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HARTFORD, CT - In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Jordan Baker expresses, “Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.” It seems this notion is ringing true, in a particular sense, for Stop & Shop, which debuted 21 stores featuring a renovated and remodeled look, as well as a redesigned logo, after investing $70 million to improve in-store experiences. The new look hones in on fresh, fast, local, and healthy options for consumers and is featured in Hartford as a test market that is piloting features—including an in-store smoker, poke bowl and taqueria stations, and frictionless checkout.
The company’s 400+ stores will become privy to the test market’s results over the course of the next several years, as the stores aim to provide what customers want and need, including lower prices on thousands of items that customers purchase most and a larger assortment of affordable items from own-brand lines like Nature’s Promise.
“We recognize that our customer is changing, and we’re evolving our entire shopping experience to better serve them. They’re focused on getting back to their lives, juggling many responsibilities, and we want to make grocery shopping even easier and faster for them,” said Stop & Shop President Mark McGowan. “Hartford is the first step in our journey towards repositioning our brand for future success and in helping our communities enjoy better food and better lives.”
In addition to the exciting new happenings with the store offerings and focuses, Stop & Shop is donning a new logo, a nod to its past and its legacy of breaking new ground in convenience. Customers are the focus and a commitment to reshaping shopping experiences and catering to the customer’s evolving needs is paramount in the company’s revamped store format.
According to a press release, the refreshed stores include the following assets:
- Smoker– Customers can choose from meats like brisket, pulled pork and baby back ribs slow cooked up to 14 hours over solid hickory wood
- Focus on Local, Fresh, and Quality – Stores will feature more space dedicated to fresh produce and more locally grown and produced items like apples from Rogers Orchards in Southington, beer from CT favorite Two Roads, plus coffee beans roasted right in Hartford
- New In-Store Experiences – Customers can create their own olive oil and vinegar blends like fig-infused balsamic at DIY machines. They can also fill up growlers at a kombucha fountain, or find out what food pairs best with a hoppy IPA at an informational craft beer kiosk
- Community Tables – In-store cafes will feature “community tables” made from reclaimed wood so neighbors can gather together with family-style seating. Digital community boards will also share local fundraisers and other events around town
- Poke Bowl & Taqueria Stations – New stations will make it easy to grab fresh, healthy meals with global flavors to-go.
- Curbside Pickup – Customers can pull up beneath solar-powered canopies to pick-up their online Peapod orders, which will soon be assembled by a miniature robotic warehouse thanks to a new partnership with Takeoff Technologies
- Frictionless Checkout – Customers can save time when shopping in-store by using the SCAN IT! mobile app, which provides a frictionless checkout experience. No waiting in line required
To honor the opening of the re-envisioned stores, the company is holding grand re-opening festivities throughout the month and donating $25,000 to its longtime partner Foodshare, one of the largest anti-hunger organizations in the Greater Hartford region.
How will the rest of the produce industry feel the rippling effects of this transition for Stop & Shop? AndNowUKnow will provide you with fresh updates.
WATSONVILLE, CA - PMA Fresh Summit will no doubt be one for the books, but Monterey Mushrooms has a plan to make it unforgettable. The company will feature its award-winning product line, Let’s Blend, as well as invite visitors to its booth to play Jep-Spore-Dy, a Jeopardy style-game with mushroom terms. The player with the highest score will win a free iPad. Count me in!
“Tasting is believing, and we want to get the blend concept in front of as many buyers as possible,” said Mike O’Brien, Vice President of Sales and Marketing.“Fresh Summit is our opportunity to interact with customers in person, share news, and plan for the upcoming year. This year we are excited to showcase a new look for packaging and our new product line.”
Let’s Blend will be featured in PMA’s new product showcase as a way to emphasize the redesigned packaging, which shows more of the product when displayed. The company is also sharing information about Let’s Blend seasonal packages designed for holiday cooking with traditional recipes made healthier such as stuffing. The company will also showcase its new fresh packaging labels, which have been shipping for two months, that will be set into a refrigerated case to showcase the ideal mushroom set.
Let's Blend is finely diced mushrooms ready to blend with ground meat, packaged in an 8 oz bag available in three pre-seasoned flavors: Classic, Mexican, and Italian. The company will be serving Let’s Blend meatballs throughout the conference starting each day at 11 a.m., according to a press release.
See you guys at booth #1732!
RIO RICO, AZ - Our industry is set to hit the Sunshine State in less than a month for the 2018 iteration of PMA Fresh Summit Conference and Expo. The show promises to feature the latest innovations from our industry’s best and brightest, and as such, SunFed will be on hand showcasing new programs and product offerings as we head into autumn.
“Our avocado program is one of our most recent developments that we’re excited to showcase at PMA Fresh Summit this year,” said Gretchen Kreidler Austin, Director of Marketing and Business Development. With its new program, SunFed is introducing a compelling new brand too, and showgoers will have the opportunity to get acquainted with an exceptionally dapper chartreuse gentle-fruit.
“Our avocado is called Mr. Wappo Cado. Guapo is Spanish for handsome. Our avocado is the richest, most handsome guy in town,” Gretchen laughs. “It’s a little play on words.”
The company plans to emphasize the popular crop, recently added—alongside onions and Persian limes—to the SunFed’s growing repertoire of Texas- and Mexico-grown fruit and veggies. And SunFed is bringing its handsome new offering to the beach in more than one way—celebrating the sunny season’s end in Orlando—with the company’s new avocado floaties, complete with removable “seed” beach balls.
“We’re going to have new graphics along with our avocado floaties at the booth,” Gretchen explained. “We recently launched a promotion, and we introduced our new avocado floaty. The avocado itself forms an inner tube with the seed of the avocado being a removable beach ball. We had folks submit their pictures, and the response was fantastic.”
The beginning of the PMA push also coincides with the beginning of the Nogales season, Gretchen notes, and the company is kicking off its cucumber, zucchini, yellow squash, eggplant, Roma tomato production—along with that sought-after Perfect Produce item—watermelon.
“Our seedless watermelon program started last week, and we have loads—literally loads—of high-quality watermelon coming from our grower in Tamaulipas, Mexico,” added Gretchen. “And we have our fun label—with a name tag that reads ‘Hello, I’m Perfect.’ That program will go from September through October.”
And, Gretchen teases, the company is also working on a number of projects with its retail partners—developing a pickling cucumber program, a pouch bag program for jalapeños, and other customized programs.
Visit SunFed at booth #2911 at the the 2018 PMA Fresh Summit Conference & Expo, October 19-20, in Orlando, Florida.
POMPANO BEACH, FL - Purchases of Sol Group Marketing's Fair Trade Certified™ melons offers a premium invested into growing communities in Honduras and Guatemala. These efforts are being made because the company is tapping into the concerns of consumers, who have become increasingly more interested in products that benefit workers in the regions where produce is sourced.
Socially conscious consumers are supporting and empowering growing communities. Sol Farms workers reap life-altering rewards because of enhanced programs that establish better communities and well-beings within them, thanks to the investment of Fair Trade premiums. The Fair Trade Certified melons that are purchased through Sol Group benefit a wide array of causes within the communities, including projects that provide families with access to clean water and affordable healthcare and programs that help children get school supplies and essential necessities. The initiatives have helped over 4,500 families in the growing regions since 2014, and the company is dedicated to the sustainment of communities for generations hereafter, as part of Fyffes since 2007, according to a press release..
“Our position as the largest grower and importer of Fair Trade Certified melons in the US has strengthened our impact across our growing regions in Central America,” said Enda Walsh, President of Fyffes Inc. “While working alongside our dedicated teams in Honduras and Guatemala, sustaining our partnerships with our workers and investing in the future of the growing communities remains true to our company’s core values.”
Currently, the company’s efforts are taking aim toward housing, food, and health solutions. Healthcare efforts are being made through low-cost treatment and preventative care.
Wanting more information about Sol Group’s impact in its Central American communities? Check out the company’s website: www.solmelons.com/fair-trade.
CARLISLE, PA - Giant Food Stores is the latest retailer to dive into urban neighborhoods with a smaller store format emphasizing fresh and convenience. The new store concept, format, and brand, “GIANT Heirloom Market™,” will open its doors in the Graduate Hospital neighborhood in Philadelphia.
“I was surprised, whenever we did research, how much customers wanted to be able to prepare their own food. That’s where I saw the opportunity. People want shortcuts and hacks. They are inspired by the chefs in Philly and want to recreate those dishes and they don’t always have access to the best ingredients, and we’re going to solve that for them," Nicholas Bertram, Giant Food Stores President, said at the company’s 95th anniversary celebration, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Heirloom Market stores will feature produce chefs, local artisanal breads, and plant-based foods in spaces of 9,500-square-feet.
“Giant is best known for the produce department, so the urban concept name plays off that. At the same time, an heirloom is an object that has stayed in a family for generations,” Bertram continued. “After 95 years of a pretty successful run, this is that moment we are passing down some of that to something new, so it is kind of a double meaning.”
Bertram also noted that while Giant has more than 170 traditional brick-and-mortar stores across Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia, the retailer wasn’t meeting the needs of the rising number of downtown residents and that the new Heirloom Market is one solution.
For more of the latest fresh produce news, stay tuned to AndNowUknow.
WASHINGTON, DC - The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has cited Valley Produce Corp., operating out of Jonesboro, Ga., for failure to pay for produce.
According to a press release, the company failed to pay $873,986 to 19 sellers for produce which was purchased, received and accepted in interstate commerce from August 2016 through October 2017. This is in violation of the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA). As a result of these actions, Valley Produce Corp. cannot operate in the produce industry until Oct. 1, 2020, at which time they may reapply for a PACA license.
The company’s principal, Mario A. Lazo Sr., may not be employed by or affiliated with any PACA licensee until Oct. 1, 2019, and then only with the posting of a USDA approved surety bond.
USDA is required to publish the finding that a business has committed willful, repeated and flagrant violations of PACA as well as impose restrictions against those principals determined to be responsibly connected to the business during the violation period. Those individuals, including sole proprietors, partners, members, managers, officers, directors or major stockholders may not be employed by or affiliated with any PACA licensee without USDA-approval.
The PACA Division, which is in the Fair Trade Practices Program in the Agricultural Marketing Service, regulates fair trading practices of produce businesses that are operating subject to PACA, including buyers, sellers, commission merchants, dealers, and brokers within the fruit and vegetable industry.
In the past three years, USDA resolved approximately 3,400 PACA claims involving more than $58 million. PACA staff also assisted more than 8,500 callers with issues valued at approximately $151 million. These are just two examples of how USDA continues to support the fruit and vegetable industry.
CAMDEN, NJ - After announcing plans to explore a sale of its fresh food businesses earlier this year, Campbell Soup Company is reportedly in negotiations to sell that unit—including Bolthouse Farms and Garden Fresh Gourmet—to a group of investors led by former Bolthouse CEO Jeff Dunn.
According to a Wall Street Journal report, a group of investors led by Dunn—who, six years ago, helped a private-equity firm sell Bolthouse to Campbell for $1.55 billion—is now seeking to reacquire the brand, among Campbell’s other fresh food ventures.
According to the WSJ, Campbell’s fresh food unit has been “plagued by supply issues.” Campbell has reported set an initial price of $1 billion—but the Journal’s sources report that it could sell for somewhere between $500 and $700 million.
Dunn had previously served as the President of Campbell’s fresh food unit and is still involved in the company's venture capital fund, Acre Venture Partners.
Campbell is currently embroiled in a proxy fight against activist investor Third Point LLC, as reported by our sister publication Deli Market News, with Third Point advocating for an all out sale of Campbell and an outright replacement of its Board.
Will Campbell sell its fresh food businesses to Dunn and fellow investors? AndNowUKnow will continue to report with updates.
TORONTO, CANADA - Execulytics Consulting is introducing a new tool to help produce professionals stay up to date and on top of our industry. The company announced its 2019 Produce Almanac this week—the first edition of what will be an annual publication.
“The 300-page Almanac is information-rich, full of market insight, and dare I say a little predictive," said Mike Mauti, Managing Partner and Senior Vice President. “We strove to bring detailed intelligence, so the produce industry could better understand how markets moved in 2018. We plan to produce a new Almanac annually.”
According to a press release, the first edition of the annual publication features comprehensive data gathered from throughout the produce industry. Users will find 5-year cost comparisons; premiums for organics; retail pricing from around the United States; and hundreds of pages of insights, recommendations, and predictions on “all significant produce commodities.”
The publication uses a variety of graphical visualizations to provide easy to comprehend intelligence on the markets—intelligence gathered from the USDA and Agriculture Canada data sources.
“I’ve seen an advance copy, and this publication is jam packed with more produce information than I expected. It should be on every produce professional’s desk,” said Domenic Raso, Co-CEO of Burnac Produce. “The guide is full of commentary that many people will find useful and the section on organics is golden.”
Raso was, Execulytics noted, one of several industry leaders who received a sample copy of the Produce Almanac to provide feedback and advice on content, style, and usability.
The 2019 Produce Almanac is expected to be available as an e-book in January. It carries a $299 price tag, but Execulytics is making a special offer of $195 for pre-orders up until November 30, 2018. $20 from every order will go to local charities fighting in the battle against hunger.
The Almanac is still in development as it is expected to integrate data for the entirety of 2018.
TALLAHASSEE, FL - College-goers in the Florida State University and Florida A&M University regions will have a new spot to pick up their grocery needs. Publix’s GreenWise Market is stepping into a new Tallahassee, Florida, location at the corner of Gaines St. and Railroad Ave.
“With our new-format GreenWise Market, we will offer today’s natural and specialty customer the new and interesting products they are looking for while setting the stage to provide a uniquely different shopping experience,” said Publix Senior Vice President of Retail Operations Kevin Murphy. “The customers in this growing market are looking for a brand they trust, and we are confident GreenWise Market will be their specialty, natural, and organic store of choice.”
Local and organic fruits and vegetables, body care, natural vitamins and supplements, bulk items, and local and unique products are at the new GreenWise location. Antibiotic-free meats, organic cheeses, and vegan items are available in the prepared foods section, where consumers will find fresh handcrafted sandwiches, acai bowls, gourmet pizzas pizzas, burritos, bowls, sushi, and sausage that is made in-house. The store also showcases an expanded GreenWise seafood certified line that has been certified by the Marine Stewardship Council as coming from sustainable fisheries. Kombucha, local craft beer, wine, smoothies, and locally-roasted coffee are available at the beverage bar, and consumers can eat and chat at a large mezzanine. In addition to these fun aspects, the store showcased a mixed media mural by Tallahassee-based artist Charity Myers.
How will the market respond to GreenWise’s newest location? AndNowUKnow will keep you updated with the latest.