Wawa, Sheetz Battle McDonald’s for Breakfast

Coffee from Wawa maybe the start of the morning beverage ritual for most people in the Delaware Valley and now in Central Florida but increasingly Wawa is battling Sheetz and McDonalds for a greater share of breakfast dollars. Wawa’s upgraded coffee program is made with 100% Arabica Beans then into a plethora of signature bends of coffee from mild or medium, rich or bold Wawa has a flavor for every taste but is that enough? 

Understanding that the fastest growing sector of retail foodservice is the grocerant niche Wawa is looking to garner a competitive advantage by edifying it customer base with a Limited Time Offer (LTO) $1.00 coffee for any size.  That is a price match as McDonald’s has been offering that in many markets for quite some time.

The ability for each Sheetz, Wawa, and McDonald’s to offer a great coffee at a competitive price that can be bundled with an array of breakfast products in a grocerant niche Mix and Match platform complements the daypart value proposition for consumers. 

Real value for McDonald’s customers means real eggs, real fast and bundled with McDonald’s coffee that is value priced, but bold in flavor.  That my friends is competitive positioning that will be hard to beat.  AM daypart is fast becoming the most competitive in the food industry as consumers shy away from breakfast cereals and are increasing in search of quality Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared handheld food for immediate consumption. 

Wawa and Sheetz each have a competitive set of traditional breakfast offerings.  McDonald’s on the other hand has the ‘halo’ of authentic first-mover advantage in the breakfast space and when you add their ability to leverage price both Sheetz and Wawa can and will have to compete with incremental Mix and Match offerings from a vastly larger selection of CPG products.  

Foodservice Solutions® specializes in outsourced business development. We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities or a brand leveraging integration strategy.  Foodservice Solutions® is the home of the Grocerant Guru®  and the global leader in the Grocerant niche. Visit: Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant or twitter.com/grocerant.