For list-driven grocery shoppers and casual browsers alike, accessibility and variety should come hand in hand. As anyone who faithfully shops at Strack & Van Til stores can attest, this combination is prevalent at each Strack & Van Til location. One fan favorite option for takeaway meals might come as a pleasant surprise to some: fresh sushi.
Since 2004, several Strack & Van Til stores have offered shoppers the option to dine on sushi, made customized to order. Using fresh seafood ingredients daily, a professional sushi chef works behind the counter, delivering a one-of-a-kind experience to sushi diehards and new fans alike.
“One of the things we always strive to do is make our customers’ lives easier through feeding them and finding meal solutions,” said Michael Tyson, Chief Marketing and Merchandising Officer for Strack & Van Til. “The premium sushi we offer guests at our stores is just another way of doing that. It’s fresh, it’s custom-made, and it’s unique.”
The specialty chefs preparing the sushi rolls receive meticulous training by professionals before serving Strack & Van Til customers.
“[The chefs at Strack & Van Til] go through training in our head office with our executive chef,” said Jeffrey Chan, General Manager at AFC Sushi. “Then we have continued training in the field with our field operations specialists. We also have a semiannual meeting with all of the chefs and operators.”
Even after receiving their training, sushi chefs continue to stay up-to-date with practices and trends. What’s more, they continually stay creative in the culinary sense to ensure that customers are receiving the most authentic dishes possible.
“We’re always trying new things, whether it’s a poke dish or new take on a classic roll,” Tyson said. “We strive to be innovative.”
The expert chefs do, too.
“We are always developing new products and using different ingredients to entice our customers, Chan” said.
Beyond the immediate customer, Strack & Van Til is also pursuing a broader goal of attracting new customerswhile preserving the planet.
“We have been working with other vendors on plant-based proteins for our sushi,” Chan said. “Our research and development department is looking for the best products to put into our locations.”
Customers can order fresh sushi at the following Strack & Van Til locations: Chesterton (1600 Pioneer Trail), Crown Point (10851 Broadway), Highland (9632 Cline Ave), Hobart (7760 E 37th Ave), Munster (12 Ridge Rd), Portage (6046 Central Ave), Schererville (1515 US-41), St. John (9825 Wicker Ave), and Valparaiso (2168 W U.S. 30, and 2800 Calumet Ave).
For more information, visit https://strackandvantil.com/.
