Stop & Shop Bringing Seasonal Produce to Stores

The Stop & Shop Supermarket Co. is offering a variety of local seasonal produce from more than 50 New England farms. Among the items available this summer are tomatoes, corn, cucumbers, beans, peppers and various squashes.

"Our customers receive the freshest, highest quality of fruits and vegetables right from their local farm," noted Jack Keane, director of produce for Quincy, Mass.-based Stop & Shop New England. "We believe selling locally grown produce strengthens our community and supports the local economy. Community farmers and our customers benefit greatly from our continued commitment to this wonderful program."

To make it easy for customers to find out where their produce comes from, the chain is displaying the farm names and locations on in-store signage. Shoppers can get additional info on the Stop & Shop website, which includes videos, recipes and a list of local growers. Additionally, like its sister banner, Giant Food, which runs a similar program, all Stop & Shop New England stores will have a cutout in the produce department where customers can take a "farm-fresh selfie."

Stop & Shop will promote all of its Buy Local efforts in stores throughout New England on Saturday, July 18, with visits from local farmers, family-oriented activities and produce sampling. The division has long supported local farmers and manufacturers in its market area of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. In the above picture, farmer Tyler Young, of Young Family Farm, in Little Compton, R.I., greets a Stop & Shop customer at an earlier event.

An Ahold company, Stop & Shop employs more than 59,000 associates and operates 395 stores in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York and New Jersey.