Matt Caputo, president of Caputo’s Market in Salt Lake City, Utah, spoke with Specialty Food News about navigating the current business environment amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Are people buying differently? How have shopping patterns changed?
Yes. Our online sales are up 10 fold—almost 1000 percent. They are now larger than sales from all of our four stores combined. It has been no easy feat to adjust to this and although it's a blessing, it is the challenge of a lifetime to fulfill everything.
In-store shoppers are getting safely geared up to go into the ‘warzone’ and getting in and out quickly buying staples such as pasta, beans, flour, rice, bottled sauces, jarred vegetables, and tinned seafood. For the most part, impulse purchases are dead.
Did you re-merchandise your store in any way to accommodate this new shopping pattern? Or come up with any creative solutions for essentials for your customers?
We have continued to refresh displays based on seasonality. For example, we just turned over central displays from Easter to Mother's Day-appropriate items. People are still buying these types of products when they are not forced to go searching.
One of our most successful promotions is our Artisan Support Pack that changes every week. The idea is to move product that is most heavily down in sales due to COVID-19, like products for restaurants, artisan brands not commonly sold in grocery stores, etc.
Right now it is meat and cheese. Tomorrow it will change over to chocolate. Our social media videos and emailers are driving the sales.
Are you having trouble keeping some items in stock?
Some, yes. Pasta and tinned seafood have been the hardest, but so far we have been doing well. We don't have every SKU we normally have but we are well stocked on most.
What is happening with prepared foods, the deli and dine-in?
Prepared foods sales are way down—some 60 percent. Dine-in restaurant/deli eating occasions are no longer possible. These were our biggest margin sales.
Prepared foods like frozen lasagna, frozen sauces, and other things we make are up, but nowhere near enough to make up the loss of dine-in.
How are you protecting both your employees and customers that come into the store to shop? What kind of social distancing are you implementing?
I am actually very proud to say that we have been among the first food businesses in Utah to implement each phase of protocol. From hand sanitizing stations, and contact cleaning every 30-minutes to masks and face shields—which can be a bit morale crushing. I think all those things will stay for longer than we hope. We are working on how to maintain a vibe of welcome, hospitality, and positivity with all the new gear.
We have big Xs on the floor for where people should stand, though we haven't really needed them as traffic is down. Our doors are propped open for lots of air circulation. Our stores have never been cleaner and our customers are thanking us in person and on social media.
Also, our sick policy is basically taking a full time person to manage at this point, we are very careful and document everything, wait the maximum amount of time, and then require a doctor’s note and 10 minute video call to confirm no symptoms of any type before anyone can return to work. Having a full HAACP plan and a full-time food safety manager for the Cheese Caves has served us well in these times.
Are you offering employee incentives?
Each week I have each location manager order fresh produce, milk, and toilet paper that all staff can take for free. We also gave each staff member a $50 gift card to use for food at Caputo's.
We are glad we have not had to furlough or terminate anyone, or decrease pay, or interrupt health insurance. We are digging into debt because of it, but we can afford it in the very long-term. The Paycheck Protection Program will help if we get funding from the government on the second round.
Are you giving back to your community in any way?
We found out a few weeks ago that the nuns at the Carmelite Monastery were out of toilet paper and food. The next day we sent a huge load of both.
We also delivered 125 Caputo meal kits to the Utah Food Bank. We have given free canned tomatoes to a local chef making stew for out of work restaurant staff. We also were selected to receive a totally forgivable grant from actor Ty Burrell and the Utah Restaurant Association, but we knew it was a limited amount of money and that other restaurant and bar workers needed it more so we turned it down.
We have a contract with a tiny local farm to buy all their cheese that they do not sell in their own store or farmers market booths, both of which are not open right now.
The farm owner felt bad and offered to let us out of the contract. I told him to send us everything and we would find a way. There are many companies doing much more, but we are doing what we can.
What do you predict the future of shopping will be at your store? What procedures may remain in place?
As much as I wish the masks and face shields would go away, I bet they are here to stay for a while. I am certain cleaning contact surfaces will stay, although hopefully we can reduce frequency from the current every 30 minutes as this takes at least one person dedicated to it in a continuous cycle and is expensive.
Passive sampling is probably dead for the foreseeable future, but active is still working and will expand soon.
Free standing displays with succinct signage will be more important than ever as people are more reticent to touch product on packed shelves.
Related: The Impact of COVID-19: Q&A with Barons Market’s Shemirani; The Impact of COVID-19: Q&A with Woodstock Farmers’ Market’s Grocery Leader.
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