Soup To Nutz

As the summer of 2014 comes to an end, I remind you of what I said at the beginning of the season: no complaining about the heat. And to be honest, there was nothing to complain about! Word has it that the winter of 2015 will be snowier than usual, so be prepared!

There was no shortage of new stores popping up in our area late this summer. ShopRite of Fairless Hills has been refurbished after 15 years and it was worth the wait. Jeff and Sandy Brown and their team worked wonders on the store, adding a beer garden and Brown’s Chef’s Market to the existing store space. Jeff told me they have five more beer gardens in the works. In addition, The Wok, featuring Asian recipes and the now famous Brown’s authentic fire grilled chicken have been added to the store and the aroma upon entering the store evokes hunger pangs even if one has just eaten a meal. An American Heritage Credit Union has office has been installed giving the community full access to financial services. Brown’s is known for their waste reduction practices and they have achieved 85 percent waste reduction in this store. Instead of a trash compactor, Brown’s has installed an all-store generator. Apparently the electricity always goes down in this area, so Jeff wanted to assure his customers that they will open even when other places are experiencing power outages. This announcement drew applause from the audience! There is also a contest going on. In honor of the store’s renovation and to show its ongoing commitment to the community, Brown’s will be making a $10,000 donation to a local community nonprofit project which will be selected through a voting process by the customers. “We have partnered with this community for over 15 years and want to let everyone know just how much we appreciate them,” Jeff stated. “We want to make this donation in honor of our newly remodeled ‘Hometown’ Supermarket.”

The entire Weis family, including grandchildren, was in attendance as the company opened its ground-up brand spanking new flagship store in Selinsgrove, PA on August 23. The new store is just steps away from the previous store’s location, Customers were also surprised with free bags of groceries during check out at the registers.

“Today we celebrated the exciting launch of a store we’ve been planning for a number of years. From concept to groundbreaking and now grand opening, we have meticulously planned every detail of this state-of-the-art store with great care to ensure our customers receive the very best from Weis Markets,” said Jonathan Weis, president and CEO. “We have proudly served SnyderCounty for more than a century and we’re honored to continue this for many, many more years to come.” Employing more than 200 full- and part-time associates, the 66,740 square foot store features larger fresh departments with more than 700 varieties of produce and a greater selection of organic and natural items. Additional enhancements include an international cheese section, more gourmet and international foods, as well as a full-service pharmacy, deli and expanded food service department and bakery. The store’s café offers dine-in and take-out service, outdoor patio seating, and 750 varieties of domestic and imported beer. The new store also has a Gas N’ Go fuel station on premise. The new store was designed to be eco-friendly, with both the frozen and dairy department products behind doors instead of in open cases. These technologies will reduce the store’s refrigerant usage by 60 percent compared to that of a conventional supermarket. Lastly, more than 10 local organizations received donations at the grand opening ceremony.

Last, but not least, ShopRite of Hunterdon County, the Colalillo family-owned business that currently owns and operates three ShopRite stores in New Jersey, opened a ShopRite on August 28 in Bucks County, PA in an area I call Oxford Valley/Langhorne, but it has been named as Yardley. This store was once a Super Fresh in the OxfordOaksShopping Center strip mall right near the intersection of Routes 1 and 95. It has been vacant for about three years. To commemorate the opening, the Colalillo family made a $10,000 donation to Philabundance, the DelawareValley’s largest food bank.

“For more than 60 years, it has been our family’s mission to provide our customers with a great place to shop and our associates with a great place to work. We are very excited to extend this commitment to the Yardley community with the opening of this new store,” said owner Joe Colalillo. “As a family-owned business we are personally committed to supporting the communities we serve and to providing them with the very best that ShopRite has to offer. We look forward to meeting our new neighbors and to becoming an integral part of the Yardley community.” He added, “We want to provide our customers a great place to shop and our employees a great place to work.”

At 58,000 square feet, this state-of-the-art supermarket will be managed by 23 year ShopRite of Hunterdon County veteran Mike Jacobs, who comes to this store from the company’s Flemington, NJ unit. The Yardley employs 300 people with a mix of former Super Fresh employees and new hires. It has all the features ShopRite customers have come to expect, but this store has an expanded Kosher section, and one of the local rabbis was checking out the meat section with a huge smile on his face, clearly pleased that his congregation would have a place to find the products they need. The store also features a broad selection of natural and organic products in every department. I asked Joe about the product mix as this is his first store in Pennsylvania in quite some time (his father got his start in Bucks County many years ago). He said they are responding to the needs of the community, so might we expect some Eagles accessories? Maybe! Joe’s wife Jeannie is now working with him, and was responsible for the sleek, modern design of the new store highlighted by the Colalillo signature clutter free isles. The Colalillo family will also open a fifth ShopRite store in Bethlehem Township, PA in 2015.

Just before the Labor Day holiday, I spoke with Louis Eni Jr. about the upcoming one year anniversary of the fire that devastated their Delanco, NJ warehouse. He reported, “We are going in a positive direction with the major decision to stay in Philadelphia and are hoping for an October ground breaking of the new facility.” As Dietz & Watson celebrates 75 years manufacturing deli products, they implemented a contingency plan by renting warehouse space in Vineland, NJ from Safeway Cold Storage. Lou said, “We are running as well as Delanco did. It’s business as usual now.” Keep it here for more exciting news to come soon from D&W!

Once again, I have been asked to moderate the panel of DelawareValley food and beverage executives for the second annual WeiserMazars Food and Beverage Summit. The c-level event will be held on November 5 at the Adventure Aquarium in Camden, NJ. For more information, please call Fred Kaplan at 267.532.4300.

The Saint Joseph’s University Food Marketing Department is hosting its 9th annual Food Industry Summit Tuesday, October 14 from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at Mandeville Hall on the university’s campus at  54th and City Avenues in Philadelphia. Members of the food industry are invited to attend as the internationally renowned Food Marketing program presents a one day summit to gain insights on the “Food on Demand” consumer and how retailers and manufacturers are leveraging marketing and technology to make things happen at retail. The topic for 2014 is “Great food marketers meeting the ‘food on demand’ challenge of today’s connected consumer.” The presentations are followed by a question and answer period. There is also plenty of time to network in the morning, lunch, and afternoon. This year’s speakers include: Joe Sheridan of Wakefern, Judy Spires of Kings/Balducci’s, Brad Nelson of Marriott, Louis Eni Jr. of Dietz & Watson; Barry Calpino of Kraft; Jeff Greenhouse of Ulive/Food Network and Carl Edstrom of IRI. The cost is $299.00 (includes continental breakfast and lunch).

Mark your calendars for another annual event, March 28, 2015 when Saint Joseph’s University’s Academy of Food Marketing honors Wawa Markets at its 47th Citation Dinner to be held at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown. Proceeds from this event will benefit the Food Marketing Educational Foundation.

I don’t know about you, but personally, I was not challenged to do the ALS ice bucket challenge. The New Jersey Food Council (NJFC) was and accepted the ice bucket callenge to raise awareness for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) better known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, last month. The NJFC team was challenged to the viral awareness campaign by the Whole Foods Northeast Region in Edgewater, and took to the front of the state house in Trenton to complete the challenge with a surprise turn of events for NJFC president Linda Doherty. In addition to completing the challenge, NJFC made a donation to ALS Association for Research and Awareness in the hope that one day there will be a world without the disease. ALS has received $100 million in donations in one month (July 29 to August 29) compared to $1.9 million during the same time period last year, according to their website.

PJ’s All-Natural Beef Steak is continuing to enjoy marketplace success since its 2012 introduction. With six different varieties available and now showcased in a convenient shipper display, this tender alternative to jerky is made from only the finest all-natural ingredients resulting in a high protein snack loaded with essential nutrients. What truly sets this PJ’s apart is that each batch of premium beef is slow cooked for seven days resulting in an extremely tender natural and high in protein snack. Check out pjsbeefsteak.com to view their product lineup as well as locations where this all-natural snack can be purchased.

I am sending congratulations to my brother Larry Maggio and his wife Roxane, owners of Ludovico’s in Haddonfield, NJ on their recent award of making the “Best Cheesesteak in South Jersey” by South Jersey Magazine. Roxane tells me that sales of the now famous cheesesteaks have increased exponentially since the award. Auguri, little bro!

We also send out congrats to industry veteran, Neil Brassell who has accepted the position of director of national sales with California Natural Products.

The circle of life has touched the food industry more than usual this past month. We send out condolences to Rich Wright of Dietz & Watson on the death of his father, Maryland food industry veteran Jimmie Elmer Wright. Mr. Wright passed away on September 1 in Florida. In addition to his son Rich, he is survived by his wife Lois, four other children, 12 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by daughter Robin Wright. Contributions in his memory may be sent to Hospice of Palm Beach County,Lauer Unit, 5301 South Congress Avenue, Atlantis, FL 33462. Local industry veteran John McIntyre Sr. passed away on August 22. Most recently, John was the owner of Tri State Perishable Food Brokers. He is survived by his wife Virginia (nee Jones); children John J. Jr. (Trish), Patrick (Ann Marie) and Jessica Hadfield (David); and nine grandchildren. The family requests donations go to Beats for Bella, PO Box 614, Lafayette Hill PA. 19444. Northeast Pennsylvania food broker Hugh T. Gilmore passed away on September 4 at age 87. He is survived by his sons Thomas, Shaun and Hugh, daughters Kathleen and Patricia, three grandchildren and one great grandchild. Rest in peace.

Birthday shout outs for the “back to routine” month of September go out to: Ed Elborne, Acme Markets; Lauren Eni, Dietz & Watson; Fran Dolan, Herr Foods; Nate Ostroff, Network Food Brokers; Joe Gardyan, Utz Snacks; Bob Higgins, Saint Joseph’s University Academy of Food Marketing; and Joe Seiler, retired from Campbell’s. Buon compleanno a tutti!

To our industry friends and colleagues of the Jewish faith, we extend best wishes for a l’shanh tovah! Happy New Year!

Quote of the month: “People say that money is not the key to happiness, but I always figured if you have enough money, you can have a key made.” Joan Rivers