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ATLANTA MARKET PROFILE
city,” says Robert Poole, senior sales coordi- nator for Athena Farms in Forest Park. Poole points to an Atlanta Braves baseball series when the New York Mets played in Atlanta. A typical game against New York will find 40 percent of the fans attending are trans- plants who live in Atlanta. Those fans, he says, moved to the area for a reason. “Though part of their allegiance is to New York, where they’re choosing to live isn’t New York,” says Poole. “From a demographic standpoint, Atlanta and the South is growing in ways that the North isn’t. That helps our food scene.”
The city’s geographic location and other amenities make it a great place to live, work and do business. “There’s a lot to do here,” says Cliff Sherman, owner of Forest Park- based Sunbelt Produce Distributors, Inc. “Atlanta is in the heart of the South, where you can go north to the mountains or south- east to the beach. Atlanta is in one great loca- tion.”
STRONG ECONOMY
Given the city’s construction of two stadiums in recent years, it’s difficult to deny the metro area’s strong economy, says the State Farmers Market’s Thompson. “Building and construction are strong,” he says. “There’s a lot of business. Atlanta is a great place to be and is such a great place to live. As long as Atlanta grows, we will keep growing along with it.”
Some hindrances, however, include retaining qualified labor in critical indus- tries, including trucking, hotels and food- service establishments, notes King Yan, general manager of Sanwa Produce Atlanta. The city’s growth has produced traffic jams, which require long waits on the roadways. Despite the problems, Yan says, “the economy is strong and has really changed over the past few years.”
Atlanta remains an attractive area that is favorable for business growth, observes Collins. The metro area hosts many company headquarters, including The Home Depot, Coca-Cola and Delta Airlines. “We are feeling the wind at our backs,” he says. “Every time you turn around, you see growth every- where.”
One part of the metro area that’s helping attract new business, for retail and foodser- vice, is redevelopment in areas such as Ponce City Market, in the northeast part of down- town on Ponce de Leon Ave. The renovated Sears, Roebuck and Co. building is an upscale destination with lofts, restaurants and shop- ping. New to Atlanta, the BeltLine, an old
68 / AUGUST 2018 / PRODUCE BUSINESS
Matt Jardina, vice president of general business operations for J.J. Jardina Co. Inc., Atlanta
Forest Park, GA’s Sunbelt Produce Distributors, Inc.’s Will Sherman (left) and Cliff Sherman.
railroad track transformed into a walking trail, is attracting new restaurants and housing.
“These are bringing people back to the city,” says Poole. “The BeltLine has really exploded in the past few years. Places like Ponce City Market are very good for the health of the city. They’re attracting money, the upper-middle class is moving into those areas.”
DISTRIBUTION CENTER
Atlanta’s location gives it geographic advantages. During different times of the year, it’s easier for customers to load product from the market than to travel south into Florida or north to the Carolinas and Virginia. “The Atlanta market attracts people from all over the Southeast,” says Sherman.
Much offshore produce is airfreighted to Atlanta, says Tom Lange’s Hoffmann. As port cities of Savannah, GA, Charleston, SC, and Mobile, AL, are in close proximity, Atlanta receives many containers of produce from Central America and South America. “Because of its location, and the ability to bring product directly without having to make intermediate stops, the produce gets here a bit fresher,” he says. “We get a lot of exotics from all over the world flown into the airport.”
The Atlanta State Farmers Market also is becoming a hub for sweet corn. In early June, Caruso, Inc., a Cincinnati-based 3PL logis- tics provider, opened a sweet corn processing facility on the market. The $2 million oper- ation can process 1 million ears of corn per week and package up to 90 tray packs per minute. “We can produce a lot of corn out of here,” says Jim Caruso, Jr., president and chief executive.
The facility will help expand marketing
Andrew Scott, director of marketing and business development, Nickey Gregory Co. LLC, Atlanta.
Bryan Thornton, general manager of Coosemans Atlanta, Inc.,
Mike Collins (left), presidents of Collins Bros. Corp., Forest Park, GA, and David Collins III, president of Phoenix Wholesale Foodservice, Inc.
opportunities throughout the Midwest, he says. Caruso plans to process Georgia corn first, and later expand to other Georgia produce. “This will be a good way to facili- tate small farmers throughout Georgia to get them to retail markets,” he says.
Most of the national supermarkets and many of the South’s and Mid-Atlantic’s leading chains, including Kroger, Publix and Walmart, maintain a presence in the highly competitive Atlanta market. Other national players, including Sprouts, and regional operators, are entering or expanding in the market. Lidl is constructing a distribution center in Cartersville, GA, about an hour north of Atlanta, and other new players are building distribution facilities.
RETAIL, CULINARY BOOM
In the past, A&P, Cub Foods and Winn- Dixie were the big players. Publix has since shaken things up and other entrants including Aldi, Lidl and Trader Joe’s, are dominating the retail landscape, says Coose- mans’ Thornton. “This is a very competi- tive market,” he says. “We have many more players. The space in the Atlanta market for retailers has changed because we have different players in the mix. Everyone is finding their own niche in the fresh produce distribution network.”
Movement is a strong as ever in retail, says Sutherland’s’ Sutherland. “These retailers are looking to expand their local footprint in Atlanta,” he says. “The new retailers are helping to bring new ideas and concepts to Atlanta. While the large players will always remain strong in the market with their footprints, some of the smaller, specialized retailers continue to gain traction. From Food Depot and Fresh Market to the new