Well, it certainly was an undertaking, but what you now hold in your hands (or are viewing online at www.best-met.com) is the result of the entire Best Met Publishing team’s months of effort in compiling the Food Trade News Annual Market Study! Last year we added the entire metro New York market to this all inclusive report and it proved to be an instant success with our entire readership. The availability of such data is not easy to come by, and it was a Herculean effort to compile. The team we have is exceptional and I can tell you we stand by the information and data in this report. I challenge anyone to find this type of cohesive data on one of the most important marketing areas in the world anywhere else. It certainly is a wealth of information and I hope you enjoy it and find it beneficial for your business and information. Kudos to all of my associates at Food World/Food Trade News for all of their hard team work and dedication in putting this together!
Bob Unanue and the entire team at Goya Foods donated 5,000 pounds of food to the recent National Puerto Rican Day Parade food drive. The food donation will benefit Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York’s Feeding Our Neighbors campaign, which supports a vast network of food pantries and emergency food programs throughout the archdiocese. The donation is part of the Goya Gives campaign, a series of annual donations initiated in 2011 in celebration of Goya’s 75th anniversary that serves to encourage others to participate in the message of helping those in need. “Since the initiation of the Goya Gives campaign, we have donated over four million pounds of food to various charities worldwide and encourage others through social media and our networks to help out in times of need,” says Rafael Toro, director of public relations for Goya. Lorraine Cortes-Vazquez, president of the National Puerto Rican Day Parade says, “We are thrilled to have launched the ‘Alimentar Nuestro Projimo’ Food Drive, as one of our deeply-rooted community and cultural initiatives to help those in need. ‘A donde come uno, pueden comer dos’ is a common phrase used in all Puerto Rican households, meaning that, ‘Through sharing, you can feed a crowd.’ It is about service, kindness and support. The National Puerto Rican Day Parade Board’s motto ‘Un pueblo, muchas voces’ (One Nation, Many Voices) embodies the intent and goal of this food drive…one community united to support others. We are proud to collaborate with Catholic Charities Food Pantries and GOYA in this exciting project.”
I was going to wish a speedy recovery to Tony Landolfi of 4C Foods on his recent hip replacement surgery, but by the time I saw him six weeks after the procedure he was already up and about and walking with no notable traces of a limp. Great recovery Tony!
Glad to hear that Dan Berube has landed a position with Associated Foods. We understand that Dan will be the director of DSD reporting in to Joe Garcia. Dan joins Associated from General-Trading Company and prior to that had been with Key Foods.
Mark your calendars for September 10 for the White Rose Fall/Winter Selling show to be held at the MeadowlandsExpoCenter. The lovely Deirdre Capone of White Rose tells us that this show will help retailers and vendors alike “Corral in the Savings,” and if you need more information contact D at 732-541-3727 or deirdre.capone@whiterose.com.
The incredible shrinking man in the form of Gene Sninski of Stop & Shop is appearing around the trade. Gene tells us he dropped 55 pounds the old fashioned way – watching what he eats and exercising. Keep it up Gene, you look great!
I received a change of address from Gordon Bennett and his team at MPS Enterprises. They have left their old place in Secaucus and now set up shop at 100 Challenger Road, Suite 301 in Ridgefield Park, NJ07660. Their phone number is the same at 201.866.1300. We hear the new place is spectacular and can’t wait to see it.
A big congratulations to dear friends Richie and Lucille DeSimone of Alpha 1 Marketing. The couple was recognized by the Tri-State Italian-American Congress as its “People of the Year” at the group’s recent annual dinner. Rich and Lucille had first met when they both were at the old M.W. Houck food brokerage and have been married and together for more than 20 years. It seemed only fitting that TSIAC honored them together as one, because that is how they truly are. It is rare that you do not see them together at a trade event, and I can attest they are as honest and giving a couple in our industry as you’ll find. The added benefit, though, is that anything they do is always with smiles and laughter the whole way through. Well deserved!
Whole Foods opened a new 32,000 square foot unit in the ColonieCenter in the Capital region of New York. It is their first store in New York state that is outside of the NYC area. “We anticipate opening other stores in the Albany market,” northeast region president Christina Minardi said. “After we open the store, we get a sense of where our customers might be coming from. We anticipate this being a multiple-store market. We don’t do cookie-cutter stores. We design every store to fit into every market we’re in.” Minardi oversees Whole Foods’ stores in New York, Connecticut and most of New Jersey, and does not have a specific number of outlets for the Albany region, but the company announced that they have 15 stores in development for the Northeast region but did not specify where.
Bogopa Services Corp., parent of the Food Bazaar chain, is launching a new rewards card at its Long IslandCity (Queens), NY store. The Food Bazaar Family Card allows shoppers to gain 100 points for every dollar they spend, allowing them to earn progressive discounts as their point totals increase. Shoppers who earn 100,000 points can redeem points for a $10 discount (earning 1 percent back) or can choose to continue accumulating points. Discounts increase at every 100,000 point milestone up to 500,000 points, which earns a $100 gift card (a 5 percent discount). Bogopa tells us that new customers receive 20,000 points just for signing up.
A relatively new group in our food industry has really made strides in helping those in need. The Friends of the Food Industry held its second annual fundraiser and dinner recently at the Hackensack Golf club in Oradell, NJ. The group was founded with a mission to give back to its own – those in the food industry. This year’s recipient was little Nicole Mora whose dad David Mora works as a territory sales manager for Bimbo Bakeries. The group also works in conjunction with the Hopes & Dreams Foundation for Children which provides funds to support local charitable organizations with their goals in helping children and to help improve the lives of many people. The evening really was a “feel good” type of event. Not just because of the wonderful charitable cause that raised money for a family overwhelmed by healthcare costs, but it brought customers and vendors together for an evening without the prejudice of which customer was being honored. The group also honored food industry good guy and legend Danny Garcia of JOH with its inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award. It is a great night and if you missed it this time plan on going next year.
Mike Ryan and the EFRA handed out their annual Blue Penguin awards for distinguished efforts in support of March is Frozen Food month. Winners for this year were: Douglas Sales took first place in brokers, followed by ASM; Mrs. T’s Pierogies was the top manufacturer, followed by Athens Food; the number one retailer of under 50 stores was Fairway Market, followed by King Kullen and Met Foods; tops in retailers over 50 stores category was Allegiance Retail Services and a tie for second between Associated Supermarkets and A&P; finally, the cooperative category was taken by Wakefern. Congratulations to all of the winners!
And, speaking of winners, it was good to see old friend Kevin Walker of Canada Dry Bottling bestowed with the Max Stone Trade Relations award at the NJFC Conference held at the Borgata in Atlantic City. Kevin has been fighting a lingering health issue, but looked great and was supported and introduced by long friend Larry Inserra of Inserra Supermarkets. Larry referenced their friendship and Kevin’s 35 years in the industry from both sides of the desk. It was a nice afternoon and good to see everyone there.
Finally, as we enter into the summer season, anyone looking for the freshest of seafood should head over to one of the Top Tomato supermarkets in New Jersey. Seems as though a partner in the business, Anthony Sciandra, is also an avid fisherman and barely missed out placing in a recent Cape May, NJ shark tournament. As we hear it, Anthony and his team were beaten out on the last day of the three day tournament. But he was the real winner as he had a few hundred pounds of fresh caught shark steaks that soon became some of the best tasting grilled seafood around. We won’t tell, but next time you see Anthony ask him who his prized first mate was on the trip.
That’s it for now folks. As I said earlier, I truly hope you all enjoy this issue which for the entire Food World/Food Trade News staff and myself is a labor of love. See you all out in the field and as always you can reach me at kgallagher@best-met.com.
