Schnuck Markets is coming to the aid of St. Louis-area restaurants during the COVID-19 pandemic by carrying an array of their menu items at select supermarkets.
Schnucks said Wednesday that meals, side dishes, snacks and other offerings from six local restaurants — Revel Kitchen, Crispy Edge, Seoul Taco, Nudo House STL, Crushed Red and Hot Box Cookies — are now available in the deli grab-and-go coolers and frozen department at designated stores in the St. Louis marketplace.
Plans call for Schnucks to partner with more restaurants and expand the concept to additional stores in the St. Louis area. Customers can view a list of participating Schnucks supermarkets and restaurants in the “Local Grab and Go” section on the retailer’s website.
“As a part of the St. Louis business community for more than 80 years, we feel we have an obligation to help those local restaurant entrepreneurs and their staffs who have been greatly impacted by the pandemic,” Schnucks President and Chief Operating Officer Dave Peacock said in a statement. “Schnucks hopes that by supporting local restaurants that our customers will continue to support local businesses, too.”
Among currently participating restaurants, Schnucks is selling Crispy Edge frozen potstickers at 51 stores; Revel Kitchen salads, wraps, juices and sauces at 10 stores; Seoul Taco burritos and gogi bowls at 25 stores; Nudo House Yo-Lo Mein and Vietnamese chicken salad at six stores; and, coming soon, Hot Box Cookies frozen cookie dough at 59 stores.
Schnucks is selling local restaurant Nudo House's Yo-Lo Mein and Vietnamese chicken salad at six stores in the St. Louis area.
Schnucks noted that the company has also purchased in-store catering from more than 75 local restaurants to feed employees working hard to meet increased consumer demand amid the coronavirus crisis.
“As a supporter of the St. Louis community for over 30 years, we are proud to partner with Schnucks to offer the community access to our food,” commented Qui Tran, owner of Nudo House STL and Mai Lee. “Schnucks has been on the forefront of helping local restaurants in the area find ways to keep our employees working during this pandemic and we are grateful for their leadership.”
Overall, St. Louis-based Schnucks operates 112 stores in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and Iowa.
The restaurant and foodservice sectors continue to struggle during the pandemic. Last week, the National Restaurant Association reported that the restaurant industry has lost more than 8 million employees — or two-thirds of its workforce — because of closings from coronavirus. Restaurants lost $30 billion in March and are on track to lose $50 billion in April and over $240 billion nationwide by the end of the year, the association estimated. And in March, the International Foodservice Distributors Association (IFDA) projected that foodservice distributors will lose $24 billion in top-line sales, receivables and perishable inventory over the ensuing three months due to COVID-19. Much of that shortfall will come from widespread business shutdowns in the restaurant industry, IFDA said.
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