The longest journey starts with a single step. Similar reasoning could be used for Food Lion’s journey.

For, who could have guessed that the single Food Town grocery store opened in 1957 in Salisbury, NC, by brothers Brown and Ralph Ketner, along with Wilson Smith would become the 1,100 plus store supermarket chain Food Lion? Especially since the trio had to raise funds to open that first store by sifting through the phone book cold-calling local citizens offering low-dollar investments.

A footprint of more than 1,100 stores across 10 states can make it difficult to develop a company-wide local produce program — yet Food Lion is finding a way.

“We call it ‘Local Goodness’ and that is across all our stores,” said Chris Dove, vice president of produce category, merchandising and pricing. “Produce is the hub, and it is year-round, depending on the products and a specific store.”

Like so many others, Chris Dove, Food Lion’s vice president of produce category, merchandising and pricing, began his supermarket career in high school.

He started as a part-time produce clerk at his local Food Lion in Rock Hill, SC. Dove spent the next 14 years climbing the retail ladder, fulfilling multiple roles with Food Lion.

There are not too many things people can truly count on these days. Food Lion makes every effort to be one of those things to its shoppers. So much so that it is embedded in its strategy — “Easy, Fresh & Affordable. You can count on Food Lion… Every day!”

The strategy drives every element of the company’s business, from the services offered to merchandising and marketing. It is more than a promise, it’s an approach that sums up how they help provide affordable groceries to the communities it serves.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has filed an administrative complaint against US Fresh Corp. for alleged violations of the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act. The company, operating from New York, allegedly failed to make payment promptly to 38 produce sellers in the amount of $952,319 from April 2021 through April 2022.

Flashfood added Nicholas Bertram to its leadership team in a newly created position of president and chief operating officer.

‍Bertram joins the company with more than 20 years of experience in the retail industry where he has dedicated his career to achieving sustainability, innovation and growth for companies including Jewel-Osco, Walmart and most recently as president of The Giant Co., an Ahold Delhaize brand.