Fuel stations in Kenya are emerging as new retail hubs for fast-food chains, leveraging predictable foot traffic and lower operating risks. This shift sees quick-service restaurants, such as Chicken Cottage, establishing outlets within forecourts, transforming them into mixed-use nodes that offer both mobility and diverse retail options.

• Vivo Energy Kenya reported that fuel volumes increased by over 50 percent at Shell service stations where food outlets were introduced.
• Express Kitchen, operating Chicken Cottage and Papa John’s Kenya, has opened a new Chicken Cottage outlet at Shell Thome on Thika Road.
• According to Managing Director Ayan Ali, Express Kitchen plans to add between 75 and 100 new jobs in 2026 through expansion into service-station locations.
• The hospitality sector recorded a quarterly growth of 21.5 percent of gross domestic product in 2025, as per the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics.
• Express Kitchen intends to open eight more outlets this year, targeting towns like Nakuru and Eldoret before regional expansion into Uganda and Tanzania.