Since 1932, we’ve been partnering with local farmers and producers in our region. You can find regionally produced products in departments across our stores, including our baby food aisle, thanks to our Upstate New York friends at Beech-Nut.
It all started 120 years ago in downtown Canajoharie, NY. World-famous baby food company Beech-Nut began as the Imperial Packing Company in 1881. Founded by Bartlett Arkell, brothers Raymond and Walter Lipe, and other brothers John and David Zieley. They started off smoking hams, but as time went on added other products, such as chewing gum, coffee, and of course, baby food. By 1900, sales climbed up to $200,000 and the company was officially incorporated as the Beech-Nut Packing Company.
During its heyday, Beech-Nut employed between 1,800 to 2,200 people, and many retirees have remained loyal to the company. With its success, Beech-Nut brought a wonderful buzz to the upstate New York village. The daily downtown lunch scene was vibrant, sidewalks and local eateries were full of life. The plant was truly the heartbeat of Canajoharie, and the company’s baby food was the main reason for such prosperity.
The manufacturing of baby food sent a sweet, fruity scent flowing through the community, as Beech-Nut continued to work on its formulas. In 1977, a line of baby food was introduced with no added salt. Twenty years later it removed refined sugar, and in 2002 introduced a line with essential fatty acids.
After a 119-year tenure in Canajoharie, Beech-Nut moved its headquarters to Montgomery County’s Town of Florida Business Park, where it remains today. Beech-Nut continues to be a consistent home.grown. source of high-quality baby food right in our own neighborhood.
Beech-Nut is just another example of our pride in local products and providing the best to our customers. Thanks to local famers and producers right in our region, we can continue to meet our home.grown. goals.
home.grown. Corn: How Sweet It Is!
Sweet corn is a seasonal treasure. It’s one of our favorites to enjoy all summer long, especially in peak growing season here in the Northeast! We’re proud to source sweet corn locally when the season rolls in, but did you know that this crop takes a sourcing journey all the way up East Coast each year, before our region’s annual bounty hits?
May
Warmer weather typically hits our region in full force by mid-May, and the people of the Northeast hit their backyards. Early in what we like to call “grilling season,” we’re usually tapping into Florida’s sweet corn season, as our Northeast farmer’s plant, water and tend to their fields.
June
By June, the summer season is officially setting in. Around here, the weather heats up, the sun stays out and our sweet corn starts to come a bit closer. We move our map pin from Florida to Georgia and begin bringing in Georgia-grown sweet corn for a while. Northeastern cornstalks have sprouted by the end of the month, in preparation for harvest in a few weeks. We can hardly wait.
July
Weather factors heavily into almost all of the crops we source locally each year, and sweet corn is no exception. While we prepare for the mid-July checkered flag on our beloved local sweet corn, we source our corn in parts of North Carolina and Delaware, where local corn season has set in. It’s delicious, as was the Floridian and Georgian corn, but we’re chomping at the bit for corn from our backyard!
It’s Here!
Sometime between mid and late July each year, our favorite point in the local agriculture season hits: sweet corn season. Our Produce teammates smile from ear to ear, pun intended, as crates from friends like Shaul Farms in Fultonham, New York, Paul Mazza Farms in Colchester, Vermont, and more start to arrive. This amazing season seems to go by in the blink of an eye, much like the holidays do, and typically lasts until mid-September. Our local farmers deliver consistently during this time, and we can’t get enough!
Want to read more about home.grown. produce season in the Northeast? Visit our blog and check out our Ready Magazine.
New Items: FAGE® Total Blend Yogurt
NEW FAGE® Total Blended Greek yogurt is hitting our dairy aisle shelves! Real fruit blended with FAGE Total’s nonfat Greek yogurt. Taste the rich, creamy perfection of beautifully balanced Greek yogurt.
Available at your local store in 5.3oz size, FAGE Total Blended yogurt contains 100% natural ingredients and is Non-GMO Project Verified. Kissed with fruit, blended to velvety goodness, and packed with protein – enjoy it by the spoonful right out of the container, or in a parfait with fresh fruit and granola.
Not only is this exciting new yogurt tasty, it’s also made right here in the Northeast! FAGE yogurt is produced in Upstate New York, near our Johnstown Price Chopper. When it’s made or grown here, we get it here!
Shop these newbies and more new items here!
Celebrate Shopping Local with Northeast Made Products!
At Price Chopper & Market 32, we pride ourselves on providing our customers with fresh, close to home ingredients. To ensure that when you’re shopping our aisles, you’re choosing from the highest quality selection of locally made products. It’s what’s best for you and your family!
Milk: Our PICS milk is bottled in New York with the help of over 500 Northeast dairy farmers: When you take home a jug of our milk, you’re taking home the product of hard-working local farmers (and cows) from our region. Located in Hudson Falls, NY, Ideal Dairy Farms is a great local dairy farm. These folks are just a few miles down the road from our Fort Edward store. Ideal Dairy first began selling milk to local residents around 1908. These days they produce over 16,000 gallons of milk per day! Despite operating for over 100 years, the vision of Ideal Dairy has remained unchanged: they’re committed to the production of quality milk for their community.
Granola: Every batch of PICS granola is hand made in Schenectady, New York. Made with the finest ingredients using artisanal baking techniques, this granola will soon be your go-to granola. Snack on it plain, add milk, top your ice cream with it – no matter how you use it, you will enjoy every bite!
Maple Syrup: We live in one of the only regions in the world with the ideal climate for maple agriculture, and we’re proud to partner with a wide variety of local maple farmers and producers here in the Northeast, who are currently preparing for this year’s maple sugaring season.
These are just a few of the wide variety of local products available in our stores. You can find many more homegrown PICS items on our shelves. Featured in our ad this week are PICS cottage cheese and eggs, two of our go-to locally made items.
Shop Local PICS Products
Summer Camping Spots in the Northeast
One of the best ways to enjoy the summer weather is by connecting with nature at one of the many breathtaking camping spots the Northeast has to offer. We are proud to call this area home, with each state in our region offering amazing getaway opportunities. To help you with your summer fun we put together a list of some of our favorite camping spots in the area!
Lake Waramug State Park (New Preston, CT): In an area full of scenic lakes, Lake Waramug is wrapped with 77 campsites along its edges. You can even choose between overlooking the water or staying hidden in the trees. Either way you can enjoy fishing, picnic areas, swimming, and boating facilities with kayak and canoe rentals.
Savoy Mountain State Forest (Florida, MA): Tucked away in the beauty of the Berkshires, those who camp at Savoy Mountain State Forest are guaranteed to enjoy a lovely experience with nature. Featuring 46 campsites, and some of the best hiking in New England, campers can enjoy various outdoor adventures. Find floating bog islands, climb overlooks, and discover gorgeous waterfalls all at Savoy Mountain.
Chocorua Camping Village (Tamworth, NH): In the New Hampshire White Mountains sits Chocorua Camping Village, an all-inclusive, resort-style, family camping and hiking destination. You’ll be surrounded by beautiful lakes and giant pine trees. With access to resort amenities like a game room, movie theatre, swimming pool, and treasure hunts.
Moosalamoo Campground (Salisbury, VT): If you’re looking for a backwoods getaway experience that isn’t totally the backwoods, Moosalamoo is the place for you. Featuring 16 miles of hiking trails, the campground also offers drive-in tent camping, toilet facilities, accessible drinking water and trash disposal.
Glimmerglass State Park (Cooperstown, NY): Overlooking Otsego Lake, Glimmerglass State Park offers camping and hiking, biking, fishing, and picnicking. The campground offers a concession stand, nature trail, pavilions, picnic tables, showers, grills, volleyball courts, and even fire rings. Campfire wood is also sold at the park.
Watkins Glen State Park (Watkins Glen, NY): Watkins Glen is considered the most famous of the Finger Lakes state parks. Offering 305 campsites with restrooms, dumping stations, showers, and firewood for sale. The park also features concession stands, a gift shop, picnic tables, and grills. And for entertainment, playing fields, an Olympic sized swimming pool, a kiddie pool, playgrounds, and 19 waterfalls. The park also offers fishing in Seneca Lake or Catherine Creek and hunting in designated areas.
Greater Reading Campgrounds (Reading, PA): Camping in Reading exposes you to the natural beauty of the area. With the Appalachian Trail to the north and Amish Country to the southwest, the area offers several different terrains and adventures. Popular campgrounds include Sun Valley Campground in Bowmansville, Appalachian RV Resort in Shartlesville, and Mountain Springs Camping Resort in Hamburg.
Whether you are an experienced camper or new to it, these spots all offer awesome summer fun. Check them out if you haven’t yet. And don’t forget to stop by your local Price Chopper/Market 32 for all of your camping necessities!
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home.grown. Tour 2020: Teammate Abby on Tour!
We’re rockin’ the support for local farmers & producers on our home.grown. tour! Our tour has brought us to local dairy farms, maple sugaring farms, chocolate artisans and more. We recently discovered one of our own teammates who’s on a home.grown. tour of her own: Abby S. in our Bennington VT store! Check out Abby’s story below.
Abby, Co-Manager, Bennington VT Price Chopper
A few years ago, I came across a Vermont Club called the 251 Club. It encourages people to visit all 251 towns in the State of Vermont. I have slowly, over the last few years, been visiting the towns whenever I find the time throughout the different seasons Vermont has to offer. So far, I have 122 towns complete and have photographed every town sign I’ve visited.
My goal was to not just drive through the towns, but to stop and get out and walk around. I have seen amazing landscapes, historical sites, little country stores, farms, and even the tiny, struggling, forgotten towns of Vermont. I have traveled many dirt roads and seen places I would have never seen without the club. I have skied the many peaks Vermont has and snowshoed many locations including The Notch in Stowe. I have walked around in the hometown of President Calvin Coolidge, the 30th President of the United States, and even explored old Marble quarries that don’t operate anymore.
In the Fall of 2019, I began day section hiking The Long Trail. The oldest long-distance hiking trail in the country. It’s 273 miles span the entire length of Vermont. So far, I am approximately 40 miles in and have never been so mentally and physically pushed in my life but full filled at the same time. I have seen some of the most beautiful but rugged landscape a road can never bring me to. Vermont is an amazing place I am lucky to call home. It has more to offer than meets the eye, you just need to get out and look for it!
How cool is Abby’s tour? We love it! If you’re interested in learning more about our home.grown. tour, check out https://www.pricechopper.com/homegrown-tour/.
Happy trails, from Abby and her Price Chopper & Market 32 team!
Explore Our Region!
Our region is home to a wide variety of local craft beer, dairy products, produce and more, but it’s also home to some of the best mountains, lakes and hiking trails in the world. So, as part of our home.grown. tour we wanted to take a moment to shine the spotlight on the local outdoors of our Northeast region! In this Explore Our Region blog, we asked some of our teammates for their favorite spots for adventure and fun. Check it out!
Dylan G. – Pharaoh Lake Wilderness Area, Schroon Lake NY
“When I moved to upstate NY 5 years ago, I was blown away at the abundance of locations for outdoor adventures. I couldn’t wait to put my boots on and chase every hike/backpacking trip I could find on the map. One of my favorite spots I discovered and continue to frequently visit is the Pharaoh Lake Wilderness Area. My first excursion out to this area was with my little brother. We set out to backpack the 35 mile route around the entire wilderness area in 4 days, and we were able to take in all the natural beauty it possessed. We discovered that Pharaoh Lake has everything you could ask for in one spot, whether you want a multi-day backpacking trip, short hike, mountain to climb, or a secluded lake/pond to camp out at and swim… this area has it! I would highly recommend this spot to anyone who hasn’t visited it, you won’t be disappointed!”
Phil G. – Chapel Pond Slab, Keene NY
“Chapel Pond Slab is a fantastic multipitch climb above Chapel Pond on route 73, heading towards Lake Placid. It’s a must do yearly climb that takes about half a day to get up and back. Beautiful views of the pond below and Giant Mountain across the street. A classic climb in the Adirondacks.”
Danielle T. – Mount Marcy, Keene NY
“One of my favorite trails I’ve done was Mount Marcy in the Adirondacks. It has a great combination of terrain. You can run the bottom portion of the mountain and it’s a nice scramble to get to the top. Plus you can’t beat the views on top.”
Antoni F. – Tongue Mountain Range, Bolton Landing NY
“One of my favorite and most frequented locations to trail run and hike is the Tongue Mountain Range using the Northwest Bay Trail on Lake George. It’s a longer 14.8 mile trail and loop with moderate elevation. The lower portion of the trail weaves in and out from the water’s edge which provides numerous areas to stop and swim in the lake. The furthest point on the trail, Montcalm Point, looks out over all of Lake George. However some of the best views are along the trail itself with multiple peaks and out looks.”
Tyler B. – Kane Mountain, Canada Lake NY
“I’ve been hiking Kane Mountain in New York’s Adirondack region my whole life. The hike is great: not too steep and not too long, and ends with a fire tower climb that reveals an incredible view of multiple Adirondack lakes below. It’s a great adventure for beginners and seasoned experts alike!”
Beyond the beautiful Adirondack region of our home state of New York, the Northeast is also home to the Green Mountains of Vermont, White Mountains of New Hampshire and The Berkshires of Massachusetts, in addition to lots of other hiking spots, lakes and more. If you’re looking for new outdoor adventures in the Northeast, definitely check out these great spots. You might discover a new favorite getaway!
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