BROOKLYN, NY — Shoppers at the Foodtown of Bay Ridge come here for all the things that the best supermarkets anywhere around the United States provide today: a wide variety of items in all the various departments, especially the produce department; competitive pricing; clean, well-lit aisles; convenient hours; and friendly and knowledgeable personnel.

But echoing a trend that has grown steadily in recent years around the country, shoppers also come here specifically for locally grown fruits and vegetables, and this supermarket has responded to that trend passionately and enthusiastically.

“Our customers do look for locally grown produce,” John DiPietro, director of produce at PSK Supermarkets Inc., told The Produce News the first week in June. “It’s a growing trend, no question about it.” The Foodtown of Bay Ridge is part of PSK Supermarkets.

After the long and harsh winter of 2013-14 in many sections of the eastern United States, including New York state, local produce was running a little later than usual. But when The Produce News visited this supermarket in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn on Wednesday morning, June 4, bountiful displays were set up with a variety of New York state produce items, including red and green kale, dandelion, spinach, swiss chard, baby bok choy, radishes and asparagus.

“Our biggest item from New York right now is Long Island asparagus,” said DiPietro. “I can’t get enough asparagus. Our customers taste the difference” and look for local asparagus. “The quality has been excellent” on asparagus and all the items from New York state so far this season.

“At Foodtown we are in the game when it comes to local produce,” he stated. “I always believed it’s all about meeting the customers’ wants and needs. Over the last few years, our customers have been increasingly looking for locally grown produce. That’s what we are doing at PSK/Foodtown.”

Signage indicating “locally grown” was prominent right next to those items from New York to make it easy for shoppers to identify their favorite local items. Signage proclaiming “locally grown” was also hanging from the ceiling in the produce department, and posters with the names and faces of some New York growers were in plain sight, making the connection between grower and consumer crystal clear.

“We make sure that our signage includes the name of the farm and the state and/or town it came from,” said DiPietro. “In many instances, we’ve included the pictures of the local farmer [or farm families] in the store. The customers just love it.”

Of course, the idea of “locally grown” means more at this supermarket than simply produce from New York state. The supermarket’s location alone — a relatively short distance from other states such as New Jersey and Connecticut — enlarges the concept of locally grown.

As Vic Savanello, director of produce and floral at Iselin, NJ-based Allegiance Retail Services LLC, which provides marketing, merchandising and category management services to more than 80 locations in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, put it, “Locally grown is more than New York. You have to embrace locally grown from New Jersey, Long Island, Connecticut, as well as New York.”

Added DiPietro, “In our upstate New York stores, I encourage our produce managers to build a relationship with the local farmers in their areas. We make sure that they know that we are here to support them by getting their produce into our stores. This will help boost the local economy.”

C&S Wholesale Grocers, headquartered in Hatfield, MA, has been the primary supplier of produce to PSK Supermarkets Inc. for about 15 years. “We at PSK Foodtown have a great relationship with C&S,” said DiPietro. “The buyers at C&S understand our vision and they make it happen. I have a great relationship with Albert Grimaldi, vice president of produce at C&S.”

He added, “We enjoy working with Allegiance and with C&S. They make our job easier.”

Locally grown fruits and vegetables are just one aspect of the exciting produce department at the Foodtown of Bay Ridge.

“Produce is the most important part of the store,” stated DiPietro. “Produce is the first thing people see when they come into the store. They want to see value, variety, consistency and quality.”

Those four qualities have long been part of the company’s way of doing business; they also reflect the company’s deep roots in the supermarket business and in the community at large.

A photo of the founders and caption hanging on one wall of the store may say it best: “We are proud to be family owned and operated since 1956, when Paul & Essie Katz opened their first store in the Bronx, on 204th Street.”

Paul Katz’s son Sidney (hence the name PSK Supermarkets Inc.) represents the second generation, and Sidney’s sons Noah and Daniel, who currently run the operation, represent the third generation.

“The Katz family is taking the supermarket business to the next level, creating a great experience for our customers,” DiPietro said with pride. “Noah Katz is a visionary. He helps us in so many ways.”

And Savanello added, “This family is very passionate about their stores.”

One indication of that passion: The Foodtown of Bay Ridge completed a “major renovation” in March 2013, said DiPietro. “The store was expanded and modernized for the needs of our customers,” including the addition of a second floor to accommodate a well-stocked natural foods department.

Produce was top of mind during the renovation. “Produce is a key component to our operations,” DiPietro said. “Knowing this going in, the decision was made to increase the size of the produce department.”

The total square footage of the newly minted Foodtown of Bay Ridge is about 18,000 square feet (including the new second floor), and the produce department accounts for about 15 percent of that space, according to DiPietro.

Juan Castro, who has been with the company 19 years, has been produce manager at this location for about four years.

PSK Supermarkets has 12 Foodtown stores in the metropolitan New York area and to the north, and “there are plans to open a few new stores in 2015 and 2016,” said DiPietro.