Selling steak from a vending machine
Steak is showing up in some odd places these days.
The latest: Just weeks after Potbelly launched a prime rib sandwich, Chicago's Farmer's Fridge is selling steak from a vending machine — albeit in a salad.
What they're saying: "We're seeing a moment for peak protein demand and want to give our customers what they're craving," Farmers Fridge CEO Luke Saunders tells Axios.
"We know there are people who are skeptical about trying fresh food from a vending machine. Now we're asking them to go a step further and order steak."
Between the lines: This Steakhouse Chopped salad ($13) arrives at a time when the nation is returning to meat despite big bets over the last decade on plant-based alternatives.
Zoom in: The salad combines mixed lettuce and Napa cabbage with roasted potatoes, balsamic caramelized onions and shaved Parmesan, drizzled with Caesar dressing and topped with crispy fried onions and tender, medium-rare cubes of seared flank steak.
The verdict: I love how the rich blend of steak, potatoes, onions and parm plays off the freshness of the greens and crunchy accent of the onions. This feels like a full meal.
The caveat: Farmer's Fridge just started rolling these salads out last week, and they're not super easy to find.
Full disclosure: Last week, I had to ask a company spokesperson to help me locate a steak salad near me.
I nabbed one in the U.S. Customs House on South Canal, where I had to go through a federal security check to get to the machine.
The salad costs $13 at most locations, but prices can vary in hot spots like airports.
What's next: Farmers Fridge reps say the salads will gradually become more ubiquitous, but, for now, it's best to use the company's app to see if the machine near you has one.
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I took my family's grocery list to Walmart and Aldi. The latter saved me more money, but I'm not sold on going back.
At first, the produce prices and quality seemed comparable. My menu for the week included a beef and broccoli stir-fry, so I headed to the produce section first in each store. Prices for a head of broccoli, bell peppers, and mushrooms for the recipe were almost identical between the stores — and the quality seemed comparable, too. For example, a head of broccoli was two cents pricier at Walmart, and a three-pack of bell peppers was 27 cents more. However, the potatoes and Brussels sprouts were much cheaper at Aldi. Next, I grabbed some ingredients for a sheet-pan chicken and veggies dish. Although both chains are known for their low prices, a bag of small yellow potatoes was over $1 cheaper at Aldi. I was also surprised that a bag of Brussels sprouts cost me $1 more at Walmart. There wasn't an option to buy a single onion at Aldi, which I didn't like. I needed two red onions for the week. I could only buy a 3-pound bag of them at Aldi for $2.15, which roughly works out to about $.37 per onion. At Walmart, I found red onions sold individually. I paid $1.48 per onion. Even though it's cheaper to buy onions in bulk at Aldi, I preferred buying the exact quantity that I needed at Walmart. Not everyone would agree, but I'd rather spend more to know that everything will get used. Food from my bulk purchases has gone to waste in my house too many times. Skirt steak was next on my list — and it was way cheaper at Aldi. My local Aldi is much smaller than the Walmart I shop at, so I was surprised by its impressively wide range of meat options. The price points were great, too. I found skirt steak for $6.99 a pound at Aldi, compared to $11.42 a pound at Walmart. Throughout my trip, I continued to save on protein options at Aldi. I also needed salmon, ground turkey, and chicken thighs for this week's recipes. A pound of Atlantic salmon cost me $2 more at Walmart than it did at Aldi. The ground turkey was about 50 cents more a pound at Walmart. That said, chicken thighs were cheaper at Walmart. Chicken thighs are typically on my list because they're normally cheaper than the breasts, and I think they have more flavor. They were the only protein on my list that was cheaper at Walmart than Aldi, coming in at $1.58 a pound versus $2.19. I buy pasta every week, and both stores had a solid selection for the same price. My girls can be picky eaters, but they're always down for noodles with Parmesan cheese. So, I always pick up a box or two of pasta on my grocery trips. Aldi and Walmart both had a wide selection of pasta shapes with identical prices. My cereal options felt more limited at Aldi. I liked that Walmart had wider selections of cereals, including many recognizable name brands. There were only a handful of options to pick from at Aldi compared to almost an entire aisle at Walmart. Generally, the boxes of cereal were also smaller at Aldi. The price per ounce for the Honey Nut Cheerios and Cinnamon Toast Crunch was the same at both stores, but we'd run out of cereal sooner if we bought it from Aldi. Organic fruit snacks felt like a bargain at Aldi. Fruit snacks are a big hit in my house, so I always keep them around. I was surprised to see that Aldi had organic ones at an impressive price point. Each bag of snacks came out to $0.39. In comparison, the cheapest organic option I found at Walmart came out to $0.46 each. It's not a huge difference, especially since the Aldi fruit snacks were on sale during my trip. However, I would've had to spend more than double up front at Walmart, as the smallest pack had 22 bags of snacks in the box versus 12 at Aldi. I don't necessarily want to shell out $10 on fruit snacks during my weekly grocery-shopping trips. Prices aside, I generally preferred my shopping experience at Walmart. I felt shopping for groceries at Walmart was a bit easier in a few ways. First of all, shoppers have to insert a quarter into the carts at Aldi to use them. Although you get the quarter back when you return your cart, I don't usually keep change on hand. I spent nearly five minutes searching for a quarter in my purse and car, which really frustrated me. Although many Aldi locations have self-checkout options, mine does not. It usually only has one or two open lines staffed by cashiers. I find self-checkout to be more efficient, so I liked that I had this option (and tons of registers were available) at Walmart. Plus, Walmart stores tend to be much larger with a wider variety of brands and buying options, whereas Aldi primarily carries its own labels. I also preferred Walmart's system for bagging purchases. At Aldi, cashiers are usually focused on scanning groceries as quickly as possible — they don't usually place my items in bags. Although I appreciate the emphasis on speed, this means I have to pack up my groceries in the designated bagging area off to the side after checking out. This can be a time-consuming extra step. At Walmart, I bag groceries at the self-checkout station or the cashier packs them as they scan. This can result in a slightly slower checkout process, but I think it's worth it. My experience-related grievances seem small, but they add up when I go to the grocery store every week. Overall, I'd still shop at Walmart even though I spent more money there on this shopping trip. After going through my whole list, I spent about $27 more overall at Walmart than at Aldi. I spent $119.50 at Aldi and $146.27 at Walmart. Fortunately, at both places, I still came in slightly under my budget of $150. Of course, this isn't a perfect science. Grocery prices, sales, and the quality of different store locations can vary. Still, it seems I could save more by regularly shopping at Aldi. Even so, I'm more likely to go back to Walmart. I preferred my shopping experience there and was still able to stick to my budget. I'm fortunate to live close to both stores, so I'd probably only take my grocery list to Aldi if I really needed to pinch pennies. Luckily, my budget works at Walmart for now. (Although Walmart plans to raise prices over tariffs, so I'm not sure if that will stay true for much longer.)
