ShopRite Highlights In-House Butchers This Holiday Season

Every day, ShopRite butchers butterfly pork chops, thin slice chicken breasts, split steaks and custom grind cuts of meat, all to a customer's taste. And this holiday season, ShopRite is highlighting its team of highly trained butchers as in-house experts who can help customers make the most of holiday meals, whether barbecuing, roasting or stewing.

When it comes to the holidays - one of the busiest times of year for ShopRite's meat departments - ShopRite stores take extra steps to ensure their customers are getting a premium service while saving them precious time. ShopRite butchers can help customers find the perfect size turkey for their guests, and shoppers can pre-order sausage for their stuffing or extra thighs and wings for gravy.

Special orders really ramp up in December, when many of the prime rib roasts in the meat case are loosened off the bone and hand-tied by ShopRite butchers who prepare the holiday roasts to meet increased demand. Butchers are always available to take special orders and make suggestions on the best cuts of meat.

Few supermarkets offer both the expertise of in-store butchers and the guaranteed freshness of daily deliveries. But ShopRite offers both, with butcher service similar to the old-fashioned corner meat market.

ShopRite of Pearl River's team of butchers in the ShopRite store in Pearl River, N.Y. has nearly 160 years of combined experience. It's not uncommon for customers to ask for their favorite butcher at the ShopRite of Pearl River.

"Our ShopRite butchers provide great service with a real personal touch that our customers appreciate," said ShopRite Pearl River Meat Manager Bill Scorzetti. "We want to give the best cut of meat to our customers because that means they will come back to us."

Eighty-three-year-old Bernard Smith, who has worked at the Pearl River store for the last decade, stumbled into the trade more than 60 years ago when his mother wanted him to find a job. She got him a spot in a butcher shop in Manhattan and he never looked back.

"I love what I do, and I love working with customers. We take a lot of pride in our work," said Smith.

At ShopRite of Hillsdale in Hillsdale, N.J., Tony Garcia, a third-generation butcher, also followed his family's tradition in the trade.

"The first thing my dad said was, 'You have to take care of the customer," Garcia said. "That's the key to the business. If you take care of the customer, you'll be fine."

The ShopRite of Hillsdale recently opened one of the very first certified organic butcher shops in a supermarket. Butchers at the store will have the ability to custom cut organic beef, poultry and pork on a USDA-certified counter dedicated to organic food preparation.

More shoppers today are seeking grass-fed, organic, and pasture raised meats. ShopRite, which has expanded organic and natural sections in the meat department, also recently introduced Farm Promise, a line of beef and pork products that comes from family-owned farms in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware and upstate New York.

ShopRite stores were also recognized recently for being a top seller of high quality Certified Angus Beef (CAB), meeting strict standards for marbling, tenderness, appearance and taste when it comes to the CAB label.

Whether it's seasoned burgers for shoppers needing a quick dinner solution, grass-fed, paleo-friendly meats, or the perfect roast for a holiday dinner, ShopRite's butchers are committed to providing a robust selection, great service and the finest, freshest meat that's really a cut above the rest.

For more information, visit http://www.shoprite.com.

About ShopRite
ShopRite is the registered trademark of Wakefern Food Corp., a retailer-owned cooperative based in Keasbey, NJ, and the largest supermarket cooperative in the United States. With more than 270 ShopRite supermarkets located throughout New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware and Maryland, ShopRite serves more than six million customers each week. A long-time supporter of key community efforts, ShopRite is dedicated to fighting hunger in the communities it serves. Through its ShopRite Partners In Caring program, ShopRite has donated more than $43 million to 1,700 worthy charities and food banks since the program began in 1999. For more information, please visit http://www.ShopRite.com.

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