Restaurant chain Just Salad launches grocery delivery

With coronavirus forcing many restaurants to close or offer takeout and delivery only, fast-casual chain Just Salad has begun selling groceries.

Just Salad on Thursday launched Just Grocery, an on-demand delivery service offering food, pantry items and meal kits to Manhattan residents. Customers receive their orders in 90 minutes or less, the New York-based company said.

Products available through Just Grocery include fruit and vegetables, lettuce and greens, proteins (chicken, beef, tofu and eggs), dairy (cheese and almond milk), Just Salad house-made dressings, nuts and grains, multigrain bread, rice and beans, beverages (Just Salad tea, Just Salad cold-pressed juice, Just Salad spring water, La Croix sparkling water and Coca-Cola), snacks (Hippeas puffs, PopChips, Kind bars, and Protein Bakery brownies and cookies), and household items (paper towels and bathroom tissue).

Just Grocery meal kits include Just Salad favorites such as Thai Chicken Crunch Salad, Sweet Valley Salad and Avocado Mash, as well as Chicken Caesar Salad. The three salad kits cost $17.99 each, while Avocado Mash is $7.99. All kits serve two people and include all fresh ingredients, with an easy-to-follow recipe card available on the Just Grocery website, the company said.
 
“We’re launching Just Grocery to provide nutritious food options and essential household items quickly and safely,” Just Salad founder and CEO Nick Kenner said in a statement. “Our brand mission has always been focused on serving healthy, delicious food at an affordable price, and with Just Grocery we’re able to do that for our loyal customers in these difficult times.”
 
Just Grocery deliveries are available in Manhattan south of 96th Street and carry a minimum order requirement of $50, plus a $4.99 delivery fee. All food delivered from Just Grocery will come in tamper-proof packaging to protect the health and safety of its customers and workers.

Related:Panera Bread starts selling groceries in wake of coronavirus pandemic

Just Salad recently mobilized efforts to help the New York community by donating meals to PS 188 in Manhattan, and providing 10,000 meals each week to Mount Sinai hospitals around the city.
 
Founded in 2006, Just Salad has nearly 50 locations in New York, New Jersey, Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania and North Carolina, as well as in Dubai.

The National Restaurant Association recently reported that the restaurant industry stands to lose at least $225 billion over the next three months and cut 5 million to 7 million jobs due to COVID-19. Similarly, the International Foodservice Distributors Association projected in March that foodservice distributors will lose $24 billion in top-line sales, receivables and perishable inventory over the next three months due to the coronavirus emergency. Those dire projections have led some restaurant operators to look to the grocery arena.

Related:Subway testing 'Subway Grocery' in 100 Southern California restaurants

On Wednesday, fast-casual chain Panera Bread unveiled Panera Grocery, a program to sell baked goods, dairy and produce from its more than 2,000 locations via takeout, curbside pickup, drive-thru and delivery. The day before, sandwich chain Subway announced a pilot called Subway Grocery at over 100 restaurants in Southern California. Customers can order items such as baked bread, deli meats, sliced cheese, vegetables and soup online for delivery or curbside pickup. And last week, Texas grocer H-E-B said it has been testing the sale of ready-made meals from five restaurants at 29 of its supermarkets in San Antonio, Houston and Austin. All proceeds from the chef-prepared meals go directly to the restaurants.