Greetings all and I hope everyone has been enjoying the spring weather.
Associated Supermarket Group (ASG) held its Vendor Summit 2023 at the Glenpointe Marriott in Teaneck, NJ. More than 200 food industry people from national brands, broker companies, and the media industry came together to hear about the power of ASG’s scalable partnerships and its commitment to the success of its independent supermarkets. The speakers during the presentation included, co-presidents and co-CEOs Joe Garcia and Zulema Wiscovitch, EVP-operations Jonathan D’Onofrio, SVP-business development Ken Scher, VP-marketing and customer experience, Michelle Mendoza and, from Univision, Eric Garcia and Jose Castro.
The speakers touched on a myriad of topics including inflation, labor issues, changing customers and demographics, food trends and e-commerce/digital. Everyone in attendance learned of ASG’s 275-plus stores operating in eight different states generating over $2.3 billion in retail sales. Demonstrating consistent store count and sales growth over the last five consecutive years, the speakers all encouraged the audience members to engage in the variety of programs available to collaboratively grow sales and awareness. Overall, it was an informative program, and well-constructed by the ASG team. Well done by all!
Attention those of you in the specialty food business. The Specialty Food Association (SFA) has partnered with Naturally New York to present “A Fancy New York Pitch Slam” to find the hottest brands in the industry. At the upcoming Summer Fancy Food Show, candidates will pitch their products to a panel of industry experts and audience members in a fast-paced, exciting competition. The winning company will receive a suite of prizes designed to help propel their growth.
To be eligible you must be an active member of the SFA or Naturally New York. The product must be a natural or specialty product or service. The product or service must have launched and been in the market for at least a year and generated between $100,00 – $2,000,000 gross revenues in 2022 across all sales channels. And the business must be a legal entity organized or incorporated under the laws in the United States. For more information go to www.specialtyfood.com. Good luck all and see you at the show.
Kudos to the team at Price Rite Marketplace for presenting more than $35,000 in donations to local food banks as part of its annual Check-Out Hunger fundraising campaign. From November through December 2022, Price Rite Marketplace associates throughout Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island collected donations at checkout to help food banks fight hunger in their communities. Price Rite has raised over $2 million for the Check-Out Hunger initiative since 2002. Price Rite Marketplace of Fall River, MA was the top fundraising store, raising more than $5,000 for The Greater Boston Food Bank.
“We greatly appreciate the support and generosity of our customers and associates, whose contributions make a difference in the communities our stores serve. Many of our neighbors face the daunting challenge of food insecurity and these donations allow food banks to help individuals and families when they need it most,” said Kevin McDonnell, president of Price Rite Marketplace. Price Rite Marketplace is committed to helping families in the communities it serves have access to fresh food. In addition to the Check-Out-Hunger campaign, the supermarket has a partnership with Feed the Children and contributes approximately $500,000 to local food banks and food pantries each year. Well done Price Rite!!!
The food industry lost a legend with the passing of Stew Leonard, Sr. on April 26 at the age of 93. You can read his full obituary on page 2 of this issue. I’d like to add these words from an open letter his son Stew Jr. penned to his dad:
“My Dad left our family with an incredible library that’s filled with inspirational and motivational quotes about life. My head tells me to think positive and celebrate his active, creative, and colorful life. ‘Carpe Diem’ (Seize the Day) was mentioned throughout. That’s my head speaking. But my heart is grieving. I just lost my Dad and best friend. He was a legend. Dad, say ‘hi’ to my son Stewie at Heaven’s gate.”
The family requests that any donations in Stew’s memory may be made to the Stew Leonard III Water Safety Foundation, a 501c3 charity that helps to fund swimming lessons for children in need, in honor of his grandson who drowned in 1989. May he rest in peace.
On a happier note from Stew Leonard’s, the company will be opening a new location in Clifton, NJ next year as part of a plan that will integrate the nearby Stew Leonard’s Wine & Spirits store. According to Stew Leonard, Jr. “My family and I just made a deal to have a new Stew Leonard’s take over the Seasons market on Allwood Road in Clifton. We are excited because we’ll be able to sell both food and wine in the store as we plan to move Stew Leonard’s Wines & Spirits of Clifton into the new location.” The new store will be the eighth Stew Leonard’s supermarket and their second in New Jersey and plans to open in 2024.
Speaking of new stores in Joisey, Uncle Giuseppe’s keeps rolling along with its third New Jersey location located on the Jersey Shore in Tinton Falls. The 56,000 square foot marvel is in the space of an old Acme supermarket on Shrewsbury Avenue. This is the eleventh overall store for Philip Delprete, Carl Delprete and Thom Barresi and we can’t wait for the next to come!
Well, that will do it for now. One reminder for everyone. Our annual Market Studies are our next issues coming out. I would strongly recommend you consider advertising and marketing in this issue as it is the ultimate “keeper” issue due to the statistical information. If interested you can reach me at [email protected] or 201.250.2217.
Best regards and hope to see you out in the field.