‘GROCERANTS’ AN ADDED TWIST
By | TY HIGGINS OHIO FARM BUREAU POSTED JUNE 10, 2020
TO KEEP RESTAURANTS IN BUSINESS
ever thought of buying toilet paper and a an e-commerce platform is something Stephan Big Boy at the same time through the drive-thru Harman and his partners at FUSIAN Sushi had been window at Frisch’s? Believe it or not, it is possible. thinking about for the last three years. The current pandemic expedited the process. “We are happy When the COVID-19 pandemic began in earnest we spent the energy there,” Harman said. “(During in Ohio and stay-at-home protocols were put into COVID-19) we need to keep feeding people, keep place, suddenly restaurants were left without people at home, but also keep small business in customers. Many scrambled to start takeout business.” or delivery orders only. Some restaurants got even more creative. Recently on Ohio Farm The grocerant started with adding an option to Bureau’s Our Ohio Weekly radio program, a panel purchase the restaurant’s produce whole and discussed how some restaurants modified their proceeded into other staples such as bread, eggs, offerings and turned into “grocerants” during the bananas and oranges, among other things. COVID-19 crisis. Stauf’s Coffee Roasters President Mark Swanson As of mid-April, Chris Ford, executive vice president said the transparency with his customers since of operations for Frisch’s, said more than 20,000 the COVID-19 pandemic began has been key to grocery items had been sold at the chain’s regional the success of Stauf’s Coffee Roasters’ grocerant restaurants. “We had our marketplace up in three concept. Keeping up with sanitation protocols days,” he said, and additional offerings included helped establish customer confidence when the business started thinking outside the box. “It was toilet paper, eggs and gallons of milk. a really odd pivot when our CFO said ‘Why don’t The idea to add grocery items was something the we sell items we have in the back of the house?’” team at Frisch’s had been thinking about since Swanson said. So, that is what Stauf’s started to do November, even before the virus was on anyone’s — whole bean coffee, teas and more are available radar. Suddenly, it made perfect sense. “We didn’t on its website. price these items to make a huge profit,” Ford said. “We did the best we could to just offer products When restaurants reopened in May, they did so slowly and with a different capacity. Restaurant for our guests.” owners and operators will continue to think of Supplying customers with what they need via different and unique ways to serve their customers.
14 | SUMMER 2020
