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Convenience Store News Announces Winners of 2025 Foodservice Innovators Awards

Ten c-store retailers, nominated by the industry, are named leaders in foodservice excellence.
Foodservice Innovators Awards

CHICAGO — Convenience Store News’ 2025 Foodservice Innovators Awards program is honoring 10 convenience store retailers that have distinguished their food and beverage operations in quality, service, innovation and the use of technology. 

Now in its 14th year, the Foodservice Innovators Awards program has been recognizing best-in-class convenience foodservice retailers since 2012. This year, for the first time, the winners were selected based on nominations received from CSNews’ readers. 

The top winner for 2025 — receiving the gold medal for Foodservice Innovator of the Year — is Rutter’s, the York, Pa.-based chain that operates 88 stores in Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia. The family-run retailer is known for its award-winning foodservice, technology advancements and sustainability. Rutter’s previously won the Foodservice Innovator of the Year award in 2021, 2018 and 2012, making it the first four-time recipient of this prestigious honor.

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This year’s silver medal winner for Foodservice Innovator of the Year is Allsup’s, a division of Yesway, one of the fastest-growing convenience store operators in the United States. Established in 2015 and headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, Yesway operates 440 Allsup’s and Yesway stores across Texas, New Mexico, South Dakota, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Wyoming, Oklahoma and Nebraska. The retailer is known for its leading foodservice offerings, including the famous deep-fried Allsup’s Burrito. This is Allsup’s first time being honored in this program. 

The gold medal for Prepared Foods Innovator of the Year goes to Wawa Inc., the Philadelphia area-based chain that operates more than 1,000 stores. This is the first time Wawa has won in this category; however, the company is a multiple past winner of Foodservice Innovator of the Year in 2024 and 2013, and Dispensed Beverages Innovator of the Year in 2022. 

The silver medal for Prepared Foods Innovator of the Year goes to Texas Born Stores (TXB), a family of customer-oriented convenience/grocery stores and quick food operations, with more than 48 locations in Texas and Oklahoma. This is the second time TXB has been recognized in this category, having been named Prepared Foods Innovator of the Year in 2022.

The gold medal winner for Dispensed Beverages Innovator of the Year is Kwik Trip Inc., the La Crosse, Wis.-based chain that operates more than 800 stores in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois, Iowa and South Dakota. Kwik Trip won the Cold Beverages Innovator of the Year title in 2020 before the hot and cold categories were combined into one overall award. The company’s foodservice expertise also was honored with the Foodservice Innovator of the Year award in 2015 and 2019, making it one of the few multiple-time winners of the title. 

The silver medal for Dispensed Beverages Innovator of the Year goes to Cumberland Farms, which is the largest of EG America’s convenience brands with more than 575 stores across Connecticut, Florida, Massachusetts, Maine, New York, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont. Cumberland Farms is a two-time winner of the Hot Beverages Innovator of the Year title, in 2017 and 2019, before the hot and cold categories were combined. 

This year's gold medal winner for Foodservice Innovator to Watch is Hot Spot, the convenience store division of Spartanburg, S.C.-based R.L. Jordan Oil Co. The family-owned chain of 40-plus stores offers Hotties Kitchen, which focuses on high-quality, locally-sourced ingredients and allows customers to personalize their meals, catering to various dietary preferences. This is Hot Spot’s first win in the Foodservice Innovators Awards program. 

The silver medal winner for Foodservice Innovator to Watch is Sapp Bros., the Nebraska-based operator of 17 full-service travel centers primarily located on Interstate 80 from as far west as Salt Lake City to as far east at Clearfield, Penn. Also a first-time winner this year, the retailer operates multiple restaurant concepts and aims to be a “refuge on the road” for travelers. 

Parker’s Kitchen, the fast-growing Savannah, Ga.-based chain with 90-plus stores in Georgia and South Carolina, earns its first recognition in the Foodservice Innovators Awards program as this year's gold medal winner for Best Use of Technology in Foodservice Operations. The retailer offers Southern-style, made-from-scratch Parker’s Kitchen food for breakfast, lunch and dinner, as well as grab-and-go food options and a hot bar with convenient electronic kiosk ordering. 

The silver medal for Best Use of Technology in Foodservice Operations goes to OnCue, a family-run market innovator based in Oklahoma City, with more than 75 locations in the Sooner State. OnCue, which was recognized as a Foodservice Innovator to Watch last year, is quick to adopt new technology that accommodates recipes designed to be made fresh yet user friendly.

All this year's winners will be honored at CSNews2025 Convenience Foodservice Exchange (CFX) event, taking place May 8-9 in Denver. The theme for this year's conference is "Firing Up a Foodservice Culture." The event will feature a packed agenda of retailers and foodservice experts sharing ideas and best practices to grow foodservice category sales and profits.

Attendance is by invitation only. Convenience store retailers may request an invite by clicking here. Sponsorships are available for suppliers, distributors and solution providers that wish to participate. For more information on sponsorship opportunities, contact Sandra Parente, Group Publisher/SVP, NA Convenience, at [email protected]

About the Author

Don Longo

Don Longo is Editorial Director Emeritus of Convenience Store News. He joined the brand in 2005. With the highest recognition of any c-store industry media journalist, Don has given presentations to business groups throughout the U.S., Europe and South America, appeared as a guest on Fox Business News and National Public Radio, and is a highly sought source for major consumer and business news.

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