10 Top-Selling Grab-and-Go Items

From gas stations and grocery stores to restaurants and bakeries, the rising popularity of grab-and-go options is transforming how consumers purchase their meals. If you want to capitalize on this trend, our list of 10 top-selling grab-and-go items will help you identify the most profitable and satisfying foods for you and your customers.

Pizza & Calzones

One of the best top-selling grab-and-go items is pizza-by-the-slice. Easily portable and accessible, it retains heat well in a warming cabinet or under heat lamps, making it perfect for businesses that want to offer something piping-hot for customers on the run. For a bit more variety, consider offering calzones as well. The overlap in ingredients makes adding these folded pies to your menu easy, and they retain heat even better than regular pizza–ideal for establishments where foot traffic is less predictable and comes at irregular times.

Sandwiches & Wraps

If your business caters to office workers looking for a quick lunch, be sure to offer sandwiches and wraps. By stocking your display cabinets with individually wrapped options like ham and cheddar on wheat or turkey and Swiss in a tortilla, you’ll appeal to rushed customers who need to grab their lunch and get back to work ASAP. Since breakfast can be a busy time as well, make sure to offer egg and cheese biscuits for customers who need an on-the-go breakfast, too.

Salads

No list of top-selling grab-and-go items would be complete without mentioning salads. From southwest and cobb to garden and buffalo, they’re all incredibly popular with health-conscious diners looking for a nutritious meal. While it’s good to offer options with unique ingredients, Operators-Edge.com advises against using fresh herbs like parsley or mint in ready-to-eat salads because they wilt easily, making the salads look old in just a matter of hours.

Bowls

Whether you offer Asian-inspired rice with teriyaki chicken or Tex-Mex taco with tortilla chips, bowls are one of the best grab-n-go items for customers who want a filling meal. Even though their size warrants a good markup, you can make meal bowls some of your most profitable menu items by including coupons on the container for a discount on a drink or dessert. This encourages customers to pair their bowl with other items, raising the total check per transaction.

Meat, Cheese & Crackers

Charcuterie boards work very well as grab-and-go items. In addition to having a long shelf life, foods like cheese cubes, dried fruits and cured meats are ideal for busy employees who need something they can eat while working without using utensils. And since meat and cheese trays are seen as sophisticated, you can charge a good markup, making them very profitable to sell.

Cut Fruit and Veggies

Cut fruits and veggies are some of the most profitable items in supermarkets because customers will pay to avoid peeling, cutting, slicing or dicing. Given the importance of convenience in foodservice, single-serving fruit cups and veggie plates would be popular grab-and-go items in a convenience store or small café as well, especially for diners looking to fit healthy eating into their busy lives.

Yogurt

When it comes to top-selling grab-and-go items, yogurt is one of the best dessert options. Served as a parfait with fruit and granola, it’s a healthy choice with wide appeal. Although yogurt is a nice treat at any time of the day, make sure you have some ready to go in the morning, as it makes the perfect side for a breakfast wrap or sandwich–just don’t forget to include a spoon so customers can enjoy their treat with ease.

Baked Goods

Since baked goods don’t usually require refrigeration, they’re great ready-to-eat foods. If you’re looking for options that are both popular and profitable, know that the most profitable bakery items include cookies, bagels, donuts, rolls and brownies, all of which would be great individually wrapped or in small containers that customers can grab, pay for and then enjoy without having to wait to be served.

Rotisserie Chicken

There’s a reason why cooked chicken is always in demand. Besides holding heat and moisture well when displayed in a heated merchandiser, it’s a versatile time-saver that can be eaten plain, in salads, on sandwiches or in other recipes. If you run a supermarket, make sure you place these near the entrance or another high-traffic area where people can find them easily.

Vegan & Vegetarian

With increasing demand for meatless options, it should be no surprise that vegan and vegetarian items are popular in the grab-and-go space as well. Although many convenience foods like seasonal fruit cups and tofu rice bowls are incidentally meat-free, other in-demand meatless menu items you might consider offering include hummus with veggies and pita, falafel wraps and salads with nuts and beans.