Schnucks Supports Local With New Restaurant Partnership

Grocer adds Pan-Asian ready-to-eat meals to delis, prepared food areas for growing ethnic community in St. Louis

1/27/2022

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Schnucks’ partnership with St. Louis-based Sister Sister Kitchen allows the grocer to offer Pan-Asian cuisine in all deli/prepared foods sections.

Schnuck Markets, Inc. has partnered with fellow St. Louis business Sister Sister Kitchen to bring the company’s line of grab-and-go Pan-Asian entrees and appetizers to Schnucks delis and prepared food areas.

According to Geoff Wexler, Schnucks' VP of deli and prepared foods, Pan-Asian denotes traditional Chinese and Pacific cuisines, with a twist. “Sister Sister is combining recipes and family traditions to bring our shoppers their modern Asian favorites,” he said. “We’re proud to offer their high-quality tasty foods to Schnucks customers in all of our stores.”

Sister Sister Kitchen was founded by Julia Li, who comes from a family with more than 20 years of restaurant experience. “Food brings people of all different backgrounds, cultures and beliefs together. St Louis is an incredible city with multigenerational immigrant families. I’m a proud Midwesterner and a proud Asian American,” Li said. “Inclusion is celebrating the mosaic of culture and cuisines of all Americans, and I couldn’t be more thrilled to share the next generation of recipes with Schnucks customers.”

As reported by St. Louis Public Radio, the 2020 census portrays a diverse St. Louis region. Specifically, the Asian community grew 37%, far outpacing the region’s overall 1.2% growth rate. The increase is mostly concentrated in St. Louis, St. Charles County and St. Louis County, where Asians now account for nearly 5% of the county’s 1 million residents.

Some of the Pan-Asian options that Sister Sister will introduce to Schnucks shoppers include entrees such as General Tso’s chicken, vegetable lo mein and Singapore noodles, as well as appetizers like egg rolls, pot stickers and crab rangoon.

In April 2020, during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Schnucks started a program supporting local restaurants by selling their grab-and-go meals in the company’s St. Louis-area stores. Local favorites included Revel Kitchen, Crispy Edge, Seoul Taco, Nudo House STL, Crushed Red and Hot Box Cookies. Later that year, Schnucks extended the partnerships to even more locally owned restaurants – this time with a focus on Black-owned businesses.

St. Louis-based Schnucks operates more than 100 stores in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin, and employs 13,000 associates. The company is No. 64 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2021 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.