As a sign that rivalry between Pennsylvania convenience stores keeps brewing, Altoona-based Sheetz will offer a new line of specialty coffees.
Starting Wednesday, over 500 stores across Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Ohio and North Carolina will offer Sheetz Bros. Coffee sourced from Calif.-based Farmer’s Brothers, which will include a light breakfast blend, a medium classic roast and a dark French roast from Central and South America, along with a Sumatra blend from Indonesia.
“This new premium coffee elevates the sensory experience for our customers,” Ryan Sheetz, the company’s director of brand strategy, said in a press release.
The biggest changes in the quality of Sheetz coffee will be in the amount of coffee used per brew, in-store grinds with a Bunn Multi-Hopper grinder, and a selection from light to dark roasts.
With more consumers who care about specialty coffees, it makes sense that Sheetz is debuting a specialty line. According to the National Coffee Association, 34 percent of Americans drink gourmet coffee every day, up three percent from 2013. And the number of people who drink espresso-based drinks every day has increased from 13 to 18 percent in 2014.
The rollout may point to a strategy to surpass the coffee service of convenience store/gas station competitors such as the Chester Heights-based Wawa, the most fierce convenience store rival.
Competition between Wawa and Sheetz falls along lines as clear as the Philadelphia Eagles versus the Pittsburgh Steelers, with the latter shopping at Sheetz.
But Wawa has a broader reach -- at least, for now. Wawa lists over 22,000 employees at 600 stores across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and Florida and pulled in over $9 billion in revenue by March last year.
Sheetz has 16,000 employees and pulled in $6.9 billion in total sales last year.
Yet when it comes to coffee service, Sheetz and Wawa rank dead even, according to a July Market Force Information study.
Overall, Wawa beat out Sheetz as the favorite gas station convenience store, with a composite loyalty score of 68 percent, followed by the Tulsa, Okla.-based QuikTrip at 62 percent and Sheetz ranking third among 16 stores, including Circle K and 7-Eleven, at 59 percent.
“It’s tough to differentiate between the two,” said Don Longo, the editor of Convenience Store News.
Last year, Sheetz won the group’s retailer innovator of the year award, while Wawa won it in 2013. He cited both chains as “mastering service” and maintaining, “really good-looking stores,” with attention to the flow of traffic at Wawa, while the interior is “more consistent” at Sheetz.
With the new coffee program, each Sheetz has retrained baristas to use new grinders that produce “a smoother, more composed taste profile,” served in an eco-friendly cup.
In addition, Sheetz will roll out seventeen creamer and flavor options the company claims will allow for 1000 variations on a cup of coffee. There are also changes in the espresso, latte and mocha offerings, with customers having the option to order coffee via self-serve or made-to-order.
To kick off the coffee program, kickinthebeanz.com, Sheetz will randomly select one customer per day to win a $50 gift card during September. Customers who post a picture on Instagram or Twitter with their coffee using #KickintheBeanz hashtag will automatically be entered to win.
Melissa McCart: 412-263-1198 or on Twitter @melissamccart
First Published: August 25, 2015, 8:35 p.m.