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