Fresh format shines after team navigated remodeling process

by Treva Bennett / senior content creator

The Fresh Market’s Jessi East had a unique role to play in the remodel of the company’s original location on Lawndale Drive into its new concept store. As store manager, she had to navigate the challenges of keeping the store open as construction was under way.

Having started with The Fresh Market 15 years ago, East worked her way up from assistant guest service manager to her current role. She has been at the Greensboro, North Carolina, location for about 12 years.

East’s enthusiasm for the new concept is apparent, as her first word to describe it was “amazing.”

How is The Fresh Market innovative?

“I think that we continue to change with the times. Our convenient meal solutions, just other growth, you can’t get what we do here at other grocery stores.”

“We basically have breakfast, lunch, dinner options – which is something very new for The Fresh Market – and pretty much everything in between,” she said. “It’s geared toward convenient meal solutions, giving our guests an opportunity to come in and get something quick for themselves or their entire family.

“It’s restaurant quality, and we’re doing most everything in house, which is very unique to a grocery store. It’s basically like having a restaurant inside of a grocery store, which is pretty amazing,” she said.

The remodel occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, presenting some challenges for East and her team. Construction delays, equipment and supply chain issues were among the biggest obstacles, she said.

Having the store open during the construction also was a bit challenging for guests, but East said she and her team “tried to make it as seamless as possible.” The store was cleaned of dust and debris every morning, as most of the work occurred overnight. That helped greatly, East said, as guests could shop and not have to listen to construction noise.

After 10 months of renovations, the store celebrated its new concept design in October 2021. The response from guests to The Square and the Roasting Plant Coffee station has been positive. The most popular item in the new Square is “definitely the barbecue,” East said.

“Yes, that’s a huge draw. The barbecue station is a huge hit. And biscuits have been pretty huge.”

The deli case continues to be a guest favorite and the Made to Order Station has been “quite popular,” East said. “Guests being able to make their own salads or sandwiches as a convenient meal solution for a quick lunch or dinner has been a good one, as well.”

East said she is “very passionate” about The Fresh Market.

“I love the people that I work with, the team. We get to collaborate with many different levels across the organization at this store in particular, which is amazing,” she said. “There’s something different going on every day, which I really enjoy.

“I love our guests. They’re very loyal. They love the store, they come in sometimes just to say, ‘hey,’ and check on us. They ask us about our families, and we ask about theirs. It’s really just a very collaborative environment, very family oriented.”

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Cooking at home made easy

The Fresh Market also is known for its Little Big Meal program.

“This is our value play,” Portnoy said. “This is a big piece of our business and there is a new meal every week. Our chefs in-house develop recipes and many of them are comfort food meals.”

Simple to prepare, Little Big Meals are designed to feed a family of four for a value price.

The Market Meal Kit program is another cost- and timesaving meal option. The program started with the popularity of home delivery kits and, “the secret is fresh made meat, cut in store and fresh produce,” Portnoy said.

Those are combined with a starch, such as potatoes or polenta or rice, which is made for The Fresh Market, and the stores package the meals. A team member signs off on each one, ensuring everything listed is inside.

“This is a big part of our program – restaurant quality,” Portnoy said. “The other thing we learned when we started this is that people want to prepare it in like 15 to 20 minutes in one pan. It’s incredible.”

He alluded again to the steamer bags prepared in the produce section, showing that they also similarly prepare seafood.

“The No. 1 reason why customers don’t want to cook seafood is they’re afraid they don’t know how,” Portnoy said. “And it smells up the house. This [steamer bag] is microwaveable in about three minutes. It’s delicious.”

The Square

Included in the new concept remodel was the installation of a kitchen where the restaurant-quality foods are prepared. Previously, all of the food preparation took place in an open area. Now, everything is taken to the kitchen. Similar to a restaurant, the setup also includes a smoker for barbecue.

“This is a big innovation,” Portnoy said. “This is the biggest thing that we probably have done in many, many years.”

Moving from the back to The Square, where The Fresh Market’s hot foods and Made to Order foods are located, a case containing its “world-class chicken salad” and other deli items is set alongside a salad station.

It includes some signature salads but also allows guests to make their own from a variety of greens, vegetables and proteins. Sandwiches also are ready to grab and go or guests may have their own created.

But the hallmark of The Square and part of the new concept design is the restaurantquality meals available for takeout.

Signature barbecue choices such as brisket, ribs and pulled pork are the most popular, with a barbecue plate – including two hot sides – for $10.99, Portnoy said.

Sides include Vermont cheddar mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, corn souffle, Brussels sprouts, smoked beans and collards, which sell out almost daily.

Portnoy added that all of the ingredients for the hot foods come from The Fresh Market.

“That was one of the key drivers,” he said. “We want to take our delicious food and produce and meat and bakery and put that all in recipes. And we wanted to have more customability, because that’s kind of the big trend.”

This required different training for team members. “It’s the mindset of more food preparation as opposed to retail and supermarkets,” Portnoy explained. “We’re learning as we go along.”

He added The Square has not taken anything away from prepacked salads or sandwiches.

Another favorite is oven-baked pizzas. Prepared in the back kitchen, the pizzas are finished in a special oven in The Square. They are sold whole or by the slice, made with proprietary dough, Portnoy said.

Also featured is a beer and wine bar, where guests can pick out a beverage to sip as they stroll the store.

Portnoy commented the bakery has many guest favorites, including The Fresh Market’s signature fruit tarts. They are made with 1 pound of fruit. A new loyalty program allows members to receive a free slice of cake on their birthday.

Other signature items in the bakery are croissants and rolls, as well as a selection of breads, including a popular sourdough made from a decades-old proprietary recipe.

The cheese department features about 150 varieties, but but the star item is a Parmigiano Reggiano from a single source dairy, Portnoy said.

“It’s aged a minimum of 24 months,” he said. “Parmesan Reggiano, it’s the king of cheeses.”

Roasting Plant Coffee

Adjacent to The Square is the Roasting Plant Coffee area, where Michael Johnson, director of merchandising and special projects, has samples of a freshly roasted, blended and brewed coffee: Ethiopian bean mocha with rose.

“The floral of the rose plays off the chocolate and the Ethiopian bean like crazy,” he said.

Michael Johnson said The Fresh Market is in a partnership with Roasting Plant Coffee that has been around for 16 years, getting its start in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. The company also has stores in Minneapolis, Denver, Detroit and San Francisco, airports and five stores in London.

The Fresh Market is the first and only grocery store partnership in the U.S., he said, and it is the largest model that Roasting Plant Coffee has built.

“It starts with the beans. These are true specialty coffee beans,” he said. “So, the top 1 to 3 percent quality beans in the world, direct relationships with the farms via our roastmaster, Genevieve Kappler, and she gets the beans in for us and then works with our team to create a roast profile specific to each bean that we do every day fresh in-store.

“Guests come to The Fresh Market already for the freshest produce quality. Now we’re teaching them what fresh coffee is. Science shows us that coffee starts to lose its flavor seven to 10 days after roasting. We commit to no longer than three or four days old. And the flavor difference is outstanding.”

Also at The Square, guests can place their order for a cup of coffee and watch as the roasted beans fly overhead through the tubes to be ground and brewed.

“We grind and brew every single cup fresh,” Michael Johnson said. “And we’re the only place you can get a blended coffee on the fly of any three of 14 selections that you would like to create your own special blend.”

Portnoy agreed that The Fresh Market has taken its coffee program to a new level with this program.

“This is our strategy going forward with our new stores and remodeled stores,” he said. “This is like our lab testing it. The whole premise is to drive foot traffic, attract a younger demographic for a kind of local coffee shop feel.”

Portnoy said customer response to the Roasting Plant Coffee program has been “phenomenal.”

Variety of speciality foods

Turning to aisles containing more traditional grocery items, Portnoy noted that The Fresh Market still stands out.

These items include: bulk spices made for The Fresh Market, marinades, sauces and rubs that complement the fresh area; a selection of about 65 oils, including award-winning olive oils and high-end vinegars; pastas and pasta sauces; and many more items curated for the grocer, including its private label items.

A new wine section was included in the concept, featuring more than 650 varieties of wines, including a reserve section and high-end selections along with everyday drinking wine, Portnoy said. Mixers, cocktail syrups, stuffed olives and “the best maraschino cherries in the world” are also found in the area, he said.

As far as beer goes, The Fresh Market is focused on “local, unique, unusual,” Portnoy said. While Miller Lite and Bud Light are available, guests also may create their own six-pack for $10.99.

Refrigerated and frozen cases featured more plantbased items along with eggs, cheese, butter, milk and yogurt.

“It’s not the largest selection of yogurt but there’s some really cool stuff that a lot of people don’t have,” Portnoy said. “We have a lot of guests that are more affluent and travel the world. They know these brands when they see them.”