Is it me or does summer seem to be going at high speed into the back-to-school season? By the time you read this, most children will be back in school, something unheard of a few years ago. Getting back into the daily school/activities routine requires planning and can be stressful. Of course, our retailers are at the ready with helpful tips on planning healthy meals and snacks. Acme Markets knows the daily challenges parents face, especially when it comes to mealtime. From the morning rush to prepare a nutritious breakfast to the ongoing search for lunchbox ideas kids will actually enjoy, it’s no small feat. So, they’ve come up with a few simple, delicious and time-saving solutions designed to make feeding your family easier and stress free. Breakfast, Reimagined featuring Signature
Select breakfast sandwiches; Cookies That Spark Joy capitalizing on the current cookie boom; and “Lunchbox Lifesavers, ReadyMeals” snack packs are Acme’s. All are geared toward children and are reasonably priced. This isn’t just about food, it’s about giving families back precious time, reducing stress and making everyday moments more enjoyable.
At The Giant Company (TGC), their team of pharmacists and dietitians are also prepared for the back-to-school season with easy tips to help families ease the transition from summer to school year. The TGC dietitians are also ready to help simplify this transition by providing new inspiration for balanced breakfasts, easy lunch boxes, and quick dinner ideas. Preparing for this busy season also means taking the guesswork out of weeknight meals. How? Try creating a simple meal plan at the beginning of the week (I still do this). Theme nights like Taco Tuesdays and Breakfast for Dinner Thursdays are a good way to get started. The TGC dietitians have come up with “Back to School Simpli-5-ed Meals & Snacks.” Each item has five ingredients or less. Again, the focus is on easy and affordable meals and snack inspiration. The website explains it best giantfoodstores.com/pages/dietitian-picks-back-to-school. Getting the kids involved in meal planning and prepping is a fun way to connect, educate, and get them excited about family meals too. Try asking them to list their favorite foods from each food group, letting them find items on their list at the grocery store, or allowing them to build their own lunch gets their buy-in and may even encourage them to try something new! The Healthy Family Project’s website has some good tips and hacks for back-to-school madness.  They go from adding music to the morning routine to healthy snack choices before and after school and how to avoid ultra processed foods that do nothing for the health of our kids. They also have an awesome newsletter. Go to healthyfamilyproject.com and find out for yourself. And don’t forget to load up the snackle boxes!
We had a few new stores open this past month in the Philadelphia area – each in a different sector of the industry. Sprouts opened in Lansdale, and with it their nationwide loyalty program premiered, starting with Lansdale, then Arizona and 75 more stores, working toward chainwide implementation by October; after what seemed like an eternity, Wawa opened their first solar paneled store in Pennsylvania on the Newtown Bypass in Bucks County (it’s already packed all day); and amazon fresh opened its first store in the City of Brotherly Love  in the Northern Liberties neighborhood (6th and Spring Garden Streets) joining Sprouts, Acme and Heirloom Market in what is quickly becoming an overstored area. Lastly, just before press time Grocery Outlet opened a store in Medford, NJ in the space formerly occupied by Murphy’s Market.
From extra swipes on his meal plan card while attending Drexel University in 2016, to now, Evan Ehlers’ journey has been nothing short of extraordinary. The founder of Sharing Excess (SE) has come a long way helping to alleviate food insecurity, saving produce from going to landfills and making the entire SE operation a win-win for all parties involved. SE now operates in the Hunt’s Point Market and Detroit Produce Terminal in addition to the Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market (PWPM) where it all began. On July 30, Evan and his team celebrated four years at the PWPM. When SE arrived, the PWPM was wasting 2 to 10 million pounds of produce per year. Now, the waste is minimal. To date, Evan, Victoria Wilson and their team have saved 35 million pounds of produce from the landfills and have fed countless people in need of fresh food. In fact, SE is the largest source of fresh food donations in Philadelphia. In addition, they do “retail rescue.” So, listen up, because this program has been designed for grocery stores, restaurants, cafés, and catering halls, any place with daily excess. SE drivers use refrigerated vans and box trucks to pick up and deliver fresh food to local partners. Rescuing food, feeding communities…that’s what they do. Happy Birthday, Sharing Excess! Can’t wait to see where you “pop-up” next!
Heaven gained another angel earlier this month when John L. Stanton, PhD, former chair of the Food Marketing department at Saint Joseph’s University, passed away after a long illness. In an email announcing John’s passing, Dr. Joseph DiAngelo, Dean of the Haub School of Business at St. Joe’s remarked that despite fighting the good fight, “he never lost his humor or his dedication to his students and his research.” Longtime Saint Joe’s professor, George Latella commented, “John was one of the architects of Food Marketing at Saint Joe’s and a big reason we are known all over the world. His legacy will live on in all of us that he touched over the years.” So true. Every conversation was an education from a man who knew more about our industry than just about anyone. A true gentleman and an awesome mentor, his loss will be felt for years to come. A memorial service is being planned on campus during the upcoming semester. Rest in peace, John.
As we close this month’s issue, I want to extend a warm welcome to our new CEO and publisher, Alex Wissel, who purchased Best-Met Publishing from Jeff Metzger on August 1. Jeff isn’t going anywhere just yet so all of us will be out and about in the trade introducing Alex to many of you. We look forward to working with him and hope you will too!
Taking another trip around the sun this month are: Ron H. Murphy, Murphy’s Fresh Markets; Josh Brown, Brown’s Super Stores; Ricky Pratt, Sprouts Farmers Market; Michael Bozzuto, Bozzuto’s; Charlie Bell, Blue Sea Products; Marty Delinski, Acme Markets; and Ed Rogers, L&L Brokerage. Buon compleanno a tutti!
Quote of the month: “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” Eleanor Roosevelt
