A Victorian service station, APCO Mount Duneed, is a finalist in the 2026 Best Foodvenience Store in the World competition, just 15 months after opening. The store offers a range of food options, including dim sims, potato cakes, sushi, paninis, and roast dinners.
APCO Mount Duneed boasts a 24-hour cafe, a full supermarket, barista-made coffee, and a wide range of fresh food, including sandwiches and wraps prepared in-house daily. It also stocks locally sourced produce and products from small businesses across the region, including honey, homemade biscuits, dips, and preserves.
Retail partner Ryan Dawson said the business has developed far beyond a typical service station. “It’s like a cafe, supermarket, service station, all mixed in one,” Dawson said. “People don’t just come here to buy fuel, they come here to do their shopping, and have lunch, and have breakfast. We do roast dinners at night.”
The store was one of 24 stores shortlisted for the competition, with the winner to be announced in Germany on November 12. Dawson said the business has put in a fair bit of effort to get to this point, and it has been a few years in the making prior to its opening. “We’re pretty stoked,” he said. “To get some of that reward has been pretty cool.”
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Supporting Local Businesses
APCO Mount Duneed supports local businesses by stocking products from neighboring companies, such as Edmonds Honey, handmade yo-yos from a baker in Mount Duneed, dips and soups from Wholefood Kitchen in Torquay, and Pennyroyal Preserves. Dawson said the store is “really into our local businesses, so we support local where we can.”
The Mount Duneed store is now competing against some of the world’s leading convenience retailers, with fellow finalists from Ireland, the United States, Luxembourg, Northern Ireland, South Africa, and Argentina. Dawson acknowledged the stiff competition, pointing to three impressive finalists from Ireland. “They look amazing, those [Irish] places, and there’s a place in the US that has a full sports bar,” he said.
Following national television and radio coverage of its nomination, Dawson noted a customer surge. “We saw a pretty big uptake in customers yesterday, which was pretty cool,” he said.
Global Competition Heats Up
As the competition nears its end, retailers and suppliers can cast their votes for the competition’s three best stores until November 5, with industry votes and judges’ scores determining the winner. As for the awards ceremony in Germany, Dawson joked, “I told them my passport’s ready.”
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APCO has grown from starting out in Warrnambool almost 60 years ago to more than 30 stores throughout Victoria, New South Wales, and South Australia. The store opened in July 2025, and it took a bit of patience to get up and running. “That’s been a bit of a slog, for the first 12 months or so to get that going, but the numbers are looking great now,” Dawson said.
Warmer weather has helped turnover, but the business faces challenges around staffing and the economy. Almost 40 employees means Dawson’s main headache is rostering. Fuel prices and broader economic pressures have also impacted the business, but Dawson said its diverse offering has helped it weather the challenges. “Not being pigeonholed into just a fuel outlet has really helped with that as well,” he said.
When asked what advice he would give other small business owners looking to stand out, Dawson emphasized the importance of getting the basics right. “The biggest thing for me was building a great team to start off with,” he said. “And just tapping into who our customer actually is, they’re very different depending on where you’re located.”