An up-and-comer is singing “meet me in St. Louis” as it looks to expand its deepening foothold in the United States. Picadeli®, a company innovating salad bars for grocery, came onto the scene when some thought that self-serve might be shut down for good in fateful 2020. Now, it is celebrating rising retail partnerships and more pins on the American map.
“Consumers are looking for fresh, affordable, healthy convenience food. It’s very hard to accomplish because salads have a higher waste factor than most ready-made foods and usually require an enormous amount of labor. The magic about the salad bar is that you're offsetting the labor costs onto the consumer in exchange for them getting better value. So, when you think about the retailers and the need for them to serve value, fresh, convenient, quality food, there really aren't a lot of ways to do that,” Chief Executive Officer Patrik Hellstrand shares with me.
In other words, Picadeli saw a need to be filled with areas where costs could be mitigated and translated to the consumer. How? The way Patrik tells me, the company’s tech-forward bar cuts labor and scientifically curbs waste with careful data-driven dimensions to maximize product turnover, and if you can operate an iPhone, you can operate the bar. A statement its latest retail partner, Schnuck Markets, attests to firsthand.
“Response to Picadeli smart salad bars in Schnucks stores has been overwhelmingly positive with praise on the selection and food safety from our customers. Partnering with Picadeli allows us to deliver premium quality products with exceptional focus on safety and sanitation for our customers,” Geoff Wexler, Vice President of Deli and Prepared Foods for Schnucks, shares. “The Picadeli bar has become their meal-on-the-go destination of choice. From an operational standpoint, the Picadeli solution uses minimal labor so that our teammates can focus on our customers.”
The simplicity of execution and close-knit partnerships to ensure every offering in the salad bar is high in quality and flavor means Picadeli turns, according to Patrik, twice the profitability of a traditional salad bar and no CAPEX equipment investments, offering retailers close to zero to pilot.
“Not only do we offer the initial training and installation, which takes a couple of hours, but we also stay engaged in-store frequently to ensure everything continues operating smoothly. We take care of everything on our side so retailers can enjoy a brand-new salad bar that always works without becoming their headache. We always ensure we are available for any maintenance or changes,” Patrik says.
The quality of the food partnership supplying Picadeli’s salad bars matches the technology.
“Because the food is all produced to order, you really get something that's made fresh, and we make sure our partners are foodies and food-obsessed like us. The pasta company that supplies us, for example, is a three-generation Italian family that makes pasta traditionally and fresh. The shelf-life may be shorter, but in our experience it’s not in the store long enough to matter!” Patrik says with a smile.
Geoff backs this statement with the experience his stores have had.
“Schnucks customers have the freshest food available to them on the salad bar via Picadeli’s digital management and re-ordering system,” Geoff continues. “We are thrilled to offer our customers a customizable, fresh, and healthy food option that solves many of our customers’ time-compressed needs.”
With eyes on continued growth, Patrik said stateside operation hopes to quickly pace its European counterpart’s 2,000 locations selling 45 million salads a year. Currently, the U.S. side has 76 locations and aggressive expansion in mind.
“Our two hubs today are the Mid-Atlantic and the Midwest, with a 700-mile radius reaching to the Carolinas, Georgia, and Texas,” Patrik shares, with eyes deeper to the South and Southwest.
Already enjoying resounding success with its established retail partners, it will be exciting to see where Picadeli goes next.
