Auburn will get its first full format natural and organic grocery store next year.
Asheville, NC-based Earth Fare market and café will open in the old Food World located on Opelika Road sometime in September 2008. The supermarket, known as a leader in the natural foods industry, will feature more than 30,000 square feet of the best quality all natural and organic foods for the people of Auburn.
The store features organic and specialty produce; artisan and farmstead cheeses from America and around the globe; eclectic wines and microbrews; authentically natural beef, chicken and pork products produced without antibiotics, growth hormones or animal by-products in the feed; organic milk and dairy products; specialty and gourmet groceries; natural supplements, herbs and
personal care products; and a full service deli and café complete with coffee bar, bakery, sushi bar and brick-fired pizza oven.
Expected to employ more than 100 people, Earth Fare prides itself on excellent customer service with a team committed to helping customers navigate the thousands of delicious options that line its shelves and refrigerated cases. The meat department will feature an old-school full-service counter; the cheese shop will cut and wrap 80 pound wheels of naturally aged cheese on
site. The produce shelves will feature as much seasonal food from local farmers as possible.
“Food should be fun,” says Earth Fare Director of Marketing Troy DeGroff. “People are tired of the same old highly processed refined foods sold in conventional stores that have only one flavor note. At Earth Fare, we remember that foods grown naturally with organic means and produced with minimal processing taste better and are healthier for you.”
Mayor Bill Ham, Jr. commented, “We are delighted to welcome Earth Fare to the City of Auburn. As a leader in the natural foods industry, I am certain that Earth Fare’s new Auburn location will draw customers from throughout East Alabama. We look forward to the opening of the store next year.”
Earth Fare has a strict food philosophy which means customers don’t have to read labels for things like partially hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup—those ingredients are not allowed on the store shelves. No artificial synthetic ingredients are allowed. Organic, Fair Trade and Local products predominate, as it isn’t enough for foods sold at Earth Fare to be all-natural—
they must be good for the communities, the producers and the planet as well.
Earth Fare Market and Café was founded in Asheville, North Carolina in 1975 and has grown into a premier chain of natural and organic markets located in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee. 2008 plans for the company include not only the Auburn store, but stores in Rockhill, SC and Tennessee as well.
For further information, please contact: Troy DeGroff, Director of Sales & Marketing, at 828-281-4800 ext. 119
Source: AuburnAlabama.org