10 years ago

To be Minnesota Grown

Colin Lyons, our produce buyer, talks about our strong commitment to local growers:

For the past decade, the trend in almost every aspect of our lives has been to focus our purchases toward local.  From furniture to food, buying local has become hip.  We all beam with pride when we tell our
friends and family that we purchased something from a local grower of producer.  And why shouldn’t
we?  This is not the same pride we feel when we buy a new house or a new car.  This pride stems from our sense of community, our happiness to be a part of such a prosperous and vibrant state.  We all know it; Minnesota is a wonderful place to live, to raise and nourish our families, and to know our neighbors.

As a produce buyer, I have the privilege of interacting with those members of our community that grow our food.  Our local growers are quite literally at the root of the culinary Mecca the Twin Cities and greater Minnesota have become.   They are a passionate group that strive every day to bring their neighbors the safest, highest quality fruits and vegetables they can grow.  I have seen this dedication in the face of our Amaize sweet corn grower, Bert
Bouwman from Brooklyn Park.  Each year we are clamoring for that first delivery delicious Amaize sweet corn.  The feeling of disappointment when Bert tells us that it is not quite ready is always quickly followed by the
satisfaction of knowing Bert wants to sell us only the best he has to offer.  Whether it is Riverside Farms in Elk River or Pepin Heights Orchards in Lake City, this passion to deliver only the best to our community is shared by all of our growers.

At Lunds & Byerlys, the tradition of sourcing produce from local growers is at the very foundation of our company.  Before local was a trend, our founders worked hard to build relationships with local growers and producers at every opportunity.  They knew, just as we all now do, that keeping our purchases in our local economy and growing our community is something to be proud of.

This year we were honored with the title Minnesota grown retailer of the year for the fourth consecutive year.  While this recognition is about as good as it gets for a produce guy like myself, we have to realize that Minnesota Grown is much larger than this title and much larger than Lunds & Byerlys.  Minnesota grown belongs to all our
growers, to our delivery drivers, to our customers.  It belongs to all of us.  I would like to extend a very heartfelt thank you to everyone who supports Minnesota Grown and our community.  Lunds & Byerlys is a Minnesota grown company and we are proud to be your Minnesota Grown retailer of the year.

We are all Minnesota Grown! Thank you!