Last updated on December 7th, 2020 at 02:46 pm
Associated Grocers of New England Inc. (AGNE) held its spring food show March 10 at the Double Tree Hilton in Manchester, Connecticut.
AGNE hosts food shows twice a year, in the spring and fall. The shows offer the retailer an in-depth look at the variety of products carried by AGNE vendors. The shows also feature several booths representing all of the retailer programs that AGNE offers. The company says this allows the retailers to meet face to face with each of the retail services departments, get to know the people who have helped them throughout the year and learn about new or different programs that they may not have taken advantage of.
After the event closes, AGNE and the represented vendors donate all of the remaining products to the New Hampshire Food Bank.
The 2020 AGNE Fall Show is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 16.
AGNE was organized in February 1946 by a group of 21 independent retailers resolved to form a company with greater purchasing power than they could realize individually. It first operated as New Hampshire Wholesale Grocers in an 18,000-s.f. warehouse facility in Concord, New Hampshire, and soon moved to Manchester, New Hampshire to accommodate growth in members and sales. The company quickly became Associated Grocers of New England, which better represented the rapidly expanding market area.
After two moves and numerous warehouse expansions, in 2006 a new, state-of-the-art, 380,000-s.f. distribution center—with 11 million cubic feet of space and constructed on 74 acres in Pembroke, New Hampshire— became AG New England’s home. The design of this new facility effectively doubled the capacity of the Manchester facility to expand and enhance product offerings. The property allows for future building expansion to upwards of 650,000 s.f
In April of 2014, AG New England broke ground for a 105,000-s.f. expansion encompassing grocery, refrigerated, frozen and office areas. Included with this expansion is the installation of a Dematic Multi-shuttle automated product selection system. This system allows AG New England to vastly increase the sku count, particularly in slower moving specialty, natural and organic items, and do so in an extremely compact footprint.
This facility offers retailers an expansive, and growing, variety of products as well as retail support services such as advertising, marketing, store equipment and design, merchandising, bookkeeping and retail systems. A dedicated team of 300-plus employees services over 600 stores in the six-state New England region, upstate New York/Albany area, and eastern Pennsylvania.
