Oser Communications Group

News & Notes BRIEFS GOURMET NEWS OCTOBER 2017 www.gourmetnews.com NEWS & NOTES 6 Supermarkets Pitch in for Hurricane Harvey Relief As Hurricane Harvey continued to bring catastrophic flooding and devastation to parts of southeast Texas, Albertsons Com- panies was mobilizing its entire chain of 2,300+ stores across the U.S. to aid in the disaster relief effort, Kroger Company Foundation kicked in $100,000 to the Houston Food Bank and ALDI ponied up with a $100,000 donation to the American Red Cross and another $50,000 to the city of Rosenburg, Texas. "Kroger is showing extraordinary com- passion and commitment to our commu- nity by stepping forward so quickly with this gift to the Houston Food Bank," said Brian Greene, President and CEO of the Houston Food Bank. "Kroger's donation will help us where we need it most: secur- ing trucks, forklifts and temporary staffing. These assets are vital and essential to the Food Bank. Without them, we are unable to move food into areas affected by Hurri- cane Harvey. We've never had to respond to such widespread devastation, so our need for operational help is higher than it's ever been." Albertsons and Kroger both launched na- tionwide fundraisers to help the tens of thousands of people in the affected areas meet their basic needs, with Albertsons Companies and the Albertsons Companies Foundation matching the first $200,000 donated by its customers. "As a company with a long and proud presence in Texas, including the hardest-hit areas, we're committed to helping our neighbors get through this crisis," said Chairman and CEO Bob Miller. "We know that the needs are immense, but so is our resolve for making a meaningful impact on the emergency response and humanitarian efforts. Our thoughts and prayers are with Texas." Along with the financial assistance, the company's Albertsons and Tom Thumb stores in Dallas-Fort Worth donated refrig- erated tractor trailers to bring and store food at the Salvation Army's rescue shelter in Houston. The company also worked with multiple food banks to provide food and other necessities to emergency shelters in and around Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth. Kroger sent its mobile Kroger Pharmacy to the Houston area to help refill cus- tomers' prescriptions, provide immuniza- tions, and perform blood pressure and glu- cose screenings. "This storm has ravaged our city, but I know the heart and resilience of Houstoni- ans: We can and will overcome this," said Marlene Stewart, Kroger's President of the Houston division. "Kroger is working tire- lessly to help support recovery, rescue and relief efforts. We will be here every step of the way." Albertsons relief effort also included 1,000 disaster relief boxes filled with canned fruits and vegetables, granola bars, peanut butter and utensils that went to Feeding America. Hundreds of ALDI employees packed the boxes during a service day at the company's headquarters in Batavia, Illinois, to support individuals and families displaced from their homes due to natural disasters. The June event was part of the company's long-standing partnership with Feeding America to pre- pare essentials that could be quickly de- ployed when needed. Each box contained more than 35 ALDI products. ALDI as- sisted further by arranging transportation of these supplies to the Southeast Texas Food Bank in Beaumont, Texas. GN Wisconsin Cheese Companies Send Over 17,000 Pounds of Cheese to Houston The Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board (WMMB), funded by Wisconsin's dairy farm families, coordinated a state-wide ef- fort with Wisconsin cheesemakers to send more than 17,000 pounds of cheese to Houston to provide nu- tritious food for those af- fected by Hurricane Harvey. "We are deeply sad- dened by the devastation facing Texas residents in the wake of Hurricane Harvey," says Suzanne Fanning, WMMB Vice President of Marketing Communications. "Our Wisconsin cheesemakers and dairy farmers are in- herently focused on helping others so we of- fered them a way to get involved. Their re- sponse to our call for donations was overwhelming – we were initially hoping to send 200 pounds of cheese, but the dona- tions kept pouring in – totaling over 17,000 pounds!" On Friday, September 1, WMMB em- ployees, cheese company employees and dairy farmers packed a delivery truck in Madison with more than 17,000 pounds of smoked string cheese, cheese curds, muen- ster, parmesan, classic cheddar and more. The shipment to the Houston Food Bank also included 300 pounds of butter. The Houston Food Bank is the nation's largest food bank with distribution to its network of nearly 600 hunger relief chari- ties in 18 southeast Texas counties. Ship- ping and logistics support is being provided by Independent Procurement Alliance Pro- gram (IPAP), based in Ap- pleton, Wisconsin. Twenty six cheese compa- nies from across the dairy state were involved in the re- lief effort. Participating com- panies include Agropur, Inc., Arena Cheese Inc., Bel- Gioioso Cheese, Inc., Bur- nett Dairy Cooperative, Carr Valley Cheese Company Inc., Chula Vista Cheese Company, Decatur Dairy, Inc., Cow Candy, Ellsworth Co-op Creamery, Emmi Roth USA, Foremost Farms USA Cooperative, Grande Cheese, Grassland Dairy Products, Inc., LaClare Fam- ily Creamery, Marieke Gouda, Nasonville Dairy, Odyssey Feta, Pine River Pre-Pack Inc., Ponderosa Dairy Products, Sartori Company, Schreiber Foods, Inc., Swiss Valley Farms Co-op, Vern's Cheese, Inc., Widmer's Cheese Cel- lars, Winona Foods, and Zimmerman Cheese. GN Ahold USA and its Brands Donate $250,000 in Cash and Product to Hurricane Harvey Relief Ahold USA and its brands – Stop & Shop, Giant Food of Landover, and Giant Food Stores of Carlisle – announced donations totaling $250,000 to help with relief and recovery efforts following Hurricane Harvey. The donations, comprised of $175,000 in cash donations and additional donations of $75,000 in needed food and supplies, will be made to the hardest-hit areas in Texas. MOM's Organic Market Center Opens in Philadelphia Family owned and operated MOM's Organic Market opened in Center City, Philadelphia with a grand opening celebration the weekend of September 8-10. "We've gotten the warmest welcomes in Bryn Mawr and Cherry Hill," said Founder/CEO, Scott Nash. "Now, we can't wait to offer the City of Brotherly Love our first truly urban MOM's!" BJ's Wholesale Club Donates $10,000 to the Bangor [Maine] Humane Society BJ's Wholesale Club made a $10,000 donation to the Bangor Humane Society at the end of August. The donation from BJ's Charitable Foundation was presented to the shelter along with $500 worth of Berkley Jensen ® pet products. Publix Super Markets Named Top National March for Babies Corporate Partner For the second year in a row, Publix Super Markets is the number one national March of Dimes' March for Babies corporate partner, raising more than $8.3 million to help give every baby a fighting chance. Natural Grocers Sponsors National Fundraiser for the Organic Farmers Association Natural Grocers celebrated its more than 30- year history of selling only 100 percent organically grown produce by sponsoring a month-long national fundraiser for the Organic Farmers Association (OFA) with a goal of raising $100,000 for the organization during the month of September. "There are only about 17,000 certified organic farms in the United States, compared to the more than 2 million conventional farms," said Heather Isely, Natural Grocers' Executive Vice President. "The Organic Farmers Association supports the organic farmer by elevating their influence on issues that matter to them. Better policy means more opportunities to increase organic acreage and improve the economic viability of organic farming methods, which makes organic farming a more attractive option."

• Cover