'We've Adapted': Pittsburgh-Area Meat Suppliers Selling Directly To Customers, Allowing Curbside Pickup During Coronavirus Crisis
MONROEVILLE, Pa. (KDKA) -- We all know restaurants are struggling right now, with some trying to survive on carryout orders and others shutting down.
So where does that leave businesses that supply restaurants? Some of them are now eager to sell their restaurant-quality food directly to you.
Zeb Golomb normally sells meat, poultry and seafood to restaurants. Business was good until the pandemic forced many of his clients to close.
Now his company, Land & Sea, based in Monroeville, wants to bring meat, poultry, and seafood right to you.
"It's almost as if we've created a startup business," says Ron McCormick, owner of Land & Sea. "We have gone from doing no home deliveries, or very little from a pickup standpoint, to now about one-third of our business is done through home delivery or pickup."
Land & Sea is getting the word out largely through social media and word of mouth and has seen the business grow on a week-to-week basis.
Another local food wholesaler, Weiss Provision Company in the Strip District, has also been forced to change things up, with very few orders coming from its usual clientele of restaurants, hotels and country clubs.
"It's been very tough," says owner Jeff Cohen. "We're off about 90 percent. It just stopped, like a snap of the fingers."
Weiss Provisions' website makes it clear it now welcomes the public's business. It's offering boxes of steaks, chicken, pork and veal.
For now, both companies say food supplies, other than pork, are adequate. But the closing of a beef facility in Washington State this week was expected to soon be felt nationwide.
"There will be some, I'm sure, spot shortages on some items, and people have to be flexible," says Cohen. "In these times, everyone's going to have to be flexible and they're going to have to be understanding."
"When people receive a delivery, they're really appreciative," said McCormick. "They really would choose not to go to a grocery store right now. I'll be leaving here to make two deliveries on my way home tonight. So we've adapted well and people have really committed to what we're trying to do."
