FOOD EMPORIUM CULTIVATING ITS ORGANIC COMMODITIES IMAGE

AMY I. STICKEL

NEW YORK -- Organic produce has sold so well for A&P's Food Emporium chain here that it plans to make 70 organic items available within a year.

Food Emporium, part of Montvale, N.J.-based A&P's Metro division, began selling organics a year ago. It currently carries about 50 certified organic commodity items, said Jeffrey Piering, produce director at Food Emporium.

"We're doing quite well with it," Piering said of the organics program. "I would like to continue to broaden the variety. I would go up to 100 items, if I could find them."

He said organics have found a growing clientele for the upscale 34-unit chain, which operates in the metropolitan New York area. Food Emporium will face increasing competition in the organics area, now that natural foods operator Fresh Fields has begun moving into the sprawling metro New York market. Fresh Fields' new store in Connecticut competes directly with a Food Emporium unit, and the Rockville, Md., chain plans to open two stores in New Jersey this year.

Piering called the competition "healthy." Fresh Fields' variety and selection of organic produce "really opened my eyes," he said.

Leafy green and red lettuces are some of Food Emporium's best-selling organic items, Piering said. Apples, potatoes and carrots also sell well.

The chain is promoting its organics more prominently. A recent Food Emporium ad featured several organic produce items, including cello carrots and a prepared salad that were clearly labeled organic.

The ad copy included a blurb alerting shoppers to the program. "You won't find a better variety of fruits and vegetables for Memorial Day celebrations . . . the sweetest corn, the juiciest melons, the perkiest greens . . . organic selections as well," the copy read.

The company's emphasis on natural foods is extending beyond the produce department. As SN reported earlier, Food Emporium is aggressively promoting the line of Coleman Natural Meats it carries.

"Food Emporium is very definitely expanding the lines of natural and organic products, and is optimistic about the results. The entire natural organic line in the Food Emporium are doing well, and [we are] looking forward to further expansion," said William Vitulli, A&P's vice president of community and government relations.

"People are pleasantly surprised to find the items available, and they are continuing to buy them," Vitulli said.