Dive Brief:
- Alimentation Couche-Tard has appointed Grant Morris as head of QSRs and made-to-order foodservice for Circle K convenience stores in the U.S., a company spokesperson confirmed to C-Store Dive.
- Morris has been with Couche-Tard since 2019 and was most recently interim head of North America foodservice support, he said in a LinkedIn announcement last week. In his new role, Morris reports to Gary Brant, Couche-Tard’s vice president of North America foodservice and QSRs since last spring, according to the spokesperson.
- Morris’ promotion is one of several changes Couche-Tard has made to its foodservice operations this year as the retailer looks to grow food revenues at four times the pace of merchandise revenues in the U.S.
Dive Insight:
While not a pillar of its hallmark Fresh Food, Fast program — which mainly features grab-and-go items — QSRs remain essential to Couche-Tard, which has hundreds of Circle K locations with adjacent restaurants such as Subway and Little Caesars. The retailer also has partnerships with lesser-known QSR brands, such as Burrito Express in Arizona.
And although made-to-order foodservice has never been Couche-Tard’s expertise, the retailer is hungry to build that side of its operation. Leadership has said that its acquisition of GetGo Café + Markets, the former convenience store arm of supermarket chain Giant Eagle, was primarily made to increase its capabilities in made-to-order.
Moving Morris into a leadership role overseeing QSRs and made-to-order operations signals that Couche-Tard is eager to grow both of those segments even as it scales the Fresh Food, Fast program.
“As we continue to evolve and elevate our food program, I’m energized by the opportunity to help drive innovation, strengthen our offerings, and deliver even greater value to our customers,” Morris said in his LinkedIn announcement.
Prior to his latest role, Morris spent four years as director of operations for food execution for Couche-Tard’s North Americas business, according to his LinkedIn bio. Prior to that, he was director of foodservice for its Florida stores.
Morris is the third foodservice executive Couche-Tard has named in the past couple of months. In February, the company named Trey Powell as senior vice president of food and retail for its U.S. business, where he leads all food, merchandising, marketing, private brand, supply chain strategy, sourcing and procurement operations. A month later, Couche-Tard hired former Family Dollar executive Dan Larmondra as U.S. head of food merchandising.
