Kwik Trip Rolls Out Take-Home Meals to All Stores

LA CROSSE, Wisc.—Today, Wisconsin-based Kwik Trip will roll out proprietary take-home meals to all of its 723 locations, reports WisBusiness.com. The meals were tested in 40 locations starting a year ago. Customers may choose from 12 options, ranging from chicken enchiladas to meatloaf, all of which can be heated in the microwave in about two minutes.

“It’s our expectation that you’re going to see a lot of restaurants not survive the pandemic,” said John McHugh, director of communications, Kwik Trip. “We think that the consumer is going to be a little less inclined to go to a sit-down restaurant for a meal. They’re going to be worried about safety, social distancing and yet, we know that there’s a large percentage of consumers that … don’t like to cook. Or there’s a certain percentage of people that frankly don’t know how to cook.”

Despite the global pandemic and recession, Kwik Trip is having its “best year ever,” according to McHugh, who attributes the successes to innovation. “In our industry, we’re known as the innovator,” he said. “A lot of that is really dependent upon our vertical integration. That makes a difference for us.”

Kwik Trip has its own dairy, sweet goods and bread production, as well as distribution out of La Crosse, allowing it to compete on price with grocery stores by cutting out the middleman. 

Convenience stores have traditionally depended on tobacco sales and fuel for revenue. But in 2002, Kwik Trip changed its business model and began offering commodities like eggs, milk, butter and bananas. While families typically do major grocery shopping trips every week or two, they often run out of those perishable items between trips. 

“You can go any place for gas, but we’re finding … the consumer doesn’t simply want a tank of gas, but they also want to be able to come into the store and get some of the things that they need tonight at home, whether that’s milk or eggs,” McHugh told WisBusiness.com, adding that the chain’s low prices, clean interiors and limited exposure attract consumers.

According to McHugh, there’s no profitability or even guest count difference between Kwik Trip’s urban and rural markets, and the chain likes to build in rural areas, specifically in small towns, where neighborhood grocery stores have gone out of business.

“We just think it’s a community need,” McHugh said. “[In] some of the small communities, you have an elderly population. They don’t feel comfortable driving 35 minutes to the next biggest town for their groceries. A small town needs a grocery store; it needs a place where you can get the bread, eggs, milk, butter, steak. For the social fabric of Wisconsin, if we can keep small towns alive by our presence, that’s a value for us.”

He added that Kwik Trip has been looking at potential store sites in rural Wisconsin, although the company likes to stay within a 300-mile radius of its 140-acre La Crosse campus to be able to meet current store demands.

Crisis management Format Merchandising