‘Homegrown’ means more now

Supermarkets, farmers, consumers harvest the benefits of locally grown produce

By Matt Glynn NEWS BUSINESS REPORTER

The Buffalo News

Updated: 07/27/08 7:24 AM

Grocery stores find a lot to like about buying and selling locally grown produce nowadays.

Some chains are playing up their connections to growers in Western New York and other parts of the state, while reaping the benefits of purchasing from sources closer to their stores.

With fuel prices soaring, buying local cuts the cost of shipping produce from far away. Food retailers also say the practice supports the local economy, allows them to stock produce picked sometimes the same day, and lessens the impact on the environment caused by long-distance truck deliveries.

And after health scares over the past couple of years involving some kinds of fresh food and illness, including the recent false alarm about certain tomatoes and salmonella, consumers are thinking more about where their food is coming from.

“There’s so many food safety headlines in the news these days that people are justifiably concerned,“ said Kevin Coupe, who publishes MorningNewsBeat.com, an online newsletter about retailing.

A recent national poll found that nearly half of consumers said they had changed their eating or food buying habits out of fears they could be sickened by contaminated food. Whether accurate or not, many consumers perceive that the longer the distance food must travel to reach their store, the greater the risk to the food’s safety, Coupe said.

Buying locally grown produce isn’t a new concept for groceries, but the connections are drawing more attention.

Wegmans promotes its locally grown ties in the front of its stores, with displays featuring the pictures and names of growers, the location of the farms and even the number of miles between the farm and the store.

“It feels good to support the community,” said Kevin Komendat, Wegmans’ Buffalo division produce coordinator.

Part of buying local involves building relationships with the farmers, to ensure a steady flow of produce that meets the chain’s standards, Komendat said. And those contacts also help the chain locate growers of other types of produce when the need arises.

“We’re always looking for new opportunities,” Komendat said. “There’s just a lot more public interest in it.”

Tops Markets, which has brought back its headquarters to Amherst following the sale of the chain last year, is putting more emphasis on its locally grown ties. At the start of the season, Tops estimates it was buying from about 150 growers in New York state. In just the past couple of weeks, Tops has signed up an additional 30 farmers for the program, said Rick Wright, Tops’ produce and floral manager.

Last month, Tops produce managers gathered at the Eden Valley Growers co-op, which is a key supplier of produce to Tops, Wegmans and other food retailers. The meeting gave Tops managers an opportunity to talk the farmers and communicate about their expectations for the season, Wright said. The Tops managers also got a firsthand look at the operation and what the growers deal with to get produce from the ground to the stores, like the impact a hailstorm had just had on the crops.

Eden Valley Growers has long received support from area grocery stores, but sales are up as the retailers look for ways to acquire their produce closer to home, said Dave Walczak, operations manager.

The definition of locally grown varies by chain. Tops and Walmart both stock their stores with produce from across New York state. Wegmans also works with growers across the state, and more than 800 company-wide. In each of its market regions, Wegmans has a group of growers who support the stores in that territory.

Store representatives say selling locally grown produce resonates with customers and ends up generating interest from more growers who want to participate.

“The programs have had a lot of recognition inside and outside the stores,” said Steven Restivo, a spokesman for Walmart.

Both Tops and Wegmans say that in some cases they get can stock produce the same day it is picked on a farm. Wright said that shoppers like the fact that some of the stores’ products come from so nearby.

“It’s just great recognition in the neighborhood,” he said.

Wegmans on Aug. 9 will hold an event in which it will have growers it works with in nearly all of its stores, allowing shoppers to meet them and sample food like grilled corn. Throughout the stores, displays will highlight locally grown items sold there, Komendat said. At other times of the year, individual stores also hold their own events with growers, centered on certain types of food.

The Lexington Real Foods Community Co-Op in Buffalo is urging customers to participate in the Eat Local America Challenge from Aug. 15 to Sept. 14. It invites people to try to consume 80 percent of their diets, or four out of every five meals, from local foods for that monthlong period.

Along with an opportunity to connect with customers, food retailers see locally grown produce as a way to cope with the high price of fuel. Komendat said the average cost of a tractor-trailer traveling from California to here in June 2005 was about $5,700, excluding the cost of the product it was carrying. In June 2008, that same truck trip cost about $7,800. The main culprit in that 37 percent increase: the fuel surcharge included in the total cost, which rose 180 percent over that three-year span.

Buying local does have limitations. The growing season for some items in New York state is shorter due to the weather, so when that supply runs out, the chains buy from outside the area to fill the gaps.

Coupe, of MorningNewsBeat.com, said it would be hard for a supermarket chain to go purely local with produce without risking disappointing consumers, since they are accustomed to having a variety of produce available year-round.

Komendat said customers show an interest in the arrival dates for locally grown versions of produce. He said they ask, “How long before peaches, how long before corn?”

Supermarkets see a chance for the buy-local programs to expand in the future. The growers will do what they can to increase their production to meet the stores’ needs, Komendat said.

“I think it’s just the tip of the iceberg,” Wright said. “And I think it’s critical to support our local guys.”

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