The breakfast business is booming, and convenience stores throughout the country are targeting their offerings and operations to cash in on the trend, experts say.
The "brunch" phenomenon is driving growth, but these aren’t traditional sit-down brunches, said David Portalatin, senior vice president and industry advisor for food and foodservice at Circana. As people have returned to the office, they’re increasingly consuming breakfast foods later in the day, he said. In many cases, they’re eating multiple times during the morning due to increased commuting and time-crunched schedules.
“People might grab an energy bar and coffee at home and then need something else mid-morning,” Portalatin said.
Still, while consumers eat most morning meals on the go, an increasing number of them are eating on-premises at convenience stores as consumers seek a “third place” away from home and work, Portalatin said.
Breakfast sandwich combos, soufflés and caprese-style items, such as benedicts and omelets, are the fastest-growing morning food trends. There’s also strong consumer demand for high-protein options, locally sourced ingredients and global flavors, Ann Golladay, senior director at Datassential, said in an email. Certain flavors, such as everything bagel spice and hot honey, have seen explosive growth.
Chicken breakfast sandwiches have become popular as convenience stores try to “pull traffic away” from quick-service restaurants, Lizzy Freier, senior director of menu research and insights at Technomic, added in an email.
How are c-stores tapping into these trends? Read on to learn more about four companies innovating in breakfast.
Wawa goes all-in on LTOs and drink customization
Hoping to catch lightning in a bottle, Pennsylvania-based Wawa has launched more than 100 LTOs for breakfast in 2025 — more than double its closest competitor, according to Technomic data.
The company recently ran an LTO for its French toast-based Sizzli, a sausage, egg and cheese breakfast sandwich that uses French toast instead of traditional bread. The sandwich provides an alternative to McDonald’s popular McGriddle.
Wawa also invites customers to create their own hot or iced lattes using its touch ordering screen, enabling shoppers to control the ingredients that go in their drinks. Customers can choose from a wide range of options, including flavors like coconut, pumpkin or toasted marshmallow, and toppings such as drizzle, graham crackers or Crème Brulée sprinkles.
Sprint Mart’s full-service restaurant
Grab-and-go sandwiches are one thing, but some retailers offer the full sit-down experience.
Sadie’s Diner is a full-service restaurant concept located alongside a Sprint Mart convenience store in Vance, Alabama. The site offers a sit-down dining experience alongside traditional grab-and-go options. Customers can order takeout and even catering services.
Sprint Mart launched the concept — named after the Mercedes-Benz factory across the street — to serve the more than 10,000 manufacturing workers employed by the automaker and neighboring suppliers.
"Most of the food that those factory workers were consuming was cafeteria food or what they brought to work with them in the morning,” said Matt Bogue, president at Sprint Mart's parent company, The Dutch Group. “So, we were offering real convenience and a real opportunity for people."
Sadie’s Diner serves up a wide range of breakfast staples, including breakfast sandwiches, grits, omelets and pancakes. The restaurant’s LTOs, including eggs benedict, breakfast quesadillas, seasonal fruit and cakes, have also been “incredibly successful,” said Ryan Krebs, senior director of food service at Sprint Mart.
The company is evaluating whether to expand the concept but has no firm plans, Bogue said.
7-Eleven leverages its booming QSR business
While it may not be many customers’ first thought when naming food-focused c-stores, 7-Eleven is increasingly focusing on its QSRs, with plans to add them to more than 1,000 locations by 2030. The retailer has multiple concepts, including Laredo Taco Company, Raise the Roost Chicken and Biscuits and Speedy Cafe. These QSRs offer a bevy of breakfast options, giving customers “even more reasons to stop in during the morning rush,” 7-Eleven said in an email.
Laredo Taco Company, for example, offers a wide range of breakfast options, including breakfast tacos with flavors like bacon and barbacoa, as well as plates that come with a protein, two sides and a tortilla.
“The response has been especially strong in regions where the concept is already well established, and we continue to see growing excitement as we expand into new markets,” the company said.
Raise the Roost capitalizes on the chicken trend, offering a variety of made-from-scratch biscuits, burritos and baskets for morning diners.
Speedy Cafe, meanwhile, serves up breakfast pizzas alongside more traditional options like breakfast sandwiches.
Kwik Trip’s in-house bakery
Wisconsin-based Kwik Trip bakes its own buns, bread and sweet goods to “cut out the middle man” and offer products “that you can’t find anywhere else,” said Jeremy Haack, director of food service at Kwik Trip.
Kwik Trip offers a wide variety of baked goods that could appeal to on-the-run morning customers, including breads, muffins, cinnamon rolls and donuts. Some of its more unusual offerings include a cinnamon crunch bagel, donuts topped with Andes Mints and a breakfast pizza with a croissant crust.
The custom baked goods not only satisfy customers, they also give Kwik Trip plenty of brand-building opportunities. The brand’s Glazer donuts have been so hugely successful that the company began offering Glazer-branded merchandise, including T-shirts, holiday tins, beer and even lip balm.
Kwik Trip’s focus on combining value with proprietary, high-quality products has helped the brand establish a devoted fan base, Haack said, noting that customers send messages “to our office, on a weekly and even daily basis, asking us to build stores in their communities.”
