Culinary Transformation

100+

LOCATIONS WITH THE NEW
MENU IN THE FIRST 18 MOS.

2023

FOODSERVICE INNOVATOR
OF THE YEAR AWARD

53%

CONSUMERS WHO TRY
THE NEW MENU COME BACK

Transforming a gas station that serves food into an eatery that sells gas. 

A family-owned convenience store and gas station, Kum & Go sought to fortify its business model against softening trends in gas purchases. Specifically, the brand sought to transform from a gas station that sells food to a restaurant that sells gas. Kum & Go partnered with The Culinary Edge to develop a fresh, delicious offering to democratize healthy and convenient options. They targeted a Millennial & Gen Z 'healthy striver' -- a guest segment seeking healthy options that do not sacrifice taste. 

When consumers think of convenience stores, they think of greasy pizza and who-knows-how-long-they've-been-there hot dogs on a roller grill. Kum & Go needed to overcome perceptions of convenience store food with an offering that disrupted the C-store landscape while still feeling believable for the brand. At the same time, the offering needed to retain a 'convenient' speed of service (the average C-store guest is in the store for less than 7 minutes) and be executable at the C-store staff's basic skill level. 

To disrupt consumer perceptions, we determined Kum & Go needed to a become known for a signature menu platform — something brand-worthy Kum & Go could put marketing dollars behind. And, while Kum & Go wanted to democratize 'healthy' food, the new offering needed to strike the perfect balance of healthy and indulgent. The offering wouldn't feel believable or resonate with their Midwestern guest if it went too far into wellness. TCE anchored the Kum & Go team on an offering focused on permissible indulgence -- craveable items that allow consumers to indulge with a healthy twist or freshness cue. 

TCE designed two assembled-to-order platforms, creating fresh-made food theater at convenience-store speeds. The first was a signature mini sandwich platform called Stackers. These flexible, flavorful sandwiches are small enough to be eaten as an on-the-go snack but hearty enough to be mixed, matched, and bundled into a meal. A streamlined Bowl category rounded out the offering and maximized SKU cross-utilization across the two platforms. 

Both Stackers and Bowls feature brightly colored vegetables and flavored sauces to appeal to health-conscious customers who aren't willing to sacrifice taste. They include boldly flavored items from Kum & Go's aisles like Salsa Verde Doritos, Funyuns, and Flamin' Hot Cheetos to deliver an on-brand, crunchy twist.

TCE thoughtfully designed these new platforms to plug into Kum & Go's existing foodservice framework, leveraging hoodless equipment that included a conveyer oven, TurboChef, and conveyer toaster. This guaranteed scalability, and Kum & Go launched the program to over 100 locations within 18 months of project completion, with plans to continue rolling the program out system-wide.

Guests have positively received the offering, and Kum & Go's high customer retention rate continues to grow. 53% of consumers who try the new food program's offering return back and try items again. As a result of its partnership with TCE, Kum & Go made unprecedented advances in its foodservice offering such that in February 2023, Convenience Store News named them the 2023 Foodservice Innovator of the Year.