Convenience-store trips and transactions are down—and foodservice can help to boost both.
Sandra D’Asaro, Core-Mark’s senior vice president of strategy and excellence, said she is concerned what’s happening in the overall macro-environment and how that’s affecting c-stores.
“A lot of those traditional drivers of trips—cigarette cartons, fuel—all those things are really being challenged, so we really feel like food is that opportunity to turn that around and have a differentiated offering,” she said, speaking to CSP at the Core-Mark Expo Midwest, which took place Thursday in Schaumburg, Illinois.
PDI Technologies, Alpharetta, Georgia, said in a recent report that total in-store sales were down 2.8% in 2024 compared to the previous year, and store trips also declined 4.6% for 2024. That’s according to its C-Store Shopper Insights Report for CPG Brands report, which used transaction-level data from more than 18,000 small-chain or independent convenience stores collected by PDI.
One category that showed sales growth, however, was foodservice prepared onsite, which increased 16.3% in 2024 compared to 2023, PDI said.
Convenience-store distributor Core-Mark introduced a new foodservice program at the expo—Amazin’ Asian. This is an addition to its other foodservice programs Contigo Taqueria, Perfectly Southern Fried Chicken, The Red Seal Pizzeria and Tru-Q BBQ. Core-Mark also offers other grab-and-go food and beverage options like Deli 55 sandwiches, Quick Eats Grille roller grill program and My Daily Crave beverages.
They added Amazin’ Asian to give c-store operators a different option. It currently includes eggrolls in four flavors: pork, chicken, vegetable and Southwest chicken. And in mid- to late-summer, Mongolian Beef, Orange Chicken and Vegetable Fried Rice will be added to the menu.
“You just think about differentiation in any given market, and so what we wanted to do is just make sure that there’s an offering that could be unique,” D’Asaro said.
Matt Hautau, Core-Mark’s vice president of merchandising, said there are different levels of foodservice that c-stores can enter, whether it’s offering roller grill items or preparing food on-site in a kitchen. Core-Mark can help c-stores determine what best fits their needs, and it also helps them purchase the equipment, train their employees, create marketing materials and more.
No matter what level of foodservice c-stores offer, customers are looking for deals. Many c-store chains have introduced meal deals to compete with quick-service restaurants (QSRs).
“I think any opportunity consumers have now to get more bang for their buck, they’re going to take it,” he said. “And I think the operators, they have to get creative about this. They have to bundle products inside their stores. They have to get the muffin with the coffee—and loyalty is a huge way to do that, too.”
Core-Mark launched its new CustomerFirst app, which allows its c-store operator customers to create deals on the app and check that the items they have for promotions are in stock, Hautau said.
Core-Mark, a Performance Food Group company, is based in Westlake, Texas. It offers a full range of products, marketing programs and technology solutions to customers in the United States and Canada.
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