Five Grocers Doing Retail Foodservice Right

While 2020 is serving up a holiday season like no other, scores of grocers have re-imagined the holiday meal to satisfy new cravings. With COVID cases on the rise and downsizing of holiday gatherings the new norm, grocers such as Wegmans are ensuring that the disruption is delicious. In addition to classic turkey dinners, visitors to the Holiday Help section of Wegmans’ website will also find the Wegmans Signature Ham Dinner for $149.99. The meal for 10 to 12 includes a 7- to 8-pound spiral sliced and glazed ham; cauliflower and spinach gratin; roasted butternut squash with spinach and Craisins; potatoes gratin; and Wegmans Cranberry Orange Relish.

In advance of the holidays, Bashas’ Family of Stores continues to expand its relationship with Instacart to provide customers in metro Phoenix and Tucson, Ariz., the option of shopping online for their groceries and pre-made holiday meals. Shoppers can also order their groceries online and pick them up curbside from 16 participating Bashas’ stores in metro Phoenix and Tucson.

The family-owned grocer that operates Food City, AJ’s Fine Foods, Eddie’s Country Store, and both Bashas’ and Bashas’ Diné supermarkets are “shaking up their holiday plans this year,” offering smaller-size turkeys and hams and downsizing desserts, says the company. With smaller gatherings in mind, Bashas’ also offers pre-assembled Thanksgiving meals for as few as two people. 

Over the past six months, The Fresh Market “has elevated [its] restaurant quality meals,” including its holiday fare, says the company. The Greensboro, N.C.-based grocer offers five different options of complete, ready-to-heat holiday meals that range in size to accommodate gatherings of all sizes. The turkey comes fully cooked and is an exclusive recipe to The Fresh Market. New this year is the Ultimate Holiday Meal for 12-14 guests ($159.99) and the Essential Ham Meal for three to five people ($59.99).

“Stress less this holiday season with the help of Aunt Dorothy,” says Dayton, Ohio-based Dorothy Lane Market’s website. Its Deli Holiday Dinner Menu features a fully cooked DLM Non-GMO Free-Range Turkey, available in various sizes to suit a variety of guest counts, along with made-from-scratch sides produced in its kitchens, such as old-fashioned cornbread stuffing, mashed potatoes and turkey gravy, green beans amandine, sweet potato casserole, and cranberry-orange-walnut relish.

While H-E-B typically does everything from the size of its stores to its promotions with big, Texan bravado, this holiday season the San Antonio-based grocer is thinking small. Its Honey Cured Spiral Ham Meal for four ($69.99) can be ordered for curbside pickup or delivery, and  includes a menu of ready-to-heat-and-eat dishes including a fully cooked honey cured spiral sliced ham, cornbread stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, turkey gravy, and cranberry sauce.