Grocery and foodservice battle for the convenience customer

Sebastian Rennack
international retail analyst
Aletos Retail

Warszawa Zachodnia train station, one of Poland’s busiest transport hubs, has become a compact test ground for the convenience mission. Within a very small radius, an Aldi Nord discounter with a full standard assortment, a Żabka convenience store, Lagardère Travel Retail’s 1 Minute format, and Costa Coffee are competing for customers who want to grab a beverage and snack or light meal for immediate consumption.

This compact Warsaw cluster could serve as a blueprint for how urban food retail competition is being redefined. Rather than staying within channel boundaries, the four operators line up along a continuum from foodservice to grocery: Costa Coffee and 1 Minute are closest to immediate consumption, Żabka bridges convenience and top-up shopping, and Aldi remains most firmly rooted in the full-shop mission.

The differences become visible on the shop floor, in how each operator combines snack and meal offers, beverages, grocery range, pricing, and the quality of the on-site consumption experience.

To make the contrast more tangible, the shopfloor analysis focuses on one specific occasion: a bakery-based snack paired with a beverage. From the shopper’s perspective, the relevant question is not whether the offers are identical, but how each operator differentiates within the same occasion, whether through assortment breadth, price, speed, or the quality of the on-site experience.

Aldi serves the occasion through a largely unadapted grocery model. Its compact bake-off range and broad private label beverage architecture give it a low-price entry point, but the store remains anchored in standard discount logic rather than a dedicated food-to-go setup. At the opposite end, Costa Coffee is built around on-site dwell time, pairing beverages with prepared ultra-fresh food in the most developed eat-in environment of the four. Between these poles, 1 Minute and Żabka occupy different middle positions. 1 Minute is the clearest grab-and-go format, centered on impulse food, beverages, and speed, while also integrating a dedicated seating area, either as a small table-and-chair corner or as window-facing counter seating. Żabka moves further toward grocery, combining beverages, ready-to-eat products, hot snacks, and a bar-stool bistro zone with a broader convenience assortment.

The four formats show how differently the same occasion can be addressed. Aldi sets the price benchmark and offers the broadest standard grocery range, but is least tailored to the convenience aspect. 1 Minute is the most mission-focused format, built around speed and grab-and-go, though with a narrower assortment and a clear travel-retail premium. Żabka comes closest to an all-round hybrid, linking top-up shopping with hot snacks, beverages, and a modest eat-in offer. Costa Coffee is the clearest foodservice proposition, using prepared food and the most developed on-site environment to differentiate its offer.

Outside Poland, Aldi is also testing a more explicit adaptation to grab-and-go missions. At Leipzig main station in Germany, the discounter operates a similarly compact store format, but complements it with a self-service coffee counter in front of the cash line, serving coffee made from Aldi private label products.

Aldi is positioned on a quieter edge of the station, but close to the entrance and the elevators, prioritizing access over platform traffic. In future the planned McDonald’s next door could further increase footfall in this part of the station.

Żabka combines grocery, impulse, and food-to-go within a compact footprint. It targets both immediate consumption and top-up missions in one visit.

1 Minute is built around classic grab-and-go logic. Coffee, chilled drinks, snacks, and limited seating create a fast but still consumption-oriented offer

Aldi does not offer seating inside the store, but benefits from seating facilities directly in front of the entrance. This extends the discounter’s grocery model into immediate consumption without dedicated in-store space

Żabka’s bistro area introduces dwell time into a convenience format. This positions the brand between grab-and-go and foodservice

Costa Coffee creates a clear sit-down environment with extended dwell time. The designed atmosphere shifts the mission from grab-and-go to on-site consumption

In Leipzig stores located at traffic hubs, Aldi integrates a self-service coffee counter in front of the cash line into the store concept

Aldi’s bake-off range provides low-priced entry into immediate consumption. However, it remains embedded in a standard grocery logic rather than a dedicated mission setup

Żabka’s sandwich section underlines its hybrid role between convenience store and quick meal stop. Shelf communication highlights the option to heat them up, bringing the offer closer to Costa Coffee, where the same choice is available

Costa Coffee strengthens the meal occasion through app-based meal deals. The loyalty app at the time of the visit featured six vouchers combining coffee with food

1 Minute cushions its travel-retail price premium with private label as a psychological anchor. Next to Black energy drinks at 8.39 PLN, Lagardere Travel retail’s private label Bosko at 4.79 PLN signals a significantly cheaper alternative directly at the shelf.

Żabka positions Black energy at 4.20 PLN, below 1 Minute price levels. Its private label Easy Boost is offered at 3.70 PLN, or 3.20 PLN per can in a two-can multi-buy deal, also here communicating value versus the brand within the shelf.

Aldi pushes the price benchmark even lower with its private label energy drink Golden Power at 1.99 PLN. With Black energy priced at 2.99 PLN in the same store, the discounter for this product group clearly is the price leader versus Żabka and 1 Minute.