Last updated on August 8th, 2017 at 02:17 pm
New Jersey Agriculture Secretary Douglas H. Fisher recently visited the ShopRite store in Morris County to tout “Jersey Fresh Produce” and the many varieties of local produce available at the peak of this growing season.
After visiting the ShopRite of Greater Morristown, Fisher traveled to Larchmont Farms in Salem County.
“We are at the height of Jersey Fresh season, and our farmers are providing outstanding product to consumers,” said Fisher. “The partnerships with ShopRite and other supermarkets help us deliver outstanding quality fruits and vegetables throughout the state.”
Like all of the 140 ShopRite stores in New Jersey, the ShopRite of Greater Morristown features a range of Jersey Fresh fruits and vegetables. They include blueberries, peppers, sweet corn, cucumbers, spinach, lettuce, peaches and more. Many of the items come from Tranquility Farms in Sussex County, which supplies more than 20 supermarkets with its produce grown on more than 800 acres.
“We are really proud of our partnership with the Jersey Fresh growers who provide our stores with delicious, fresh fruits and vegetables. Our family-owned and -operated ShopRite stores have a long tradition of working with local family farms and food producers, and our partnership with Jersey Fresh is a natural extension of this commitment,” said Nicholas Sumas, a third-generation grocer and chief marketing officer of Village Super Market Inc., which owns the ShopRite of Greater Morristown. “Customers have become increasingly interested in sourcing their food locally and supporting neighborhood businesses, so we’re expanding our Locally Grown program by working hand-in-hand with family farms to provide even more locally grown and sourced foods.”
New Jersey is one of the nation’s top growers of peaches, ranking sixth in the U.S. in production value in 2016 at $28.4 million. The 2017 New Jersey peach crop is projected to produce between 55 and 60 million pounds of peaches on 5,500 acres, according to the New Jersey Peach Promotion Council. The peach season is well under way across the state.
