Has the Consumer-Grocer Foodservice Relationship Forever Changed?

One of the many wonderfully symbiotic and successful partnerships to emerge at the start of the pandemic was that of the grocer and restaurateur. With prepared foods and deli operations initially shut down at supermarkets across the country and many restaurants shuttered completely just as abruptly, savvy partnerships formed to bring consumers what they still wanted—food from their favorite restaurants.

With the end of Prohibition came the end of the speakeasy. So, the question is, as vaccines continue to roll out and restaurants reopen to 50% or even full capacity, will grocery shoppers still want access to not only restaurant-quality, but actual restaurant-made food from their local supermarket?

FreshDirect is counting on it. The Northeast-based online food grocer acquired by Ahold Delhaize earlier this year is looking to meet its customers still at home while providing a new revenue stream for itself and local restaurateurs looking for ways to expand their business model and bottom line. With the help of FreshDirect’s merchant team, three New York City culinary favorites—Carbone, Nom Wah and Milk Bar—are debuting restaurant-inspired products for customers to prepare in their kitchens and enjoy at home, available for delivery through the online grocer. 

Carbone is partnering with FreshDirect to launch its line of Italian-American pasta sauces. Founded by James Beard award-winning pastry chef Christina Tosi, Milk Bar will be offering its tasty dessert treats through FreshDirect. And Nom Wah will launch a line of dim sum through the online grocer.

Delivering directly to customers throughout seven states, including the New York and Philadelphia metropolitan areas and the District of Columbia, Bronx-based FreshDirect has said it focuses on high-quality fresh meat, fish, produce and specialty items through direct relationships with suppliers, growers and farmers. It can now add restaurants to that list of coveted connections.

“Online grocery adaptation was the standout trend of 2020,” FreshDirect Chief Merchandising Officer Scott Crawford, said in an interview with Winsight Grocery Business earlier this year. “While online grocery adoption was certainly on the rise pre-pandemic, the acceleration came fast and furious, and FreshDirect experienced outsized growth.”

Particularly noteworthy in the explosive growth, Crawford added, is not that more shoppers are willing to purchase their cereal, paper towels and canned tuna online, but rather that fresh food—from fruits and vegetables to just-caught seafood to premium cuts of meat and prepared meals—are experiencing a similar online sales surge.

FreshDirect is not the only grocer to find a perfect restaurant counterpart or two since COVID. Cut off from in-restaurant dining for much of the pandemic, shoppers looked to their local supermarkets like Thibodaux, La.-based Rouses Market, which early last year began offering the iconic cuisine of Commander’s Palace Palace and Big Mike’s BBQ as grab-and-go options in its stores.

H-E-B also got into the restaurant grab-and-go game, partnering with Max & Louie’s New York Diner to bring the beloved San Antonio deli’s soups and prepared foods to its stores throughout Texas at the start of the pandemic. And Schnuck Markets, which had partnered with St. Louis restaurants since April 2020 to sell their grab-and-go meals in certain stores, later extended those partnerships to focus on chef-prepared meals from Black-owned businesses, including Cathy’s Kitchen and Ms. Piggies’ Smokehouse.

As the pandemic prevented consumers for going out to nice dinners in a restaurant, grocery’s sales of high-end wines, specialty seafood like lobster and crab, artisan cheeses and the finest cuts of meat have soared for at-home consumption. And there may be no going back. Many consumers have gotten a taste of the at-home good life since COVID, sources say, and they’re not likely  to return to sub-standard fare. The bar has been raised and retail foodservice needs to be ready.