgers, you know that at 12 p.m. – 12:30 p.m., you need to be ready to potentially sell 30 cheeseburgers.”
Kwik Trip also employs an inventory control sheet, which the stores use to place their orders each day. “They set up a base number — (for example) a base number of two for, let’s say, cheeseburgers. So, when they go to do their orders, if they don’t have at least two on hand, then they know they need to order more.”
In addition, the chain uses focus day ordering/calculators.
“We do different specials on certain days of the week, and we have a focus day ordering guide,” said Kleine. If, for example, chicken sandwiches are on sale, “you go to this tab that has chicken sandwiches on it and you type in what your goal is, and it calculates out and tells you everything you need in the order codes to hit your goal. It’ll tell you that you need this many boxes of chicken patties, this many boxes of labels, this many boxes of cheese. It’ll give you all the specifics on what you need to do to hit that goal.”
This largely prevents overordering or underordering, she added.
Predicting outside indicators that might impact traffic flow is also key.
“Weather affects us,” Kleine said. “So does the Friday night high school basketball game. Stores work with local agencies and know their community events, then make needed changes on production whether it’s increasing or decreasing dependent on traffic flow.”
At Rutter’s, demand forecasting “is rooted in understanding seasonal business patterns, like summer travel peaks or post-holiday slowdowns and adjusting prep and ordering accordingly,” Santini said. “Historical sales data guides our decisions, but it’s our consistent foodservice team training that truly brings it to life.”
To that end, Rutter’s trains its employees on business flow, food costs and the impact of spoilage, equipping team members to make smart, real-time decisions.
“For instance, during slower periods, our team knows to reduce perishable prep while staying ready for sudden traffic spikes,” Santini explained. “When staff understand why food waste matters, they naturally support the how, making a big difference in both waste reduction and operational efficiency.”
Foodservice Sustainability
More retailers today are embracing innovative sustainability practices to reduce waste and give back to their communities. One strategy is donating unsold yet still-safe-to-eat food to local food banks. By partnering with hunger relief organizations, c-stores can reduce landfill waste, support those in need and strengthen their brand’s commitment to social responsibility.
Kwik Trip partners with Feeding America. In-store items are pulled at least a day prior to their expiration date and moved to an area where they are evaluated by the store leader.
“We have a list of items that we’re allowed to donate to Feeding America. Some of it we have to put into the cooler. And some of it we have to freeze right away. And then, depending on the area of where your store is located, they’ll come two to three times a week to pick the product up,” Kleine said.
The chain also makes future corrections based on leftover product amounts. “We have checks and balances on what we need to make for next time or if we overproduced,” Kleine said.
Using an app, the team tracks what sold. “Let’s say (hypothetically) we made six cheeseburgers, sold two and the other four were given to Feeding America. Then that way, this time next week we know we shouldn’t make so many. Maybe we cut it down to three because you only sold two last time.”
Kleine noted that Feeding America is a unique program that has allowed the chain to help communities while keeping items out of landfills. “It’s been a good partnership,” she said.
Dandy recently partnered with the Southern Tier Food Bank and its affiliates to pick up unsold food donations.
“We piloted one store back in September, and it went well,” Fry said.
The chain has since expanded the program to an additional four locations and plans to grow the program to more stores going forward.
“What amazed me after talking with the director of the food bank is how much Dandy’s donation is impacting our local communities in a positive way. I never realized how many people rely on the local food banks to make ends meet on a weekly basis or even just to sustain oneself,” Fry said. “I would also like to applaud those that are volunteering their time that make the operation seamless.”
