Foodservice | Foodservice 101
Tried-and-true c-store foodservice staples like roller grill hot dogs, pizza slices and chicken tenders are an ideal base on which to build an extensive high-quality food offering. Clark’s Pump-N-Shop, which has 68 locations in Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia and Florida, has long been a foodservice destination with its successful chicken and roller grill programs. As of last April, the chain also added pizza to its meal mix at one of the stores, and the results have been even better than expected, said Jessica Russell, Pump-N-Shop’s food service director. Just as important as dollar sales, the newly available pies have grown overall foodservice sales instead of cannibalizing from the other offerings, she noted. Even the stores’ morning daypart, their highest volume time of day, increased with the introduction of a breakfast pizza.
Clark’s Pump-N-Shop added pizza to one of its stores last April and plans to roll out the program to around 30 additional stores. 66
CSTORE DECISIONS •
June 2021
Pizza, both whole pies and slices, continues to drive foodservice sales at c-stores nationwide.
PIZZA SLICES & PIES
Pump-N-Shop offers two crust options, one of which is gluten free, and creates specialty pizzas such as the buffalo chicken, bacon and ranch and barbecue to showcase the variety of topping options. A hot case with a digital menu on top is dedicated to the slices for easy grab and go. Russell noted that rollout of the program is set to begin to around 30 additional stores. Pizza is a staple at Pilot Flying J convenience stores and travel centers, which includes 750 locations in 44 states and six Canadian provinces. According to Jamie King, senior director of food and beverage, “pizza sales are driving incremental sales growth over prior years.” In addition to traditional toppings, the stores offer a constant rotation of seasonal and specialty pies such as chicken, bacon and ranch, barbecue brisket and cordon bleu. Those toppings are built on a signature, hand-stretched crust that is “hand-roped” 46 times “to create the perfect pizza canvas,” King pointed out. Slices are the bestsellers. “We promote our pizza in multiple ways, including through special offers on the myRewards Plus app and signage inside the stores,” he said. Until the beginning of this year, FriendShip Food Stores in Ohio was best known as a pizza
cstoredecisions.com
