It is no secret that the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has completely changed the way consumers buy food and how food companies do business. In light of these significant changes, Since Sliced Bread closes its second season by checking in on some of the featured companies.
In this episode Monica Watrous, managing editor of Food Business News, shares how the COVID-19 outbreak has impacted shoppers and supermarkets and how she has seen emerging food companies adapt to the sudden change.
The cancellation of Natural Products Expo West in early March as well as the elimination of supermarket demos and dine-in foodservice had a significant impact on season two guests.
“It’s been a huge shift in consumer buying behavior and traditional shopping to essential shopping,” said Stacy Madison, founder of BeBOLD, Westwood Mass. “People would go out and do their regular shopping and meander around the store and discover new products, and now it seems to be just get in and get out. ‘I want to try something new’ is not anything. And every answer I give people it seems like the next week it changes.”
In this episode, you’ll hear from Ms. Madison; Daniel Kurzrock, founder of ReGrained, San Francisco; Sadie Scheffer, founder of Bread SRSLY, Berkeley, Calif.; and Greg Acerra, founder of Fireking Baking Co., Braintree, Mass., on how they’ve adapted on the fly to keep up with the constant changes COVID-19 has brought. Other guests from season two, Brazi Bites, Portland, Ore., and Rubicon Bakers, Richmond, Calif., are still in business and meeting increased demand but were unavailable for interviews on this episode.
Season three will debut in the summer and take an in-depth look at how bakers are rising to pandemic-related challenges.
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