Welcome to the doldrums of winter – rollercoaster type weather, bitter cold snaps, snow, freezing rain, ice – but, hold on, it looks like the mask mandates and restrictions are starting to ease, and potentially the rites of spring will bring us back to the land of normalcy! Fingers crossed and hoping to see you all out there soon.
Kudos to the New Jersey Food Council (NJFC) on holding its annual meeting recently at the Forsgate Country Club in Monroe Twp., NJ. Though it wasn’t the usual overflow crowd for this year’s event, more than 100 attendees were on hand and witnessed outgoing chairman Joseph Sofia of Wegmans feted for his work over the last two years, as well as the swearing in of Andrew Kent of Glass Gardens ShopRites, who was elected as the new chairman of the group. Also sworn in as officers for the NJFC that night were: Suzanne DelVecchio of QuickChek as vice chair; Mike Styer of Albertsons Companies as secretary; Mike Rothwell of Pennington Quality Market as treasurer; Mike Biase of Mission Foods as associate vice chair; and Linda Doherty, who was reelected as president and CEO. Congrats to all.
Heard from old friend Louis Biscotti of Marcum LLP, who wanted me to pass along to all food manufacturers and distributors to be on the alert as the USDA has a lending program that may be very beneficial in the appropriate circumstances. It is referred to as the USDA Food Supply Guaranteed Loan Program (USDAFSGLP). Details are still a bit sketchy at this point, but he said to check with your banker to find out if you qualify. Or of course, call Marcum for assistance with this program. He also said to check out their annual CEO Survey which shows that more than 86 percent of CEOs indicated they are having trouble retaining employees. The survey also highlights Inflation concerns, business outlook and business planning. To see the survey go to www.marcumllp.com/press-releases.
Congrats to all of the hard working employees at ShopRite and Wakefern, as they were recognized as the top “Most Trusted Grocer” in the Northeast by the BrandSpark Most Trusted Awards 2022, a partnership between Newsweek magazine and consultancy firm BrandSpark International. “Shoppers want their grocery trips to be convenient and efficient, especially during the pandemic and busy holiday season. This means easily finding the quality items they expect at great-to-fair prices,” said Philip Scrutton, vice president of shopper insights at BrandSpark. “Great grocers are trusted to fulfill this time after time and across channels, while the best add exceptional service or unexpected value.” BrandSpark surveyed 3,200 Americans, whose opinions were captured in 32 categories, by store format, and across 22 attributes that drive trust. The retailers were selected from a list of 52 national and regional companies. Each retailer was judged according to attributes believed to drive trust, including: quality, fair prices, recommendation, innovation, customer support, values, transparency, and heritage.
“At a time when shoppers have so many choices, we are extremely proud to have been singled out and recognized by our shoppers as their most-trusted supermarket of choice,” said Karen Meleta, chief communications officer representing the ShopRite banner. “As a cooperative of family-owned and operated businesses, gaining the trust of our customers begins with a commitment to providing fresh, quality foods in a shopping environment where our customers feel welcomed and respected. This has been a hallmark of the brand for more than seven decades.” ShopRite said its approach to customer service begins with a team of knowledgeable associates who are dedicated to caring for customers whether they are shopping online or being served in-store. “We continue to remain focused on providing exceptional customer service, convenience, quality and value that ‘sparks’ our customers’ confidence and trust in our brand,” said Meleta.
The National Grocers Association (NGA), along with sponsoring partners Kellogg’s and Unilever, have revealed the winners of their annual Creative Choice Awards, which honor and recognize the best marketing and merchandising programs in the grocery industry. The winners will be recognized at the upcoming NGA show taking place February 27 – March 1 in Las Vegas.
Judged by a panel of industry experts, the contest features eight categories in which one winner and at least one honorable mention are chosen. The judges determined category winners based on creativity, clarity, innovation and effectiveness of each entry. Additionally, two special recognition award winners were selected. In all, NGA received more than 300 award entries and we had several companies based in our area that will be bringing home some hardware from Vegas.
“After another year of challenges driven by the coronavirus pandemic, independent community grocers continued to demonstrate their creativity and ability to innovate,” said Laura Strange, NGA’s senior vice president of communications and external affairs. “Their uncanny ability to create campaigns and deliver messages that resonate with consumers shined brightly and impressed our judges yet again.” Here are some of our regional winners: in the “Connections through Social Media” category the winner in the large operator category was Pioneer Supermarkets/Associated Supermarket Group with its “Be the Good Neighbor” campaign. In the “Connections Through Digital Marketing or Mobile” category, the large operator winner was Allegiance Retail Services/Foodtown for its “Three Ingredient Challenge.” In the “Local, Specialty or Emerging Products” category the winner in the smaller operator category was LaBonne’s Market for its “Luke, I am your Fascia” campaign and the larger operator winner was Roche Bros. for its “Football Food Fun” campaign. In the “Community Engagement” category the large operator winner was Weis Markets for its “Honoring Our Veterans” campaign.
Marketing and merchandising category winners will be highlighted at The NGA Show. Winners of the “Outstanding Marketer/Merchandiser” title will receive complimentary registration to the 2023 NGA Show. For the complete list of all the winners go to www.nationalgrocers.org, and congratulations to all of our local winners!
Glad to hear that David Mandell recently opened a store in Woodbury, Long Island. The newest Holiday Farms finally opened in with a $1 million renovation of the former Fresh Market space that it took over. Holiday Farms, which has three existing stores — in Roslyn, Glen Head and Bayside — will now have its fourth store in the high-end Woodbury Common shopping center.
“I think it’s a great spot. I think we’re going to do well in Woodbury because it’s a similar demographic to Roslyn. And we’re really going to go out of our way to cater to the customer,” said Mandell. Located at 8285 Jericho Turkpike, the new, 20,000-square-foot supermarket is the largest tenant and an anchor in Woodbury Common.
The store features full-service deli and meat departments, fresh produce, baked goods, and a cheese department, Mandell said. Holiday Farms offers delivery through its own service as well as via Instacart.
In addition to the Holiday Farms locations, Mandell also operates two Key Food stores in Queens and the Locust Valley Market in Locust Valley. The new Woodbury Holiday Farms location should fare well as The Fresh Market site closed its doors in 2017 and the store has been vacant ever since. Best wishes, David, to you and your team.
And, finally, a get well soon to good friend Richie French, VP-business development at Key Food Stores. Rich had double knee replacement surgery in early February and word is that he plans to be back in the field ASAP. Good luck with the rehab, Rich!
That will do it for now. As always, you can reach me at [email protected] or 201.250.2217.