SLR speaks to Ascona Group about creating a winning food-to-go offer for forecourt customers.
By Sarah Britton
Having just signed a new five-year contract with Co-op Wholesale, forecourt retailer Ascona Group clearly takes the convenience side of its forecourt business seriously. “Years ago, a forecourt would just be offering soft drinks, crisps and confectionery,” says Area Manager Marc Burgess-Main. “People aren’t expecting the full extent of a massive store, but they are expecting you to offer a competitive selection, so groceries, bread and cakes.”
What began as two sites in Pembrokeshire, Wales, in 2011 has grown rapidly into a 62-strong UK-wide estate, with two sites in Scotland, and the firm hungry for more.
“We are looking to grow in Scotland over the next year or so,” Burgess-Main says. He claims that the group has a clear strategy for expansion, based around taking on “unloved” sites and redeveloping them – a process they refer to in-house as “Asconarisation”.
“We’re just looking for the correct opportunity for a store that we can bring up to the expected standard with staff we’ll employ locally,” he says.
He claims that simply meeting customers’ fuel requirements is no longer enough to guarantee success in the forecourt sector. “When you’re out on the road, you’re thinking ‘I need fuel, but where am I going to get a coffee? Where am I going to get food?’”
The taste test
Competition is fierce, so forecourts must provide a strong food-to-go offer if they want a piece of the action. “Because there are so many different types of forecourts out there – for example, in Glasgow you’ve got the Racetrack stores, they do something totally different to what everyone else does, and then customers go to other sites, like EG on the Move, and they may have a Greggs or their own style of food to go – so customers are looking for that when they go to a forecourt. They’re looking for your Rollover, your Tango Ice Blast, your Greggs or Country Choice.”
The firm’s Refinery Service Station in Grangemouth, is home to Starbucks Coffee, Tango Ice Blast, Rollover Hot Dogs and a Gregg’s franchise run by store staff. The group has also found local suppliers to up the store’s appeal to local residents. “We’ve also brought in goods from a local bakery in Cumbernauld,” says Burgess-Main. “The products from him are all sale or return as well, which has helped us, and we’ve had a little bit free rein as to what he wants to put in and the customers are liking what they’re getting.”
Meanwhile, up in Aberdeen, the group upped its game by switching out its Gregg’s offer for Country Choice, a move which has seen sales more than double. The store has also reached out to local suppliers and offers sandwiches, bread and cakes from Aberdeen bakery JG Ross, which have been well received.
Sourcing new lines to keep customers coming back is also a big focus. “We’ve recently just put in a supplier called Snak Shed into both sites. They do food to go [think individually wrapped flapjacks, muffins and cookies], which is helping push a little bit more sales. We’ve also introduced Bonds sweet tubs, which have sold really, really well. So we’re trying to do different things to see what’s working.”
Cooper Bros in Wishaw, North Lanarkshire, is reaping the benefits of installing JET CHARGE, an ultra-rapid EV charging station.
Operations Director, Garry Gibson, says: “EV customers have all been complimentary about how easy to use and accessible the chargers are, with many taking the opportunity to use the shop – which is good to see.”
Launched in February 2023, and featuring up to 360kWh ultra-rapid charging, pay-as-you-go payment, and no minimum charge, JET CHARGE has quickly become popular with EV drivers. One customer told JET: “This is what charging should be like. Rock up. No waiting. Present card, plug in. Pause. Present card, unplug, and away you go.”
JET Hillside Terrace in Selkirk in the Scottish Borders cited JET CHARGE as a significant factor in its decision to switch to the JET brand. It’s a similar story at JET Oasis in Hull, where Operations Director, Oliver Blake, explains that JET’s EV arrangement was “too good to turn down.” Similarly, JET Brentford recently re-signed a four-year contract, identifying JET CHARGE as a pivotal factor.
“Customers want the confidence to know that we can offer everything they need at our site – be it fuel, food or a quick and easy-to-use re-charge,” says Manoj Agnihotri, Business Development and Operations Manager, JET Brentford. “JET CHARGE is a great addition to the JET brand, and for dealers like us, who operate in high-density urban areas with a higher concentration of EV drivers, it’s the missing piece of the puzzle.”
Rupert Turner, Managing Director, UK Marketing, Phillips 66, says: “JET CHARGE is bringing new customers to the JET brand every day, many of whom shop while waiting to power up. Add increased footfall and a commitment from us to meet the costs of installation, and it’s a compelling offer more and more of our dealers are looking to explore.”
Changing things up
And it’s not just Ascona doing things differently. Rollover Hotdogs is upping its game too in a bid to give consumers a food-to-go offer that caters better for different day parts. Bacon, sausage and egg are shoppers’ top-three breakfast items [Lumina, Breakfast Food Items, w/e 16/02/25], so Rollover has incorporated them into portable options with its new bacon & sausage baguette and sausage, egg & cheese muffin.
The supplier is supporting retailers with more targeted merchandising and ranging advice to create greater visibility and encourage consumers to think of breakfast as a more complete meal. “For example, retailers can bundle our breakfast muffin and sausage baguette with complementary items like fresh fruit or juices as part of a meal deal to increase spend,” says Tony Owen, General Manager at Rollover. “It’s all about creating a varied breakfast offering that aligns with current consumer preferences.”
When it comes to lunch, there is more demand for higher protein offerings, which has seen a 50% growth in the last four years, making it the fastest-growing food category [6 Kantar Category Gold | % value growth | 52wk data from 29.11.20 to 07.07.24], states Rollover. The firm is meeting this demand with its flame-grilled quarter pounder bacon cheeseburger, which is also the second most popular food-to-go dish [Lumina, FTG Dishes, w/e 16/02/25], and boneless chicken wings.
Wild Bean Cafe is also giving consumers new reasons to visit forecourts with a tongue-in-cheek creative that challenges people’s perceptions of filling station food.
Despite serving freshly prepared coffee in BP retail sites for over 25 years, the brand realised that it had a poor reputation, with many drivers simply passing it by, claims ad agency TBWA/MCR.
So the new campaign reframes the brand’s high-quality food and drink as one of life’s pleasant surprises, encouraging customers to reappraise the offer. “In a category where assumptions run deep, we leaned into scepticism instead of ignoring it,” says TBWA/MCR. “Petrol station cafés are rarely associated with quality, so rather than shy away, we tackled these preconceptions head-on.”
Running across out of home, audio, social, ad vans, in-store activation and even on in-car navigation systems – the ads rave about the brand’s delicious coffee and bacon baps, and carry a ‘well that was wildly unexpected’ tagline.
It was all change for Mansfield Crossroads Service Station in Nottinghamshire this summer when the site revamped the chillers at its Nisa store.
DoubleCool installation experts Ben and Terry fitted 14 doors to three runs of open chillers: four doors to keep the beers chilled, three for cool wines, and seven for soft drinks.
Adding doors to chillers creates massive energy savings, meaning significantly reduced energy bills and a more sustainable business.
Retailers who’ve had DoubleCOOL lightweight, acrylic fridge doors fitted to open chillers have experienced energy savings of 45% to 60% and payback periods can be as short as 12 months, claims the firm.
The store opted for frameless doors, which provide customers with a clear view of products. What’s more, adding doors regulated the store’s temperature, which in turn helped to lower food wastage.
Additional services
Outside of food, forecourts are also thinking outside the box when it comes to attracting customers. “We benchmark our fuel pricing three times a week,” says Ascona’s Burgess-Main. “In Grangemouth we have matched our competitors’ pricing multiple times, which will pull people in as well because we’re BP, so people perceive it to be better quality than a supermarket brand of fuel.”
The store also boasts two jet wash machines, two air and vac machines, and a car wash.
Amazon lockers give customers another reason to visit, and Burgess-Main claims that Ascona is in talks with Royal Mail about rolling out their lockers to stores too.
Wash.ME washing machines and dryers are another big draw for Grangemouth. After their initial success, the site recently upgraded with a second unit. “It’s surprising how much they’re used,” says Burgess-Main. “With our sites in Scotland, they’re near housing areas, so we try to cater for both the local customer, as well as people travelling through.”
With additional services galore and an inspiring food-to-go offer, forecourts that invest and innovate are fuelling sales like never before.
The convenience store located at the Murco filling station in Jaywick, Essex, has served the local community for over 30 years, but until recently the shop lacked the technology needed to provide a thorough overview of the business.
“I didn’t know our gross profit,” says Veer Patel, owner of Spar Nash’s Jaywick. “I didn’t know what was selling well and what wasn’t.”
An investment in Henderson Technology’s EDGEPoS system has enabled Veer to regain control of the store’s performance. He checks reports daily, tracking gross profit margins, category performance, and product trends in real time. He’s also learned to schedule price increases on selected items, helping to protect profitability when wholesale RSPs drop.
At the same time as bringing in the EPoS, Veer also introduced electronic shelf edge labels. He reckons that this alone saves him 10 hours of staff time each week. “Before, we used to get 10 pages of price changes daily — that’s over 200 products,” he says. “Now it’s automatic. You press a button, and it’s done.”
Veer says the investments significantly improved staff efficiency, pricing accuracy, and overall confidence in running the business. He is convinced that technology is the way forward. “This isn’t just for big stores,” he says. “I’ve got 3,000 SKUs in 1,250 square feet, and it works brilliantly.”
