12/03/02
By RICKY BOURGEOIS
The Delmarva Shore to Store program, which seeks to market directly from local producer growers to retailers, honored seven produce managers of various Delmarva grocery stores for their outstanding participation in this year’s program, at a recent awards breakfast in Salisbury, Md.
Carl Carrow of Farm Fresh of Delaware in Dover won grand prize in the produce contest, and first place for the state of Delaware. Carrow has been a produce manager for 27 years, eight of those years with Farm Fresh of Delaware.
“It’s rewarding, helping the farmers,” Carrow said. “I’ve just come off the best season in 27 years.”
Don Donahue of Hocker’s Super Center in Clarksville won second place for Delaware.
In Maryland, George Whited of Goff’s Great Value #4118 in Snow Hill won first place, and Erik Wilson of Acme Market #7810 placed second.
Barbara Blair of Fresh Pride #2187 in Onley and Charlie Marshall of Matthews Market in Mappsville tied for first place in Virginia.
This year, 178 stores were approached to participate in the program. Of those, 100 accepted.
“Some of them participate and some of them don’t, and they should,” Blair said. “It’s a great program. The customers love it.”
During the 2002 season, Shore to Store organizers visited the 100 participating stores –– 50 in Delaware, 39 in Maryland and 11 in Virginia –– to record produce managers’ participation in the program. Managers were given points for displaying banners, identifying produce as locally grown, wearing “Thanks for Buying Delmarva Produce” buttons, and for the number of locally grown items on sale.
The six produce managers listed above carried an average of 37 local items per store. They purchased more than $432,000 in products from Delmarva growers in the 2002 season, an almost 19 percent increase from last year.
Carrow also won grand prize and first place for Delaware in Shore to Store’s first-ever Watermelon Display Contest, which is sponsored by the Mar-Del Watermelon Association.
Kevin Gravatt, produce manager for Acme #7810 in Dover, won second place in Delaware for his watermelon display.
Whited and Wilson tied for Maryland first place in the Watermelon Display Contest. In Virginia, Blair placed first, and Marshall placed second.
In the fourth year of Potato Display Contest, Donahue won grand prize and first place for Delaware. Carrow was named second place, Delaware.
In Maryland, Whited’s potato display took first prize, while Wilson won second. Blair won first among Virginia’s potato displays, and Marshall placed second.
The Potato Display Contest is sponsored by the Delaware Potato Board and the Virginia Irish Potato Board.
The 100 participating Delmarva stores purchased more that $2.3 million in produce from local growers, up almost $500,000 from last year for a 27 percent increase. Corn and watermelons were the top item carried this year, while cantaloupes and corn were most popular in 2001.
Some 63 of the participating stores carried corn and watermelons, while 59 carried cantaloupes. Local squash was sold in 57 stores, and 52 sold tomatoes. Stores carrying local peaches increased 50 percent, to 45 stores. Other popular items were peppers, cucumbers, pumpkins, snap beans and white potatoes.
Shore to Store began in 1987 as a way to promote the availability of locally grown produce, purchased directly from growers, at grocery stores on the Delmarva Peninsula. The program began recording the volume of local produce purchases in 1989, with a reported $302,508. Since that time the program has grown almost 670 percent.
“This truly is a cooperative partnership, and while success can be measured in participation, it can also be measured in those dollars –– put back into the local economy to support local families here on Delmarva,” wrote Marketing Director Dale McGinnis, in the Shore to Store year-end report.
Shore to Store is funded by the Delaware, Maryland and Virginia departments of agriculture, and by the Delaware Potato Board and the Virginia Irish Potato Board. Participation in the program is free.