ARKO Introduces New Value Pizza Program
RICHMOND, Va. — ARKO Corp.'s subsidiary GPM Investments LLC is teaming up with Performance Food Group Inc. (PFG) to launch a new signature pizza program. The partnership builds upon ARKO's focus on scalable foodservice offerings and being able to provide valuable, relevant offers to customers.
The convenience retailer leveraged the expertise of PFG company products to create a premium, 12-inch pizza that is available for the low price of $4.99 for enrolled fas REWARDS loyalty program members. For customers not a part of fas REWARDS, the offering carries a $7.99 price tag.
The pizza is available hot to customers at more than 200 GPM convenience stores and frozen to take-and-bake at more than 1,000 locations. It is made with a hearty sauce blended from 100% California vine-ripened tomatoes and Wisconsin-made, whole milk mozzarella cheese with no preservatives layered on a made-from-scratch seasoned pizza crust.
"We have worked to make a premium, high quality, high value pizza for our customers, and we were able to find that through our partnership with Core-Mark and the PFG product offerings," said Mike Bloom, executive vice president, chief merchandising and marketing officer, GPM Investments. "We believe that this highly relevant offering will be appreciated by our customers."
Customers can choose between a hearty cheese pizza or one topped with savory pepperoni, both of which use fresh ingredients to provide an authentic, Italian-style taste, texture and appearance, the companies said.
"GPM has been a highly valued customer for more than a decade at Core-Mark and we're pleased to extend our relationship with PFG to help them meet their objectives for this exciting launch," said Chris Boughton, director of national accounts at Core-Mark, a subsidiary of PFG. "From the Alive and Kickin' Pizza Crust base to the robust sauce and premium ingredients, we are proud to distribute this delicious pizza at a great value."
The pizza features crust from Alive and Kickin' Crust (AK), a Port City Bakery Inc. company. Privately held and based in Green Bay, Wis., AK manufactures finished frozen pizzas, pizza crusts and dough balls.
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"We're proud to partner with GPM in developing this delicious pizza with Wisconsin cheese and a bready, perfect crust so their customers can enjoy a substantial, hot pie right from the store or take-and-bake from the freezer," said Shawna Link, foodservice sales manager at Alive and Kickin' Crust. "Either way, it's an outstanding meal at a great price, which delivers just the right amount of pizza perfection."
PepsiCo is the official beverage partner of the pizza program, giving customers exclusive offers for budget-friendly meal deals.
"Having a value pizza offering is table stakes for convenience store operators, and we have raised the ante with the exceptional quality resulting from a thorough research and development process executed in concert with a premier pizza innovation team," said Arie Kotler, chairman, president and CEO of ARKO. "We strongly believe this pie will resonate with consumers who are seeking a delicious, crispy and cheesy whole pizza, at an inflation-busting $4.99. The relevancy, quality and value of this pizza marks a new milestone as we continue our food journey."
Headquartered in Richmond, PFG has a nationwide network of more than 150 distribution facilities and 35,000 associates. It markets and delivers food and related products to 300,000-plus locations, including independent and chain restaurants, schools, business and industry locations, healthcare facilities, vending distributors, office coffee service distributors, big box retailers, theaters and convenience stores.
Richmond-based ARKO, which owns 100 percent of GPM Investments LLC, operates in four reportable segments: retail, which includes convenience stores selling merchandise and fuel products to retail customers; wholesale, which supplies fuel to independent dealers and consignment agents; fleet fueling, which includes the operation of proprietary and third-party cardlock locations, and issuance of proprietary fuel cards that provide customers access to a nationwide network of fueling sites; and GPM Petroleum, which sells and supplies fuel to its retail and wholesale sites and charges a fixed fee, primarily to its fleet fueling sites.