Kwik Trip/Kwik Star and Fast Stop convenience stores received 2023 Renewable Fuels Marketing Awards from the Iowa Department of Agriculture this month.
The awards were created to recognize fuel marketers that have gone above and beyond in their efforts to promote and sell renewable fuels. The award winners were presented to Kwik Trip and Growmark FS, the parent company of Fast Stop, during the FuelIowa annual meeting held Jan. 10 in Des Moines.
“Iowa’s renewable fuels industry continues to thrive, creating value-added markets for our crops, employing thousands of Iowans, and offering cleaner and more affordable fuel to consumers,” said Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig. “Growmark FS is being honored for their efforts to market ethanol, and Kwik Trip/Kwik Star is receiving recognition for their biodiesel marketing. I want to thank both of those companies and their employees for continuing to build demand for Iowa produced renewable fuels.”
Growmark FS (Fast Stop) received the Secretary’s Ethanol Marketing Award.
Since the 1920s, Growmark FS, Manson, Iowa, has been providing fuels across the Midwest. Today, it is a leading supplier of refined and renewable fuels and operates 19 Fast Stop locations in northwest Iowa. Through those Fast Stop locations, it sells more than 4.5 million gallons of refined fuels each year. Fast Stop offers E15 at all 19 locations. At seven of these locations, the company offers higher blends of ethanol, such as E30 and E85.
Kwik Trip/Kwik Star received the Secretary’s Biodiesel Marketing Award.
Kwik Trip, La Crosse, Wisconsin, opened its first Iowa location under the name Kwik Star in 1993. Kwik Trip/Kwik Star has been selling biodiesel in all diesel in Iowa since 2016. Its stores offer separate diesel islands at more than 300 of its more than 800 locations across the Midwest.
- Kwik Trip is No. 11 on CSP’s 2022 Top 202 ranking of convenience-store chains by store count.
Kwik Trip has embraced including biodiesel blends from 5% to 20% across Iowa and only purchases biodiesel that meets or exceeds the ASTM D6751 standard and BQ-9000 quality protocol. Since 2020, Kwik Trip has been awarded more than 25 biodiesel grants through the Iowa Renewable Fuels Infrastructure Program to update existing infrastructure to sell biodiesel blends at locations across Iowa.
Iowa leads the nation in production of ethanol and biodiesel and is the first state in the country to have an E15 standard, according to the Department of Agriculture. Based on 2021 analysis, the renewable fuels industry accounted for more than $5 billion of Iowa GDP, generated $2.6 billion of income for Iowa households and supported nearly 46,000 jobs throughout the entire Iowa economy.
The Iowa Renewable Fuels Infrastructure Program offers cost-share grants to help fuel retailers with the installation, replacement and conversion of motor-fuel storage and dispensing infrastructure for E85 ethanol blends, registered E15 ethanol blends and biodiesel from equipment that is B20 compatible. The program also provides grant incentives to biodiesel terminal and storage facilities. The program is managed by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and, to date, the state has invested approximately $60 million while private industry has invested more than $200 million.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.