Foodservice
Solutions® Grocerant Guru® asked “What is a
convenience fresh food retailer?” The answer is where consumers are migrating
at and exceptional rate from traditional food retailers too grocerant niche
Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh food retail in short Wawa.
Chris
Gheysens CEO and President of Wawa in comments made while marking Wawa’s
52nd anniversary stated “foodservice and beverage account for more
than 50 percent of Wawa's revenue.”
When
your convenience store revenue evolves to the point that more than 50% of your
revenue is derived from grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh
prepared food your company has transitioned from a traditional convenience
store operator to a grocerant retailer.
Gheysens
continued, "We still sell a tremendous amount of traditional convenience
products, such as cigarettes, cold beverages and snacks," he said.
"But a differential for our brand has been fresh food. In the last decade,
we've been dedicated to quality and assortment, like you would find in a fast
casual, or even a sit-down restaurant."
In
the past Gheyens has called Wawa a “Fast Casual Restaurant To-Go”. If a company wants to look like a restaurant
it must act like one as well according to our Grocerant Guru®. Now for the first time Wawa is hiring a food
and beverage manager, and a food and beverage supervisor for each unit.
The
typical Wawa footprint measures between 4,500-5,000 square feet and with 700+
locations from New Jersey too Florida watch for Wawa to continue opening new
units along the I 95 corridor. To this
point Wawa’s growth has been organic. We
are now wondering how long will it be before Wawa looks West, and looks for an
acquisition to fuel new growth?
Since 1991 retail food consultancy Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma, WA
has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche for more on Foodservice Solutions® or for a Grocerant Scorecard visit http://www.linkedin.com/in/grocerant, www.FoodserviceSolutions.us Email: Steve@FoodserviceSoltuions.us
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