New ShopRite Campaign Puts Suffolk Farms Front And Center With Locally Grown Produce

There are 15 farms in Suffolk County partnering with the supermarket chain for its stores across Long Island, said Max Berger.

The campaign called "Locally Grown"  features expanded partnerships with local farmers, and a dietitian-driven focus on the health and wellness benefits of fresh produce, according to Berger.

Visually, it will be apparent to customers in the individual stores where "Locally Grown" displays will include blackboards, giving the names and addresses of farms where the produce was sourced.

In addition, some stores will have weekend "farm stands” outside in front and there will be dieticians in some to demonstrate how to cook fresh produce and give recipes.

The stores will also offer community education classes about the health and wellness benefits of eating fresh produce.

"ShopRite has a long history of working with local growers and farmers, and each year, the program increases in size as the supermarket partners with a growing number of hyper-local growers, as well as farmers who are utilizing new technologies, such as hydroponic farming," said Derrick Jenkins, ShopRite’s vice president of Floral and Produce, in a company announcement.  

ShopRite is a family business that has been working with "local farmers for more than 50 years, long before local was trendy,” Jenkins said."

"This supports the local economy and also reduces the carbon footprint of deliveries to our stores," he said.

ShopRite has 275 stores in six states with 11 stores on Long Island.

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