Two ShopRites are engaging their local communities in different ways.
ShopRite of Chester in New Jersey is partnering with Three Meadows Farm and Somerset Hills Learning Institute, a program providing educational resources to youth with autism to bring Paradise Salad to the store.
Paradise Salad is sustainably grown, harvested, and packed by young adult students learning job skills at Three Meadows Farm through the educational nonprofit. The store’s produce buyer worked with Three Meadows Farm to help navigate the process of bringing the local product to market, with the goal of helping the farm further expand its offerings, according to ShopRite parent company Wakefern.
Grown at the farm’s hydroponic greenhouse in Bedminster, New Jersey, Paradise Salad features a blend of lettuce, sorrel, radish microgreens, and nasturtium.
“We love nothing more than working with local farms to bring the freshest produce possible to the community of Chester,” said Perry Blatt, director of ecommerce and business development for Village Super Market, Inc., the family-owned business that owns and operates the ShopRite of Chester, in a statement. “And our relationship with Three Meadows Farm…is about elevating the work of an incredible organization that is providing life changing opportunities to young adults with autism. Every Paradise Salad sold at the ShopRite of Chester supports that mission, and we could not be prouder to feature this product on our shelves.”
A New York ShopRite, meanwhile, is collaborating with technology firm Phononic on an active cooling solution to improve grocery ecommerce operations.The store is launching the second-generation Active Cooling Solutions Freezer and Refrigerator Totes that will be used when product is picked, stored, and staged for online orders. They will also help save space in-store, according to Phononic. The company added that the HFC-free, actively-cooled totes are more sustainable and cost effective than those using traditional refrigerants.
“The recent launch of the Phononic second Generation ACS totes allowed us to create an ‘Order. Pickup. Deliver.’ department in a store with a smaller building footprint. Local customers can now pick up their online orders at the store or have them delivered,” said Steve Savas, president of Shop-Rite Supermarkets, Inc., which, operates ShopRite stores in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York, in a statement. “We are always looking for opportunities to be at the forefront of innovation in digital commerce, and we are excited to be the first grocer in the nation with this technology.”
The technology also promises to reduce congestion during peak hours and provide more flexibility in online orders with a 70 percent reduction in staging room size requirements, noted the tech firm. Staging is a process wherein a product is prepped and consolidated before being given to the customer.
“Not only is it easy to integrate the totes into ShopRite’s existing operations, but it's incredibly scalable—capable of growing easily alongside ShopRite’s booming curbside business, and agile enough to keep up with daily order fluctuations,” said Larry Yang, chief product officer at Phononic, in a statement.
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