Greetings everyone and welcome to the Holiday Season! By the time you receive this issue of Food Trade News, Thanksgiving will be upon us and the Christmas, Hanukkah and New Year’s season will be right on top of us. I hope all of you will enjoy the time with family, friends and loved ones during this Holiday Season.
RoNetco Supermarkets and the Romano family unveiled its newest state-of-the-art, full-service supermarket, the ShopRite of Sussex at 1 Wiebel Plaza in Sussex, NJ in late October. Company co-president and COO Dominick J. Romano (DJ) and co-president and CFO David Romano welcomed a massive crowd anxiously waiting to enter the magnificent store at the grand opening. It is the ninth overall store for the Romano family and RoNetco Supermarkets, Inc.
The new ShopRite will offer customers a one-stop shopping experience with a wide selection of groceries, including ShopRite’s award-winning Bowl & Basket, Wholesome Pantry and Paperbird own brands, locally sourced foods and a variety of fresh-prepared and restaurant-style meals. The store will employ than 250 full- and part-time associates. With an emphasis on reducing its eco-footprint, the new ShopRite of Sussex features energy-efficient refrigeration and lighting, with LED lighting throughout the store and its parking lot.
“RoNetco Supermarkets has a long history of commitment to the communities where our ShopRite stores operate, and we look forward to officially becoming a part of the great Sussex community,” said DJ Romano.
Another unique aspect of the store is a True Value Hardware department inside of the expansive store.
It’s not just an aisle of nuts and bolts, but a real hardware store stocking any needs and equipment that a homeowner would need for any size project. In addition, the new ShopRite location includes a “Fresh-to-Table” prepared foods and deli department, joining several other Ronetco-operated stores that added that concept in mid-2022. The department features foods that are ready to cook, heat or eat and focuses on private labels, like Wholesome Pantry and Bowl & Basket. There is a walk-in seafood market and a full-service meat department as well. The store will be managed by Drew Romano and although it’s a little out of the way, it is definitely worth a trip to see what the Romano team has put together.
Kudos to Michael Durant and the Food Industry Alliance (FIA) on their 26th Annual Gala held at the Glen Island Harbour Club in New Rochelle, NY. A big crowd of than 400 was on hand for a full night of networking and the 2023 FIA Member Award recognitions. After a keynote speech from Professor Joseph Cazier Ph.D. on ‘Leading Analytics and A1,’ the FIA kicked off the awards with the recognition of the philanthropic award to Price Chopper/Market 32 Supermarkets followed by the chairman’s club member of the year to the Coca-Cola Company. Lastly, the retailer of the year went to DeCicco & Sons. The DeCicco family was on hand for the award and told us that they are anxiously waiting the opening of their newest store in Tarrytown, NY tentatively scheduled sometime in Q1 2024. “There is no greater honor as an association to recognize and celebrate the tremendous achievements of our members”, said president and CEO Durant. “As our organization, members and supporters gather this October to celebrate the entire retail food industry, we offer a special congratulations to this year’s three deserving recipients.” Congrats to all.
Christmas songs on the radio, Salvation Army Santas out on the street and time again for the Krasdale Foods and NY Yankees annual food drive. The two winning teams have joined forces again to provide much-needed help to the communities they serve. Chris Guzman, advertising manager at Alpha 1 Marketing, tells us that Krasdale will be distributing more than $200,000 in $25 vouchers valid at local C-Town or Bravo Supermarkets to help brighten their customers’ holidays a little bit. Also, the holiday food drive will take place on December 6 at Yankee Stadium, where anyone donating 30 pounds of non-perishable food receives two complimentary tickets to a 2024 Yankees game. Additionally, Krasdale will donate more than 100,000 pounds of food to the cause. Great job!!!
Jenn Carson, Director of Marketing, Alpha 1 Marketing, has been named a top woman in marketing in the brand marketer category by the first ever PR Daily Top Women in Marketing Awards. Jenn and other honorees were celebrated as the female marketing leaders who are elevating brands and products, breaking barriers within their organization and advancing the marketing profession.
“I am immensely grateful to be a top woman in marketing honoree,” said Carson. “I am in great company with so many impactful women and happy to spotlight my team at Alpha 1 Marketing with this win, who work so hard to execute our strategies that support C-Town and Bravo supermarkets; it’s always a team effort.”
Carson leads her team across several marketing functions within the grocery space, where their efforts support New York Metro independent grocery banners, including C-Town and Bravo Supermarkets. Promoted to lead the marketing department less than one year after joining Alpha 1, Carson has implemented tactics like launching and executing paid and earned influencer partnerships and maximizing overlooked channels (like Pinterest) to make it easier for consumers to reach C-Town and Bravo content.
Some of the other women in the food industry honored at the ceremony were Angelina Franco and Marissa Beck and Deborah Sabo of Food Lion. Congratulations to all………….
And as we were getting ready to go to press, I learned that Bill Louttit passed away on November 11 at the age of 77. Many of you remember Bill from his stints as COO at Grand Union Supermarkets and CEO Northeast for A&P through the 1970s -2000. After those retailers went OOB, Bill started his own brokerage and consulting firm and handled many specialty and international accounts through the years. He most recently was with Cibo Vita as EVP-sales and marketing. Rest in peace, Bill, and may the Lord grant you eternal peace.
Kudos to the good folks at King Kullen for their significant donation of canned goods to Canstruction Long Island for use in the Annual Canstruction Long Island Design/Build competition. At the event held at RXR Plaza in Uniondale, teams are given 12 hours to defy expectations, logic and gravity as they build fantastic sculptures from thousands of cans of food. The following day, the super-sized masterpieces are judged in a variety of categories as these unconventional art exhibits are opened to the public. The cost of admission: just one can of food. At the end of the exhibition, all cans are donated to help feed the hungry on Long Island. Canstruction (a 501c(3) charity) has contributed millions of pounds of food across the country to community food banks demonstrating that we can win the fight against hunger. And since 2007, Canstruction Long Island has donated more than 560,000 cans, equaling approximately 370,000 meals, along with approximately $145,500 to help fight hunger on Long Island. To learn more and see the structures go to www.canstructionli.org
Congratulations to Howard Lee on the opening of his newest store a Superfresh on 242 Lincoln Boulevard in Middlesex, NJ. The store is a part of the Key Food Stores Co-Operative and covers an area of approximately 58,000 square feet and offers various departments such as meat, seafood, deli, dairy, and produce. The site which was a Pathmark back in the day, also offers a wide range of products. The diverse neighborhood will find a broad selection of international items including Caribbean, Central American, and Mexican products. The deli provides several services like catering, bakery, and hot meals to go and numerous international items. If this store performs anything like Howard’s other stores I’m sure it will be a huge success.
Well, that will about do it for now. As I stated earlier, it’s the start of the holiday season and I wish you all nothing but joy, health, happiness and peace to everyone for these next several weeks. I look forward to seeing you out at the several events in December and, as always, you can reach me at 201.250.2217 or