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GEORGIA GROWN PRODUCE VITAL IN KEEPING
THE PEACH STATE’S STORES, RESTAURANTS SUPPLIED By Doug Ohlemeier
GEORGIA GROWN PRODUCE
Georgia Grown produce is important to retailers and restaurants doing busi- ness in the state.
Georgia produce helps fill shop- ping carts at Publix Super Markets, Inc.’s Georgia stores. Of the Lakeland, FL-based chain’s 1,215 Southeastern stores, Publix operates 186 in Georgia. It also transports product to stores through distribution facilities in Jacksonville, FL, and Dacula, GA, on the northeast side of the Atlanta metropolitan area.
“The Georgia production of various commodities, such as tomatoes, peaches, peanuts, pecans, beans, squash and onions, to name a few, is critical to keeping our pipeline of fresh local fruits and vegetable full and fresh,” says Maria Brous, Publix’s director of media and community relations. “These products as a whole make up a significant part of our overall sales during this period of time.”
Publix’s customers eagerly await the start of Georgia products, including its peaches and Vidalia onions. “As a retailer operating in the Southeast and especially the state of Georgia, we understand our customers’ familiarity and desire for the seasonal commodities Georgia produces from mid-spring through the summer months,” says Brous. “This time of year is highly anticipated by both the retailers and the customers.”
Retail chains operating in the South must, by definition, offer the South’s abundance of produce. “Today more than ever, ‘fresh produce’ is a primary reason customers say they shop at one retailer vs. another,” says Brous. “ ‘Locally grown’ is also an important attribute our customers are looking for. So, to be able to combine both attributes of ‘local’ and ‘fresh’ seems
like a no-brainer for us. Offering Georgia Grown produce is the best way to meet our customers desire for both.”
Local produce has long been popular at Swainsboro, GA-based Pinetucky Country Meats, which recently purchased a Piglet Supermarket in the south-central Georgia Vidalia region.
“Customers appreciate Georgia Grown produce,” says Ricky Reese, the store’s longtime produce manager. “They know Georgia Grown is top quality, especially the watermelons and Vidalia onions. You can’t hardly beat it.”
Georgia produce has been a major item of the store for decades. “Anytime you get local produce, it’s fresher because it doesn’t have so far to travel,” says Reese. “We buy a lot of local products. People come in here selling Vidalia onions, squash and sweet corn. They would prefer Georgia produce. That way, they know where it’s coming from.”
Georgia Grown produce helps the state’s restaurants develop sumptuous menu offerings. Local produce and other fruit, vegetables and nuts from throughout The Peach State are an important ingre- dient at 61 Main in Jasper, GA. The northern Georgia restaurant is run by executive chef Jenna Schreiber and her husband, Tadd Schreiber.
“We try to keep our focus on local as much as possible,” she says. “It only makes sense to support local farmers and what they’re already producing.” The restaurant reaches beyond its county to growers throughout the state, and sources a variety of products, including pecans. “It only makes sense to do it that way,” says Schreiber. “It was the logical deci- sion when we first started, and local has
PHOTOS COURTESY OF 61 MAIN
become more evident. It’s great seeing that it’s now kind of the norm.”
In 2007, the veterans of the Charleston, SC, restaurant scene relocated to northern Georgia. When Schreiber first visited a local farmers market and inquired about growers supplying their restaurant, people thought she was crazy. Growers didn’t think their operations could supply enough products. However, close working relationships with the growers developed into something big.
61 Main serves dishes using many local items, including hydroponically grown lettuce, herbs, kale and pecans from Circle A Farms in Cumming, GA, for its salads, sandwiches and Caesar wraps. Mercier Orchards in Blue Ridge, GA, provides apples. The restaurant repurposes the local tomatoes it uses in its dishes, forming scraps into a jam for serving in fresh pesto sandwiches. “Over the years, we’ve learned how we can utilize what is abundant,” says Schreiber.
“I am more inspired by what shows up in my kitchen than trying to ask people to grow me specific things,” she says. “It’s more inspirational to me. If someone shows me a list to pick from, it’s like nah. But if they bring me two crates of kohlrabi, then I’m inspired. To me, it’s my responsibility to utilize it.”
Weekdays, the restaurant is open for lunch and on Saturdays, serves brunch from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The brunch relies heavily on Georgia produce, eggs and proteins. Monday is the only night it serves supper. “Diners appreciate local,” says Schreiber. “There’s a much higher level of interest. Local is becoming: ‘if you don’t do it, it’s more of the ‘wow, why wouldn’t you?’.” pb
82 / JUNE 2019 / PRODUCE BUSINESS