As in most regions of the U.S., supermarket business in Michigan has been strong since the COVID-19 pandemic hit earlier this year, and foodservice sales dropped dramatically before showing some signs of a rebound.
Many produce suppliers say upticks on the retail side have more than made up for lost foodservice business.
Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Meijer Inc. was the leading supermarket chain in the Midwest region, which includes Detroit and surrounding cities, according to the 2020 second-quarter Shelby Report.
Meijer held a 35.4% market share.
Cincinnati-based The Kroger Co. ranked second with a 21.6% market share, and Bentonville, Ark.-based Walmart was third with 9.3%.
The region also boasts a large number of independently owned supermarkets.
“We have a lot of beautiful independent grocery stores here, and they do very well,” said Mike Bommarito, president of R.A.M. Produce Distributors LLC on the Detroit Produce Terminal.
Consumers are staying home more and going out less, said Dominic Russo, buying and selling director for Rocky Produce at the terminal market.
“That has caused retail to be very brisk and very busy,” he said.
Business has come in waves at times, especially during the spring, he said.
“That was a little bit tricky to navigate through.”
Russo said the retail scene has remained relatively stable, with not many new stores opening, and not many markets leaving the area.
“This year, everybody is just hanging on and going for the rollercoaster ride that it’s been,” he said.
About one-third of the business at R.A.M. Produce Distributors is foodservice, Bommarito said.
“Our foodservice dropped way off,” he said. “Our retail picked way up.”
Foodservice sales have started to come back, but Bommarito said he does not expect restaurants to be back at full swing until they’re allowed to open to full capacity once again.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will determine when that will happen.
Retail orders seem to have increased across the board for Mike Pirrone Produce Inc., a grower-shipper based in Capac, Mich., about 90 miles north of Detroit, said president Matt DeBlouw.
“Our main focus is on retail,” he said. “Business has been very good.”
The company was experiencing significant growth even before COVID-19 hit as DeBlouw put a new focus on its growing operation, he said.
Demand for various kinds of hard squash will increase as fall arrives, he said.
Cucumbers, bell peppers and eggplant are some of the other items the company offers.
Locally grown vegetables are high on the list of items offered by Rocky Produce at this time of year, Russo said.
“It’s always nice to see produce being grown in your local area and to be connected with great growers with great quality and to be able to support what they’re doing,” he said.
Tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, squash and leafy vegetables are some of the products the company will offer, with some available through October, depending on weather.
“We want to see (local farmers) do well,” he said. “It’s about the Michigan economy.”
R.A.M. Produce Distributors offers a full line of vegetables, Bommarito said.
A wide range of tomato varieties probably tops the list, he said. But the company also has seen a boost in sales of organic produce and some specialty items that consumers have seen on TV.
“They’re trying new things,” he said.
The company has made some special orders through producers in Cuba and Peru.
Bommarito has fielded requests for items like boniato, a sweet potato with dry, white flesh, and calabaza, a winter squash.
“We have a nice mix of ethnic groups here in the Detroit area,” Bommarito said.
Some consumers seek out items from their homelands, he said, while other shoppers ask for specialty items they’ve seen on TV cooking shows.
Sometimes consumers discovered a favorite specialty item in an ethnic restaurant that has closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“When COVID hit, they had to learn how to cook it themselves,” he said.
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