Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey announced last week that Kwik Trip Inc. and the Iowa 80 Truckstop at Walcott are winners of the 2018 Secretary’s Ethanol and Biodiesel Marketing Awards. 

These awards, given annually, were created by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship to recognize fuel marketers that have gone above and beyond in their efforts to promote and sell renewable fuels.

“Kwik Trip and the Iowa 80 Truckstop have both made marketing renewable fuels a central part of the business, and it is great to recognize the commitment and investment they have made to do it successfully,” Northey said.

Monte Shaw, executive director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, also congratulated the winners, saying the recognition is well-deserved. “Kwik Trip and the Iowa 80 Truckstop have helped lead the way toward widespread consumer access to renewable fuels. They are market leaders and move significant amounts of ethanol and biodiesel to benefit customers, biofuel producers and Iowa farmers.”

Efforts to boost availability to consumers
The Secretary’s Ethanol and Biodiesel Marketing Awards are designed to recognize businesses that market the renewable fuels they have available through creative efforts, including, but not limited to, hosting special events highlighting renewable fuels, developing creative signage, initiating new advertisements or marketing efforts, and dramatically increasing renewable fuel availability.

The winners were announced and recognized during the Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Stores of Iowa annual meeting in Des Moines Jan. 9. PMCI is a nonprofit trade association serving the needs of independent petroleum marketers and convenience store owners throughout Iowa.

“Fuel marketers allow customers to access ethanol and biodiesel blends produced right here in Iowa. Our state is a national leader in renewable fuel production, and we are very fortunate that many retailers are making significant investments to provide their customers with renewable fuels,” Northey said.

Marketing award
Kwik Trip, winner of the Secretary’s Ethanol Marketing Award, is headquartered in Lacrosse, Wis. The firm has 86 stores in Iowa and 69 of those locations sell fuel. Kwik Trip has 25 locations in Iowa selling E15 and 25 locations selling E85. 

Kwik Trip began its commitment to marketing high-ethanol blends in 2003, when it began marketing E85. In February 2017, Kwik Trip began marketing E15 at four of its locations. Since then, Kwik Trip has rapidly expanded its investment into E15, offering E15 at over 300 locations. In less than one year, Kwik Trip has become the nation’s leading E15 retailer.

Kwik Trip’s management believes E15 is a standard fuel and needs a consistent name, so customers will repeatedly associate the name with the fuel. Kwik Trip markets E15 under the grade name Unleaded 88. This new marketing has brought the highest adoption rate for sales of its Unleaded 88 product in Iowa surpassing the sales of similar offerings in Minnesota and Wisconsin. 

Along with its own successful marketing of E15, Kwik Trip believes the state of Iowa’s leadership on ethanol, paired with educational outreach directed at consumers, has contributed greatly to the success of E15 sales in Iowa.

Kwik Trip’s commitment to offer renewable fuels to Iowans is not limited to ethanol. In 2016, Kwik Trip began selling biodiesel in all its diesel gallons marketed in Iowa. Kwik Trip has also committed to future investments in renewable fuels. This spring Kwik Trip plans to open a blending facility in Waterloo that will create all blends of ethanol and biodiesel, ultimately to be marketed at its Iowa locations. 

Kwik Trip Inc. was nominated for the award by the Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Stores of Iowa.

Biodiesel marketing award winner is Iowa 80
The Iowa 80 Truckstop, along the Interstate at Walcott in eastern Iowa, is the winner of the 2018 Secretary's Biodiesel Marketing Award. 

BIODIESEL WINNER: On behalf of I-80 Truckstop, Ron Burmeister (right) accepts the Biodiesel Marketing Award for 2018, from Ag Secretary Bill Northey.

Iowa 80 Truckstop has offered biodiesel since 2002, which makes this the 15th anniversary of its program. The company received an Iowa Renewable Fuels Infrastructure Program grant to install the necessary equipment to offer biodiesel, and the truck stop now offers between B11 and B20 blends throughout the year.

The company has long been a supporter of renewable fuels and the Renewable Fuel Standard. Most recently, company owner Delia Moon Meier published an op-ed in the Des Moines Register supporting biodiesel and the RFS. She said: “The Renewable Fuel Standard is important to Iowa. This program enables fuel retailers, including my truck stop on Interstate 80, to incorporate cleaner-burning fuels, such as biodiesel and ethanol, into our fuel supply. That lowers prices at the pump and helps create jobs here in Iowa.”

Boosting biodiesel’s exposure and credibility
Located on Interstate 80 about 10 miles west of Davenport, Iowa 80 Truckstop bills itself as “The World’s Largest Truckstop,” and is a prominent fueling location. Making biodiesel available at a prominent, well-known location boosts biodiesel’s exposure and credibility, particularly with truckers, an important market where acceptance is needed as biodiesel grows.

Iowa 80 Truckstop was nominated for the award by the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association and the Iowa Biodiesel Board.

Iowa leads the nation in production of ethanol and biodiesel. According to the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, Iowa has 43 ethanol refineries capable of producing more than 4 billion gallons annually, including nearly 55 million gallons of annual cellulosic ethanol production capacity. In addition, Iowa has 12 biodiesel facilities with the capacity to produce nearly 350 million gallons annually.

The Iowa Renewable Fuels Infrastructure Program offers cost-share grants for installation of E85 dispensers, blender pumps, biodiesel dispensers and biodiesel storage facilities. The grant program is managed by the Iowa Department of Ag. More information is at iowaagriculture.gov.