Tri Star Energy has rolled out its fresh pizza program across 140 of its Twice Daily, Sudden Service and Little General convenience stores.
More of Tri Star Energy's 173 stores will add the program soon, Dawn Boulanger, vice president of marketing at Tri Star Energy, told CSP on Wednesday. It is a project that has been in the works since August 2025, and the Nashville-based company completed the installation for the fresh pizza program's first 140 stores on May 24.
The fresh pizza program is a first for the company. It took months to install the equipment and train all the employees, Boulanger said.
- Tri Star Energy is No. 48 on CSP’s 2025 Top 202 ranking of U.S. c-store chains by store count.
Rachel Saddler, director of foodservice innovation, leads the program, and started working on the concept nearly two years ago, Boulanger said.
Tri Star Energy customers can now buy whole pizzas, which can be customized, or pizza by the slice, with choices such as pepperoni, cheese and supreme (pictured).
There is no formal name for the program because Tri Star Energy wants it to cover all three brands.
Building ‘nook kitchens’
Before adding the fresh pizza program, some locations didn't have any foodservice offerings. Saddler said she worked with the facilities team to come up with creative solutions to build small "nook" kitchens in some of these stores. A handful of stores will not get the program because they are too small.
Tri Star Energy is using a premade, fresh frozen dough that’s already sheeted and comes into stores ready to be built upon, Saddler said, adding that they tested a lot of different sauces and shredded cheeses. All the ingredients come into each location ready for employees to create pizzas. Whole pizzas can be made to order with about 15 different topping choices, Saddler said.
“I’d like to think this is not your typical c-store pizza program,” she said.
They landed on using pre-shredded cheese, rather than having employees shred the cheese, but “still get that really good pizzeria-style pizza but make it easy for our team members to execute,” she said. Likewise, they opted against making fresh dough daily in each location due to space constraints.
Marketing the pizza
All this work was done with the goal of creating a good program that will set Tri Star Energy apart from typical gas station pizza, Saddler said, adding that some customers are so impressed, they say, “I can’t believe that this is your pizza.”
Because Tri Star Energy does not have open-kitchen concepts, they have to get customers to understand that they make their food in the store. Part of that education is publicizing the fresh pizza program in stores, on the app and elsewhere.
“We’ve got pizza signage everywhere” Boulanger said. “You can't miss the fact that we have pizza in our store.”
Tri Star Energy also has run TV and radio ads—and used direct mail, she said. The company wants to explain to customers the story and process behind its pizza program and how it is not a fully topped frozen pizza.
‘Consistent across all brands’
Each of the three brands in the past has had different variations on pizza—but never with the type of process they’re doing now, Saddler said.
“We've created a program that is consistent across all brands, and it's a way to really connect us as a company, and that’s exciting," she said.
Every department in Tri Star Energy was involved in the program, Boulanger said.
“It was probably one of the biggest initiatives that we’ve ever undertaken as a company,” she said, adding that so far, the company is pleased with the sales.
Saddler is planning a Hawaiian pizza soon—as well as a breakfast pizza and limited-time offer (LTO) pizzas for next year.
In a few weeks, customers will be able to buy made-to-order half-topping pizzas, with each side featuring different toppings.
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