As foodservice continues to increase in importance as a key revenue center in convenience stores, retailers and experts are keeping a laser focus on what’s working in the stores and trends that are likely to affect its subcategories this year. Hot coffee, fresh bakery, chicken, roller grill, pizza, sandwiches and burritos/Hispanic foods remain core programs for most convenience stores today due to their wide appeal. Across these segments customers are showing strong preferences for value in terms of both fresh and high-quality items and affordability. Retailers are offering promotions, limited-time offers and continued innovation in the category to drive menu excitement and keep customers returning for more.
Elevating Coffee
Hot dispensed coffee continues to make convenience stores destination worthy for many Americans, especially for younger consumers, according to the National Coffee Association’s (NCA) “2024 Quick Service Restaurants & Convenience Stores” report. Thirty-three percent of respondents in an NCA survey said they bought a coffee from a convenience store or gas station in the past month. Of those consumers, 44% said they bought only coffee and no other foods and beverages.
“Overall, U.S. consumers spend $7.4 billion on coffee in convenience stores annually, and $110 billion on coffee and related goods across all venues,” noted NCA CEO and President William “Bill” Murray. “Also, a whopping 99% of past-month convenience store coffee buyers were satisfied with the coffee they purchased.”
Murray pointed out that younger consumers purchase the most coffee from convenience stores and gas stations, with 40% of millennials and 37% of Gen Z buying coffee from these outlets in the past month. Younger consumers are also driving growth in specialty coffee sales made from premium-grade beans.
“Past-day specialty coffee consumption is at a 13-year high,” Murray explained. “Last year, for the first time, we saw that more coffee drinkers (45%) had specialty coffee in the past day than had traditional coffee (38%).”
At Cubby’s convenience stores’ 39 locations in Iowa and South Dakota, coffee unit sales are down slightly, but profit dollars have marginally increased, noted Brian Davis, manager of the company’s fountain, age-sensitive and cold-vault categories. Since the third quarter of last year, the chain has been replacing the drip brewers in the c-stores with bean-to-cup equipment.
He added that, in addition to brewing a fresh cup every time, the change allows the stores to give customers more choices. From the three to four varieties available in the drip pots, Cubby’s can offer up to eight roasts with the newer bean-to-cup technology.
“It’s all about giving our customers the best experience to keep them coming back,” Davis stated.
Boosting Bakery
Mintel’s “In-Store Bakery — US — 2024” report found in-store bakery sales were close to $19 billion last year, reflecting a growth of 5.4% over the previous year. The research firm predicted another 4.5% increase through 2028.
“Building longer-term loyalty, shopping habits and growth in the in-store bakery will require a healthy balance of indulgence and meeting everyday needs,” the report suggested.
The report noted that exponential growth in the category will slow as inflation cools. However, the bread, bun and breakfast bakery segments are expected to “pave the path for future growth.”
Breakfast is big business for the in-store bakeries at Kwik Trip and Kwik Star stores, which have 900 locations in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan, Illinois and South Dakota. The stores bake between 25 and 30 different items every day, said Paul Servais, retail food service director for the company.
“We have it all — multiple varieties of doughnuts, muffins, cookies, cinnamon rolls, bars and brownies — and they all do well,” Servais explained. “Our central bakery makes the products and ships them frozen to the stores where they are thawed and frosted.”
Items are available in a self-serve format and prepackaged for grab and go. Bakery sales are consistently increasing at Kwik Trip and Kwik Star, which Servais attributed to heavy promotion — including rotating sales prices — and continued innovation.
“We do a lot with limited-time offers, and we have some new doughnuts and flavors of cookies we’re excited about for this year,” Servais noted.
Innovation on the menu can create new occasions and so can getting creative with pairings and merchandising that embrace the full power of the perimeter, Mintel emphasized.
“Social media engagement, daily specials and even in-store experiences can draw consumers into the bakery and inspire intentional visits to this department,” the report concluded.
Championing Chicken
Chicken remains a popular foodservice offering, with c-store sales bolstered by customers’ love for the product and heavy promotional activity by the stores, retailers reported. For many consumers, it is the ideal convenience food.
“Chicken tastes good, it’s versatile, it’s not very messy and it doesn’t require a condiment,” explained Jessica Russell, food service director at Clark’s Pump ‘n Shop, which has 68 locations in Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia, 75% of which offer either Krispy Krunchy Chicken or Champ’s Chicken. “Tenders sell the best, but we also sell a healthy number of bone-in pieces.”
In recent months, Clark’s has scaled down its chicken menu to encourage more pairings with sides and other ancillary items. For 2025, Russell said, the company is focusing on innovation through limited-time offers, value deals and a strong advertising program to back up its in-store promotions.
At SunStop Markets, fresh fried chicken is “the hero” of the company’s Eats Southern Cookin’ foodservice brand, noted Michelle Weckstein, director of food and beverage brands. The program is available in 34 of the 81 SunStop stores in Georgia, Florida and Alabama.
“Chicken accounts for at least 40% of our prepared food sales,” she continued. “Among our customer favorites are our jumbo tenders, eight-piece pack and fried livers and gizzards.”
A few years ago, SunStop added baked chicken to its menu to accommodate customers on the keto diet.
“It sells incredibly well in some of our stores,” Weckstein said. “Now everyone is on the GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) weight-loss drug, and they want it, too.”
Weckstein predicted that the chicken category should continue to grow because it is the least expensive protein next to pork.
“The cost of chicken for the entire year rose only 1% while beef went up 15%,” she explained. “But bird flu can change the commodity price.”
Pizza Evolution
Pizza consumption in the U.S. is stable, with over half of consumers saying they have maintained their pizza consumption over the last year, said Mintel’s “Pizza — US — 2024” report. It stated that convenience and affordability remain key factors in pizza consumption.
For 2025 and 2026, Mintel predicted that ready-to-eat hot pizza consumption will grow “as retailers improve offerings to better compete with restaurants on quality and freshness at lower prices.” The report noted that younger consumers, in particular, will drive this growth.
Looking ahead to 2027 and 2028, Mintel foresees growing health concerns that will require brands to offer healthier crusts, plant-based options and more flavor varieties.
At the 20 of Cliff’s Local Market’s 22 locations in New York where pizza is available, sales in the total category (slices and whole pies) increased 6.7% over the previous year, said Derek Thurston, director of foodservice operations, Cliff’s. Slice sales rose 2.54% and whole pies 15.65%. Total pizza same-store sales climbed 12.61% in November and December. Slices went up 10.57% and whole pies 18.09%, he continued.
“For this year, I see continued growth as we continue to innovate in this space,” Thurston noted.
According to Mintel, retailers can boost their pizza sales by highlighting its adaptability across all dayparts. The report suggested that retailers focus on “building out the lunch occasion.”
“Younger consumers are less restricted to having pizza for specific dining occasions compared to older demographics, who tend to view pizza as an evening meal,” the report said.
At Cliff’s, pizza sales are strong from the morning breakfast daypart through dinnertime, Thurston pointed out.
“At breakfast and lunch, we sell a ton of slices, then sales switch to whole pies in the evening,” he said. “We make sure we have pizza out in front of our customers all the time.”
Innovating With Sandwiches
Innovative twists on comfort classics, locally sourced ingredients and the use of different condiments and sauces to create different flavor profiles are whetting customers’ appetites for hot and cold sandwiches, retailers reported.
At Alltown Fresh, which has 16 locations in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire and New York, Jac Moskalik, vice president and head of food, innovation and strategy, sees younger customers gravitating toward new twists on the comfort foods they loved as children.
“It could be a BLT or grilled cheese with an unexpected ingredient or a different kind of carrier like a croissant, pretzel bread or different wraps; Gen X and millennials like to combine the familiar with something new,” Moskalik explained. “To keep the menu new and fresh, we’re also coming up with a huge increase in limited-time offers with the help of our suppliers.”
She added that these younger customers like to hear the supplier stories behind the sandwich ingredients, such as ham and cheese, especially if they are locally sourced.
“We’re heavy on local ingredients,” she said. “Customers are also interested to know that we use clean ingredients.”
James Fry, foodservice director for Dandy Mini Marts, which operates 63 stores in Pennsylvania and New York, uses different sauces to develop unique flavor profiles for the stores’ sandwiches.
“Whenever possible, I’m using ingredients we already have in the store to avoid adding other PLUs (price look-up codes),” Fry explained. “Our customers like different flavors, but not too much outside the norms.”
Some customers at Dandy have been asking for keto-friendly wraps, so Fry said he is looking into those. Trying different breads will be a focus for the second half of this year to the first half of next year, he explained.
This year, both Alltown and Dandy are looking to expand their cold grab-and-go selections. Moskalik pointed out that Alltown is also working on strategies for leveraging sandwich sales into the evening daypart.
Roller Grill Opportunity
While many convenience stores’ offerings have expanded far beyond hot dogs and sausages, retailers still describe the roller grill as integral to the success of their foodservice programs and store-wide sales.
Cenex Zip Trip uses the roller grill “as a hook to sell beverages and other snacks at our stores,” explained Jon Fleck, merchandising manager for the chain, which has 38 stores in seven different states. Twenty-five of the stores have roller grills.
“In roughly 14 of our stores, this foodservice option is in addition to nationally branded offerings, including Hunt Brothers Pizza and A&W,” Fleck noted.
Early last year, Zip Trip stores dropped the retail price on roller grill items, despite increasing protein costs, to sell more products throughout the stores.
“In most of the markets we serve, we saw a 45% increase in the number of units sold, with a much smaller increase in dollar sales,” Fleck said. “But we feel it helped increase sales of other complementary items.”
He noted he expected to see “a steady increase” in roller grill unit sales throughout this year.
According to Philip Santini, senior director of advertising and foodservice at Rutter’s, which has 88 convenience stores in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Maryland, the roller grill is “a very large part” of the company’s extensive foodservice program.
“The hot dog has always been the star of the show in this category because it’s hot and readily available for on-the-go eating,” Santini explained.
The roller grill offers “a lot of opportunity for expansion of flavor profiles,” and Santini noted that Rutter’s also features a number of different sausage varieties, roller bites and tornados and is looking to continue to expand its offerings.
“We’re seeing a lot of chicken items and more flavors of hot dogs and sausages, and we’re looking at all of those,” he added. Santini expects roller grill sales to be consistent throughout 2025. He is planning to promote the products as snacks and appetizers as well as meal solutions at Rutter’s.
Hispanic Food Success
Burritos and other Hispanic foods are boosting foodservice sales for convenience store retailers with their versatility and mainstream appeal.
Since becoming a proprietary concept in the late 1990s, Kwik & Fresh Mexi has evolved into “a big part of the deli program” in the select Kwik Stop Convenience Stores where it is offered, noted M. David May, director of food services. Five of the company’s 27 stores in Nebraska and Colorado currently feature Kwik & Fresh Mexi, and it’s soon to be six when store No. 28 is completed.
To say the concept is integral to the foodservice programs in those stores is an understatement, according to May.
“In these stores, Kwik & Fresh Mexi represents about 20% of overall deli sales across the day,” May explained. “What’s even nicer is that our gross profit margin from this concept is 65%.”
May stated that burritos and tacos lend themselves to a wide range of applications that do not require bringing in new ingredient SKUs. For the five-layer burrito, a former limited-time offer and now permanent menu item, for example, he only had to bring in Spanish rice.
“We quickly found out that the Spanish rice itself sells like gangbusters,” he said. “Now we sell it by itself in small, medium and large containers.”
In early 2024, Onvo convenience stores, which has 40 locations in Pennsylvania and New York, introduced a new program called Craveritos. Its signature toasted burritos can be filled with anything from traditional Southwest- and Mexican-inspired ingredients to American fusion offerings such as barbecued pulled pork, said Harman Aulakh, vice president of marketing for Onvo.
“Also on the menu are breakfast tacos and bowls that utilize the burrito fillings minus the tortilla,” he continued.
