FOOD FIGHT

If you are thinking food fight from the movie Animal house that is not the one I am talking about. There has always been a fight to serve better and better cuisine between restaurants. One we do it for survival, two we do it for the prestige of touting ourselves as serving the best steak, seafood, pasta etc. etc. and third it is the natural evolution to compete in a market that is constantly improving itself through competition.

A new competition has been brewing for a number of years in another food market and that is with the supermarket chains. For years the A & P’s, Foodtown, Shoprites and a host of others remained the standard supermarket that we shopped in for years. In the early 70’s some added bakeries and rotisserie chicken. In the late 80’s a number of these stores became “Super” stores by adding deli and prepared foods cooked in house. On a scale of one to ten the food came in about a five or six. We are talking basic prepared foods that were half a step above fast food chains.

That is all changing now with the advent of competition from California and the Mid West with stores like Whole Foods and Wegemen’s. These chains are shaking up the food market industry with new approaches to prepared food for take home. The quality is very upscale, a bit pricey, but many find it well worth the extra money.

Our local Foodtown chain of ten stores is answering this challenge by up scaling the food service in all of their stores. The show case of the Azzolina Food Circus Foodtowns will be opened around October 29th in newly renovated Oakhurst store.

I had occasion today to tour the facility today. Let me tell you folks…I was impressed. The family owned business hired top designers and food service professional to turn the traditionally well run stores into super supermarkets with restaurant quality prepared foods for take out or dining on premises. What I saw today was a restaurateurs dream in the form of a preparation and cooking facility. There are separate stations for just about everything. There is a seafood section, a sushi station, pizza, gourmet coffees, salads, and prepared dinners. They have top chefs turning out restaurant quality products. It looks like they will be giving the newcomers a run for their money.