Coborn’s Inc. Introduces High-Tech Picadeli Salad Bars with Upscale Options and Enhanced Safety Features

(KNSI) – St. Cloud-based Coborn’s Inc. and a Swedish salad company are teaming up to launch a pilot program with new high-tech salad bars.

The first Picadeli salad bars are in use at Coborn’s in Sauk Rapids and Cash Wise Foods in Waite Park. The units use digital signage and touch screens to showcase the nutritional values of all ingredients, and temperatures to ensure food safety and decrease waste.

Unlike traditional salad bars, the new design offers customers upscale options, including plant-based proteins, grains, seafood and seasonal specialties. The Picadeli bar rotates its menu for new options and offers seasonal favorites and variety. The food counter prioritizes safety with features like hand sanitizer stations, bowl dispensers, sneezeguards, a mounting system for utensil mounts to prevent contamination of allergenic foods, and a patented air flow refrigeration system. The cost is around $8 per salad.

The new salad bars will expand to 15 stores later this year. Plans call for Coborn’s grocery stores on Cooper Avenue in St. Cloud and Pine Cone Road in Sartell to open by mid-April.

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