Dive Brief:

• Kum & Go has launched its fresh food menu in its c-stores in the Des Moines, Iowa, metro area, according to a recent company announcement.
• The new made-to-order food menu will be available at all locations in Des Moines and the surrounding area by the end of the year.
• The c-store chain piloted its fresh food menu in September 2021 at locations in Little Rock, Arkansas, and Omaha, Nebraska, with the goal of developing its menu to compete more with fast casual restaurants, Kum & Go said at the time.

Dive Insight:

Kum & Go’s new menu looks to offer an array of healthy options within the c-store space, said Jac Moskalik, vice president of food innovation for Kum & Go, in the announcement.

All-day breakfast items include breakfast burritos and bowls — served with a base of roasted potatoes or fresh spinach — in chicken, sausage or brisket varieties; and breakfast “stacker” sandwiches, which feature eggs, cheese and a choice of bacon, brisket, pork sausage or chicken chorizo.

For lunch, customers can order an array of burritos, bowls and stackers. Burrito varieties include loaded veggie, smoked brisket, southwest chicken bacon and spicy green chile pork; bowl options include brisket taco, Caribbean pulled pork, chimi chicken, hot buffalo chicken and hummus falafel; and stacker options during lunch include BBQ brisket, feta falafel, mango pork, Nashville hot chicken, pork duo and salsa verde chicken.

Customers can also order from more than 10 pizza varieties, from regular cheese and pepperoni to BBQ chicken, Italian meat or taco.

“We are setting up ingredient quality standards you wouldn’t normally expect to find in the convenience-store space in addition to ingredients you wouldn’t expect such as brown rice and spinach bowl bases,” said Natasha Ratzlaff, director of category management for Kum & Go. 

Kum & Go will continue to roll out its refreshed food program across its entire footprint over the next several years, the company said.

By bringing its foodservice program to its headquarters of Des Moines, it will find itself in competition for foodservice dollars against Ankeny, Iowa-Casey’s General Stores. Casey’s is known for its expansive pizza program, which has evolved over the years on both the ingredients and ordering fronts. At a recent session at Groceryshop, CEO Darren Rebelez said the company gets roughly 10 million call-in orders per year from customers. Casey’s is the third-largest c-store operator and fifth-largest pizza chain in the U.S., according to Rebelez.