An in-depth look at a fast-growing c-store chicken concept

Convenience stores are upping their food game and one concept is taking advantage of it. This week’s episode of the Restaurant Business podcast A Deeper Dive features Jim Norberg, the CEO of the convenience-store chicken concept Krispy Krunchy Chicken. We had Jim on largely because convenience stores are getting a lot of foodservice business right now. Traffic at convenience stores is up 17% since before the pandemic, compared with 5% at quick-service restaurants—meaning that some of the lost traffic at restaurants is heading to the local gas station. One reason is the higher quality food c-stores are putting out now. Krispy Krunchy is taking advantage of that. Norberg is a former executive with McDonald’s, and he is bringing a restaurant mentality to the concept. The brand is getting into third-party delivery and recently hired its first chief marketing officer in Alice Crowder. We talk with Jim about the company’s rapid growth and how many locations it expects to go into this year alone. We talk about how that program works and what’s driving interest in c-stores. We also talk about Krispy Krunchy’s new marketing program and how it can market a concept located in other businesses. We’re talking convenience-store chicken on A Deeper Dive, so please check it out.