NEW YORK – Supermarkets across the country are expanding their old wait times with menus, wine lists, and dining tables, including the catwalk with produce, delicatessen, and quick check-out.
Supermarket cooking is a growing trend in the restaurant industry, and while it is still a niche market, there are more and more supermarket restaurants in the United States.
In August, the large Wegmans grocery store in Rochester, New York opened tastings, the menu of which is influenced by Manhattan chef David Bouley. Draeger’s, a luxury supermarket in San Mateo, California, has an elegant white-cloth restaurant called MyWegmansConnect Viognier with French-inspired New California cuisine. And seven of Miner’s fine Byerly foods have Minnesota grill restaurants.
“Supermarkets have already installed clothing and fast food centers in the centers,” said Harry Balzer, a food industry analyst and vice president of NPD Group, a market research firm. “It is not powerful to say,” Why don’t we open a restaurant?
Increasing online shopping
While there are no specific numbers to indicate whether the concept of grocery shopping is an expanding business, there are indications that the sector is on the rise. The National Restaurant Association expects the category to grow 5.5% this year. And Balzer said that home-cooked meals and meals made up the bulk of the grocery business growth in the 1980s and 1990s.
Supermarkets and restaurants took it and tried to capitalize on it. Enter the supermarket hybrid restaurant.
Strategically, it’s a good idea, said Balzer. In the long run, this country is moving toward less home cooking. Americans will forget how to cook.
For grocery stores, especially “grocery stores” like Draeger’s, Byerly’s, and Wegmans, it makes sense to add restaurants to your big grocery store.
“The idea was born to complete the cycle and offer our customers food solutions,” said Michael Beam, COO of Wegmans Corporation. The other primary principle is to show people in the store food and items that may not have been prepared or prepared as before.
Tastings Beam said guests can choose a cheap meal ($ 15) or the five-course wine tasting menu for $ 70 with wine. The menu changes weekly depending on the MyWegmansConnect season. And the fact that the tasting provider is the adjacent supermarket makes almost everything possible, including the choice of ingredients.
The famous tastings are “Food Flight”, a dish with three different types of food or three different ways to prepare it. The restaurant has seating next to the open kitchen so that customers can see how the chefs prepare their food.
