“A TASTE-TEST BATTLE ROYALE” C-STORE - CSP …€œA TASTE-TEST BATTLE ROYALE” C-STORE In this corner, c-stores, trying to reinvent themselves and steal customers from restaurants

“A TASTE-TEST BATTLE ROYALE”

C-STOREIn this corner, c-stores, trying to reinvent themselves and steal customers from restaurants by beefing up the quality and quantity of their food. But can they shake the image of microwaves and roller dogs?

VS

QSR

Convenience stores

aren’t what they

used to be. In fact,

they’re starting to look a lot

more like restaurants. And

they’re not shy about it.

“Wawa has always been

viewed as a c-store, but we

now want to be viewed as a

restaurant that sells gas. We

want to be more like you when

we grow up,” Howard Stoeckel,

CEO of Wawa Inc., Wawa, Pa.,

told a packed audience at CSP’s

Restaurant Leadership Confer-

ence in March.

Wawa, with 594 stores in

the mid-Atlantic and now

Florida, is even claiming a new

category for itself: “fast casual

to go.”

Wawa may be the leading

edge, but it is not alone, and

customers are responding. In

an October 2011 survey—

whose subjects ordered food

from c-stores and restaurants

at nearly the same rate—Tech-

nomic reported that c-store

food quality was rated “good”

or “very good” by an average

of 85% of respondents. Dig-

ging deeper, big majorities

gave c-stores high marks on

everything from taste and fla-

vor, visual appeal, variety and

craveability to store appear-

ance and convenience.

So CSP’s sister publication

Restaurant Business sent a team

of tasters from around the

country to find out if this threat

to restaurants’ livelihoods is for

real. Read on for the findings,

and email group editor Mitch

Morrison at mmorrison@

cspnet.com with your thoughts

on the results.

And in this corner, QSRs. They’re taking the brunt of the c-store infringements. Have they gotten flabby around the midsection, or are they back to their fighting weight and ready for the competition? It’s time to find out.

C S P October 2012 215


MAIN EVENT • ROUND 1

Kwik Trip Ham & Swiss on Sourdough Bun

PresentationPresented as a grab-and-go

LTO in a heated case, Kwik

Trip’s sandwich comes on a

round, split-top sourdough

roll dusted with cornmeal.

Round, thin slices (3) of ham

fill the bun, but the edges

looked a bit shriveled and

dried. Under the ham is a thin

layer of processed-looking

Swiss cheese. It comes wrapped

in standard deli paper with

a label touting the chain’s

Kitchen Cravings house brand

logo. Granted, it’s an LTO, but

no nutrition information is

given and the ingredient list is

limited to the fillings.

Starbucks’ version, dis-

played in a cold case and

heated to order, comes on a

slab of focaccia with just a bit

of ham peeking out. A small

piece of thinly sliced Swiss sits

under two thick, round ham

slices. Without pulling the

sandwich apart, you’d never

notice the cheese; it’s skimpy,

especially when compared

to the photo on the label. It

comes wrapped in clear plastic

with the lower half nestled in

an eco-friendly-looking card-

board sheaf where the label

appears. Summary nutritional

info and a brief description

of fillings are shown, with full

listings on back.

TasteBoth had a nice, smoky ham

flavor, and creamy though

very mild Swiss cheese flavor.

Starbucks’ bread was nicely

chewy, and the cornmeal

added a nice touch to the Kwik

Trip bun. The panini had a bit

of a flavor kick once you got

into it, thanks to a smidgen of

Grey Poupon. Kwik Trip offers

optional condiments.

WinnerKwik Trip, by a hair. It gets the

nod for including more cheese,

for its cornmeal-crusted sour-

dough roll and better ratio of

fillings to bread. The texture

and presentation of Starbucks’

focaccia are nice, but flavor is

pretty bland and the cheese

and mustard skimpy, especially

given the price difference.

Starbucks Ham & Swiss PaniniVS

Kwik Trip Egg Salad Sandwich

Starbucks Egg Salad SandwichVS

PresentationKwik Trip’s presentation is

pure old-school: white bread

with a thin-ish layer of egg

salad filling, cut into triangle

halves. Nothing extra, noth-

ing fancy. Kwik Trip’s standing

black plastic triangle works

well for its refrigerated display

case and its clear face shows all

of the necessary nutrition and

ingredient information. Only

the lower half of the sandwich

is visible, but it’s enough to

know what you’re getting.

Starbucks gets points

for making the ho-hum egg

salad sandwich look pretty

darn good. It features a thick

layer of creamy, homemade-

looking egg salad set off with

crisp green romaine leaves

and perfect-shade-of-brown

wheat bread. Starbucks’ clear

cover over a cardboard tray

works well, too, letting the

entire sandwich inside mer-

chandise itself. Its wrap-style

label displays all necessary

info without getting in the

way of the sandwich.

TasteKwik Trip’s is straight out of

the ’50s, with super-soft, tex-

tureless, bland white bread and

a simple egg-mayo salad. It’s

fresh and not bad for what it

is, but what it is isn’t exactly

appealing. Starbucks’ egg salad

tastes like what you’d make at

home: not too much mayo,

chunks of crispy celery, dill

and a touch of mustard. The

crispy romaine and soft but

dense whole wheat bread are

not only nice looking, they’re

great flavor complements, too.

WinnerStarbucks, easily. Well worth

the extra cash.

Starbucks $4.95

Kwik Trip $2.29

Starbucks $4.95

By Dana Tanyeri

Kwik Trip $2.49



RaceTrac roller dog

PresentationWalking into the RaceTrac

on Gause Avenue in Slidell,

La., it’s impossible to miss the

immense roller-grill station.

Among a sea of taquitos and

“rollerbites,” a variety of hot

dogs from plain to jalapeño

roll along the grill. Markers

on the grill tell you which

dogs are ready to eat, and

which need to keep rolling for

a while. Underneath, steamer

drawers are filled with plas-

tic containers of buns, kept

perfectly warm and ready

to go. We chose a l e s s -

wrinkled dog, close to the

marker, and wandered over

to the condiments section

to grab packets of ketchup,

mustard and onions. Yes,

pre-packaged onions. Every-

thing was exceptionally clean

and neat, none of the food

looked like it had been there

too long, and there were no

unpleasant odors. It instilled

a feeling of confidence in the

trepidatious tester as to how

this hot dog was going to

taste. The buns are separated

into clear plastic clamshells,

which you pop open and fill

with the dog and toppings of

your choice. Everything but

the condiment packets are

generic, without any brand-

ing or logos.

Anybody who’s ever visited

a Sonic Drive-in knows that

the best option is to drive

up and park, roll down the

windows and enjoy the fresh

air and upbeat music. Before

long, a waitress will bring a

tray with your food to your

car. It’s the most fun the

first weekend of the month,

or whenever the classic-car

clubs are in town. Because

we needed to run the test

blind, though, we opted for

the less interesting drive-thru.

Again, we went with the white

bun, mustard, ketchup and

fresh chopped onions. (We

excluded the relish to keep

things even… and because

this editor isn’t all that fond

of rel ish.) The hot dogs

are placed in a paper tray,

wrapped in stamped foil and

presented in a white paper bag

with the Sonic logo.

TasteThe Sonic dog had a strong

meat flavor, fresh chopped

onions and supple texture.

The RaceTrac dog had a

tougher skin, making it a bit

too chewy. It was also a little

greasier when you bit into

it. The flavor wasn’t strong

enough to match the condi-

ments, making it nearly disap-

pear under the mustard and

ketchup. The pre-packaged

onions were a new experience,

and also failed to stand up to

their condiment compatriots.

All they seemed to add was a

bit of unusual mouthfeel, and

no real onion-y goodness.

The buns for both were

exactly the same: warm and

soft, tearing apart easily with

no rubbery flex or dry crumb

explosions. Perfect.

But, having said all that,

the RaceTrac hot dog was not

a disappointment. Larger and

less expensive than its QSR

competitor, if you’re on a long

road trip and find yourself in

need of gas and a quick bite,

dropping into a RaceTrac for

one is not a bad idea.

WinnerSonic.

Sonic All-American dog

VS

Sonic $1.99

By Amanda Westbrooks

RaceTrac $1.44

C S P October 2012220


PresentationIt’s tough to beat the Wawa

ordering experience. You walk

up to a touch screen, input

your hoagie details and pay

the tab. They call your num-

ber and you are out the door.

It’s efficient and frustration-

free. Subway was empty, so

no long line and the hoagie

maker was nice enough, but

I had to repeat what I wanted

on my hoagie two or three

times before she got it.

Once home, the packag-

ing was a draw (there is really

no other way to pack a hoagie

other than wrap it in paper),

but in terms of out-of-wrapper

looks, the Wawa hoagie easily

won the beauty contest. It just

looked more appetizing.

TasteAficionados will tell you that

the bread makes the hoagie.

In that case, Wawa’s soft,

chewy fresh roll crushed the

competition. Subway’s roll,

for example, had traces of

impending staleness: edges

were a bit hard and the bread

crumbled. Not good.

To be fair, Subway’s Italian

hoagie comes with a “spicy”

label, but I didn’t want pep-

peroni (the spice) on my Ital-

ian hoagie. So I requested extra

salami instead. If the woman

making my hoagie gave me

extra, the original portion

must be woefully thin. Also,

Subway’s tomatoes were those

awful yellow/white-centered

specimens; they looked like

they were plucked a month too

early. The Subway hoagie also

was too heavy on the shred-

ded iceberg lettuce (a 60-to-40

lettuce-to-meat ratio).

Moving to Wawa’s hoagie,

more meat (three kinds of

Italian ham along with salami)

and their tomatoes passed the

color/flavor test. The lettuce-

to-meat ratio was 40-to-60—

much better. It just tasted like

a hoagie should taste: All the

flavors were there, not buried

in bread and lettuce.

Overall, the Wawa hoagie’s

flavor was clearly superior to

the Subway offering, for the

obvious reasons noted above.

WinnerWawa.

Wawa Italian

Subway Spicy ItalianVS

SUBWAY

$6.25 (12-inch)Wawa

$5.39 (10-inch)

By Tom Starner



7-Eleven Cappuccino

PresentationAt 7-Eleven, coffee is dispensed

from a self-service machine.

Push a button for your choice

of regular coffee, cappuccino,

hot chocolate and a couple of

permutations on each selec-

tion, including flavored coffees

like hazelnut and vanilla. A

separate “condiment” area pro-

vides toppings such as ground

cinnamon, cocoa powder,

vanilla sugar and mini marsh-

mallows. Customers pay for the

drink at the checkout counter.

A server/cashier takes coffee

orders and payment at Dunkin’

Donuts. A separate “barista”

prepares the cappuccino. Cus-

tomers are asked if they want

to add sugar or sweetener;

other “Dunkaccino” choices

included caramel and mocha

swirl. Calorie counts, along

with prices, are listed for each

choice. Service was customized

and very efficient. Nothing like

the long lines and pretentious

coffee lingo bantered about at

Starbucks.

Temperature/ Appearance/TasteThe 7-Eleven cappuccino came

out piping hot and was filled

nearly to the brim of the cup.

It looked like a traditional cap-

puccino, with a nice layer of

foamy milk on top. However

the beverage offered very little

coffee flavor. It was also cloy-

ingly sweet, although I didn’t

order it with sweetener. I could

drink only half a cup.

The Dunkin’ coffee was

nice and hot with a cap of clas-

sic cappuccino milk foam. A

true coffee flavor came through

with each sip—not as strong as

the dark roast espresso used in

other cappuccinos, but strong

enough. Although it had nice

bitter notes, it was definitely

more middle-of-the-road than

a classic Italian cappuccino.

WinnerDunkin’ delivered more cof-

fee kick and better flavor.

Although I am not partial to

Dunkin’ Donuts’ regular cof-

fee—it’s too mild for my taste

buds—I would go back for a

cappuccino. It was reasonably

priced and the service was

pleasant. The 7-Eleven cap-

puccino was much too sweet.

I may return there for a morn-

ing coffee fix; it’s quick, clean

and has enough choice. But I

wouldn’t press the button for a

cappuccino again.

Dunkin’ Donuts “Dunkaccino”

VS

By Patricia Cobe

7-Eleven $1.60

for a 12-ounce cup

Dunkin’

Donuts

$2.19for

a

12-ou

nce

cup



Sheetz Chicken Wrap

PresentationSheetz was lively; custom-

ers purchased doughnuts

after filling up their tanks.

The made-to-order section

was like a ’50s diner sport-

ing panels of stainless steel

and bright-colored Formica.

The touch-screen ordering

process was simple. There

were multiple choices for

toppings, dressings (called

spreadables) and cheeses (a

79-cent premium). The wrap

came with lettuce. I added

Pepper Jack cheese, chipotle

ranch dressing, pickles and

banana peppers. Final top-

pings offered were salt, pep-

per, Parmesan and oregano; I

chose oregano. The machine

spits out a ticket, and you

pay the cashier. Pleasantly

easy, although there was a

computer meltdown after

I paid, leaving just one reg-

ister operating. By the time

I left, the line neared the

door. I watched my wrap

being assembled. The cover-

ing itself, lavash (more like

a thick tortilla) was huge.

Cheese slices were arranged

on it; one fell into a counter

gutter and was discarded.

Chicken was heated in a

microwave (no grill?) and

dumped out of a bag onto the

wrap. The wrap was rolled in

paper; the order slip taped

to it and put in a bag. It took

roughly 8 minutes.

Wendy’s Crisp Chicken

Caesar Wrap was the closest

match to the Sheetz wrap, so

that’s what I ordered. I asked

for tomato, an extra. The

ordering process was as easy

as you’re used to. Wendy’s felt

more like a restaurant. I could

not observe the preparation,

but the wrap seemed freshly

made, and took under 5 min-

utes. The breaded chicken

was hot, with large shreds of

cheddar, crisp bits of lettuce

and a generous schmear of

Caesar-style creamy dressing.

The tomato slice was thick, cut

in half and free. The wrap itself

was about 6 inches round. It

gaped open due to the tomato

addition, or because it was too

small, but seemed to contain

as much chicken as the Sheetz

wrap. The paper wrapping was

skimpy, making it tricky to eat.

TasteThe Sheetz wrap should have

been cut in half for easier eat-

ing and avoidance of doughy

ends. It was salty—due some-

what to my topping choices,

but those were the only things

with presence. Overall: bland,

salty and white. The tender

but flavorless chicken didn’t

seem grilled. Shredded carrot,

spinach or red cabbage would

have been fresh and tasty.

Wendy’s Crisp Chicken

Caesar Wrap covering was

small, but was preferable to

the extra-large, tasteless lavash

in the Sheetz wrap. Tastier

insides too: crispy chicken,

flavorful cheese, a moist,

pepper-flecked dressing.

WinnerWendy’s, hands down.

Wendy’s Chicken Wrap

VS

Wendy’s 99 cents

By Miriam Rubin

Sheetz $5.07

Wendy’s Chicken Wrap



Stripes Chicken Fajita Soft Taco

PresentationStripes markets its taco menu

under the brand name Laredo

Taco Company. It has supe-

rior recipes, geared toward

Texas tastes, but its execution

is uneven from store to store.

Had to visit two stores to find

one in which the taco case

was actually stocked, and not

all employees knew how to

assemble them.

All in all, on presentation it

was a draw. Taco Bell wins on

freshness. Its chicken is hot,

while Stripes’ is just warm.

The cooked ingredients have

been sitting in bins in a dis-

play case for hours. Not all

Stripes employees know how

to assemble the tacos. But the

Stripes taco stays warm lon-

ger, because it’s wrapped in

foil. Taco Bell’s paper wrapper

loses heat quickly.

TasteThe Stripes offering is in line

with what you’d buy from a

taco truck in any Texas town.

It has larger pieces of chicken,

with chunks of grilled pep-

pers, onions and tomatoes.

The spices are visible on the

meat, enough to tickle your

tongue without making you

grab for a bottle of water. If

you want higher heat, there’s a

condiment bar to the side that

offers two salsas and pico de

gallo. The Stripes taco is larger

by half—large enough to

make a meal—and wrapped

in a flour tortilla that’s thick

enough to absorb the juices

without getting soggy.

Taco Bell’s tastes like a

Kentucky idea of a chicken

taco. It offers unseasoned

bits of meat with shredded

cheese and lettuce. There’s a

choice of four salsas in small

foil packages, which add

some flavor. The flour tortilla

is small and thin, but apart

from the salsa, there’s no liq-

uid for it to soak up.

WinnerStripes, by a feather. The pre-

sentation is less than appe-

tizing, but the basic product

gives you more flavor and

more food for your $2.

Taco Bell Chicken Soft TacoVS

Taco Bell $1.49

By Steve Brooks

Stripes

$1.99

(for a larger taco)



Holiday Stationstores’ Southwest Chicken Wrap

PresentationHoliday Stationstores’ move to put wraps in a clamshell was

a wise one; it kept it intact and appealing to the eye.

Au Bon Pain’s wrap was in the expected cellophane wrap

and was a little loose by the time I picked it up.

TasteAu Bon Pain had a leg up on Holiday Stationstores here with

the addition of fresh, crunchy lettuce and tomatoes. But the

bizarre decision to add dill to a Southwest wrap threw the

flavor for an unpleasant loop. Holiday Stationstores’ tortilla

had a gumminess, a byproduct of not being made fresh. The

roasted corn salsa and chipotle cheese spread were nice, but

I wanted more.

Winner Au Bon Pain for the lettuce alone.

Au Bon Pain’s Southwest Tuna Wrap

VS

Au Bon Pain

$5.69 13.7 oz.

By Abbie Westra

Holiday

$3.79 8 oz.


Holiday Stationstores’ Oven Roasted Turkey & Swiss on Roasted Garlic Pepper French Bread

PresentationAu Bon Pain had a cello-

phane wrapper that served

its purpose, though it could

have listed more ingredients

to make the sandwich more

appealing before purchase.

Holiday Stationstores’

sandwich used a shrink wrap

that also worked just fine. The

branding could use an update.

TasteHoliday Stationstores had an

uphill battle here. The bread

had a nice black pepper bite

and garlicky savoriness, but

that’s about the only flavor

apparent in the sandwich.

Lack of any condiments

might have been alleviated

by a noteworthy cheese, but

the Swiss was quite flavorless.

The turkey was pleasant, and

a squirt of mustard from the

condiment bar helped ramp

the flavor up.

Au Bon Pain’s sandwich

had it in the bag with its tar-

ragon spread alone, but all the

other components—lettuce,

tomato, cheddar and a thicker

cut of turkey—were also good.

WinnerAu Bon Pain, with some

caveats. By 1:30 on a weekday,

Au Bon Pain’s grab-and-go

section was nearly wiped

out. Meanwhile, Holiday Sta-

tionstores’ was well stocked

and nicely presented. The

service was disparate as well:

Au Bon Pain’s clerk did the

minimum required, while

Holiday Stationstores’ asso-

ciate provided some friendly

banter. But when it came

down to the sandwiches, Au

Bon Pain wins on the addi-

tion of produce and flavorful

condiments. There’s promise

in that roasted corn salsa and

black pepper bread at Holi-

day Stationstores, but logistics

prevail here and Au Bon Pain’s

ability to make sandwiches

daily on-site provides it the

shelf-life allowance to go big-

ger on flavor. n

Au Bon Pain’s Turkey Club on Country White

VSHoliday

$3.49 6.3 oz.

Au Bon Pain

$3.99 6.1 oz.

Documents

“A TASTE-TEST BATTLE ROYALE” C-STORE - CSP …€œA TASTE-TEST BATTLE ROYALE” C-STORE In this corner, c-stores, trying to reinvent themselves and steal customers from restaurants