LAVAL, Quebec — Two years after launching the Circle K fuel brand, Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. is making strides to bring it to more forecourts.
During the third quarter of its fiscal 2022, Circle K’s parent company rebranded 181 locations under the Circle K fuel brand, bringing the year-to-date total to 381, and the total number of branded locations. Circle K fuel company in North America. to 3,200 stores.
Accompanying the deployment, the brand is continue efforts to to raise awareness of its exclusive fuel offer, Couche-Tard President and CEO Brian Hannasch said during the company’s recent third-quarter fiscal 2022 earnings call.
“Our Circle K Ambassador program was launched to further support rebranding activity at site level, such as customer education on our Circle K fuel brand, quality assurance program and premium benefits. “, explained Hannasch. “In the United States, we also launched a Win Free Fuel program for a year [contest] – a national campaign – and we will have 144 free fuel winners for a year by the end of the fiscal year.”
The competition started on February 2 and will continue until April 25, as Convenience store news Previously reported. To participate, customers must fill up at a store that offers Circle K fuel and provide proof of purchase at winfuel.circlek.com. The limit is one entry per day.
Still on fuels, Hannasch also reported that Couche-Tard is expanding its internal fuel transportation business. This initiative extends to the entire company network.
“We now have over 1,000 drivers hauling Circle K fuel and we just think it provides a huge advantage in terms of reliability, but also our flexibility to optimize our fuel supply,” the managing director said.
Fuel Category Finances
In his last trimester, Same-store road transportation volume increased 3.2% in the United States, 3.2% in Europe and other regions, and 7.2% in Canada.
On a two-year basis, same-store road transportation fuel volume decreased to a compound annual rate of 6.8% in the United States, 3.4% in Europe and 7.4% in Canada.
Hannasch, however, pointed out that the category is still feeling the pressure of continued work-from-home trends and the resurgence in COVID-19 cases towards the end of the quarter fueled by the rise of the Omicron variant.
“As companies open and people start to return to the office, at least a few days a week, we believe we continue to see miles driven increase towards 2019 levels,” he added.
Motor fuel gross margin for the quarter was 39.63 cents per gallon in the United States, an increase of 8.87 cents per gallon. In Europe and other regions, it was 10.83 cents per litre, down 53 cents per litre. In Canada, it was CA11.73 cents per litre, an increase of CA1.45 cents per litre.
“Fuel margin remained healthy across our network, primarily due to favorable market conditions and continued work to optimize our supply chain,” said the Chief Financial Officer. , Claude Tessier.
Alimentation Couche-Tard, based in Laval, is present in 26 countries and territories with more than 14,100 stores, of which approximately 10,800 offer fuel for road transport.
With its well-known Couche-Tard and Circle K banners, it is one of the largest independent convenience store operators in the United States and a leader in the convenience and fuel retail industry for the road transport in Canada, Scandinavia, the Baltic countries, as well as in Ireland. The company also has a significant presence in Poland and Hong Kong.
