Rep Call
Met with Lenny Siegel over dinner. He has been a long time supporter of NW Cherries and has typically been an aggressive promoter, often using cherries as a loss leader to generate movement. He wants to continue to aggressively market but is concerned with a new arrangement called Northeast Shared Services (NESS), where Tops and Price Chopper now order all their produce through C&S.
Conveniently, Lenny Siegel, the cherry buyer for Price Chopper and Market 32 is still working from home, and his home is in Port St Lucie, FL. Have not met with him in person since 2019, so travelled to PSL to visit there with Lenny. While there, took him and his wife to dinner. Lenny explained to me about the new arrangement between Tops and Price Chopper/Market 32, including how the entire deal is being arranged through C&S. Price Chopper and Tops still seem to have some autonomy, including advertising. However, he is unhappy about how C&S seems to be abandoning their long time relationships, and letting them down when it comes to supplies. I will be visiting with both Tops and C&S and will try to get their take on this arrangement too. Lenny says that the prices he pays have gone up substantially since this arrangement commenced, and he says that makes him less competitive than he has been.