Many in the food industry both locally and nationally have heard of The Griffin Report of New England, the paper Jeff Metzger and I worked for before forming Best-Met Publishing and purchasing Food World in 1978. That paper was owned at that time by John Griffin who has a son, Jack Griffin. Jack worked for the paper for a short time after Jeff and I left to take over Food World. Jack was just entering college at the time.
Jack went on to become the president of the national media group, Meredith Corp. which publishes such well known publications as Better Homes and Gardens, Family Circle and Parents Magazine.
Last month we learned that Jack Griffin had been named CEO of Time Inc., the country’s largest consumer publishing company. Time Inc. has 21 magazines and 25 websites, including such titles as Time, Fortune and People. We are very proud of Jack and wish him well in his new position.
Congratulations are also in order for the folks at Rutter’s Farm Stores, Rutter’s Holdings – the parent company of Rutter’s Farm Stores, Rutter’s Dairy and real estate holding company M&G Realty – on being number three in the 2010 rankings of the Top 100 Companies in Central Pennsylvania.
Rutter’s Holdings ranked second among private companies in York County. Rutter’s Holdings ranked fifth in 2009. Family-owned and third generation-managed, the York PA based Rutter’s companies employ more than 1,400 people in central Pennsylvania.
Rutter’s traces its roots to 1747, when William Penn’s grandson deeded farm land in York County to the Rutter family. Rutter’s Dairy, which began in 1921, serves Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey. Rutter’s Farm Stores, which debuted in 1968, has 55 stores in six Pennsylvania counties.
Congratulations to the Restaurant Association of Maryland, the only statewide trade organization operated solely for the purpose of helping Maryland restaurants succeed, entered its 75th year in operation last month. On August 24, 1936, the Restaurant Association of Maryland was officially incorporated in the State of Maryland by a small group of restaurateurs who realized it was beneficial to band together for the overall good of their industry. Today the Association boasts a membership of more than 2,000 restaurant locations and other members of Maryland’s foodservice industry.
Paul Hartgen, president and CEO of the Restaurant Association of Maryland, said during ceremonies marking the event, “Our association was created by restaurant operators, for restaurants, a tradition that lives on today.”
Don Reynolds, Bruce Foods, has announced his retirement after 55 years in the grocery business.
Don started in the business as a sales rep with the Kellogg followed by Ralston Purina. Then he had a short stint with the old H.B. Cook Company and the last 22 years with Bruce Foods where he held various positions including “being the first non-family vice president”. Don spent all those years responsible in some way for the Baltimore/Washington market.
He says, “…the best part of the business has been the great people I have been exposed to through the years such as Gerson Barnett, Pete Manos and Hans Rosenfeld” among others. He also mentions “other standouts like the Finkelsteins—both father and son, Mac McCullam and many others too numerous to mention.”
If you would like to contact Don via e-mail, his address is [email protected].
The Network of Women (NEW) will sponsor two Leadership Summit 2010 sessions: Retail Safari, a guided tour of five innovative and influential stores, and the Deep Dive Career Day, a workshop featuring the world-renowned Birkman assessment survey. Both one day sessions will take place on September 29 in Charlotte, NC.
The post-Summit Retail Safari includes visits to Bloom, a “different kind of grocery store;” Family Dollar, one of the nation’s largest convenience and value retailers; IKEA, the self-service home products retailer; Trader Joe’s, a chain that combines shopability with competitively priced store-branded products; and a remodeled Wal-Mart SuperCenter, featuring products arranged by price, wider aisles, better lighting, low-profile shelving and easy-to-read signage.
If you’re interested in attending this event, contact Carol Cherington at Food World, 410-730-5013 for details. Carol is a member of NEW.
Our sincere sympathy goes out to the family of John J. Daras, who for many years owned a grocery store in Southeast Washington. Mr. Daras died last month at the age of 88 at his son’s home in Scotland, MD. He had lived for more than 40 years in the Prince George’s County community of Fort Foode Village.
In the mid 1950s, he bought the Wheeler Supermarket on Wheeler Road SE and employed 20 people before the store was burned down during the 1968 Washington riots. Afterward, he became a meat cutter at the commissary at Bolling Air Force Base. He retired in 1987. He served in World War II as an Army medic and was awarded the Bronze Star Medal.
Mid-Atlantic Convenience Stores (MACS), an investment platform backed by Catterton Partners, the leading consumer-focused private equity firm in North America, announced that it has acquired 58 convenience stores/fuel stations, located in Northern Virginia and Maryland, from the Exxon Mobile Corporation.
MACS is a leading convenience store operator in the Mid-Atlantic region and one of the largest ExxonMobil branded wholesalers in the United States. MACS was formed by Catterton Partners to acquire convenience stores in the highly fragmented convenience store industry. In June 2010, MACS acquired a majority interest in Uppy’s Convenience Stores, Inc. and 170 convenience stores’ fuel stations from ExxonMobil in Maryland, Virginia and Delaware. MACS currently has 3000 convenience store operations across the Mid-Atlantic operating primarily under the Uppy’s and On the Run banners. MACS is a leading convenience store operator in the Mid-Atlantic region and through its operating subsidiary, Southside Oil, is one of the largest ExxonMobil fuel marketers in the U.S.
In today’s climate of flu and communicable disease scares, hygiene and wellness education is more imperative than ever. According to a 2009 study by the Soap and Detergent Association, 39 percent of people seldom wash their hands after coughing and sneezing. Because Georgia-Pacific Professional believes everyone should wash their hands with soap and dry them them with a paper towel, the company is launching Spread Wellness, a campaign aimed at teaching people proper techniques for washing and drying hands when away from home. The campaign also encourages everyone to be a Spread Wellness ambassador by sharing the importance of hand hygiene practices wherever they go.
The Spread Wellness website (www.spread-wellness.com) is a resource center that provides links, tips, education materials, news and tools to share with those around them. The website also offers an interactive hygiene poll and downloadable signs that promote hand washing. Additionally, visitors can sign up to be a Wellness Ambassador and receive a welcome kit with a Spread Wellness wristband.
“With the easy transfer of germs and diseases, we all need to be more aware of our surroundings,” said Bill Sleeper, president of Georgia-Pacific Professional. “We need to practice good hygiene habits ourselves and share these tips with those we interact with. This campaign is about educating the public on how to use the best hand washing practices to stay healthy and potentially take steps to help improve cleanliness and wellness wherever they go”.
For more information on this wellness program visit www.spreadwellness.com
USA Today, in its August 11 issue, did a story on chef Tony Geraci, the director of food and nutrition for Baltimore City Schools, who on his first day on the job two years ago, brought in 40,000 pounds of tree-ripened , Maryland-grown peaches for students. He passed them out in the cafeteria to several second-graders who then ate the fresh peaches for the first time in their lives.
Chef Geraci, whose family was in the restaurant business in New Orleans and who has owned several successful restaurants himself, revamped schools meals in Baltimore, where about 88 percent of children receive free or reduced-cost lunches.
The story goes on to say that Geraci serves only Maryland-grown fresh fruits and vegetables, buys healthful fare from food suppliers and offers meatless Mondays. He even started a 33-acre self-sustaining farm where some of the produce goes to schools and some is sold to local restaurants to support the project.
Today Geraci and hundreds of other chefs across the country are signing up for the government’s Chefs Move to Schools initiative (letsmove.gov/chefs.php), which encourages culinary experts to share their expertise with local schools.
First lady Michelle Obama launched the chefs program this spring as a part of her broader Let’s Move! Campaign to reduce childhood obesity. So far 1,600 chefs have signed up to help.
Anniversary wishes go out to Super Rite’s retiree Matt and Mary Toback, their 61st; Metromedia’s David and Harriett Finkelstein, their 51st; the world renowned marketing consultant Mike and Linda Wilson; Safeway’s Greg and Carolyn TenEyck, their 27th; and the food industry’s roving ambassador, Pat and Lee McCarthy, their 45th.