At the Food Marketing Institute/United Fresh trade show in Chicago, IL, PRODUCE BUSINESS presented its venerated Retail Sustainability Award for 2016 to Golub Corp/Price Chopper. The chain’s progressive new store concept Market 32 embodies its first rebranding in 40 years.
Mona Golub, VP of communications of the Golub family’s 137-store chain, headquartered in Schenectady, NY, says she was particularly pleased by the recognition, as “family-owned supermarkets are a dying breed.” Golub singled out Rick Reed, VP produce and floral merchandising, to accept the award on behalf of the company.
“Rick should be recognized for his driving role in many of the achievements culminating in this honor,” says Golub. PRODUCE BUSINESS editors reunited with Reed at the United Fresh produce show, after visiting him and the executive team at Price Chopper’s headquarters to garner a more in-depth perspective on the firm’s sustainability strategies.
Reed brandished the PRODUCE BUSINESS May cover story defining how “Price Chopper’s Market 32 Reinvents Sustainability.” He then turned his eye to the June issue, which delves even further. The scope of Price Chopper’s reinvention is broad, Reed explained. It involves multi-faceted partnerships with executives across the chain in a collaborative effort to prioritize and tackle the environmental, social and business aspects of sustainability.
Reed has been instrumental in building an innovative local farm hub system at the company for sourcing safer produce, a vexing industry issue. The sophisticated model, if adapted to meet different companies’ infrastructural parameters, could go far in combating food safety and quality problems connected to local sourcing—an industry-wide goal Price Chopper strongly advocates.
Source: PerishableNews.com