Foodshed.io says it has been working in partnership with The Kroger Co. to launch Georgia Sunnies Extra Friendly — the brand for the south Georgia produce cooperative — to customers exclusively.
“Family citrus growers take a lot of risk in planting trees and hoping that our fruit would find a market,” Lindy Savelle, board chair for Georgia Citrus Growers Association and a Georgia Sunnies grower, said in a news release. “Helping our growers get ready for retail and finding a market is critical to the success of these new groves.”
The new Georgia Sunnies brand brings together dozens of family growers with multiple varieties of citrus and have together helped to build the foundation for the citrus industry in Georgia — with varieties ranging from cara caras, golden nuggets, shuranuis, meyer lemons, grapefruit, stem and leaf satsumas, and more that have been grown in Georgia and marketed to retail consumers for the first time, the release said.
“These growers are regular people who took a chance years ago that the trees they planted would not only bear fruit, but would find a market,” said Dan Beckmann, CEO for Foodshed.io. “Working with our partners at Kroger, we’ve been able to help these growers with the elusive last step of reaching consumers and building a brand to market their incredibly hard work.”
Foodshed.io worked with Kroger inspectors and category managers to make sure that these growers could meet or exceed standards and exclusively launched the Georgia Sunnies-Extra Friendly brand in select stores in the Atlanta market and throughout the state of Georgia this season, the release said.
“These growers range from a former FBI agent, a gynecologist, a nurse to multi-generational growers,” said Amelia Weeks, director of farm operations for Foodshed.io.“We have been grateful to Kroger in helping us to establish this program and bring better flavor and fresher quality to their customers”
Foodshed.io says it has the largest network of retail-ready local farms across the country and works with some of the best retailers in the country to bring fresher, seasonal and more flavorful produce to customers across the country.
“We can’t underscore how important our retail partners are in helping to bring more farms into the market, providing better flavor and quality to their customers while helping to secure our food system, all at the same time,” Beckmann said.“Seasonal local produce can create exclusive opportunities that differentiate retailers in the market and at the end of the day drives traffic to stores to increase sales overall.”
