Nash Finch Midwest Fall Food Show draws record attendance
Nash Finch Midwest Fall Food Show draws record attendance
Harry Morford, senior director of produce, procurement, merchandising and marketing for the Nash Finch Co. in Minneapolis, said that over 1,200 people attended the company's second annual Fall Food Show Aug. 20-22 at the Minneapolis Convention Center.
"We operate in three regions of the country: the Midwest, Great Lakes and Southeast regions," said Mr. Morford. "We hold two shows in each region annually. This was our second, or fall show, for the selling season in the Midwest region."
The company has six produce distribution centers in the Midwest, and until two years ago, each hosted its own show. The company then centralized the show in one place twice a year.
"Over 200 vendors exhibited at the show," said Mr. Morford. "Of those, approximately 25 were produce vendors. Products ranged from potatoes, onions and squashes to caramel apples and fruit baskets. Because it was a fall show, there were many conventional product items available, and people were setting up deals early-out for next year."
Nash Finch was established in 1885, and today it does approximately $4.6 billion in annual sales. The company distributes food products and provides support services to a variety of retail formats, including conventional supermarkets such as No Frills, military commissaries, multicultural stores, urban retailers and extreme price stores.
"We also market and distribute to our own stores," he said. "We own and operate Econofoods, Avanza, Food Bonanza, Sun Mart Foods, Wholesale Food Outlet, Family Thrift Center and Prairie Market. Combined, we have over 60 retail stores located primarily throughout the Midwest. Our stores are located in Minnesota, Ohio, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Colorado. The distribution centers are strategically located to service the stores as well as our independent customers."
Mr. Morford said that attendance at the show was up by about 10 percent over last year. Products exhibited come from all over the world and include a full range of grocery products. The event also featured Jim Wisener, a health and wellness expert. His address stressed important information about organics and how important it is for retailers to handle produce the right way.
"Today's consumer understands that pesticides are not used on organic products," said Mr. Morford. "It is critical that lecturers such as Jim have their factual information accurate and updated, and he was effective in offering some current and important information to attendees at the show. Our operation runs over 300 organic items on a daily basis. We have partnered with J&J Distributing, headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota. It is a family- owned wholesale food distributor that has a very strong organic presence."
Nash Finch is a full-line produce distributor. While in other grocery categories it does brand foods, including "Value Choice," "Our Family Pride" and "Our Family," it does not brand produce. The company procures its produce directly from grower-vendor partners.
"We handle all the conventional and specialty produce besides organics," he said. "Our company also supports the locally grown movement. We are feeling this trend in our stores, and we actively support all local growers. In fact, our stores have programs set up directly with small farmers in their regions because we believe such unions are better served when local growers and our stores collaborate directly. We also encourage our outside customer retailers to buy locally grown. When seasons enable us to play a roll in offering locally grown, we do as much as possible."
Mr. Morford said that with all the deals combined that resulted from the Fall Food Show, the company expects to see about a 35 percent increase in produce sales over last year's show. In all categories combined, the results are about 15 percent above a year ago.
"Our strategic initiative is to support the growth of independent retailers," said Mr. Morford. "In the process of doing that, we maintain our concentration on the fresh produce category."
Since its beginning, Nash Finch has offered the high quality, taste and value that Mr. Morford said consumers love. "From our time-honored favorites through our most recent product introductions that reflect the latest trends in food and cooking, our commitment to quality is our assurance that every Nash Finch Store Brand product has complete satisfaction built in," he said.
"We operate in three regions of the country: the Midwest, Great Lakes and Southeast regions," said Mr. Morford. "We hold two shows in each region annually. This was our second, or fall show, for the selling season in the Midwest region."
The company has six produce distribution centers in the Midwest, and until two years ago, each hosted its own show. The company then centralized the show in one place twice a year.
"Over 200 vendors exhibited at the show," said Mr. Morford. "Of those, approximately 25 were produce vendors. Products ranged from potatoes, onions and squashes to caramel apples and fruit baskets. Because it was a fall show, there were many conventional product items available, and people were setting up deals early-out for next year."
Nash Finch was established in 1885, and today it does approximately $4.6 billion in annual sales. The company distributes food products and provides support services to a variety of retail formats, including conventional supermarkets such as No Frills, military commissaries, multicultural stores, urban retailers and extreme price stores.
"We also market and distribute to our own stores," he said. "We own and operate Econofoods, Avanza, Food Bonanza, Sun Mart Foods, Wholesale Food Outlet, Family Thrift Center and Prairie Market. Combined, we have over 60 retail stores located primarily throughout the Midwest. Our stores are located in Minnesota, Ohio, Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Colorado. The distribution centers are strategically located to service the stores as well as our independent customers."
Mr. Morford said that attendance at the show was up by about 10 percent over last year. Products exhibited come from all over the world and include a full range of grocery products. The event also featured Jim Wisener, a health and wellness expert. His address stressed important information about organics and how important it is for retailers to handle produce the right way.
"Today's consumer understands that pesticides are not used on organic products," said Mr. Morford. "It is critical that lecturers such as Jim have their factual information accurate and updated, and he was effective in offering some current and important information to attendees at the show. Our operation runs over 300 organic items on a daily basis. We have partnered with J&J Distributing, headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota. It is a family- owned wholesale food distributor that has a very strong organic presence."
Nash Finch is a full-line produce distributor. While in other grocery categories it does brand foods, including "Value Choice," "Our Family Pride" and "Our Family," it does not brand produce. The company procures its produce directly from grower-vendor partners.
"We handle all the conventional and specialty produce besides organics," he said. "Our company also supports the locally grown movement. We are feeling this trend in our stores, and we actively support all local growers. In fact, our stores have programs set up directly with small farmers in their regions because we believe such unions are better served when local growers and our stores collaborate directly. We also encourage our outside customer retailers to buy locally grown. When seasons enable us to play a roll in offering locally grown, we do as much as possible."
Mr. Morford said that with all the deals combined that resulted from the Fall Food Show, the company expects to see about a 35 percent increase in produce sales over last year's show. In all categories combined, the results are about 15 percent above a year ago.
"Our strategic initiative is to support the growth of independent retailers," said Mr. Morford. "In the process of doing that, we maintain our concentration on the fresh produce category."
Since its beginning, Nash Finch has offered the high quality, taste and value that Mr. Morford said consumers love. "From our time-honored favorites through our most recent product introductions that reflect the latest trends in food and cooking, our commitment to quality is our assurance that every Nash Finch Store Brand product has complete satisfaction built in," he said.
