by Nicholas Oconnor, Prepared Foods Category Manager
Hello! I’m here to give a brief update of what is going on with the Prepared Foods program at Willy Street Co-op!
Originally, when we went into a pandemic that shut many of our services down like so many other food establishments, we struggled to understand how to proceed with all the restrictions on what we could and could not do. The landscape of food in our Madison area has been drastically changed, and many restaurants and cafes unfortunately didn’t make it through this new normal.
Furthermore, to mention staffing struggles, supply chain issues, and inflation only gives the slightest of hints as to the struggles our industry faces now in this post-pandemic. We try really hard to provide customers with reliable services, but we have often found ourselves choosing between one thing and another in terms of services offered.
In spite of these struggles, we recognize there is room for improvement, and we are currently focusing on our Grab & Go sandwich program. Over the years Willy Street Co-op has had a great variety of different sandwiches on our menus, and in the past couple years we have had about two dozen different kinds of sandwiches on our shelves in the coolers. This is with different varieties rotating on and off the menu across all three stores.
In May, our Prepared Foods Managers started brainstorming ways for us to be able to do more for this program. We collaborated on finding efficiencies so that we can go forward with a refocused effort in order to prioritize having a steady and reliable offering on our shelves when you come into shop. After looking at this with each store's sales and labor structure being slightly different, this will be a little different at each location at first, but with the goal that we will eventually have all three pretty closely aligned with a core sandwich menu. (Article continues below photos.)
Sandwiches in Stock
Going forward we are planning to have 12 sandwiches in stock and on the shelves nearly all of the time at North and West. For East we’re planning to have 10 sandwiches. That said, we obviously can’t always anticipate if one sandwich will run out faster than another and create the occasional out of stock, but the majority of the time you can expect to see these sandwiches available:
At East we will have the following available:
- Ham and Cheddar Sandwich
- Turkey and Swiss Sandwich
- Turkey and Swiss Sandwich: Made Without Gluten
- Horseradish Havarti Roast Beef Sandwich
- Red Curry Tofu Wrap
- Avocado BLT Wrap
- Avocado Tempeh Wrap
- Ginger Roasted Tempeh Wrap
- Caprese Pesto Sandwich
- Chickpea Salad Wrap
At North and West we will have the following available:
- Ham and Cheddar Sandwich
- Turkey and Swiss Sandwich
- Turkey and Swiss Sandwich: Made Without Gluten
- Horseradish Havarti Roast Beef Sandwich
- Red Curry Tofu Wrap
- Avocado BLT Wrap
- Avocado Tempeh Wrap
- Ginger Roasted Tempeh Wrap
- Caprese Pesto Sandwich
- Chickpea Salad Wrap
- Italian Club Sandwich
- Egg Salad Sandwich
Vegan Chickpea Salad Wrap
With that, one of the sandwiches I am most excited about is the Vegan Chickpea Salad Wrap. This was originally created by a Deli staffer at West a few years ago and has been a regular staple at West, I frequently shop at East, so having this wrap available at East and North now will be a nice bonus! If you’re vegan, vegetarian, or just enjoy trying plant-based foods, I strongly recommend trying this one out—it’s like a “tuna” salad sans-fish!
Made-Without-Gluten
Last but not least, for our customers that do not consume wheat, we are also planning on having some rotating made-without-gluten sandwiches on the menu. These will essentially be the same as our other sandwiches, same amounts of toppings, but just on gluten free bread. So, for example, Turkey and Swiss Made-Without-Gluten will come off the menu, and Horseradish Havarti Roast Beef made-without-gluten will be added to the menu.