Kwik Trip Receives IAFP Black Pearl Award

DES MOINES, Iowa — The International Association for Food Protection (IAFP) named Kwik Trip the 2026 recipient of its Black Pearl Award, given annually to one company for its efforts in advancing food safety and quality through consumer programs, employee relations, educational activities, adherence to standards, and support of the goals and objectives of IAFP.

Sponsored by F&H Food Equipment Company, the award will be presented at IAFP’s Annual Meeting in New Orleans July 26-29.

Kwik Trip is a family-owned company founded in 1965 in La Crosse, Wis. The company operates 925 retail convenience stores across the Midwest, serving more than 12 million customers each week. The company operates under the Kwik Trip name in Wisconsin, Minnesota and northern Michigan and under the Kwik Star name in Iowa, Illinois, North Dakota and South Dakota.

Over the past two decades, Kwik Trip, Inc. has expanded food service through a vertically integrated business model that includes company-owned production facilities, distribution centers, transportation, retail operations and an A2LA‑accredited food protection laboratory. The majority of food and beverage products offered in its stores are produced and supplied daily by Kwik Trip, providing direct oversight of food protection and quality standards, traceability and active managerial control, said IAFP.

Below, watch Kwik Trip, Inc. CEO Scott Zietlow discuss how to secure leadership buy-in for food safety at the 130th AFDO Annual Educational Conference session “From the C-Suite to the Front Line: A CEO Conversation on Food Safety Collaboration,” in dialogue with Evan Powell, Kwik Trip’s retail food protection manager.