Local produce becomes local production for Roundy’s
Local produce becomes local production for Roundy’s
NAPERVILLE, IL — Locally grown food has taken a new approach in metropolitan Chicago.
Roundy’s Supermarkets Inc., has partnered with BrightFarms Inc., a New York City-based corporation, to sell much of the produce from BrightFarms’ new greenhouse, which is located in Rochelle, IL.
The arrangement was described to The Produce News in a meeting with Roundy’s produce executives in Naperville, where they were overseeing completion of a new Mariano’s store.
Steve Jarzombek, vice president of produce, with Tricia Adler, senior category manager, salad bar and bulk foods, and Paul Marinaro, vice president of produce merchandising for Mariano’s-Roundy’s Supermarkets Inc.
Steve Jarzombek, Roundy’s vice president of produce, said BrightFarms will be making store-door deliveries to all 37 Mariano’s locations, which are all in the Chicago area. “They will pick in the morning and deliver that day.”
Jarzombek said BrightFarms’ initial emphasis will be upon producing leafy greens, basil and tomatoes, with harvest beginning this June.
“This is unique. There are not that many retailers that can claim to have their own growing facility. We don’t actually grow, but we have the right partner.” BrightFarms’ website indicates that in January 2013 in Bucks County, PA, “BrightFarms and McCaffrey’s Market signed the grocery industry’s first long-term produce purchase agreement, marking a shift in the produce supply chain.”
Roundy’s is now BrightFarms’ third partner, Jarzombek said.
“The majority of the product that we consume in the U.S. grows in the West or Northwest or southwest of the Mississippi River,” he added. “A huge amount of the population of the U.S. is east of the Mississippi River. You have a logistics problem to start with. Out West they have water issues. And there are issues around having enough human resources.
“And, your way of transporting today is exactly the same as it was 50 years ago,” he went on to say. “We have a rather archaic transportation system that has not kept pace. So, we are very proud of the fact that we grow our own produce in the Midwest year-round. It fits with the model we have at Roundy’s. First and foremost, we support the local farms. The people they employ shop in our stores and live in our area. We are very passionate about this and committed to people in Illinois and Wisconsin.”
He added that Milwaukee-based Roundy’s is also a partner with Wisconsin food hubs. Jarzombek estimated that he has visited as many as 75 farms in the surrounding area of Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana.
Jarzombek said BrightFarms’ northern Illinois greenhouse will be heated and producing vegetables 12 months a year.
The Associated Press reported last August the hydroponic greenhouse is a $10 million, 160,000-square-foot project, which will produce around a million pounds of vegetables a year.
