If a convenience store wants to be the best it can be, make cleanliness one of the top considerations.
This advice comes from Bryan Falk (pictured right), director of analytics at Reading, Pennsylvania-based Steritech, who spoke on Operational Showdown: C-Store vs. QSRs at CSP’s 2024 Outlook Leadership conference in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, on Aug. 7. Falk was joined by Alex Myrick (pictured left), Steritech’s vice president of national sales. Steritech provides food safety and operational assessments for c-stores, restaurants and more.
Cleanliness can help improve the likelihood of sales, Falk said, noting:
- 53% of shoppers consider cleanliness a “crucial factor” when selecting a c-store, according to Intouch Insight.
- 60% of Americans make it a point to stop at and are more likely to spend money at a business with clean restrooms, according to the Bradley Corp.
In a Steritech study, he said, nearly 25% of c-store locations were missing soap and paper towels in the bathroom.
Overall, he added, convenience stores have more cleanliness issues than quick-service restaurants (QSRs). In a study of 30 brands comprising 23 restaurants and seven c-stores, along with 450,000 assessments over the last two years, Steritech found that c-stores average 150% more cleanliness findings/issues than QSRs.
“Steritech’s data shows that locations with higher cleanliness scores have higher monthly sales,” he said, adding that there’s a direct correlation between back-of-house cleanliness and sales growth.
For example, sales growth was 13.7% in a recent first quarter for equipment cleanliness-compliant QSRs versus 9.9% growth for noncompliant ones.
In addition, cleanliness of food contact surfaces remains a top issue, but incidents can be decreased, Falk said, noting that the count of findings per visit at c-stores (top line) remains higher than at QSRs (bottom line):
Examples of c-store food contact surfaces include:
- Beverage equipment
- Can opener blades
- Food slicers
- Ice machines/chutes
Non-food contact surfaces also matter when it comes to food safety, Falk said, and c-stores (top line) have an even greater score disparity than QSRs (bottom line) in this area:
Examples of c-store non-food contact surfaces include:
- Equipment gaskets
- Shelving
- Screens and registers
- Buttons, knobs and dials
- Handles (door, cooler, etc.)
Myrick noted, “We also measure whether or not you have a manager on staff, and we correlate that to the scores as well. And as you can imagine, when you have a manager or a general manager on duty, the scores are much higher.”
C-stores are making strides toward improving their general facility cleanliness, however, particularly from 2023’s third quarter to 2024’s second quarter, where the gap shrank from a difference of about 1 finding per visit to about one-half of a finding per visit.
The pair then turned to QSR best practices and an AI data analysis to help c-stores boost cleanliness. The six points in this analysis were:
- Scheduled routine cleaning: Implement strict daily and weekly cleaning schedules.
- Preventative maintenance programs: Establish ongoing maintenance programs to prevent cleanliness issues before they arise.
- Immediate corrective actions: Develop and enforce immediate response plans for identified cleanliness issues.
- Root cause analysis for persistent issues: Conduct thorough investigations to identify the root cause of recurring cleanliness problems.
- Comprehensive training programs: Ensure all staff are thoroughly trained in food safety and cleanliness protocols; Falk said, “We see a high correlation if they do their training. They will get higher scores across the board.”
- Oversight program: Institute a third-party food safety or operational excellence oversight program to help provide an unbiased picture of conditions at all locations.
Speed of Service
Turning to speed of service, Falk said, “Brands that make speed of service a priority may be able to increase their sales.” He added that there’s a strong correlation between shorter ticket time and customer satisfaction.
To improve checkout times, Falk suggested these five best practices from QSRs:
- Evaluate staffing models: Assess staffing needs based on sales by daypart to ensure the projected number of employees meets the business requirements effectively.
- Schedule regular equipment maintenance: Implement routine checks and preventive maintenance for critical equipment to avoid unexpected breakdowns.
- Follow production procedures: Ensure staff follow production procedures to be rush-ready, preparing the right amounts of food at the right times.
- Implement customer flow strategies: Develop and follow strategies to manage high customer volumes efficiently, such as opening more service points or using digital queues.
- Schedule enhanced training programs: Invest in comprehensive training programs for new employees and ongoing training for existing staff to maintain high service standards.
Food Quality
Finally, the importance of food quality was covered.
“C-stores have a huge opportunity to increase competitiveness in this area,” Falk said, adding that 51% of c-store shoppers in a 2023 Acosta Group survey rated hot food items just as good as QSRs, often at a better price. “Food quality is the number one factor influencing consumer brand preference among QSRs.”
In addition, the top findings affecting food quality include:
- Food preparation procedures, which include adherence to recipe and food preparation standards, correct assembly and presentation of food items, proper use and calibration of equipment, and consistency in beverage and dessert preparation.
- Appearance of food, which includes bread and bun quality, produce quality, and prepared food quality.
- Time labeling for quality, which includes holding times meeting standards and product holding units programmed and used properly.
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