Obviously it isn’t going to completely bridge the gap, but every bit helps. Most importantly, it would help restaurants to stay in the minds of their consumers and increase the takeout orders.

This is a testament to the resourcefulness of restaurant operators. While I doubt this will materially offset losses, every little bit helps. And beyond bringing in a little much needed revenue, these restaurant operators are keeping themselves busy and at least some of their employees working, which is vitally important.

Restaurant wholesalers have access to paper goods and cleaning supplies that are not available in stores, so there’s not much to say here other than this is a brilliant pivot. You’d better believe that consumers will remember these restaurants long after the pandemic is over. Mr. Rogers said “Look for the helpers.” He was right.

We have an independent restaurant here that specializes in using local organic products. They have shifted to selling the ingredients, posting available products each day on Instagram. And they have TP! In this case it works because this restaurant has a devoted customer base and a point of difference, but it’s not a solution for all.

I will say, I thought at first it was just a way for restaurants to get around some of the closure orders. However, having learned a lot about the food supply chain in the last few weeks, I have completely changed my mind. It is not easy to switch producers and the supply chain that delivers food to restaurants over to being able to deliver food to retail. So having restaurants sell groceries is actually critical right now to keeping food moving to consumers. There is already a shocking amount of waste happening on the commercial side of food delivery, and that needs to stop as soon as possible. On a personal front, I’m buying flour and chicken from my local tapas restaurant – it’s the only place I can get those things, and it helps them keep paying employees, which is goodness all around.

While this is not enough to close the gap, this was a godsend to me and the people in my apartment complex. it’s hard to find the basics — milk, lunch meat, eggs, etc. where I live (by the time I leave work, most of the larger retailers are already out), The restaurant in my complex opened up a food pantry to sell those items and more. If anything they built a relationship with residents who have never been there and will support the restaurant when things get back to a normal state.

I had a friend in the restaurant business who pivoted to a food market the first week of quarantine. It has more positive impact on his ability to keep people employed and stay open than it does on the bottleneck grocers are experiencing. Keeping any business open and people employed is good. In times like these, we must be creative and come up with different/alternative business models.

This is having an impact in my city. Getting the word out is all-important, so we’re seeing flyers on telephone poles, notices on neighborhood listservs, etc. Let’s hope that the increase in foot traffic from the stir crazy homebound can increase awareness. Oh, and big signs on the fronts of restaurants are helping too.

This is the time for restaurants to creatively find new ways to serve their customers. It is a time to test things and ask for feedback from customers. It starts with the takeout menu, gaining an understanding of what is selling and why. How we eat is changing with virtually no quick bites happening on the road. Providing unique or hard-to-find grocery items is certainly another avenue as restaurants may have access to certain products and ethnic brands that are harder to find in the grocery channels. There is also an opportunity to expand the restaurant’s digital presence by providing quick cooking tips or offering online community cooking classes.

Talk about grasping for straws. When the consumer thinks of you as one thing, and you want to change that, you’d better have a long-term plan in place — one that includes patience. Filling in as a needs-based substitute during hard times is an idea that’s a time-tested faux pas. Why not sell utensils and glassware too? TP?

There is a lot to like about this approach! Not only does it help keep restaurants operating, including workers, it also helps move food supply from closed restaurants into consumers’ homes when grocery stores are often in short supply. Restaurant suppliers are now sitting on food stocks that they can’t deliver due to closed restaurants operating on reduced pickup and delivery service only. I’ve heard of many of these suppliers pivoting to sell directly to consumers but having an option to continue supplying their restaurant customers who in turn sell to consumers is brilliant. One missing piece here is what H-E-B has started doing in their regions by selling packaged local restaurant menu items in their stores. I would love to see more grocery brands implement this nationwide to help keep those local restaurants in operation and to provide more food options to consumers staying at home!

Unfortunately, restaurants have been extremely hard hit during this pandemic. Plus, while QSRs with drive-thru services may rebound fairly quickly, the same cannot be said for casual and fine dining. Therefore these efforts are purely defensive, in addition to expressing restaurants’ concern and care for their communities.

Fortunately, the foodservice supply chain in the ilk of Sysco, US Foods and others has shown to be very resilient and has really supported these struggling operators.

Kudos to the foodservice industry for all of its efforts to help Americans during these trying times.

Look, any income is better than no income, but the issue is the degree of the offset. Mobilizing foodservice supply chains is a great idea, but with no predictable end in sight the truth is many undercapitalized restaurants are going to fail no matter what they do.

There is a ton of business theory that would guide these decisions. From Jobs-to-be-done, to customer value chain analysis. When your business is disrupted there are several ways to respond. In this case restaurants choosing to decouple themselves makes sense. Sell ingredients and supplies, broadcast preparation tips and tricks on YouTube, offer live cooking classes, offer virtual personal chef services via Zoom…

I read about this in my local (Tucson) newspaper this morning before firing up RetailWire, and I must say, I’m feeling a twinge of pride toward our newly-elected mayor Regina Romero, who authorized this practice. There are several reasons this is a fine idea. First it leverages the existing food service supply chain in a creative way. We’ve heard about U.S. Foods offering food service goods to supermarkets, but there are serious operational challenges associated with introducing entirely new SKUs to finely tuned inventory management systems. Not to mention the invoicing. Not to mention discontinuing the items later. Second, it helps keep more restaurant establishments afloat while their dining rooms are closed. Could help reduce layoffs a bit too. Third, it supports the current objective of social distancing, by providing a click-and-collect pickup alternative. In urban neighborhoods, this can even serve walk-up shoppers, not just people in cars. Fourth, it taps into existing inventories of some sought-after products. Will this result in lasting widespread change in business models? Hard to say, but I’d wager at… Read more »

Panera Grocery is compelling. Pickup or contactless pickup is great. Ever try to order from the large grocery chains using 3rd party shoppers and delivery companies? A frustrating and cumbersome experience. A lot of inventory is not available online. Wait times up to a week.

The idea of 3rd party shoppers lacking protection masks and gloves, visiting many grocery stores a day, to pick orders and then they use their own coolers to keep grocery orders cool until they deliver to my front door. I would rather take my chances and be in control of my own supply chain by shopping myself and ordering from folks like Panera. Be safe.