Having completed its Innovation Summit this past August, Casey’s category managers are now deep in the process of onboarding some of its new finds at select stores. This was the second Summit the 2,900+ store Midwest convenience chain held in partnership with RangeMe, during which selected brands met in-person with Casey’s category leaders for the opportunity to get on the shelves.
Caseys launched the Summit in an effort to discover unique and innovative CPG brands that would set them apart from competitors. “We are trying to be on the front end of some of the trends and emerging categories, rather than a fast follower,” says Chris Stewart, VP of Merchandising for Casey’s. “I give kudos to Phil and Lee and their teams for identifying those opportunities and bringing them into our assortments and in front of our guests.”
Stewart is referring to Senior Director of Center Store Phil Wilhelm and Senior Director of Packaged Beverages Lee Wilburn, who led the efforts to set the category strategies and uncover those product innovations that aligned with them (watch the full video interview with Stewart, Wilhelm and Wilburn below).
Successes from Casey’s 1st summit
Casey’s first Innovation Summit resulted in several new products hitting the shelves across their enterprise. Some of the standout successes from the inaugural summit include:
- Archer Meats: This meat snack brand immediately went into planograms. “We knew that fit a segment that we’re looking for, and so far right now we have two of their SKUs and we’re selling it in about 2,600 stores,” Wilhelm notes.
- Sweet Chaos Popcorn: Casey’s leveraged this brand to offer something differentiated to their guests. They have featured two SKUs on front end-caps to showcase “a popcorn category that’s on fire right now,” according to Wilhelm.
- Bones Coffee: On the beverage side, this brand was a pleasant surprise, says Wilburn. “Bones Coffee is one that has separated itself,” he says. “They have quite a following online and that’s something that you can get ahead of, given that it’s not in many of our C-channel competitors.” (Read ECRM’s blog post about Bones Coffee Co.).
Successes from Casey’s 2nd Summit
Building on the first year’s success, the second summit has already identified exciting new partners. The team has selected brands that align with current consumer demands for protein, wellness, and better-for-you snacking, with some already being tested and others slated for testing next year.
New selections from the 2025 Summit include:
- Kindling Snacks: A protein pretzel currently being tested in 290 stores.
- Love Corn: A snack brand slated for a test in early 2026. (Watch the ECRM video interview with Love Corn Co-Founder Gavin McCloskey)
- Like Air: A puff snack also scheduled for testing in 2026.
- Spindrift: Casey’s is testing this sparkling water to see if increasing their assortment adds incrementality to the category.
The “test and learn” approach
For each of the brands that make the cut, Casey’s embraces a “test and learn” approach to ensuring the maximum performance of their products in the store. This sometimes results in adjustments that have to be made during the process. For example, it might mean starting in 350 stores to gather data on pricing, packaging, and promotional strategies before moving to the next step. Casey’s self-distribution model allows them to move fast, whether that means additional testing or expanding to more locations.
“There’s a couple of things that can result from testing,” says Wilhelm. “It might be as simple as a change to the packaging to fit our peg hooks differently. Or in the testing process, if we had a two for promotional strategy on those, did we have the right promotional rate that our guests were looking for to drive more volume? In between we showed them the power of what we have inside of our business that allows them to amplify their brands, such as our rewards platform, as well as signage that we do inside of our stores with TVs and such. There was a lot of conversation with them on how we figure out to drive more units and more volume past the testing stage.”
Enhancing the Summit’s impact
Casey’s also applies its test and learn philosophy to the Summit itself, and has made some adjustments to the timing and selection process for this year’s Summit that had some successful results. Some of the changes for this year included:
1. An earlier timeline: Casey’s pulled the timeline forward this year, moving the Summit from October to early August in an effort to better align with the spring reset activity of their seasonal chains.
2. Focus on quality over quantity: In the first year, Casey’s “cast the net maybe a little bit too wide,” according to Stewart. This year, the team was laser-focused during the screening process via RangeMe, so that by the time brands arrived in Ankeny, Iowa for the in-person meetings, the list was whittled down to the highest-potential partners. “The team really honed in on opportunities through the screening process in the first couple of phases so that for those folks who did come to visit us here in Ankeny, it was really just crossing the T’s, dotting the i’s around getting the product into our stores,” says Stewart. “I’d say we really narrowed the focus around the products that we wanted to add to our assortment.”
3. Deeper engagement: Fewer brands meant more quality time. Instead of a 20-minute “speed dating” session, brands had 45 minutes to an hour with category managers to have detailed, strategic conversations. “By the time they hit us, we have a pretty good indication that we’re probably really leaning towards what they have offered us and we just have to figure out some of the nuances of those things going forward,” says Wilhelm.
What Casey’s looks for in CPG brands
The category management teams vetted the RangeMe submissions based on the strategic goals for each category, and brands who applied were judged based on the following criteria:
- Differentiation: Casey’s wants items that guests can’t find everywhere else, or as Wilburn notes “might make them turn right into a Casey’s.”
- Strategy alignment: Products must fit the “white space” the category managers have identified, such as gut health, protein, or functional beverages.
- Taste is king: Before any discussion on margins or supply chain, the product has to deliver on flavor. “Taste is definitely where it begins no matter what kind of functionality you’re adding to it,” Wilburn says.
- Operational capabilities: Being selected is just the start. Brands must demonstrate they can handle the volume, pass food safety reviews, and integrate with Casey’s technology and rewards platform.
Advice for aspiring brands
For brands looking to scale up and succeed with a retailer like Casey’s, the leadership team offered three key pieces of advice:
1. Do your homework: “Come and ask every possible question you want to know,” Wilhelm advised. Brands should understand Casey’s footprint and come prepared to discuss how they can support the partnership through marketing and promotions.
2. Be open to feedback: The product you submit might not be the exact version that ends up on the shelf. You might need to change packaging or adjust your promotional strategy. The team values brands that work collaboratively to “finesse” the product for the C-store environment.
3. Don’t give up: Finally, Chris Stewart encouraged brands to stay persistent. “My advice is to not lose the entrepreneurial spirit… Build your sales story, be relentless… and just don’t give up just because you missed out on one year in the innovation summit at Casey’s.”
Are you ready to get your product in front of buyers like Casey’s? Ensure your RangeMe profile is up to date and verified to increase your visibility for upcoming reviews and summits, and keep an eye out for notices in RangeMe’s Immediate Opportunities page for when next year’s Summit applications open!
Editor’s note: Casey’s Lee Wilburn will be among the senior c-store leaders who will share insights on how to best position your business for success during the ECRM/retailmediaIQ Convenience Leadership Summit, which kicks off ECRM’s Convenience Session Monday, February 2, 2026 in Destin, Fla. Additional speakers include Derek Gaskins, BP’s Head of Guest Experience, Matt Bunevich, Manager of 7-Ventures & Business Development, and an opening keynote from NIQ! Visit the ECRM Convenience Session page for more info!