Casey’s General Stores has closed food maker and distributor JF Heritage Food Company, which it acquired last year when it bought Fikes Wholesale, also the owner of CEFCO Convenience Stores.
“This was a difficult decision, however, after considerable assessment and analysis, we decided to close the facility,” a Casey’s spokesperson told CSP. “We appreciate the team’s work and dedication to the CEFCO stores and have provided support and transition services for everyone impacted.”
In a LinkedIn post, Belton, Texas-based JF Heritage, which made food items for CEFCO stores, said, “Our hearts are heavy as we announce the closing of JF Heritage Food Company. We’ll keep this short and sweet. We took immense pride on delivering delicious and innovative food produced in a clean, safe environment. And our team … they achieved the unthinkable—and then some. Anyone would be lucky to employ any of these individuals.”
JF Heritage’s LinkedIn page said it has 11 to 50 employees.
- Casey's General Stores is No. 3 on CSP’s 2025 Top 40 Update to the 2024 Top 202 ranking of U.S. c-store chains by store count. Watch for the full 2025 Top 202 ranking in the June issue of CSP magazine and in CSP Daily News.
Casey’s closed on the $1.145 billion acquisition of Fikes Wholesale on Nov. 1.
The acquisition gave the convenience-store retailer 148 additional locations in Texas, a highly strategic market for Ankeny, Iowa-based Casey’s, as well as 50 stores in the southeastern states of Alabama (27 stores), Florida (13) and Mississippi (10). Casey’s moved into Texas—its 17th state—in November 2023 with the acquisition of W. Douglass Distributing Ltd.’s 22 Lone Star Food Stores.
The 198-store CEFCO acquisition brought Casey’s store count to about 2,900 stores.
The end of JF Heritage’s LinkedIn post read, “Our heads are held high knowing all that we accomplished. We’re proud and thankful for the opportunity to serve you.”
JF Heritage’s offerings included pizzas, sandwiches, salads, kolaches and bakery items such as cookies and muffins.
“This acquisition is the largest in Casey’s history and in line with the strategic plan laid out at the June 2023 Investor Day,” Darren Rebelez, board chair, president and chief executive officer of Casey’s, said in November. “We are thrilled to complete this transaction, welcome Fikes to the Casey’s team, and look forward to bringing Casey’s pizza to these high-volume stores.”
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