Wichita caterer offering ‘survival kits’ filled with items scarce at local grocery stores
If you’ve been striking out at the grocery store lately, one local caterer is taking a new approach.
Inspired by caterers in other cities, Wichita’s Ben Arnold of Corporate Caterers is starting to sell “survival kits” that will help people get through a period of home isolation, and they’re filled with items that are hard to find at the moment in local grocery stores.
Arnold is selling the kits for $110 plus tax, and each one includes a roll of paper towels, two rolls of toilet paper, one gallon of milk, 12 potatoes, 30 eggs, 12 hamburger buns, two packages of caviar medley rice, green beans, corn, green peas, 10 pounds of chicken breast and six pounds of hamburger.
The kits will be available starting Monday, and people can either pick them up at AVI Seabar & Chop House or have the kits delivered for $10.
Arnold said he was inspired by advice from his daughter, who lives in Oklahoma City. She told him about a caterer there who was offering survival kits and selling out every day.
He’d already been offering a commissary of sorts for the 167 employees he had to lay off when all of his catering jobs were suddenly canceled. He’s been gathering up food and necessities and letting them come in and take things home free of charge.
He polled those employees, asking them what items they were having trouble finding in stores, and they mentioned hamburger, chicken, eggs and milk. Since Arnold is still able to get those items fairly easily from his suppliers, he decided to gather them up and offer them in bundles to the public.
He just posted the offer on the Corporate Caterers Facebook page on Friday afternoon and had 11 kits sold for within two hours.
“I am doing what I can to keep few remaining employees I have busy,” he said.
Arnold, who has kept his AVI Sea Bar & Chophouse restaurant open throughout the coronovirus crisis, says he has eight employees remaining on the payroll.
He’s lost about $450,000 in catering and restaurant sales so far.
“We still have bills to pay. We still have rent to pay and taxes to pay,” he said. “We’ve got to keep going.”
Those who want to order the kits can send an e-mail to info@corporatecaterersofwichita.com. All payments will be due before delivery.
This story was originally published March 20, 2020 at 4:57 PM.
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