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Is your supermarket wiped out of toilet paper? Is it swept clean of flour? Well, never fear. A local restaurant might be able to deliver those essential items, along with a side of fries. NPR's Camila Domonoske explains.
CAMILA DOMONOSKE, BYLINE: The other day, I called up a local British pub called The Alibi to get lunch - takeout, of course.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: And you get a choice of fries, sweet potato fries or salad or coleslaw with that. What would you prefer?
DOMONOSKE: Fries.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Fries - anything else for you today?
DOMONOSKE: Do you have any whole wheat flour?
I have never ordered some flour on the side before, but these are unprecedented times. I had a couple more things on my shopping list.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: So we've got one order of fish and chips. We've got one buffalo chicken sandwich with fries, two pounds of flour, baking soda and a bottle of Redemption bourbon.
DOMONOSKE: And...
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: You get a free roll of toilet paper. Do you want an additional one with that?
DOMONOSKE: It feels kind of wild to order groceries from a pub, but it makes a lot of sense. I don't have to go to a crowded store or fight for a scarce grocery delivery slot, and the restaurant gets a little extra cash at a really tough time. Plus, The Alibi actually has flour, which I haven't seen in the store for weeks. Why? It turns out it all comes down to supply chains.
JP Frossard is a consumer foods analyst.
JP FROSSARD: There are some players that usually sell food only for restaurants, which means they sell big bags of food. They don't have a brand.
DOMONOSKE: So maybe your grocery store is all out of 5-pound bags of flour. But local restaurants and bakeries have easy access to 50-pound bags. And it's not just about the volume.
FROSSARD: The distribution is different. The type of product may be different.
DOMONOSKE: Right now, we're eating at restaurants a lot less and buying from grocery stores a lot more, so farmers and food companies are trying to redirect their supply from restaurants to stores. But it's tough to pivot like that on a big scale. Small businesses like restaurants - they can be creative and flexible. That flour I got with my lunch order - it came in a big Ziploc bag - problem solved.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Hello. Are you here for pickup?
DOMONOSKE: I am.
And I grabbed my bags without setting foot inside the restaurant.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: All right. Thanks very much.
DOMONOSKE: Thank you. Have a good one.
Selling flour and produce like this can be a real public service and a boost to business. Sysco, one of the country's largest restaurant suppliers, is even offering advice on how to sell groceries. But it's not a big moneymaker - not enough to replace the business restaurants are losing.
JENNIFER DOBBERTIN: It's a way to help us kind of stay afloat. It's, like, an extremely struggling time for restaurants.
DOMONOSKE: Jennifer Dobbertin owns Tenko Ramen in San Antonio, Texas. Selling groceries is brand-new for her, but Dobbertin's figuring it out.
DOBBERTIN: One of my dream jobs is to be a buyer for a grocery store. Like, I'm kind of having fun with it.
DOMONOSKE: Now if you scroll past the ramen on her online menu, you'll find descriptions she wrote for cabbage...
DOBBERTIN: Are you desperate enough to buy a head of cabbage yet?
DOMONOSKE: ...And gala apples.
DOBBERTIN: The only gala you'll be going to anytime soon.
DOMONOSKE: More restaurants across the country are selling groceries now, whether it's bleach a la carte or boxes of produce for preorder. And the trend has hopped from mom and pop shops to at least one big chain. Panera Bread has started to sell vegetables and milk.
Camila Domonoske, NPR News.
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