Who Owns Royal Farms Gas Stations?

Royal Farms is a chain of gas stations and convenience stores with a total of 288 locations as of 2025. These stores are primarily located in the mid-Atlantic states, with 148 of them in Royal Farms’ home state of Maryland, another 40 in Virginia, 37 in Delaware, and 27 in Pennsylvania. Royal Farms stores are also located in the states of North Carolina, New Jersey, West Virginia, and South Carolina. 

Royal Farms is owned by the descendants of Malcolm Kemp, who founded the Cloverland Farms Dairy around 1919. In a story that has played out many times in the dairy business and has many similarities to Wawa’s origin story, the decline in milk delivery led Cloverland to open its first “White Jug” store in 1959, which Royal Farms considers to be its founding date. The White Jug sold a full line of dairy products, as well as some “quick pick-up items,” as they were called. These were the forerunners of today’s convenience stores, long before there were gas pumps outside to lure you in. 

Cloverland Farms Dairy later merged with Royal Dunloggin Dairy, renaming itself Royal Farms in 1968. By the time that the 1970s rolled around, all of the original White Jug stores had been replaced by Royal Farms locations. As of this writing, John Kemp, a member of the very private Kemp family, holds the position of President and CEO of Two Farms Inc., the privately-held company that does business as Royal Farms.

Royal Farms has become rather famous for its fried chicken, which is hand-breaded and made in a pressure cooker in each individual store. The company bills the product, which is available anytime during the store’s 24 operating hours as, “World Famous Chicken—Always Fresh, Never Frozen.” In 2024, Royal Farms won USA Today’s “best gas station for food” award, surpassing even renowned convenience stores like Texas-based Buc-ee’s. The fried chicken had a lot to do with the win. According to a review in Chowhound, “the chicken has won countless fans throughout the region, including professional chefs and food critics, some of whom rank it among the top fried chicken chains in the country.”

Other major food products that Royal Farms is known for include its fresh-brewed coffee, its breakfast menu that you can order from 24 hours a day, and a bar that lets you make your own milkshake. Other options include pulled or grilled chicken sandwiches and wraps, Texas club sandwiches, burgers, hot dogs, sliders, and deli sandwiches, plus Maryland-made items like Berger cookies and Goetze’s Cow Tales, as well as the Cloverland Dairy products that started it all and are still sold there.

Royal Farms may not be quite as large as their nearby competitors like Sheetz and Wawa, who are turning their gas stations into massive convenience stores, but this Maryland-based chain has expanded into several adjoining states. Royal Farms has made its mark and is likely to continue its expansion plans, just as Sheetz and Wawa have.