Dive Brief:
- Pilot Company has launched a new foodservice program that it plans to install across its full network of more than 900 travel centers starting this spring, Sean Marrero, the company’s senior vice president of food and beverage, said in an interview with C-Store Dive.
- The program features two foodservice formats: Pilot eats, a made-to-order setup, and Pilot eats Express, which offers a grab-and-go menu. Pilot launched the program earlier this month at two new travel centers in Chicopee, Massachusetts, and Ponce de Leon, Florida.
- Although Pilot has offered meals in its travel centers for years, the new program “represents a shift from simply offering food to truly delivering more of what drivers crave,” Marrero said.
Dive Insight:
Foodservice has been a significant part of Pilot’s New Horizons initiative, a $1 billion investment the company began nearly four years ago to remodel about 400 of its locations.
When New Horizons was first introduced, Pilot said the remodels would provide more space for fresh food. Some locations received a full kitchen makeover as well as an entire counter featuring Pilot’s PJ Fresh program, a fast-casual dining concept that initially debuted in 2013.
As the New Horizons program continues — 200 sites had been remodeled as of April 2025 — Pilot is changing course on its foodservice offerings.
The made-to-order Pilot eats format expands on the company’s hot deli menu and features hand-roped pizza and a new southern chicken sandwich. Meanwhile, Pilot eats Express offers traditional grab-and-go items such as pizza, chicken wings, tenders, packaged sandwiches and various sides.
Marrero said the new program allows Pilot to “set a consistent standard for how our guests identify which locations have the food they are looking for.” He added that Pilot is already exploring new offerings to add to the new program.
“It’s not just new menu items, it’s a complete rethink of the experience, from recipes to packaging to how the food fits into a driver’s day,” Marrero said.
Pilot isn’t the only major convenience retailer going all-in on a new proprietary foodservice program. East Coast competitor GPM Investments is in the early stages of rolling out its Fas Craves program, which centers around hot and cold grab-and-go products. GPM has said it eventually plans to expand Fas Craves to all of its roughly 1,200 c-stores.
