Casey’s launches pan pizza after two-year development

By Nathan Brooks

Casey’s General Stores will launch pan pizza on Wednesday, Oct. 28, after spending around two years developing the square pizza. The company announced the move Monday and described the crust as “fluffy,” with toppings that reach the edges.

The company’s consumer research supplied the business case and exposed a gap. Nearly half of respondents to a Casey’s-commissioned survey said pan pizza was their favorite. One in four said they have to go out of their way to get one.

Casey’s said many of its markets lacked easy access to the crust, and many rural markets where it operates had no restaurant that offered it. That access problem partly drove the decision to add pan pizza to the menu.

A broader pizza lineup

Casey’s customers can order any type of pizza on a pan crust, including specialty and breakfast options, according to the announcement. The company said the crust is made with olive oil, honey, sea salt and finely milled flour.

Andrew Kintigh, executive chef and culinary director at Casey’s, said: “Pan pizza rounds out a strong lineup of crusts, in addition to original and thin, that gives our guests something for every pizza occasion.”

Casey’s is using its Rewards program to prompt trial. Members who buy a pan pizza on Oct. 28 will receive credit for a free one-topping large pizza, which they can redeem over the following three weeks. The first order is the introduction; the second is the test.

What does pan pizza change for Casey’s?

Practically, the launch adds a third crust to original and thin, and lets one base carry both specialty and breakfast orders. It also gives Casey’s a new item in a foodservice category that the company says has helped it outperform industry peers in inside store sales.

“We are not playing [the] c-store foodservice game — we are playing [the] restaurant game,” CEO Darren Rebelez said at a June press conference.

The position is bold. The pan pizza launch at least addresses a concrete gap rather than merely borrowing restaurant language. The survey shows consumer preference and poor local availability. The announcement provides no sales or profit forecast for the new crust. For Casey’s, the proposition is straightforward: more pizza occasions and more reasons for Rewards members to return.

The foodservice push continues

Pan pizza is the latest foodservice expansion at Casey’s. The chain began testing chicken wings in its stores in 2025 and plans to introduce them at all stores over the next two years. Casey’s also uses limited-time pizza offers, including a bacon cheeseburger variety sold earlier this year, to keep consumer interest high.

Growth runs through the same strategy. Casey’s has made several acquisitions as it pursues 400 new stores over the next three years, and the company continues to rebrand stores it has bought. It also recently expanded its use of artificial intelligence-powered ordering agents.

Casey’s has a two-year wing rollout ahead and a three-year expansion target of 400 stores to run alongside the pizza launch. The next checkpoint is repeat pan pizza orders. Survey affection is easy; repeat purchases are the useful number.