There
is something important happening at Casey’s General Store, and it has very
little to do with chicken wings alone according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.
The
wings are simply the latest evidence.
For
decades, Casey’s has been quietly proving
that consumers do not necessarily care whether a meal comes from a restaurant,
convenience store, grocery store or another retail channel. They care about price,
value, service, quality, convenience and timing.
That
is precisely where Casey’s and the Grocerant Guru® philosophy intersect.
I
call it the Price Value Service Equilibrium: consumers continuously
balance what they pay, what they receive, how good the experience is and how
easily the food fits into their lives.
Casey’s is increasingly building its
prepared-food business around that equilibrium.
And
now, chicken wings are giving the company another way to win the consumer's
food dollar.
The Wings Are Flying — But Look at What They Are Really
Doing
Casey’s
latest chicken-wing results are particularly interesting because the company is
not simply selling more food to existing pizza customers.
According
to CEO Darren Rebelez, about 38% of guests purchasing wings have placed a
wings-only order.
That
distinction matters.
It
means the customer did not necessarily come to Casey’s for pizza and decide to
add wings.
The
wings created a new food occasion.
Even
more important, customers who purchased wings on a wings-only occasion
subsequently increased their overall frequency of prepared-food purchases from
Casey’s by approximately 30%.
In
the Des Moines market, where Casey’s has had wings the longest, wing sales were
up 46% year over year in the latest quarter.
That
is not simply a new menu item.
It
is an occasion-building strategy.
And
occasion building is one of the most powerful tools available to a modern
grocerant operator.
Casey’s
currently has wings in approximately 850 stores and is beginning another
rollout phase. Management has said it sees substantial room to expand the
category.
The
strategic objective is remarkably clear:
Do
for wings what Casey’s already did for
pizza.
Remember When Casey’s Was “Just” a Convenience Store?
This
is where the history becomes important.
Casey’s
began as a small-town general-store concept in Iowa. Over time, the company
evolved from a place primarily associated with fuel, groceries and convenience
into a retailer increasingly associated with prepared food.
The
pivotal move was pizza.
Casey’s introduced its made-from-scratch
pizza in the 1980s, and pizza became a foundational part of the company's
identity. Casey’s celebrated the 40th anniversary of its pizza business in
2025.
Historically,
the company did not stop with pizza.
It
added sandwiches, bakery products, breakfast foods, donuts, beverages and other
prepared foods.
By
the mid-1990s, Casey’s was already describing prepared food as an important
part of its product strategy, including made-from-scratch pizza and
commissary-produced sandwiches.
That
was an early version of what I have called the Grocerant Revolution.
The
retailer wasn't asking:
“Are
we a restaurant?”
It
was asking:
“What
food does the customer want, and can we make it conveniently available?”
That
is a very different question.
From 50 Million Pizzas to the Next Food Occasion
Today,
Casey’s says it operates roughly 3,000 convenience stores across 19 states and
describes itself as the fifth-largest pizza chain in the United States by
number of kitchens. The company also reports roughly 800 million guest
transactions annually.
The
pizza business is enormous.
Casey’s
sells the equivalent of approximately 50 million whole pizzas annually,
making pizza one of the company's most important prepared-food traffic drivers.
But
here's the strategic lesson:
A
successful food platform does not have to remain a one-product platform.
Pizza
gets customers thinking about Casey’s as food.
Wings
give them another reason to return.
Breakfast
gives them another.
Sandwiches
give them another.
Bakery
gives them another.
Beverages
give them another.
And
suddenly the convenience store is no longer competing for only the “I'm getting
gas” occasion.
It
is competing for what's for dinner, what's for lunch, what's for breakfast,
what's for tonight's gathering and what can I grab right now?
That
is grocerant thinking.
The Food Sales Numbers Tell the Story
The
financial results demonstrate that Casey’s prepared-food strategy is not merely
marketing language.
In
fiscal 2025, prepared food and dispensed beverage revenue reached approximately
$1.61 billion, up from $1.46 billion in fiscal 2024 and $1.32 billion in
fiscal 2023.
That
represented a 10.3% increase in prepared-food and dispensed-beverage revenue
in fiscal 2025, driven by 3.5% same-store sales growth plus growth from
additional stores.
Then
came fiscal 2026.
Prepared
food and dispensed beverage revenue increased to approximately $1.78 billion,
while same-store sales increased 5.2%. Casey’s specifically identified
strong whole-pizza performance as a major driver.
And
the momentum continued into fiscal 2027.
For
the quarter ended July 31, 2026, prepared-food and dispensed-beverage
same-store sales increased 4.8%, while the category's margin reached 59.3%.
Casey’s reported that positive traffic, led by whole pizzas, drove the
prepared-food performance.
Put
those numbers together and a pattern emerges:
Prepared
food isn't an accessory to Casey's convenience-store business. Prepared food is
increasingly one of the reasons customers come inside.
That
is a profound change.
The Price Value Service Equilibrium Is Working
This
is where I see a direct alignment between Casey’s strategy and the Grocerant
Guru® Price Value Service Equilibrium.
Consumers
don't evaluate food based on price alone.
They
evaluate the entire proposition:
Price
+ Quality + Service + Convenience + Experience = Perceived Value
Casey’s
has an interesting competitive advantage because it can combine several things
in one stop:
·
Convenience
·
Extended hours
·
Fuel
·
Prepared food
·
Beverages
·
Grocery items
·
Speed
·
Multiple occasions
·
A familiar local retail presence
And,
importantly, price remains part of the equation.
Casey’s
management has historically emphasized competing on price as well as location,
extended hours, product offerings and quality of service.
That
is precisely the equilibrium.
Consumers
don't necessarily need Casey’s to be the cheapest possible food provider.
They
need Casey’s to make the total value proposition feel right.
Pizza Taught Casey’s the Lesson. Wings Expand It.
There
is a subtle difference between selling another menu item and creating another
occasion.
Casey’s
wings appear to be doing the latter.
A
pizza can be dinner.
A
pizza can be lunch.
A
pizza can be a family meal.
A
pizza can be a game-night purchase.
But
wings can introduce different consumption occasions:
Friday
night. Football. A party. A snack. Dinner for one. Dinner for two. A late-night
meal. A shareable food purchase.
That
is why the 38% wings-only figure is so important.
The
consumer is telling Casey’s:
“I
don't need pizza to buy food from you.”
That
is an enormously valuable consumer message.
And Then There Is the Marketing Message
Marketing
matters here.
Casey’s
has spent decades building recognition around pizza, but the brand's messaging
increasingly positions the retailer as a destination for food rather than
merely a place that happens to sell food.
That
distinction is critical.
The
marketing message isn't simply:
“We
have wings.”
It
is closer to:
“Casey’s
is a place where you can get the food you want, when you want it.”
That
is a much bigger idea.
And
it is consistent with how successful grocerant concepts grow.
The
consumer doesn't want channel definitions.
The
consumer wants solutions.
They
don't wake up and say:
“Today
I would like to purchase food from a convenience-store foodservice operator.”
They
say:
“I'm
hungry.”
Or:
“What's
for dinner?”
Or:
“I
need something for the game.”
Or:
“I
need food now.”
The
retailer that solves that problem wins the occasion.
Casey’s Is Still a Convenience Store — Just Not Only a
Convenience Store
This
is the historical progression worth watching.
Casey’s
did not abandon convenience retail.
It
expanded the meaning of convenience.
Fuel
is convenient.
A
pizza is convenient.
A
wing order is convenient.
A
breakfast sandwich is convenient.
A
beverage is convenient.
And
putting all of those things under one roof makes the store more relevant to
more consumer occasions.
That
is why I continue to believe the future of food retail is not about protecting
traditional channel boundaries.
There
are no silos in the consumer's mind.
The
consumer sees:
Food.
Casey’s
increasingly sees it that way, too.
And
the wings are simply the latest proof point.
Three Insights From the Grocerant Guru®
1. The next growth opportunity is the next occasion.
Casey’s
isn't simply asking, “How many wings can we sell?”
The
more important question is:
“How
many new occasions can wings create?”
The
38% wings-only purchase rate and the roughly 30% increase in prepared-food
purchase frequency among those customers suggest the answer could be
significant.
The
lesson for every grocerant operator is simple:
Don't
just add products. Add reasons to return.
2. Price gets the consumer's attention. Value gets the
transaction.
The
Casey’s model demonstrates why the Price Value Service Equilibrium
matters.
A
consumer can find food almost anywhere.
But
the combination of price, quality, speed, convenience, service and
availability determines whether the consumer believes the purchase was
worth it.
That
is why Casey’s does not have to become a traditional restaurant to compete with
restaurants.
It
can create a different value equation.
3. The future belongs to food retailers that think in
occasions, not channels.
Casey’s
historical evolution—from general store to convenience retailer to major pizza
operator and increasingly sophisticated prepared-food destination—is a case
study in the Grocerant Revolution.
The
next generation of food competition will not be:
Restaurant
vs. convenience store.
Or:
Grocery
vs. restaurant.
Or:
C-store
vs. QSR.
It
will be:
Who
can solve the consumer's food occasion best?
Casey’s
wings are flying because they are doing more than selling chicken.
They
are giving consumers another reason to think:
“Casey’s
has food for that.”
And
in the modern grocerant marketplace, that may be the most valuable marketing
message of all.
The
consumer doesn't care what channel you call yourself. The consumer cares
whether you deliver the right Price Value Service Equilibrium at the right
time.
Success Leaves Clues—Are You Ready to Find Yours?
One
key insight that continues to drive success is this: "The consumer is
dynamic, not static." This principle is the foundation of our work at
Foodservice Solutions®, where Steven Johnson, the Grocerant Guru®, has been
helping brands stay relevant in an ever-evolving market.
Want
to strengthen your brand’s connection with today’s consumers? Let’s talk. Call
253-759-7869 for more information.
Stay Ahead of the Competition with Fresh Ideas
Is
your food marketing keeping up with tomorrow’s trends—or stuck in yesterday’s
playbook? If you're ready for fresh ideations that set your brand apart, we’re
here to help.
At
Foodservice Solutions®, we specialize in consumer-driven retail food strategies
that enhance convenience, differentiation, and individualization—key factors in
driving growth.
Email
us at Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us
Connect with us on social media: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter
