Dive Brief:

• Weis Markets is bringing technology-driven salad bars supplied by Picadeli of Sweden to eight of the Northeast supermarket chain’s locations, according to officials of the companies.
• The first two of the salad bars opened Wednesday at stores in York and Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, and six more are set to debut during the next few weeks, Weis Markets Director of Produce Kevin Weaver said in an interview.
• Weis Markets is adding the Picadeli stations as it refocuses on self-service in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dive Insight:

Weis Markets’ decision to bring Picadeli’s artificial intelligence-based salad bar concept to several stores reflects shoppers’ growing interest in being able to assemble a ready-to-eat meal themselves when visiting a grocery store, Weaver said.

“The push pre-pandemic was for more bulk foods, more service stations, [and then] the pandemic got everybody really concerned” about safety and retreated from self-service, Weaver said. “And now the pendulum is swinging back to ‘I want more choice, I want to be able to customize.’ And so service departments are making a resurgence and salad bars are making a resurgence.”

Picadeli sets its concept apart from traditional salad bars by supplying all food for the bars and maintaining ownership of the stations, which are equipped with closeable hoods to maintain cleanliness and keep items fresh. The company also tracks consumption patterns to cut down on waste and tailor the selection of foods to local tastes.

Weis Markets, which runs 196 stores in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, West Virginia and Virginia, joins retailers including Albertsons, Schnuck Markets and Coborn’s in signing on to bring Picadeli salad bars to some of their stores. About one-fourth of Weis Markets’ stores currently have traditional salad bars —a lower proportion than before the pandemic, according to Weaver.

In addition to the two Weis Markets locations that unveiled Picadeli bars to the public on Wednesday, stores in Parkville, Perry Hall, Baltimore and Frederick, Maryland, and Huntingdon Valley and Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania, are also slated to receive the stations.

Weaver noted that the retailer is treating its rollout of the Picadeli salad bars as a test.

“We wanted to get some stores that were, among other competitors, and we wanted to offer it in stores, maybe when there aren’t a lot of competitors to see if the company will grow into the Picadeli offering,” he said. “We’re going to see exactly where it plays the best.”

Picadeli has installed its salad bars in about 100 supermarkets and other locations in the United States and hopes to bring them to as many as 2,000 locations during the coming years, Picadeli U.S. CEO Patrik Hellstrand said in an interview.

“Our journey is a decade-long journey, at the very least. We have a very long plan of how to get there, and we're very patient,” Hellstrand said.