0820_AUG Comstock's Magazine 0820 August | Page 59

Raley’s
Raley’s, headquartered in West Sacramento, supplements
its domestic and globally imported produce
with its Living Local program, sourced through relationships
produce managers have built with farmers
within 50 miles of their individual store. Raley’s has
128 stores — Raley’s, Bel Air, Nob Hill Foods, Market
5-One-5, Sak ’N Save and Raley’s O-N-E Market
(the sale of its two Food Source stores is expected to
close later this month) — in California and Nevada.
“They have a little bit of autonomy,” says Michael
Schutt, senior category manager for produce
and floral who has been with the company since
1986. “We do the buying globally, but we want to
give them advice and help them ... make deals within
their communities and telling the communities we
are doing that.”
Those conversations with local farmers meant
produce was the first food category to rebound
after the disruption to grocery stores. Daily orders
could be adjusted to meet demand, making produce
available to consumers within 24 hours of ordering,
whereas other products that had to be ordered
months in advance would take much longer to appear
on shelves.
Local relationships also offer small farms and
new products entry into mainstream retail grocery
stores. For example, prior to the pandemic, the Center
for Land-Based Learning, a nonprofit in Winters
that educates beginning farmers, sold 100 pounds
of melons to Raley’s in West Sacramento. The
relationships also work for products that need to be
reallocated as the pandemic shifts markets. Raley’s
now purchases products once slated for restaurants,
like peeled garlic and large bags of russet potatoes.
“We pivoted to open up channels we wouldn’t
have in the past,” says Schutt, who points out that
some large produce distributors who supplied restaurants
approached Raley’s. “We were open to that.”
And while Raley’s doesn’t procure its meat
from local or small producers, it has a partnership
with Harris Ranch in Coalinga that is similar
to its relationships with local produce farmers,
allowing weekly purchase orders that can flex with
consumer demand.
PHOTO BY CHAD DAVIES
August 2020 | comstocksmag.com 59