08/24/07 New Seasons Market

I just had a fun talk with a young man in Portland, Oregon about merchandising agriculture products. I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be back in one minute to fill you in. Recently I had a telephone conversation with Garrett Berdan, chef and registered dietitian working with New Seasons Market based in the Portland, Oregon Metro area. Garrett may be working in the big city arena, but he hasn't forgotten his rural upbringing so he is a good fit for New Season Markets and their merchandising mission to offer high quality food items from local producers to go along with regular grocery products. New Season Markets operate nine stores in the Portland area and maintain a close relationship with ranchers, produce growers and even local cheese makers. Their buyer of meat and seafood, Allen Hummell, actually visits the ranches and feedlots where the animals are born and grown. Garrett emphasized the importance of the rural-urban connections and cited one of their supplies of quality beef, Country Natural Beef, and their promotion efforts. Country Natural Beef personnel provide a barbeque open to all consumers where they can sample the beef products and get acquainted with the people who actually produced the beef. New Seasons Market does identify meats, cheese and produce with a label of origin. It's a simple fact and a sign of the times  consumers do want to know where their food comes from. I'm Jeff Keane.