Darik C

Darik C is editor of Inside Snack. He covers convenience retail, fuel, travel centers, foodservice, and the chain moves that show up first at the curb. His desk work starts from primary sources — EIA weekly averages, SEC filings, FDA and FSIS recalls, and Federal Register rules — then follows what those numbers mean for operators.

Editorial contact: darik [at] insidesnack.com

Fuel · Foodservice · Tobacco · Operations · M&A · Companies · Data

Bylines

• The summer print: fewer same-store gallons, fatter cents — September 21, 2026
• U.S. regular $4.071, diesel $5.599 in the week ended Aug. 31 — September 19, 2026
• Circle K’s food pitch is Żabka’s kitchen, not a new U.S. store count — September 18, 2026
• Casey’s told the SEC it ran 2,959 stores as of July 31 — September 17, 2026
• The EIA Monday print that actually moves a pump — September 16, 2026
• A Class I hits the roller grill before it hits the circular — September 15, 2026
• The store count is already in the 8-K — September 14, 2026
• 40.6 cents and 52.61 cents are not the same fuel quarter — September 13, 2026
• The nicotine reset is a statute, not a flavor brief — September 12, 2026
• The diesel trip is not a QSR royalty — September 11, 2026
• SNAP already runs through the fuel door — September 10, 2026
• The 8-K is the deal. The wire is the paraphrase. — September 9, 2026
• Couche-Tard built 20 stores last quarter. Żabka is still a tender, not a close — September 8, 2026
• Brennan’s point was the neighbors: Wawa and Sheetz made the gas-station meal normal — September 6, 2026
• Couche-Tard’s U.S. inside sales rose on energy drinks and nicotine pouches — September 4, 2026
• Couche-Tard’s U.S. fuel margin hit 52.61 cents. Same-store gallons fell 1.6 percent — September 1, 2026
• U.S. regular $4.085 and diesel $5.652 in the week ended Aug. 24 — August 31, 2026
• Casey’s chief merchant calls the chain the fifth-largest U.S. pizza business — August 29, 2026
• 7-Eleven’s U.S. listing slips to the year ending February 2027 — August 14, 2026
• Murphy’s second-half case assumes 35 cents a gallon, not another 40 — August 7, 2026
• Murphy’s inside margin held at 20.1 percent while fuel did the earnings work — August 6, 2026
• Murphy USA’s fuel contribution hit 40.6 cents a gallon in the June quarter — August 5, 2026
• Couche-Tard goes after Żabka’s 13,000-store food network — July 31, 2026
• The nicotine set is a margin fixture, not a flavor story — July 22, 2026
• Murphy USA’s June quarter is closed. The lines that matter are not out yet — June 30, 2026
• Summer earnings start as two lines, not one inside-sales number — June 24, 2026