McLane’s ability to deliver fresh produce nationwide allows operators in multiple regions to offer a consistent product mix of healthier options. For single convenience stores (c-stores), McLane’s nationwide distribution means leveraging the company’s buying power to better compete pricewise, while ensuring high-quality fresh produce.
Because choice in pricing is a key factor in creating a solution that works for every retail customer, Fresh Produce + offers markup options associated with varying levels of product guarantee. Fresh Produce + is also fully compatible with McLane’s Premium Ordering Management Suite (POMS) and smart handheld technology, giving operators the ability to order fresh items just like any other SKU. In the coming months, the solution will integrate seasonal items and category management to ensure operators continue to grow their return.
According to an independent study, close to half of the nation’s population visits a c-store each month. What’s more, 48% of Americans consider them a place to buy fresh items. According to a 2015 NACS retailer sentiment survey, 50% of c-stores have expanded fresh fruit sales, while 30% have increased cut fruit and vegetable offerings.
In conjunction with the nationwide rollout of Fresh Produce +, McLane recently announced its affiliation with The Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA), a non-partisan non-profit organization devoted to working with the private sector to ensure the health of the nation’s youth by solving the childhood obesity crisis within a generation. McLane is the first grocery and chain restaurant distributor to make a commitment to PHA.
“We’re honored to come on board as the first grocery and chain restaurant supply chain distributor to support PHA’s efforts,” said Tony Frankenberger, president of McLane Grocery Distribution. “It is now more important than ever for the food, retail and distribution industries to work together to help solve the childhood obesity problem, and to offer consumers fresh and healthier products to make better food choices on a daily basis.”
McLane, through McLane Grocery, McLane Foodservice, and wholly owned subsidiary Meadowbrook Meat Company, Inc (MBM), operates 80 distribution centers across the United States and one of the nation’s largest private fleets. The company buys, sells and delivers more than 50,000 different consumer products to nearly 90,000 locations across the nation. A wholly owned unit of Berkshire Hathaway Inc (NYSE: BRK), McLane employs more than 20,000 teammates.
