April 23, 2020

Restaurants, bakeries, liquor stores and other food-related businesses are selling toilet paper, gallons of milk and other staples as shoppers cut down on trips to grocery stores because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Oh My Cupcakes has started selling some of the ingredients used in its cupcakes such as flour, extra fine cane sugar and unsalted butter and even added a roll of toilet paper for $1.25.

“Our website wasn’t set up for groceries, so you can find them items under “all gifts,” which is kind of ironic if you think of toilet paper as a gift,” owner Melissa Johnson said.

Customers typically include cupcakes with the orders, but one person has bought only staples for three Saturdays in a row for delivery, Johnson said.

The items also can be purchased at either bakery, and curbside pickup is an option.

This week, Oh My Cupcakes is adding weekly vegetable and fruit bundles after one of its vendors suggested the idea.

“Our vendors, we feel like they’re really business partners,” Johnson said. “They want to help us figure out how to succeed in these times and how to continue to serve our community and serve them in different ways now.”

Customers can place orders for the produce by midnight Tuesday, and the bundles will be ready for delivery or pickup on Friday.

For $25, the bundles include a variety of either fruits or vegetables.

“Not only did our vendor suggest it to us, and I had been noticing with fewer trips to the grocery store we have fewer fresh produce in our house. … We eat fresh a lot, and if I’m missing it, a lot of other people are too.”

JJ’s Wine, Spirits & Cigars is working with other local producers and has created a market in its event room, which has been unused since the city placed limits of the number of people who can gather at one time in certain business.

Products include milk from Stensland Family Farms, eggs from Fruit of the Coop and steaks, brats and hot dogs from Uncle Ed’s Specialty Meats. Other necessity items such as paper products and hand sanitizer are available. The plan is to add Breadsmith hamburger and hotdog buns.

“Our reason for this is simple: Keep you from having to go to too many different places, risking exposure to COVID,” owner Tom Slattery said.

Prepared-meal business Dialed in Nutrition has created a weekly bundle pack to help people who want to avoid a trip to the grocery store but want to make their own meals.

Depending on products, the bundle pack likely will range in price from $75 to $125, said Sara Geelan, who started the business with her husband, Shea, in 2018. Every week, she’ll cook the protein that’s included, but customers will get to use their creativity to make breakfast, lunch or dinner from the ingredients.

Here’s a look at everything that was in the first bundle, which will be delivered Friday to customers in the Sioux Falls area.

Orders must be placed by noon Tuesday.

“I plan to change it up every week or so,” Geelan said. For someone whose inspiration in the kitchen might be lacking, she intends to post ideas on Facebook for easy meals that can be made with that week’s offerings.

National chains have created pantries too as restaurants across the country have had to shift their business models.

Perkins Restaurant & Bakery on Arrowhead Parkway is participating in Perkins Market, giving customers access to some of the same ingredients it uses.

For example, customers can get a 10-pound package of frozen sausage patties for $30, 5 pounds of mashed potatoes for $5.75 or four rolls of toilet paper for $4.50. There’s pancake syrup, bread, dressing, cheese, soups, and raw or cooked meat.

Some items are available on-site, but customers can order online by Sunday night for Tuesday’s truck or Wednesday night for Friday’s truck, an assistant store manager said.

Panera Bread’s offerings include bread and bagels, of course, along with milk, yogurt, fruits and vegetables.

“People have been doing it here and there,” general manager Jeff Haplik said. Most customers are adding the pantry items to their orders when they have meals delivered, he said. Grapes have been a popular addition.

“They’re thinking about adding other things to it,” Haplik said of Panera’s leadership team.

At Potbelly Sandwich Shop, customers can get delivery of everything they need to make their own sandwiches at home. There’s even frozen, ready-to-bake dough to make Potbelly’s signature cookies.

A Hartford restaurant is giving bulk orders a try too. Blue 42 Sports Grill, which has reduced hours and shifted to takeout and delivery, recently started selling packages of chicken wings that customers can make at home and is taking orders for steaks, hamburger, bacon and other meat.

“The wings have been taking off. We are going through about 100 pounds a week,” said Tony Axtell, who owns the business with his wife, Courtney. “Hamburger has been selling well. We are generally $1 per pound less than big stores.

“We just saw how much it cost at local big-box stores and figured we could help people save and help us keep our numbers up.”