Independent grocer Coborn’s Inc. and Swedish salad company Picadeli are rolling out the first two of 15 new high-tech salad bars at a Coborn’s Grocery Store in Sauk Rapids, Minn., which has already debuted, and a Cash Wise Foods Grocery Store in Waite Park, Minn. The new salad bars are part of a pilot program in the region, which is expected to expand to other Coborn’s-owned stores later this year.
Unlike traditional salad bars, Picadeli’s concept offers shoppers such elevated options as plant-based proteins, grains, seafood and seasonal specialties. Menu items are regularly rotated to provide new options, including seasonal offerings and a greater variety of choices. The units employ digital signage and touchscreens to communicate the nutritional values of all ingredients, along with temperature-controlled food compartments to ensure optimal food safety and less waste.
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“Picadeli is known worldwide for revolutionizing the salad bar, and we’re delighted to offer our guests a healthy and quick meal option focused on freshness, variety and flavor,” noted Dennis Host, Coborn’s SVP of marketing and communications. “More importantly, this distinguished salad bar features innovative technology to keep food safe and prioritizes variety and proper food hygiene. During the COVID pandemic, we were forced to close almost all of our self-service salad bar offerings to ensure our guests’ safety. We’re excited to be able to bring back the salad bar with a new, innovative offering through our partnership with Picadeli.”
The Picadeli salad bar places safety foremost with such features as hand sanitizer and bowl dispensers, sneeze guards, a mounting system for utensils to prevent contamination of allergenic foods, temperature and hood sensors, shielding hoods, and a patented air flow refrigeration system. Despite these technological advances, Picadeli salads are more affordable than typical salad bar offerings, costing about $8 per salad, according to the company.
“It’s well known that eating fresh and healthy food in the United States is not usually affordable or accessible,” said Patrik Hellstrand, CEO of Gothenburg, Sweden-based Picadeli. “We aim to change that by giving Americans greater access to healthier food that is also fast, convenient and easier on the wallet. Our entry into Minnesota with the opening of the Picadeli bar in the Sauk Rapids location represents a new phase of our growth in the U.S., and we are thrilled to be expanding in partnership with Coborn’s.”
St. Cloud, Minn.-based Coborn’s is a 102-year-old employee-owned grocery retailer with nearly 10,000 employees and 77 grocery stores in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Illinois operating under the Coborn’s, Cash Wise Foods, Marketplace Foods, Hornbacher’s, Tadych’s Marketplace Foods and Sullivan’s Foods banners. The company also operates fuel, liquor and pharmacy locations. To support its 135-plus retail business units, Coborn’s, Inc. runs its own central bakery, dry-cleaning facility and grocery distribution center. The company is No. 84 The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2023 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.