Dive Brief:
- Convenience retailer Wawa is expanding its corporate catering business through a chainwide partnership with online marketplace ezCater, according to a Tuesday announcement.
- Wawa’s catering menu available on ezCater includes a variety of breakfast, coffee, and lunch items, which come individually packaged or in trays, depending on the workplace’s needs. For its larger events, orders can include its “bundle” orders, Hoagie boxes, individual meals, a hot bar, soups, salads and more.
- Growing its corporate catering arm is a means for Wawa to reach more business consumers and the general business community, Steve Hackett, director of digital experience for Wawa, said in the announcement.
Dive Insight:
With its new catering marketplace partnership, Wawa is looking to make its foodservice items more widely available and compete with restaurants for corporate clients as more and more workers return to office jobs.
Boston-based ezCater has more than 100,000 restaurants and caterers on its platform, including local independent restaurants and national chains.
“We see this as a great way to provide even more convenience to the business community,” Hackett said in the announcement.
In addition to working with ezCater, businesses ordering Wawa’s catering service can order directly through the retailer’s website or work with one of its team members.
Wawa’s catering business launched in 2018 and now caters to schools, hospitals and other large gatherings, and can handle events that include thousands of people, according to its website.
Wawa operates about 1,000 c-stores in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Florida and Washington, D.C. The retailer currently has plans to increase its footprint from seven to 14 states and surpass 1,800 locations by 2030.
