Saladworks opened its first-ever location in a supermarket about a year ago, in a Philadelphia ShopRite owned by Jeff Brown. And now, after deeming the pilot a success, it plans to expand its presence at Brown-owned Wakefern Food Corp. locations in Greater Philadelphia.
So far, Saladworks restaurants are planned for Brown’s ShopRite and Fresh Grocer stores in Philadelphia and Wyncote, PA, respectively. Another three or four Saladworks locations could follow at Brown’s supermarkets within the next year, according to Saladworks CEO Patrick Sugrue.
“We’re finding that salad bars are falling out of favor, they’re not profitable for grocery stores, they have a lot of waste and they take up a lot of space,” explained Sugrue. “In the same space or less than a money-losing salad buffet, we can place a full Saladworks restaurant and deliver our core menu to consumers – made exactly the way they want.”