Between rising costs, a tighter labor pool, and quick-service restaurants raising the bar, running a profitable c-store foodservice program is tougher than it used to be. But there’s good news inside that pressure: foodservice is already one of the best-performing parts of your store, and the fastest way to grow it further may not require adding a single new item. Here are three of the biggest challenges facing c-store foodservice right now, and the simplest way to solve each one.
The Challenge: Rising Costs and a Shrinking Labor Pool
Labor now accounts for $1.60 of every in-store transaction, and for the second year running, operating expenses have grown faster than in-store profit.1 About half of retailers list high operating costs as a top-three challenge,2 and hiring for foodservice roles isn’t getting any easier.
The fix: not more staff or more prep time. It’s making the items you already serve work harder. A bundle or combo takes the same product your team is already cooking and packages it to sell for more – no new labor, no new training, just a bigger ticket on food that’s already on hand.
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The Challenge: Shoppers Will Spend More, But Only If It Feels Worth It
More than half of shoppers say they’re trading up for better ingredients,1 and flavor is where they notice the difference first. A craveable sauce reads as an upgrade before the price ever does.
The fix: it doesn’t require a new product line. A single sauce, drizzled on or served on the side, can turn a familiar item into a bigger, more deliberate choice. It’s the easiest way to meet shoppers where their spending intent already is.
Want even more inspiration? Explore more ways to win with sauce.
The Challenge: Shoppers Have Options, and They’re Using Them
One in three c-store consumers still stop at a quick-service restaurant within 30 minutes of leaving your store. QSRs keep raising their game, and the biggest gap between top- and bottom-performing foodservice programs is variety.1
The fix: keep execution simple enough to try new flavor combinations. One base item, finished with a rotation of different sauces and toppings, becomes a whole menu of options, giving shoppers the variety they’re looking for without needing a constant stream of new menu items to compete.
SOUTHWEST DIPPER
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Your Menu, Your Way, Your Wow
The fastest wins come from what’s already on your roller grill or in your hot case, and many upgrades require no new ingredients, no new equipment, and no more labor – just a more deliberate way of using what you already have. Explore inspiration, merchandising ideas, and easy ways to build your program. Learn more.
Sources
1 NACS Magazine, “5 Big Takeaways From the 2026 NACS State of the Industry Summit,” June 2026. nacsmagazine.com/issues/june-2026/nacs-state-of-the-industry-summit-2026-takeaways
2 PWM, “Top 2026 C-Store Trends Shaping Fuel, Food, and In-Store Sales.” blog.usa.pwm.com/blog/top-2026-c-store-trends-shaping-fuel-food-and-in-store-sales
3 Across ten published cases from 2010-2024, adding branding or digital signage to C-store equipment drove an average 30-40 % lift in item sales or shopper conversion, with most conventional programs clustering in the low-teens to low-30s and tech-heavy installs occasionally pushing 50-100 %. Compilation of publicly reported signage-effectiveness studies — CSNews (2010), POPAI floor-graphics research (2013), Walgreens × Cooler Screens pilot (Forbes, 2020) and VideoMining Pump-to-Store Case Study (2024).
4 Datassential, “2026 C-Store Trends.” datassential.com/resource/2026-c-store-trends
