Hot bars and salad bars are so last year.
As grocers look to spice up their in-store meal offerings for customers, several have recently decided to do their own twists on self-serve stations.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, many grocers adjusted or shut down their salad bars. But with in-store grocery shopping back to its pre-pandemic levels, grocers have kept their salad bars and are now experimenting with new stations that serve up everything from tacos to beef jerky.
Here’s a closer look at some of the innovative alternatives grocers have recently cooked up.
Beef jerky
As SpartanNash pilots a revamp for its Family Fare banner, the company installed a beef jerky bar at two reopened stores earlier this year.
At a Holland, Michigan, location that reopened in August, SpartanNash partnered with Ludington Meat Company, a local Michigan business, to supply and co-develop the store’s beef jerky bar.
Then in October, the beef jerky bar made another appearance when a refreshed Family Fare reopened in Sparta, Michigan.
As snacking has risen in popularity among food consumers, beef jerky — known for having a high protein content — is expected to continue to grow in popularity as people seek more protein-rich foods, according to research from Polaris Market Research.
Olive bars
Olives are getting their moment, with at least two regional grocers dedicating self-service stations to the small fruits at their newly opened stores.
The Fresh Market is making the olive bar one ingredient in its recipe for an elevated foodservice experience, with stores opened this year in Lakewood Ranch, Florida; Chicago; and Crofton, Maryland, including the option.
Publix also has olive bars, which have appeared in some stores for more than a decade. As the Florida-based chain trials a larger store format, it appears the olive bars aren’t going anyway. Its store in Wesley Chapel, Florida, which opened this spring, features an olive bar.
Olive bars aren’t a new trend — Wegmans and Whole Foods Market have also had olive bars in stores for years — and their longevity could be linked to the popularity of Mediterranean cuisine and their reputation as “Old World” culinary, Deli Business reported.
Chicken wing bars
At Big Y’s foodservice departments, shoppers can find the Wing Bar.
The grocer notes that its Wing Bars feature freshly fried jumbo bone-in wings and boneless tenders served plain or tossed in one of its wing sauces. To pair with the wings, Big Y said that customers can also find several appetizers, such as mozzarella sticks and jalapeno poppers.
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Big Y isn’t the only grocer with a “bar” for chicken wings. The Publix in Wesley Chapel has a hot bar with a variety of chicken wings. Stop & Shop in 2019 announced it would add wing bars at 187 stores, “just in time for football season and fall entertaining” and stores remodeled more recently have added wing bars.
Tacos and burritos
Some grocers are making Taco Tuesday an everyday option.
The Fresh Market’s Lakewood Ranch store features a taco bar concept while a recently opened Vallarta Supermarkets store in Clovis, California, features a guacamole station where people can customize fresh guacamole and pico de gallo.
Meanwhile, Publix confirmed in March it would bring burrito bowl bars, which initially launched in 2018 at its now-shuttered GreenWise Markets, to its traditional stores.
The bars feature made-to-order burritos, bowls or tacos; whole or self-service by-the-slice pizza; hot pasta and appetizers; and popcorn with flavors such as cheddar, caramel, dill, Oreo, kettle and salt and pepper. It’s part of the grocery chain’s expanded deli offerings, which also include sushi, ramen bowls, a hot bar with a variety of chicken wings, other proteins and sides as well as a large salad bar.
