From the Grocerant Guru® Stage, Why 2025 Was the Tipping Point: Convenience Stores Became True Meal Destinations

 

When I stood on stage at the Convenience Store News Exchange in Denver last May, I told this audience something that felt provocative to some and obvious to others: the future of food is not about channels — it is about occasions. Grubhub’s 2025 Delivered Report now validates that assertion with hard data and real consumer behavior.

Let me be clear: 2025 was not simply a good year for c-store foodservice. It was the year convenience stores crossed the psychological threshold from “emergency food” to intentional meal destination. That shift did not happen by accident. It happened because the industry leaned directly into what I have defined for years as the Grocerant niche — fresh food, prepared on demand or ready-to-eat, optimized for speed, value, and relevance.

Protein, Heat, and Handhelds Win the Occasion

Grubhub’s data shows that consumers moved decisively away from passive snack items and toward hot, protein-forward, grab-and-go foods — taquitos, chicken rollers, and hot dogs leading the charge. That mirrors exactly what I highlighted in Denver: consumers are no longer “snacking up,” they are mealing down — replacing traditional QSR visits with faster, closer, more controllable solutions.

In 2024, bananas and sodas still ranked among top c-store delivery items. By 2025, the consumer sent a clear signal: bring me heat, bring me protein, bring me immediacy. Convenience, as Grubhub accurately stated, “got strategic.” What that really means is that c-stores stopped imitating restaurants and instead outperformed them on friction, speed, and price-value perception.

At CSN Exchange, I cited the rise of handheld protein platforms as the most scalable foodservice opportunity in the channel — rollers, wraps, breakfast sandwiches, tacos, and global street-food formats that travel well, eat cleanly, and satisfy quickly. Grubhub’s order data confirms that thesis at scale.

Made-to-Order Is No Longer Optional

The statistic that should stop every operator in their tracks: 85% of consumers have tried made-to-order food from a convenience store. That is not trial; that is adoption.

Retailers that understood this earlier — Casey’s, 7-Eleven, Weigel’s — did not treat foodservice as an add-on. They treated it as infrastructure. I referenced this exact evolution in Denver when discussing commissary-enabled consistency, noting that Weigel’s investment in a centralized commissary was not a cost center but a growth engine. Casey’s continued strength in prepared food and dispensed beverages further proves that when execution improves, velocity follows.

7-Eleven’s commitment to a food-forward design in its 1,300 new U.S. stores underscores what I said on stage: the box must now be designed around food, not fuel. Fuel brings traffic. Food builds loyalty.

Foodmaxxing: Function Meets Flavor Meets Shareability

Grubhub’s concept of “foodmaxxing” aligns directly with what I described in Denver as functional indulgence — food that satisfies hunger, supports wellness goals, and looks good enough to share socially.

The surge in gut-healthy bean salads, a 135% increase in grocery bean orders, and the proliferation of protein-labeled items in unexpected categories all point to a consumer who is no longer choosing between health and convenience. They expect both. Protein cookies, popcorn, cinnamon rolls — these are not fads; they are signals of permission. Consumers are telling retailers: solve more needs in one stop.

Beverage behavior reinforces this shift. Cold foam growth of 75%, matcha up 34%, and tens of thousands of electrolyte drinks delivered monthly all speak to liquid functionality — beverages as tools, not treats. This is exactly why I told the Denver audience that beverage programs must evolve from fountain-centric to purpose-driven platforms.

2026 Insight: Fresh Food Fast Is the Only Path Forward

Looking ahead to 2026, the path is clear. The winners will not be the stores with the biggest menus, but the ones with the clearest food identity.

Three forward-looking realities every operator should internalize:

1.       Fresh Food Fast Will Define Competitive Advantage
Speed alone is no longer enough. Freshness must be visible, credible, and consistent. Consumers now equate freshness with trust — and trust with repeat visits.

2.       Protein Will Remain the Anchor, Not the Accent
Whether animal-based or plant-forward, protein is the currency of modern meals. The most successful c-stores will build modular platforms that allow protein to flex across dayparts and cuisines.

3.       Delivery Data Will Shape Store Design
Platforms like Grubhub are not just distribution channels; they are insight engines. The data clearly shows which items travel, which satisfy, and which convert. Smart operators will design menus — and kitchens — backward from that reality.

The takeaway is simple but profound: convenience stores did not steal share from restaurants by becoming better restaurants. They won by becoming better grocerants — places where fresh food, prepared food, and immediate consumption converge.

2025 was the proof year.
2026 will be the execution year.

Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing ideas look more like yesterday than tomorrow? Interested in learning how our Grocerant Guru® can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization?  Email us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or visit: us on our social media sites by clicking one of the following links: Facebook,  LinkedIn, or Twitter

DoorDash’s Zesty Is Not a Detour—It’s the Next Logical Step Toward the Grocerant Future

 

For more than a decade, DoorDash has demonstrated a rare ability to listen to consumers, interpret behavioral shifts, and operationalize them at scale. What began as a last-mile logistics solution for restaurants has evolved into one of the most influential food-access platforms in North America. The introduction of Zesty, DoorDash’s AI-powered restaurant discovery app, should be viewed not as an experiment on the fringe, but as another deliberate step toward the Grocerant niche—the convergence of foodservice, retail, experience, and digital convenience that I have identified, defined, quantified, and qualified for years.

DoorDash’s Evolution: Each Step Closer to the Grocerant Model

Phase One: Access and Convenience
DoorDash’s early growth was fueled by a simple but powerful insight: consumers value frictionless access to prepared food. By solving the logistics problem for independent restaurants and chains alike, DoorDash expanded meal choice without requiring new real estate. This mirrored an early Grocerant principle—food available where and when the consumer wants it, without traditional constraints.

Phase Two: Assortment and Ecosystem Expansion
As DoorDash added grocery, convenience, alcohol, and retail categories, it moved beyond “delivery” and into curated food access. Industry data consistently shows that households increasingly mix and match meals—restaurant food, ready-to-eat grocery items, and heat-and-serve solutions—within the same week, and often the same day. DoorDash recognized that consumers do not think in channels; they think in occasions. This is foundational Grocerant thinking.

Phase Three: Discovery and Decision Support
Zesty represents a pivotal shift from transaction-first to experience-first engagement. By aggregating signals from Google Maps, TikTok, Reddit, Eater, and its own data, DoorDash is acknowledging a critical food industry truth: discovery now precedes demand. Consumers—especially younger cohorts—decide where and why to eat before deciding how to transact.

Zesty’s “build your going out vibe” prompt language is particularly telling. It reframes dining as a social and emotional experience, not just a menu search. This aligns squarely with Grocerant dynamics, where food competes with entertainment, social connection, and lifestyle expression.

 Zesty Matters Strategically

Separating Zesty from the core DoorDash app is a smart brand architecture decision. The DoorDash app is optimized for speed, efficiency, and fulfillment. Zesty is optimized for inspiration, social validation, and exploration. Together, they create a full-funnel ecosystem:

·       Inspire (Zesty)

·       Decide (AI-curated recommendations and peer content)

·       Transact (DoorDash core platform)

This mirrors the Grocerant model seen in leading global retailers and foodservice innovators, where discovery, engagement, and fulfillment are distinct but interconnected functions.

Notably, DoorDash’s decision not to prioritize DoorDash-partnered restaurants reinforces credibility and trust—two currencies increasingly critical in AI-driven recommendation environments. The platform is positioning itself as a neutral discovery layer, which enhances long-term consumer loyalty and platform relevance.

Zesty as a Grocerant Catalyst

Zesty is not just about “going out.” It is about blurring boundaries—between digital and physical, between social media and commerce, between food as fuel and food as experience. That is the Grocerant sweet spot.

DoorDash is effectively saying: We don’t just deliver meals; we help you decide how food fits into your life.

That is a powerful, future-proof position.

 

Ideations from the Grocerant Guru®

1.       Occasion-Based Food Pathways
Move beyond restaurant recommendations and curate full “food occasions” that blend dine-out, pickup, and ready-at-home components. For example: Date Night Pathway—restaurant discovery, dessert delivery, and next-morning brunch suggestions, all informed by behavior and context.

2.       Dynamic Micro-Merchants and Pop-Up Discovery
Use Zesty to surface time-bound food experiences—ghost kitchens, pop-ups, limited-time chef residencies, and retailer foodservice hybrids. This would give DoorDash first-mover advantage in monetizing culinary scarcity and local relevance.

3.       AI-Personalized Food Identity Scores
Develop a consumer-facing “food identity” profile based on exploration, social engagement, and purchase behavior. This would allow Zesty to evolve from recommendation engine to personal food concierge, a defining capability within the Grocerant ecosystem.

 

Think About This:

Zesty is not a side project—it is a signal. DoorDash is steadily, intelligently moving toward the Grocerant future, where food discovery, experience, and access converge. Companies that win in this space will not ask, “Delivery or dine-in?” They will ask, “How does food fit this moment?” DoorDash is increasingly asking—and answering—the right question.

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Red Robin: from a tiki-ish tavern to fries, fandom and survival

 

Red Robin’s story is a useful case study in how an American restaurant brand can pivot, survive turbulence and still trade on a simple product promise: customizable, feel-good burgers and a reliably generous side of fries. The chain’s arc — from a single Seattle tavern with Polynesian-era kitsch and cocktail sensibilities to a family-friendly, quasi–sports-bar operation with bottomless fry ambitions — shows both the limits and strengths of mid-market casual-dining concepts. Below I take a historical view, call out some persistent customer-experience quirks, summarize the company’s financial maneuvers, and close with practical — and tactical — takeaways from the Grocerant Guru®.

The origin story: tavern, tropical veneer, then burgers

Red Robin’s roots trace back to a single Seattle tavern originally called Sam’s Red Robin; under new ownership in the late 1960s the place slowly reoriented toward burgers and grew into the restaurant chain we know today. That shift — from bar-with-ambience toward a burger-led, family-focused menu — set the tone for decades of growth. The brand’s aesthetics and menu choices for a long time reflected a hybrid identity: a leisure/tiki-era friendliness crossed with mainstream American comfort food.

“Poor man’s Trader Vic’s” to sports-ish family dining

For many regulars in the 1970s–1990s, Red Robin occupied an odd middle ground. It offered tropical or lounge-y décor in some locations (think cocktail-focused service and playful flavors), but it never carried the premium price or the culinary pretensions of an upscale Polynesian restaurant like Trader Vic’s. Over time, as larger casual-dining formats consolidated and the sports-bar aesthetic proved reliably profitable, Red Robin emphasized broad appeal: big menus, televisions in many locations, kid-friendly options and an arms-length relationship with sports-crowd energy. The result is what many guests experience today — a family-friendly place that can flex into a casual sports-night environment without abandoning its burger-and-fries DNA.

Product identity: the burger, the fries, and the small details that matter

Red Robin’s brand lives in its burgers and sides. The multi-option burger model — dozens of signature variations plus build-your-own choices — has long been the company’s differentiator. Steak fries (“Yukon” or “Steak Fries,” depending on copy) and bottomless or oversized fry portions have become a near-cultural shorthand for the chain: generous, unapologetically indulgent, and consistent across geographies. When a brand owns a single experiential promise (great, customizable burgers and lots of fries), it can drive repeat traffic — but that also raises guest expectations for the small things.

On the service–experience side, consistent guest complaints have a pattern: flimsy straws, over-lightweight-to-the-point-of-useless plastic cups, and thin napkins. These are not product threats in the large sense, but they are friction points. A strawberry lemonade that arrives in a plastic cup with a straw that’s borderline useless, paired with napkins so thin a roll in the bathroom would be an upgrade, tells guests the brand is cutting corners on tactile hospitality. Those micro-interactions matter because they shape perceived value — particularly for a brand trading on “comfort” and indulgence.

Financial survival: sale-leasebacks, refinancing, pandemic pressure and repositioning

Red Robin’s corporate history over the last decade is characteristic of mid-cap restaurant chains that had to finance growth, manage real estate exposure and then weather the seismic COVID downturn. The chain recorded significant COVID-era revenue and profit pressure, and corporate filings from the pandemic years described lower revenues and increased costs tied to closures, third-party delivery fees, and off-premises mix shifts. Those pressures forced strategic financial moves and cost rebalances.

In 2023 Red Robin completed a sale-leaseback of several owned properties — an increasingly common capital strategy for restaurant operators seeking immediate liquidity while preserving operating control of sites. The chain tapped real-estate capital to shore up balance-sheet flexibility and support operational priorities. That step, combined with menu and operational repositioning and periodic capital raises, helped the company survive — and in some markets, reassert relevance as off-premises dining (to-go, delivery and catering) became more central to sales mix.

Off-premises and catering: where Red Robin has leaned in

Red Robin has not treated takeout, delivery and catering as afterthoughts. The brand’s “Red Robin To Go,” delivery offering and a clearly developed catering program (Gourmet Burger Bars, boxed meals, bundles, group salads and sides) demonstrate an operational pivot toward feeding groups and leaning into convenience. Catering in particular is a natural extension: burger bars, boxed meals and bundle formats translate well to offices, parties and events, and they let the company monetize its core product in different price bands and use-cases. For chains that once prioritized dine-in traffic, this capability has been a lifeline and a revenue diversifier.

Strengths that keep the brand viable

1.       Menu breadth and customization: A huge menu with many burger permutations increases appeal across consumers (families, young adults, nostalgic guests).

2.       Signature sides and portion psychology: Fries are not just a side item for Red Robin; they’re a behavioral hook that encourages repeat visits and shareability.

3.       Established catering and off-premises mechanics: The chain’s boxed meals, burger-bar catering and pick-up/delivery infrastructure convert large-order opportunities and corporate/party business into reliable revenue.

Three Grocerant Guru® insights

1.       Stop underserving tactile hospitality: Small investments in cup quality, straws and napkins deliver outsized returns. Guests calculate value in a single meal — flimsy disposables subtract from the “gourmet” promise. Swap to slightly sturdier compostable cups/napkins and a stronger straw standard; the incremental COGS is tiny, the perceptual lift is material.

2.       Productize nostalgia but modernize dayparts: Red Robin’s heritage burgers are a platform. Lean into limited-time, regionally inspired burgers and an elevated late-night snack menu (smaller-format shareables, loaded fry innovations) to capture different dayparts without diluting core identity.

3.       Make catering a discoverable funnel to full-price occasions: Use catering to showcase “hero” items (signature burger build stations, premium toppings) and route corporate or party clients into loyalty offers for restaurant visits. Track AOV uplift from catering-to-dine-in conversions and use it to justify targeted local marketing spend.

Think About This

Red Robin is neither a cautionary tale nor a guaranteed success story — it’s a middle-market operator that has shown adaptability. It survived ownership and capital shifts, leaned into off-premises formats, and still owns a clear product promise. If the chain addresses low-cost, high-impact guest-friction points (the plastic-cup-and-thin-napkin problem), doubles down on occasions where its burger-bar format excels (catering, group orders), and keeps experimenting with product upgrades that justify price rather than simply discounting, its core value proposition remains intact.

Who is Red Robin — and where are they headed? Is it still a convivial “poor man’s Trader Vic’s” with a burger focus, or has it become a pragmatic, community-scale burger-and-catering business that monetizes convenience and comfort? The answer will show up in its next set of quarterly results, its local dining-room investments, and the small operational choices guests experience every visit.

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Sheetz Levels Up: Why Relevant Gamification Is a Long-Term Loyalty Engine

 

For decades, Sheetz has understood something many brands still struggle to grasp: relevance is not declared — it is earned through participation. With its move into gaming-specific social channels and the launch of @SheetzGaming, the brand is not chasing a trend; it is reinforcing a playbook it has been refining for years — interactive, participatory brand marketing that meets its core customer exactly where they already live, play, and socialize.

From the Grocerant Guru® perspective, this is not about gaming for gaming’s sake. It is about designing brand engagement that feels native, earned, and community-driven, not interruptive.

Gamification Is Not a Gimmick — It Is a Behavioral Accelerator

Sheetz’ expansion onto X and TikTok through a gaming-first lens reflects a fundamental shift in how the next generation builds brand affinity. Today’s top convenience retail target — Gen Z and younger Millennials — does not respond to passive advertising. They respond to systems they can interact with, contribute to, and be recognized within.

Gamification delivers three critical advantages:

1.       Time spent with brand increases.

2.       Emotional investment deepens.

3.       Peer-to-peer amplification replaces paid reach.

When customers can post their best hits, share favorite “shnackz,” earn “GG’z,” and see their content elevated by the brand itself, Sheetz is converting customers into co-creators, not just buyers.

That is how loyalty compounds.

Three Food Marketing Data-Point Examples That Prove the Model Works

1. Interactive Brands Win Share of Attention
Across foodservice and convenience retail, brands that incorporate interactive digital elements (polls, challenges, user-generated content, gamified rewards) generate meaningfully higher engagement rates than static brand accounts. Engagement — not impressions — is the leading indicator of future purchase intent among Gen Z consumers.

SheetzGaming does exactly this by rewarding participation, not just following.

2. Community-Based Loyalty Outperforms Transactional Rewards
Food retailers that foster identity-based communities — not just points-based programs — see higher visit frequency and stronger emotional attachment. Gaming culture is inherently community-driven, built on shared language, status, and recognition. By speaking gamer-native language (“GG’z,” “loot,” “replays”), Sheetz removes friction and builds authenticity.

That authenticity cannot be bought; it must be designed.

3. Snacking + Gaming Is a Perfect Use-Occasion Match
Gaming sessions skew long, social, and snack-heavy. Brands that align food solutions with specific usage occasions — rather than generic hunger moments — win repeat business. Sheetz’ focus on “shnack combos” directly ties product relevance to real behavior, reinforcing the brand as part of the experience, not just a stop along the way.

Ambassadorz: The Smart Evolution of Brand Advocacy

The upcoming Ambassadorz program, launching in 2026, signals that Sheetz understands where this goes next. Ambassador programs work when they:

·       Reward passion, not just scale

·       Blend online and offline experiences

·       Give fans status, not scripts

By allowing the “freakiest of the Freakz” to Sheetz-maxx their love of the brand both in-store and in-game, Sheetz is creating a flywheel of advocacy that will continue to generate content, loyalty, and relevance without relying solely on paid media.

This is community infrastructure, not a campaign.

 

Four Grocerant Guru® Insights on Why Sheetz Is — and Will Remain — a Strong Brand

1. Sheetz Designs for Behavior, Not Demographics
Rather than targeting customers by age alone, Sheetz targets how people live. Gaming, snacking, late-night food missions, and social sharing are behaviors — and behaviors scale across generations.

2. The Brand Understands Cultural Fluency
Sheetz does not “borrow” culture; it participates in it. From language to platform choice, the brand consistently shows it understands the nuances of the communities it serves.

3. Product, Experience, and Marketing Are Aligned
Too many brands market an experience their stores cannot deliver. Sheetz’ food quality, customization, speed, and late-night accessibility reinforce the same promise its marketing makes.

4. Growth Is Anchored in Relevance, Not Footprint Alone
As Sheetz pushes toward its goal of 1,000 stores by 2028, its expansion is supported by a brand that already travels digitally. That combination — physical growth plus digital community — is exceptionally hard to disrupt.

 

Think About This

Sheetz’ move into gaming is not experimental. It is evolutionary. By embracing interactive, participatory brand marketing, Sheetz is building loyalty that will outlast algorithms, platforms, and promotional cycles.

In today’s food and convenience landscape, brands that invite customers to play will always outperform brands that only ask them to buy.

And Sheetz is playing to win.

Are you trapped doing what you have always done and doing it the same way?  Interested in learning how www.FoodserviceSolutions.us can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization?  Email us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or visit:  www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information.