Unlike beverage quality and speed of service, where c-stores and QSRs are fairly closely matched in the eyes of their customers, attributes like food taste and quality and offering craveable items get scored higher among QSR customers than they do among c-store customers.
The c-store brands with the top scores for overall food taste and flavor are Rutter’s Farm Stores, Ricker’s, Family Express and QuikTrip. Rutter's Route 30 Burger, shown here, demonstrates the chain's creative menuing and its guests' ability to customize with just about anything.
Sources: Technomic 2016 Convenience Store Insights Program; Consumer Brand Metrics, powered by Ignite