Hand Held Food for Immediate Consumption Still Drives C-Store Sales

 

Don’t get me the wrong idea convenience stores are fast evolving into a viable new generational platform by selling fresh food fast that can be mix matched, and bundled into a customized family meal.  How are they doing that?  According to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®. “they are selling hand held food for immediate consumption and empowering consumer to add milk, eggs, bread, cereal too an online order that will be delivered within a half hour.

Take Kum & Go as an example they have added items to its fresh food menu the new items include grab-and-go breakfast burritos with four premium meat options, as well as made-to-order breakfast bowls featuring a choice of breakfast potato or wilted spinach base. Previous favorites of the new concept, including stackers and grain bowls, remain on the menu.

Kum & Go’s Jac Moskalik, vice president of food innovation, stated, “Our food pilot launched last fall continues to grow as we offer our customers crave-able food options when and where they need them. The fascinating part of the pilot was evaluating how our customers responded to the new food offering and building out additional assortment based on shopping habits and trends for continued success. We have certainly challenged the perceived ‘norm’ of convenience store food and are excited for what the future holds,”.

Technology matters in 2022, so, in addition to relaunching its new food menu, Kum & Go introduced web ordering as a method for customers to order food and merchandise via the Kum & Go website. Web orders can be picked up in store or delivered curbside (and fuel side), with a minimum fulfillment time of 10 minutes using the “ASAP” option or scheduled for a future pickup time.

Kum & Go’s Ryan Lindsley, vice president of marketing and digital strategy, stated, “Web ordering is yet another way Kum & Go is extending beyond our four walls and bringing our ‘crave-able’ fresh food and wide variety of products to our customers. This will be a great way to recruit new customers to try our new offerings and encourage participation in our &Rewards loyalty program, mobile fuel pay and mobile ordering in our &Rewards app,”.

Kum & Go continues to roll out its refreshed brand and new food program across its footprint, focused on implementation in Des Moines, Iowa this year. Web ordering capabilities are planned to be implemented across its entire footprint later this year.

In case you did not know, established in Hampton, Iowa in 1959, Kum & Go is a fourth-generation, family-owned convenience store chain. Kum & Go plans to hire over 5,000 associates across all locations this year, adding 176 food positions as it expands its brand and food program in the Des Moines market.

Looking for success clues of your own? Foodservice Solutions® specializes in outsourced food marketing and business development ideations. We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities, technology, or a new menu product segment.  Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma WA is the global leader in the Grocerant niche visit us on our social media sites by clicking one of the following links: Facebook,  LinkedIn, or Twitter