The stereotypical image of a convenience store (c-store) in the U.S. is that of pre-packaged foods like chips or snacks, coolers full of beverages, a few gas pumps, and tobacco products.
However, over the last few decades, c-stores have evolved beyond simply offering hot dogs languishing on rollers.
Harry Milloff, CEO of the Moseley group, a consultancy company that helps foodservice operations work on their branding and optimization, said in years past, basic c-stores were referred to in the industry as “two pump dumps.”
“These are gas stations, petroleum, tobacco – really they do not speak to foodservice,” Milloff said during a panel at the 2025 Global Seafood Market Conference (GSMC) in Palm Desert, California, U.S.A. “Really, there was an open landscape in terms of food in convenience stores.”
Milloff said that open landscape started to gradually shift 20 years ago.
“It starts first with specialty coffee ... and then bringing in snacks and breakfast sandwiches,” Milloff said. “You fast forward toward models more current today, and we’re starting to see real physical restaurant spaces [that are] foodservice-centric.”
Big c-store chains across the U.S. like United Dairy Farmers, Garrett’s Family Market, and Alltown Fresh are adopting a larger-scale model with restaurant spaces and even outdoor seating for foodservice customers. That emphasis on foodservice has come along with an expanded range of food for customers to eat.
“In today’s landscape, you’re seeing everything under the sun from pizza to sandwiches to fried chicken,” Milloff said.
The panel at GSMC said expansion into more foodservice means the seafood industry has an opportunity to get into the c-store game – and it’s already looking for more seafood options.
Scott Hartman, the president and CEO of Rutter’s Holdings Inc., said his chain of stores is ready and willing to take on new seafood menu items if they fit the bill. Rutter’s has been in business since the company’s family farm started in 1747, and it got involved in the c-store business in 1968.
Since then, the company has won multiple awards, including international convenience retailer of the year, U.S. chain of the year, U.S. convenience store retailer of the year, the best gas station brand by USA Today.
“We pride ourselves on trying to be the best in everything we do,” Hartman said. “We’re getting ready to open our first 14,000-square-foot convenience stores, and that’ll be in about February. We’re also the largest gaming operator in Pennsylvania; that’s a casino. We’re getting ready to actually do a collision course between gambling, alcohol, and convenience.”
As part of Rutter’s expansion into the foodservice sector, it has worked to ensure its offerings are customizable and fast to order. Hartman said stores that offer food give visitors a kiosk at which they can customize their order, offering them "a billion" options to choose from.
Hartman said he attended GSMC in order to push that combination list even higher.
“I’m interested in what [the seafood industry] has to offer us to be able to sell in our stores because it really is all about multiple billions in options if you guys come up with the right ideas,” Hartman said.
Performance Food Group Vice President of Procurement Michael Seidel said his company distributes to broadline foodservice and is also the nation's leading distributor to c-stores and said the options c-stores present for the seafood industry are huge if companies can find the right products to sell.
“The opportunity is now to sell more seafood into convenience,” Seidel said.
Seafood does have a small presence in c-stores already, but the range of product types is narrow.
Data from research firm Circana indicates 75 percent of all seafood at convenience stores is tuna, either canned or pouched tuna or prepared tuna salads and sandwiches. A further 20 percent of those sales were made up of pre-made sushi items, typically sold on the West Coast of the U.S.
By volume, broadline distributors sold 11.3 million pounds of seafood to c-stores through October 2024, which was flat compared to the previous year.
Across those sales, 70 percent of the products were sold to stores with between one and 19 locations.
Those sales could be shifting, according to David Portalatin, a senior vice president and industry advisor for food and foodservice at Circana. Circana data shows younger cohorts of customers are less likely to fit into the “conventional” methods of foodservice sales.
“There is a younger cohort who simply has no reservations whatsoever about trying out the sushi at the convenience store,” Portalatin said.
The room for growth is huge, he said.
Fewer than 1 percent of all seafood orders in the commercial foodservice space came from c-stores, but the year-over-year growth of seafood sold at c-stores is outpacing traditional quick-service restaurants.
Some seafood companies have already found a niche within the c-store environment – just not in the U.S.
Caleta Bay VP of North American Sales Josh deBin said his company has been selling sliced, smoked trout in 7-11 stores across Japan.
“7-11 in Japan has around 21,000 locations that represent about 30 percent of all c-stores,” deBin said.
The company’s sliced, smoked product can apply to a number of different items, deBin said, including sandwiches, sushi snacks, and more – giving multiple avenues for sale.
For seafood companies looking to start selling seafood to c-stores, Hartman had a few pieces of key advice.
“I think you have to start with just finding out who actually understands food safety,” Hartman said. “The average Joe is not so dumb as to go buy something that could kill them at a place that they don’t think is clean nor knows how to handle food.”
Hartman said customers look at things like the cleanliness of where food is being offered and will completely skip over places that don’t look sanitary.
The other piece of advice: Check the bathrooms.
“Restrooms in the industry are a telltale sign. If you’ve got dirty restrooms, people won’t buy food at your stores,” Hartman said. “If they can’t have a clean restroom, they’re not going to sell a lot of seafood.”
