Murphy USA Launches Automated Foodservice Platform Featuring White Castle
Murphy USA Inc. (NYSE: MUSA) is taking a new step in convenience foodservice with the initial rollout of an autonomous hot-food platform at select larger-format stores. The initiative is designed to give customers faster and more convenient access to branded food while they complete everyday errands such as fueling their vehicles, purchasing beverages or picking up essential items.
Developed by Automated Retail Technologies (ART), the platform will debut with White Castle, the iconic American hamburger brand and the country’s first fast-food hamburger chain. The collaboration combines Murphy USA’s extensive convenience retail footprint with White Castle’s recognizable food offering and ART’s automated foodservice technology.
The launch reflects Murphy USA’s ongoing efforts to identify new ways to improve the customer experience while maintaining its focus on value, convenience and operational efficiency. As consumers increasingly seek food options that fit busy schedules and on-the-go lifestyles, autonomous foodservice could provide convenience retailers with another way to expand their prepared-food offerings without adopting the footprint and infrastructure requirements of a traditional restaurant.
A New Approach to Convenience Foodservice
Murphy USA has established its business around a disciplined, low-cost operating model focused on convenience and everyday value. The company’s stores are designed to serve customers making quick, routine stops, making them a natural environment for foodservice concepts that emphasize speed and accessibility.
The autonomous platform is intended to complement that model by providing hot, branded food without requiring the extensive space, staffing, kitchen equipment and infrastructure typically associated with conventional foodservice operations.
For customers, the experience is designed to be straightforward. Rather than making a separate trip to a restaurant, shoppers can order hot food while already visiting a Murphy USA location. The approach could make prepared meals and snacks more accessible to consumers who are looking for quick options during commutes, errands, travel or other everyday activities.
“We’re continually evaluating opportunities that create additional value for our customers while building on the strengths that have made Murphy USA successful,” said Scott Woodward, Murphy USA Senior Vice President and Chief Merchandising Officer. “This relationship allows us to introduce a new convenience offering informed by customer insights, while maintaining the operational discipline and focus on everyday value. We’re encouraged by the opportunity to drive incremental inside sales, traffic and basket growth.”
The company expects the initial rollout to provide an opportunity to evaluate how autonomous foodservice performs within its existing stores and operating model. The results could help inform future decisions about the role of automated foodservice across Murphy USA’s broader retail network.
White Castle Brings an Iconic Brand to Murphy USA
White Castle has been selected as the launch brand for the platform, giving Murphy USA customers access to one of the most recognizable names in American fast food through an alternative retail format.
Founded more than a century ago, White Castle has built a strong identity around its signature craveable menu and distinctive brand. The company has also continued to explore new ways to make its products available to consumers beyond traditional restaurant locations.
“At White Castle, we’ve spent more than a century finding innovative ways to bring our Crave to customers wherever they are,” said Audra Mazzeo, White Castle Vice President of Retail Sales. “This partnership creates a unique opportunity to meet customers during their everyday routines and deliver the White Castle experience in a way that is convenient, fast, and incredibly tasty.”
For White Castle, the collaboration offers another channel through which its food can reach consumers. For Murphy USA, the partnership provides an established national brand that can help introduce customers to the autonomous foodservice concept.
ART Technology Enables On-Demand Food Preparation
At the center of the initiative is ART’s Just Baked autonomous platform, which is designed to turn a relatively compact retail footprint into an automated destination for hot food.
The system allows customers to select their food through an intuitive touchscreen interface. Once an order is placed, the technology automatically manages the preparation, heating and delivery process. Customers can receive their food in approximately two minutes, creating an experience designed around the speed and convenience expected from a modern convenience store.
The automated approach could also reduce some of the operational challenges associated with traditional foodservice. Because the platform is self-contained, it can deliver hot food while requiring considerably less space and infrastructure than a conventional commercial kitchen.
ART has designed the technology as a modular, multi-brand platform. That flexibility could allow retailers to offer products from nationally recognized restaurant brands, regional favorites and different food categories through the same underlying system.
“This partnership is about more than technology,” said David Chessler, Founder of Automated Retail Technologies. “Together with Murphy USA and White Castle, we’re making hot, branded food easier to access in locations where customers already shop every day.”
Evaluating the Opportunity for Growth
Murphy USA’s initial rollout represents a measured approach to innovation. Rather than immediately introducing autonomous foodservice across its entire network, the company is testing the concept in select larger-format locations. This allows the retailer to assess customer response, operational performance and the potential contribution of the offering to store economics.
Foodservice has become an increasingly important component of the convenience retail sector as consumers look for meals and snacks that can be purchased quickly alongside fuel and other necessities. Automated technology could provide retailers with another tool for expanding these offerings while managing costs and space constraints.
For Murphy USA, the autonomous platform has the potential to increase the variety of food available inside its stores, encourage customers to spend more time engaging with the retail environment and generate incremental purchases. The company also sees an opportunity to support traffic and basket growth while maintaining its emphasis on operational discipline.
The initiative brings together three complementary capabilities. Murphy USA contributes its retail footprint, customer relationships and convenience-store expertise. White Castle supplies a well-known food brand with a strong consumer following. ART provides the automation technology intended to make branded hot food available in a compact and efficient format.
A Potential New Model for Convenience Retail
The collaboration illustrates how automation and robotics are beginning to create new possibilities for foodservice outside traditional restaurant settings. Autonomous systems can potentially allow retailers to provide freshly prepared or heated branded food without making major investments in conventional kitchens or restaurant-style operations.
For customers, the primary benefit is convenience. A single stop can combine fuel, beverages, everyday products and hot food, reducing the need to make multiple trips. For retailers, automated foodservice may offer an opportunity to broaden their product mix while using existing store space more efficiently.
Murphy USA’s initial rollout will provide valuable insight into how consumers respond to this type of offering and how effectively autonomous foodservice can operate within a convenience retail environment.
The company’s approach remains consistent with its broader business philosophy: identify opportunities that deliver meaningful value to customers while supporting efficient and profitable operations. With White Castle as its launch partner and ART providing the technology, Murphy USA is exploring whether autonomous foodservice can become a scalable addition to its convenience retail model.
If successful, the initiative could help redefine how customers access hot, branded food during everyday convenience-store visits and demonstrate how automation can
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