Driving sales
ShelfLife dives into the evolving role of forecourt retail, uncovering the trends and innovations that are fuelling sales and shaping the customer experience
Print19 June 2026
Modern forecourts have transformed into retail destinations in their own right, offering fast, fresh, and functional options for people on the go. From premium snacks to grab-and-go drinks and everyday essentials, convenience is king.
AA Ireland’s latest fuel price analysis shows a welcome reduction in pump prices during May following recent Government measures aimed at easing pressure on motorists and businesses. However, despite month-on-month reductions, fuel costs remain significantly higher than levels seen earlier this year and continue to impact household budgets.
Diesel prices have fallen to an average of €1.97 per litre in May, down 17 cents from April’s average, which is good news for forecourts across the country. Petrol prices averaged €1.82 per litre in May, down nine cents month-on-month.
Meanwhile, EV charging rates remain broadly stable compared to April, continuing to provide motorists with more predictable running costs in contrast to fluctuating fuel prices.
Commenting, an AA Ireland spokesperson said that motorists will welcome some easing in fuel prices this month, particularly with diesel falling back below the €2 per litre mark.
“The Government’s intervention has helped ease some of the immediate pressure, but global oil markets remain unpredictable. Any escalation in geopolitical tensions or further volatility in crude oil prices could quickly reverse these recent reductions.”
AA Ireland notes that fuel prices continue to be heavily influenced by global market conditions, including oil supply concerns, geopolitical instability and currency fluctuations. Although prices at the pump softened in May, Brent crude oil prices remain volatile and further movement at the pumps is possible in the coming weeks.
Q&A with Brian Donaldson, CEO, The Maxol Group
Brian Donaldson, CEO, The Maxol Group
Fact File
***LOGO HERE***
Name of operator: The Maxol Group
Number of locations nationwide: 248 (island of Ireland)
Typical forecourt size: 1,350 square metres to 4,046 square metres
Head office: IFSC
Website: www.maxol.ie
Tagline: At the Heart of It
Average cost of fit-out: €350,000 – €550,000
Q: How are you continuing to innovate within your food offering to provide consumers with greater variety, meet their evolving needs, and align with the latest food trends?
A: At Maxol, we continue to put our customers’ needs at the centre of everything we do. As eating habits evolve, so too does our food innovation strategy, ensuring we offer greater variety, improved quality, and solutions that reflect the latest trends.
Noahs partnership and digital delivery
To meet growing demand for convenient, high-quality meals throughout the day, we’ve partnered with international food-tech company Noahs to introduce a first-of-its-kind service in Ireland. Noahs modernises food and retail through a multi-layer digital platform, enabling customers to order freshly cooked, made-to-order meals and everyday essentials in one seamless transaction.
Partnering with aggregators including Just Eat, Deliveroo and Uber Eats, for the first time, our valued customers can now order hot food and groceries from Maxol, straight to their door.
Our fresh food offering has primarily focused on breakfast through to lunchtime but now customers can enjoy cooked-to-order, high quality meals such as pizza, Mexican bowls, burgers and much more. This is a significant step in continuing to offer customers greater choice and convenience. It’s available at selected sites currently but a rollout plan to over 80 locations is in place.
(L-R) Daniel Baven, CEO and co-founder of Noahs and Brian Donaldson, CEO of The Maxol Group
Evolving the Maxol Deli
We are refreshing our core food brand, Maxol Deli, with a new modern look and feel, upgraded equipment, and an expanded menu shaped by emerging trends. The enhanced offer will have high quality ingredients, mostly sourced from local producers, supporting Irish suppliers wherever possible and a new menu that responds to changing customer trends.
We have also taken the decision to extend the opening hours of Maxol Delis beyond the traditional 3pm close to 10pm, reinforcing the role we play as the go-to convenient food destination for communities and commuters alike.
ROSA Coffee Iced
To meet the preferences of younger Gen Z consumers, we’ve rolled out ROSA Iced Coffee across our estate to over 60 locations. This launch taps into the growing demand for iced beverages and strengthens our already successful ROSA brand in-store. This gives our existing customers more choice but also appeals to a new customer.
Dunnes Stores
We have been working with Dunnes Stores on an alliance where we have over 350 SKUs listed in selected sites across Dublin. Most of these products are from the much-lauded Simply Better range, offering Maxol shoppers a wide range of ready-made meals, fresh meats, cheeses and vegetables, as well as fruit, yogurts, frozen foods and wine.
This caters for a convenience top up shop mission, as we constantly strive to deliver value, quality and convenience in every shop.
These initiatives reflect our commitment to continuous innovation – enhancing convenience, expanding choice, and ensuring our food offering evolves in line with customer expectations and the latest food trends.
Q: What key changes or emerging food trends do you anticipate shaping the food retail sector in 2027?
A: Several key trends are shaping the food retail sector, driven by changing consumer expectations around quality, value, convenience, and choice.
Premiumisation
Customers are increasingly seeking higher-quality ingredients and paying closer attention to provenance. There is a growing expectation that retailers support local suppliers and producers, and we see strong demand for products that champion Irish businesses.
Value remains essential
While quality matters, value continues to be a core priority. Consumers want their favourite brands to deliver both. At Maxol, we’ve responded through successful value initiatives across our deli and coffee offers, supported by our Maxol Loyalty App and wider value proposition as part of our ‘Bags More’ campaign.
Coffee innovation
Coffee continues to evolve rapidly. Customers now expect not only a premium coffee experience but also greater choice – from non-dairy milks to flavoured syrups and iced beverages. This trend is particularly strong among younger consumers.
Growth of home delivery
Home delivery has expanded significantly in Ireland over the past five years, and we expect this to become even more prevalent. Busier lifestyles, increased comfort with digital ordering, and rising demand for convenience are driving this shift. Consumers now look for fast, flexible, and reliable delivery that fits seamlessly into their day.
Hybrid food-plus-retail baskets
Alongside traditional takeaway, there is growing interest in mixed baskets that combine hot food, groceries, and everyday essentials. This reflects a broader move toward convenience-led shopping and the desire to meet multiple needs in a single order.
Health trends
The continued focus on healthier options is something we take seriously. Whether consumers are looking for more fresh fruit, or healthier snacking alternatives, we provide those options.
Our Homegrown at Maxol programme champions Irish businesses and our 2026 winners tap into some of the growing food trends. Oatco Superfuel super bites are a tasty natural energy snack, Well. Can’d offers both still and sparkling water from a can for those who want to limit plastic use and Wondr Jellies are low sugar, high protein and high fibre jellies which are proving popular amongst runners, cyclists and Hyrox competitors.
We continue to offer a wide range of fresh food options at our delis, which also includes freshly made salad boxes at the majority of our stores.
GLP-1s are a hot topic and will change the way people eat. Continuing to focus on portion and pack options, as well as high protein foods, will be important as adoption increases.
(L-R) Corinna Benley, Maxol regional operations manager, Brian Donaldson, Maxol CEO, Thomas Ennis, Maxol licensee, Sandra McCormack, group general manager, Ennis Group and Lorraine Brophy, Maxol COO
Q: How significant is sustainability to your business, and what initiatives are you undertaking to drive improvements in this area?
A: Sustainability is extremely important and we endeavour to embed it into our thinking across the business. Whether that is in the fuels we supply, the packaging we use or the work we do in our developments from solar to heat pumps, it is something that we place great importance in.
From a fuel perspective, our Premium Fuel offering means that customers can purchase a fuel that is 100% carbon offset through our partner, PDI Technologies. We offer Maxol hvoPRO across eight of our sites nationwide which is focused on helping business fleets to significantly reduce their carbon emissions by 90%.
We also cater for electric vehicle drivers at selected sites, with dedicated EV Hubs under the Maxol Recharge brand. We have plans to further extend our Maxol Recharge network this year.
At our latest redevelopment at Maxol Long Mile Road, we implemented our sustainable forecourt and shop design to include:
- CO2 refrigeration with energy-efficient doors
- High-performance glazing to reduce heat loss
- Heat pump technology for low-carbon heating
- LED lighting throughout
- Rooftop solar panels with inverter system to offset energy demand
These measures significantly reduce the site’s environmental footprint while lowering long-term energy consumption by 40%.
Q: What steps are you taking to ensure strong value for customers both in-store and at the fuel pumps?
A: Maxol ensures value for consumers at the pump by using AI technology which allows us to react dynamically to changes within the market and locally ensuring we are always competitively priced.
Across our company owned network of 91 locations, we deliver value through 17 promotional cycles offering price promotions on household brands throughout the year.
Our loyalty app also delivers excellent value in our food business. App members can get every seventh coffee free when they scan their app and we rolled out our deli loyalty offer in Q4 2025, which is proving to be very popular, as customers get every seventh sandwich, wrap or roll free.
The Car Wash is an important driver for us and we offer every fifth wash free for app members. An exciting innovation for us is the creation of Wash Club which went live in three sites in early June, with the ambition to rollout nationally.
This is a subscription model, where customers can get up to 10 washes per month for just €19.95 on our Regular plan.
Q: What are your plans for further developing and expanding your electric vehicle charging facilities?
A: Following on from Maxol Newbridge and several NI sites which have Maxol Recharge hubs, we have plans to develop additional hubs in ROI over 2026 and beyond.
We have laid the foundations for a charging hub at Maxol Long Mile Road and plans are in place to develop an ultra-rapid hub at Maxol Rathnew.
(L-R) Brian Donaldson, CEO of The Maxol Group, and Daniel Baven, CEO and co-founder of Noahs
Q: What are the main factors that contribute to a positive customer experience at your sites, and how does your store design support this?
A: As we continue to invest significantly across our network, our sites are designed as modern convenience destinations rather than traditional forecourts.
We’ve created bigger, brighter retail spaces with improved seating, parking, customer flow and foodservice offerings.
Improved seating areas and washroom facilities also have been a focus, as we know that customers look for comfortable dwell spaces.
Q: In what ways have you embraced digital innovation to enhance convenience and service for your customers?
A: We have digital screens at our delis and ROSA Coffee units, allowing us to communicate messages to our shoppers at the touch of a button.
Our loyalty app gives our shoppers real value and a reason to keep coming back to Maxol.
Pay at Pump technology, FuelPay and in-store digital kiosks at our food-franchises save our customers time which is extremely valuable.
Two of our biggest digital innovations are Noahs and Wash Club.
Q: In one paragraph, how would you summarise your key point of difference from competitors in the market?
A: Our key point of difference is that we’re a fifth-generation, Irish family business and have been embedded at the heart of communities across the island of Ireland for over 106 years.
Ultimately, we combine time-honoured values and personalised customer service with modern technology to deliver the highest level of service and support to our customers.
We are lucky to have a fantastic team across our three offices and our service stations nationwide; they are at the heart of our continued success.
Applegreen opens Harold’s Cross service area
Applegreen recently officially opened its 42nd Service Area in Ireland at Parnell Rd, Harold’s Cross, further expanding its retail and food offering for customers on the go.
The development features a new M&S Food shop-in-shop, Braeburn Coffee, a modern Applegreen convenience store and a brand-new car wash, creating a convenient destination for motorists and the local community alike.
John Diviney, managing director of Applegreen UK, said:
“The refurbishment of our Parnell Street Applegreen location in Dublin marks another important milestone for the business and reflects our continued investment in enhancing the customer experience.
“With the addition of M&S Food, Braeburn Coffee and our upgraded retail offering, we are proud to provide customers with even greater quality, convenience and choice.”
Applegreen is celebrating the official opening of its 42nd Service Area in Ireland. Located on Parnell Road, Harold’s Cross
Fact File
Name of operator: Applegreen Petrogas Group Ltd
Number of locations nationwide: 198 service stations
Head office: 117 Joyce Way, Park West Business Park, Dublin, D12 F2V3
Website: www.applegreenstores.com
Tagline: Enjoy Your Journey
Circle K opens newly refurbished Kilternan store following €1.4m investment
The forecourt and convenience retailer recently celebrated the opening of its newly refurbished and rebranded store in Kilternan, Dublin
Circle K recently announced the opening of its newly refurbished and rebranded store in Kilternan, Dublin 18, following a €1.4 million investment in the site and surrounding community.
Located along the Enniskerry Road, the newly revamped Kilternan store has been carefully designed to meet the evolving needs of a growing local community.
As part of the refurbishment, Circle K has invested €380,000 in EV infrastructure, reflecting its commitment to meeting evolving customer needs while supporting the transition to lower emission transport in Ireland.
The new forecourt in Kilternan will have four EV chargers including two high powered EV chargers.
The Kilternan site now offers a brighter, more intuitive store layout and an expanded food experience, featuring a full hot and cold deli, an extended grab and go selection, and an enhanced in-store bakery.
Commenting on the opening, Ciara Foxton, managing director, Circle K Ireland, said:
“This €1.4 million investment demonstrates our commitment not only to enhancing our retail network but also to re-investing in local communities like Kilternan.
“With significant development taking place in the area, this upgraded store will better serve the needs of local residents, both long established and new.”
Fact File
Name of operator: Valero Energy (Ireland) Limited (the company that markets fuel in Ireland under the Texaco brand)
Number of locations nationwide: 148 service stations
Head office: 1st Floor, Block B, Liffey Valley Office Campus, Quarryvale, Dublin 22, D22 X0Y3
Website: www.texaco.ie
Tagline: Trust Your Car To The Star
© 2026 Valero Energy (Ireland) Limited. All rights reserved. TEXACO and the STAR T logo are registered trademarks owned by Chevron Intellectual Property LLC. Used with permission.
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