Page 16 - January_2019

ASCENDANT INDEPENDENT
‘Safe Space’ For Produce Shopping At Russo’s
Freshness shines at this suburban Boston favorite. BY DOUG OHLEMEIER
Unlike other stores, where visitors see towering displays of products, when shoppers walk into the entrance of Russo’s, they immediately see produce
and people.
At the suburban Boston grocery store and
wholesaler, produce is displayed horizontally, as opposed to vertically, with no shelving above shoppers’ heads.
A Watertown, MA, legend, Russo’s bills itself as “An experience for food lovers,” while reviewers describe it as, “More than a grocery store; Russo’s is an experience.”
Fresh produce constitutes a little more than half of the space of the 15,000-square-foot store, which is run by third- and fourth-gen- eration family members. Refrigerated cases of dairy products, drinks, cheese and oral line the store’s walls.
Freshness is critical. “We try to keep our produce department as fresh as possible,” says Tony Russo, president and owner. “ e idea is to provide nice, full and large displays, with plenty of selection.”
Russo’s wants a store where shoppers can nd a variety of produce, including exotics such
16 / JANUARY 2019 / PRODUCE BUSINESS
as Cayenne, pumpkin leaves, Boniato leaves, potato leaves, yam leaves and a half-dozen varieties of Chinese vegetables. “Ultimately, if you’re interested in food, you can’t walk by these products without trying some of this Chinese broccoli,” says Russo. e store provides infor- mation to show shoppers how they can make recipes by including those items and “having some fun in the kitchen.”
LOCAL PRODUCE PIONEER
Local produce grown by quality growers has long been a store practice. When he was a child, Russo, 76, viewed the disciplines his family used when procuring produce. Certain characteristics can be detected about partic- ular growers, including their growing practices. After a while, if one pays attention to it, they won’t sense much dissimilarity between one season and the next, he says.
During the 1950s after work, Russo and his grandfather would procure fruit by visiting apple growers. e store still purchases cider from the same family operation.
Russo’s works with many local growers, including picking up blueberries every other
PHOTOS COURTESY OF RUSSO’S
day during the season from Kelso Homestead Blueberry Farm in Chester, MA, which has grown blueberries since the late 1700s. Sunny Crest Orchard in Sterling, MA, is known for the apples and peaches it has grown since 1850. e Russos purchase sweet corn from an East Hartford, CT, grower, and every day during the summer through late December, Stone eld Farm in Acton, MA, trucks the vegetables it has been growing since 1929 to the store.
“ ose are the kinds of relationships that are central to our business and the way the companies have been managed,” says Russo. “We like to stay with our growers throughout the course of the season. e red delicious apple will always look good. It’s grown in areas that produce the best fruit. It’s to our customers’ advantage for us to determine the growers that grow the best apples.”
To stock the store, Russo’s buys directly from California and Florida growers and works with Bernardi & Associates, Inc., in Nogales, AZ, and McAllen, TX, for Mexican product.
Symbolic of lesser importance, groceries and shelf-stable items are positioned under the tables of produce. “Produce is central to our