Nominations Open for Convenience Store News' 2025 Foodservice Innovators Awards
CHICAGO — Convenience Store News is now accepting nominations for its 2025 Foodservice Innovators Awards, which recognize best-in-class convenience foodservice retailers.
The program, now its 14th year, celebrates convenience store retailers that demonstrate the highest levels of quality, service and inventiveness in the foodservice category.
Nominations are being accepted in the following award categories:
Prepared Foods Innovator of the Year — The c-store retailer that best advances its foodservice execution on prepared foods to deliver quality items to the customer quickly, and differentiates itself through new and unique menu items and programs.
Dispensed Beverages Innovator of the Year — The c-store retailer that best offers a consistently high-quality and differentiated assortment of hot, cold and frozen dispensed beverages, including coffee, fountain drinks, iced teas and made-to-order drinks.
Best Use of Technology in Foodservice Operations — The c-store retailer that best incorporates innovative back-of-the-house and customer-facing technologies into its foodservice operations to improve category sales and profits.
Foodservice Innovator to Watch — This category recognizes the best up-and-coming foodservice operator in the convenience store industry over the past year.
Foodservice Innovator of the Year — The c-store retailer that most effectively develops new prepared food and dispensed beverage programs to expand its business; scouts and hires foodservice and culinary talent to ensure a competitive edge; invests in modern technology to improve its foodservice operations; markets its food and beverage offerings in unique and attention-grabbing ways; and innovates constantly, never resting on its laurels.
Only convenience store retailer companies are eligible to win Foodservice Innovators Awards. However, nominations may be submitted on behalf of retailers by their supplier and distributor partners. There is no fee for entry and no limit to the number of nominations a company or individual can submit.
Click here to submit a nomination.
All nominations must be received by Dec. 13, 2024. Winners will be notified the week of Jan. 13, followed by an announcement on CSNews.com the week of Jan. 20. The awards will be presented at CSNews’ 2025 Convenience Foodservice Exchange event, taking place May 8-9 in Denver.
In 2024, 10 c-store retailers that have excelled at differentiation through outstanding foodservice were honored with Foodservice Innovators Awards. They were celebrated at the 2024 Convenience Foodservice Exchange, held May 2-3 in Tampa, Fla.