Food news antipasto

Goodbye grocery stores? The San Francisco Chronicle reports on how grocery shopping habits have changed store design (gift link), and how the shift in shopping may be the death knell for large, suburban supermarkets. With more people switching to online shopping, some stores have seen traffic dry up while others are turning into what might best be called shopper’s warehouses. Since I find grocery shopping therapeutic, I hope this doesn’t become the norm.

Sticking with an online ordering theme, we have an article from Food & Wine that discusses how “PizzaNet” paved the way for online ordering. Back in the early days of the internet, Pizza Hut developed a way for customers to begin their orders on the company’s website. While you still had to call the store to confirm, this served as proof of concept for ordering via the internet. Does this mean we can blame Pizza Hut for the demise of grocery stores?

Back to the grocery stores themselves – SBS Food features a lovely article on how immigrants to Australia use specialty grocery stores to find comfort and maintain a sense of community. “We often hear from parents visiting their children in Australia that they can find everything they need here. They note they don’t quite miss India as much when they visit our store, and that feeling of creating a home away from home is incredibly fulfilling,” says Ketan Patel, co-owner of an Indian grocery.

Making tea in the microwave is akin to blasphemy according to tea purists. However, a recent poll found that Gen Z in the UK are using the microwave more often to make their cuppa, with one in six doing it every day. According to the article, this shift is driven in part by the American influence. (Don’t blame me, I use an electric kettle or a lovely copper teakettle on the stove.)

Non-alcoholic beers and zero-proof cocktails are steadily increasing in popularity, while wine, beer, and spirits sales are sagging. People are turned off by the harmful effects of alcohol even though it can impart transient pleasure and act as a ‘social lubricant’. One company is developing a product that would give people the benefit of a ‘buzz’ without the nasty after effects or long term harm. The company has released a beer called Gaybr that uses “gaba, or gamma-aminobutyric acid, which targets a part of the brain that enhances a feeling of calmness, combating nervousness,” leading to a more relaxed attitude.

Jacques Pépin is turning 90 this December, and to celebrate, the Jacques Pépin Foundation has organized 90 birthday parties all around the US (gift link) to honor the highly influential chef. Of turning 90, Pépin says “certainly I am celebrating a lot more than I ever did.” The chef is only attending a small percentage of the gatherings due to lingering back issues that prevent much traveling. Still, he is there in spirit.

In case you missed this post from the weekend: How seedless watermelons took over the grocery store.