Restaurants Become Grocery Suppliers
Share
A story about how a sushi restaurant chain in Ohio pivoted to become a grocery supplier during COVID-19 lockdowns.
"Fusion has 10 different locations throughout Ohio. When Iowa was one of the early states to shut down all nonessential businesses about 2 weeks ago, it totally took Fusion by surprise - there was no warning from the governor. The company pivoted in 3 days to becoming basically a part-time grocer.
What's interesting is understanding how supply chains work in the US. There's a supply chain for grocery stores and a separate one for restaurants and bars because they have different needs for bulk orders. What Fusion realized was that while grocery stores were sold out of items like tofu, it wasn't because tofu was hard to access in Ohio - it was because the grocery store-specific supply chain system didn't have enough. Fusion, using their restaurant supply chain, could easily source these items.
They originally sourced tofu for their meals, but they realized they could sell it directly as a grocery store. Now Fusion will deliver sushi to your home in Ohio, but they'll also deliver groceries, and they've had a lot of success doing that."
Michael Waters
He a writer who has contributed to The Atlantic, The New Yorker, WIRED, Vox, The New York Times, and other publications.
He has a constellation of personal obsessions ranging from queer history to the death-care industry.
He lives in Brooklyn and work by day as a copywriter.
His first book, The Other Olympians: Fascism, Queerness, and the Making of Modern Sports, comes out from Farrar, Straus and Giroux on June 4, 2024.