ATLANTA — The convenience-store industry plays a critical role in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by providing a handy place for economically disadvantaged citizens to buy food, RaceTrac Petroleum’s chief executive recently told members of the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture.
RaceTrac CEO Max McBrayer Jr. earlier this month testified before the Agriculture Committee that c-stores help alleviate food insecurity in the United States by providing 24-hour food access for SNAP beneficiaries, particularly those in rural areas.
RaceTrac and RaceWay c-stores provide nearly 1,700 SNAP-eligible food products at more than 750 locations in 11 states throughout the Southeast. RaceTrac’s stores, open 24 hours a day, process approximately 3 million electronic benefit transfers annually.
- RaceTrac is No. 15 on CSP’s 2021 Top 40 update to the 2020 Top 202 ranking of c-store chains by size.
“No American should go hungry,” McBrayer testified. “As active partners in SNAP, we provide essential food access to the thousands of people in our communities who have come to rely on us. Our continuous and extended hours ensure that customers are always able to access our stores to purchase the food they need at any time. Together, we can fulfill the program’s goal to alleviate hunger and food insecurity across the country.”
RaceTrac’s participation in SNAP enables beneficiaries to access food without excessive inconvenience or expense, he said. Low-income Americans often work—and shop for food—during unconventional hours, and the c-store industry accommodates this. RaceTrac stores are often the only easily accessible retail food store in a particular area and are consistently open longer than other large-format food retailers, he said.
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the percent of SNAP transactions at RaceTrac stores has doubled, McBrayer testified.
“COVID-19 has exacerbated what was already an unacceptable situation,” he said. “It is clear to all of us at RaceTrac that many of our guests have been struggling to make ends meet and are experiencing food insecurity. SNAP benefits are critical to ensuring that our most economically vulnerable citizens have access to the food they need.”
Deemed “essential critical infrastructure” by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), RaceTrac has remained open throughout the pandemic, providing food and fuel to the public.
With headquarters in Atlanta, family-owned RaceTrac has been serving customers since 1934 and now operates more than 560 convenience stores in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas.
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