QuikTrip, not happy with the dust its competitors already are eating, upgrades drinks

Even if you didn’t say you want a bevolution, that’s what QuikTrip plans to give you.

The beverage revolution across the Tulsa-based convenience store chain has started with two stores in Wichita: the QuikTrip at Harry and Oliver and the one at 29th and Maize Road.

“So we were tasked by our leadership to make sure we were a dominant beverage destination,” said QuikTrip corporate chef Ryan Boone.

Isn’t the chain sort of that already, at least in the greater Wichita area?

“We were not satisfied with the amount of dust that our competitors were eating,” he said.

Boone said QuikTrip wants to be the unquestioned beverage leader. With the new changes, “It would very difficult for anyone to match what we have done.”

He said the QuikTrip team looked at the equipment it uses to serve beverages and found ways to add the latest technology and, in some cases, invent new technology.

Boone said there hasn’t been a lot of innovation in that area in years or even decades.

The three areas of changes are the tea station, the fountain drink station and the frozen drink station.

“For tea, we were really aggressive,” Boone said.

There’s now a digital touch screen that offers a variety of options for customizing tea, including cold and hot tea, sweet and unsweet tea and a zero sugar sweetener. Customers also can opt to digitally add a squeeze of lemon or lime or try a new lemonade or limeade.

“It’s really a very different experience from what you’re used to at QuikTrip,” Boone said.

That was obvious at the Harry and Oliver QuikTrip on Friday, where workers were still finishing up the fountain drink and frozen drink stations.

A couple of tea dispensers were open, however, and customers lined up to try them, with a number of them milling about to see what the station was all about. It’s clear that though the dispensers are fairly simple to use, there’s still a learning curve.

One customer tried mixing her tea’s sweetness level but gave up, poured it out, got an unsweetened tea and used an old-school sugar packet to mix her own.

Boone said everything is now automated, which means tea will be “more fresh and more consistent than ever.”

He said the previous urn system was difficult to clean, brew for the right interval and keep for an optimal time. It also was hard to monitor to make sure it was always full.

The new system is supposed to automatically brew new tea when necessary, though that didn’t happen on Friday at least once during the day.

Another issue that QuikTrip has had in the past is that crushed ice hasn’t always been available for tea stations at each QuikTrip store. Tea customers wanting crushed ice sometimes have had to walk to the other side of the store where the fountain drinks are. Boone said he’s not sure if that will be the case at each of Wichita’s 38 area QuikTrips.

There’s new technology for the frozen drinks as well.

“We’ve got the ability to mix and match some flavors now,” Boone said. “It’s a lot of fun.”

For the fountain drinks, he said the new system can help alleviate congestion at peak times.

In the past, with popular drinks like Coke, he said, “You could occasionally get a line.”

Boone said there are no changes to the QuikTrip cups at this time. There also are no changes to the prices.

The drink station conversions began in Wichita on June 1 and are supposed to be completed by late summer.

In some cities, the conversions won’t be completed until 2026.

This story was originally published June 9, 2025 at 4:04 AM.