Retailers tap into local food movement when sourcing New York produce

Offering customers New York-grown produce is essential for Tops Friendly Markets. The Williamsville, N.Y.-based company takes its motto, “Your Neighborhood Store, with More,” to heart, says Brandon Bentley, category manager for produce.

“We certainly carry anything grown in the state and are proud to name the farm it comes from,” he said. “We even try to carry locally made products from smaller vendors to help support all of our towns.”

Bentley says homegrown produce is a huge focus for the retailer leading up to apple season — June through September — but he says Tops Friendly Markets also focuses on locally grown produce in the winter, such as greenhouse-grown tomatoes and lettuce, to promote healthy eating in the New Year.

“Technology has really advanced over the last 10 years, and even New York in the winter can provide locally grown products, thanks to products under the lights,” he said. “We try to push those items even harder as local is so big to our future.”

Bentley says Tops Friendly Markets also is proud to participate in the New York Grown and Certified Program, which requires participating producers to adopt food safety standards and enroll in an environmental management program.

“This voluntary program is a cooperative effort among producers, processors, wholesalers, retailers, restaurants and the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets to meet consumer demand for high-quality food and agricultural products,” he said.

Bentley says Tops Friendly Markets highlights local produce in its weekly ads. The retailers' digital footprint, too, helps consumers select the best products in season for meals.

When asked what makes New York produce so special, Bentley said the opportunities for local produce are plentiful from apples to watermelon to flowering kale.

“Any products that come out of the land are special,” he said. “If you can get them that much closer to home, it just takes it over the top. Local matters wherever you are, and with New York being such a diverse state, the opportunities are endless.”

New York apples

The value of production for New York-grown apples is about $334,462,000, according to USDA National Agriculture Statistics Service figures. New York Apple Association President and CEO Cynthia Haskins says this growing season is shaping up well.

“Mother Nature is in line to deliver a bountiful crop this fall,” she said. “Currently, NYAA is predicting New York will produce 32,500 to 32,700 bushels of apples this year. The apples are sizing up nicely this summer, and there will be a sizable crop of small to large apples.”

Haskins says retailers can expect large bulk displays and a good range of packaging options, including 3-pound poly bags, pouches and totes, to promote New York-grown apples.

NYAA also plans for an aggressive marketing strategy including traditional and new media platforms to increase consumer interest and sales. Haskins says this strategy includes social media, TV, cable and radio spots to highlight New York apple varieties.

Increasing brand recognition and demand for New York apples with retailers will be a major focus this upcoming growing season, Haskins says.

“We plan to achieve this through captivating in-store displays, engaging product demonstrations, targeted digital coupon promotions and advertising campaigns customized for specific markets,” she said.

Haskins says another focal point for the association leading into the 2024-25 season is the health benefits of New York-grown apples. This is part of the association's "The Big Flavor" campaign, which it soft-launched for the 2023-24 season.

“This year, we will focus on promoting the health benefits of New York apples and compelling grower stories that will captivate consumers and enhance the allure of The Big Flavor that New York apples deliver,” she said. “We want consumers to eat more apples and remind them that with the many apple varieties out there it makes it easy to eat an apple a day.”

Haskins reports the association's Bob for Apples from New York is hard at work on this growing season's videos, with the help of the NYAA creative team. Bob, the association's spokespuppet, is a news anchor for NYAA News, a virtual news station. Bob reports on apple facts, visits the state's orchards and interviews New York apple growers.

The Greater Rochester American Advertising Federation's recent awards presentation recognized the association's work on Bob for Apples from New York with a Best of Show award.

“It is all about building awareness for New York apples, and Bob for Apples from New York brings a cleverness and playfulness for the whole family,” Haskins said.

New York onions

Chris Pawelski, a fourth-generation farmer and grassroots policy advocate in Orange County, N.Y., says it was a late and wet spring for the onion growers in his area, but with the warm temperatures this summer, the crop caught up.

“It's not like last year, where in June and July we got excessively wet and we had such quality issues,” he said. “Now, overall, the onions look nice.”

Recently the East Coast experienced an unusual hot streak of consecutive days with temperatures soaring to above 90 degrees Fahrenheit, which Pawelski says isn't good for anyone — plant or human. He says seed and transplant onion growers in the area could see some effects, but the plant may respond differently depending on the type of planting.

“I think you're going to see the size and yields be off a bit because of that,” he said. “I don't think you're going to have big yields and big size.”

But Pawelski says a bright spot is with the dry growing conditions, which means less disease pressure. He says his neighbors, who grow onions, seem to be on a fairly regular spray schedule, which indicates disease pressure in his area is likely low, unlike last year where rains made for a tough growing season.

“You'd drive around different parts of county last year and you could definitely see and smell [disease],” he said. “You're not seeing that [this year], because that was terrible.”

Pawelski says it's not a perfect growing season where there will be big yields and big sizing of onions, but the dry growing conditions do bode well for New York onion growers.

“In my experience with onions over the years, when it was a dry, dry year, the quality was exceptional,” he said. “So, I think you're going to see that this year too, barring you don't get a hurricane or the weather turns. Because of the weather forecast patterns I'm seeing, it's going to continue to be basically hot and dry.”

He says he did hear of hail hitting Oswego County, but no reports of damage so far. Orange County also had severe storms that brought over two inches of rain in a few hours.

“We needed the rain actually,” he said. “So, it actually worked out nicely.”