Dive Brief:

• Coborn’s has inked a deal to add technology-enabled salad bars from Picadeli of Sweden to 15 supermarkets in several of the Midwestern states where the chain operates, officials of the companies said in interviews with Grocery Dive.
• The grocer plans to open the first of the salad bars on Wednesday at locations in Sauk Rapids and Waite Park, Minnesota, according to Josh Croson, director of deli for the retailer.
• Coborn’s joins supermarket operators including Schnuck Markets, Albertsons, Crop’s Fresh Marketplace and The Giant Company in offering Picadeli’s salad bars as they look to enhance the store staple that got upended by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dive Insight:

Coborn’s stopped running salad bars in its stores when the COVID-19 pandemic forced retailers to retreat from self-service and gave little thought to bringing them back until it saw Picadeli’s take on the self-service concept at an International Dairy Deli Bakery Association event about two years ago, Croson said.

Coborn’s had concluded that costs related to labor and shrink meant salad bars were unlikely to be profitable, but changed its mind when it became familiar with Picadeli’s take on the concept.

Picadeli tracks when products arrive and their popularity with shoppers, and uses that information to help grocers determine the variety and quantity of foods to order.

In addition, Picadeli’s salad bars feature closable hoods to keep foods fresh and help maintain cleanliness. The company also owns the salad bars it provides to retailers and provides all the food they serve, relieving grocers of those responsibilities.

“We kept hearing from our customers and our guests that they really wanted that return to normal. They wanted that other meal opportunity within our stores,” Croson said.

The fact that the Picadeli bars require less staff time to maintain than traditional is another draw, Croson said. While legacy salad bars can require 55 to 60 hours per week of labor, Coborn’s figures that a store’s associates will only need to devote about 15 hours per week to operate a Picadeli station, he said.

Croson said he was also swayed by Schnucks’ decision to roll out the stations. Schnucks began installing the equipment in March 2023 and currently operates Picadeli bars in about 50 locations.

“They really went all in with it and it seemed like a very successful program from everything we saw,” Croson said.

Coborn’s plans to operate salad bars from Picadeli in place of traditional salad bars in two of the 15 stores where it is bringing the new equipment, Croson said, adding that the other stores do not currently have salad bars. The company plans to add the bars to stores at a rate of about two per week, he said.

Coborn’s plans to charge $9.99 per pound for salads from the Picadeli bars, according to Croson.

Patrik Hellstrand, CEO of Picadeli U.S., said the company’s experience has shown that its self-service bars help drive sales of goods other than salads. Shoppers typically spend about four times as much on other products when their basket includes a Picadeli salad, he said.

Coborn’s currently operates traditional salad bars at locations in Big Lake, Minnesota, and North Bismarck, North Dakota, and plans to keep them in operation, Croson said. The company operates 77 stores in Minnesota, North Dakota, Michigan. South Dakota, Wisconsin and Illinois.