According to Business Insider, Garden Fresh, the parent company of salad bar chains Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes is filing for bankruptcy and permanently closing all 97 locations.
This is partially due to coronavirus. Business Insider's Irene Jiang reported
that the pandemic is speeding up trends that had already started to take hold, before the pandemic.
Jiang explains "These trends — towards increased online ordering, food delivery, cashless payments, off-premise dining — largely leave the buffet format in the dust."
FDA recommendations, like discontinuing self-serve stations, make it difficult for eateries like Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes to survive.
Garden Fresh said that they did not "see a viable way to reopen."
According to The NPD Group, buffet restaurant sales declined by 26% from 1998 to 2017, even as overall U.S. restaurant grew by 22%.