ShopRite Expanding Locally Grown Products
ShopRite has revealed plans to expand its Locally Grown program, which offers a wide variety of products throughout the supermarket, including farm-raised beef, seafood, flowers, fresh fruits and vegetables, baked goods, honey, craft beer and roasted coffees.
“ShopRite has been partnering with local farmers since our inception almost 70 years ago,” noted Derrick Jenkins, VP of the produce and floral division at ShopRite. “But more than ever, we are meeting increased customer demand for locally sourced products by working hand-in-hand with local entrepreneurs, family farms and businesses to procure and sell products that have been locally grown.”
The Northeast regional banner also recently introduced Farm Promise, an extensive line of beef and pork products hailing from family-owned farms in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware and upstate New York. Free of antibiotics and growth hormones, Farm Promise is the latest addition to chain’s large and growing selection of locally grown and sourced products in-store.
“Many of our ShopRite stores are family-owned and operated, and our member owners know their communities and their neighbors,” said Roger Savoia, VP of ShopRite’s meat division. “Partnering with local business, farmers and families to get the best products for our customers is important to us.”
Stores also receive fresh daily deliveries of seafood caught in the local waters of New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Delaware, and ShopRite recently joined state officials in rolling out the Grown in Monmouth program, under which ShopRite stores in New Jersey’s Monmouth and Ocean counties will feature flowers and plants identified as Grown in Monmouth and sourced from local farms.
Many “hyperlocal” seasonal and unique products can also be found on a store-by-store basis, supplied by local independent businesses and growers. These items include locally roasted coffees, locally made pastries and breads, honey, small-batch sauces and greens that have been grown on local hydroponic or indoor “vertical” farms.
“ShopRite is proud to work with local family farms and businesses, because local is not only how we source our food, it’s who we are,” added Jenkins. “We look forward to offering shoppers an ever-increasing assortment of locally made products and goods throughout the year.”
ShopRite is the registered trademark of Keasbey, N.J.-based Wakefern Food Corp., the largest supermarket cooperative in the United States. With more than 270 ShopRite supermarkets throughout New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware and Maryland, ShopRite serves more than six million customers each week.