Tops Friendly Markets Continues to Promote Local Agriculture with New York State Grown & Certified Celebration This Weekend

The New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets and Tops Friendly Markets today announced a brand-new celebration of local agriculture: the “The Tops/NYS Grown & Certified Amaiz-ing Corn Boil.” On Saturday, August 10, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. shoppers can stop by the Tops locations listed below for family-friendly agricultural activities, giveaways, and to sample delicious New York State Amaize™ Sweet Corn, grown by NYS Grown & Certified farms, Eden Valley Growers in Eden, NY and Reeves Farms in Baldwinsville, NY.   New York State Amaize™ Sweet Corn is now available exclusively in all Tops local stores this weekend. In addition, samples of TOPS BRAND Ice Cream and Upstate Farms Tops Greek yogurt will be available at the event.  

Join us from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for this Amaiz-ing event at the following Tops locations:

• 3980 Maple Rd., Amherst, NY
• 1215 Jefferson Rd., Henrietta, NY
• 350 Towne Dr., Fayetteville, NY
• 1936 US RT 6, Carmel, NY

WYRK will be broadcasting live from the event in Buffalo, WRMM in Rochester, WBBS in Syracuse, and WSPK in Poughkeepsie from 10 a.m. to noon. 

State Agriculture Commissioner Richard A. Ball said, “We are proud to once again partner with Tops Friendly Markets to help share the great story of New York’s farmers and producers through the New York State Grown & Certified program. We encourage shoppers to come out to Saturday’s event to try some delicious fresh New York State produce and dairy and not only learn more about New York agriculture, but also about our farmers behind these great products.  We thank Tops Friendly Markets for supporting our efforts to promote our producers and put certified products in the hands of consumers.”

Jeff Cady, Director of Produce and Floral for Tops Friendly Markets, said, “Local farms bring Tops their freshest homegrown fruits and vegetables, so you bring home the best to your family while supporting your neighbors. Produce picked today can be on your table tonight so when we say local, we mean it. Our local produce is grown on farms and orchards with generations of growing experience, so you'll always get the highest quality for your family. It's inspected by experts you can trust, and when it arrives in store you know that it is at the peak of perfection.”
Tops is also proud to be the exclusive provider of Amaize Corn™ to the local communities it serves.  This natural breed of sweet corn, noted for its delicious taste, crunchy texture, and incredible sweetness is a rare breed of corn using traditional hybridization methods. It is not genetically modified and is grown in limited supply locally using conventional farming methods.

Tops was also the first grocery retailer to feature and market products grown by New York farmers who adhere to the NYS Grown & Certified program’s requirements, including verification of safe food handling practices and participation in environmental sustainability programs. More than 150 products sold under the State’s NYS Grown & Certified seal are available at all Tops Friendly Markets stores across the chain’s three-state imprint. 

To highlight the New York producers who meet program requirements, NYS Grown & Certified is supported by a multi-pronged marketing campaign, including on-product labels, promotional materials, website, and social media channels.

Dave Walczak, Eden Valley Growers, said, “Everyone in New York looks forward to homegrown corn season and we are excited to provide our local partners with the best corn in Western New York!  It’s picked every day to give them the freshest and sweetest corn possible!”
Karin Reeves, Sales Manager/Partner at Reeves Farms LLC, said, “Tops is a great partner.  We have sold produce to several of their stores for over 25 years.  We really appreciate their commitment to local produce and New York State farms.”

For more information about Tops Markets, visit the company's website at www.topsmarkets.com.

About New York State Grown & Certified
Governor Cuomo launched NYS Grown & Certified in 2016 to help meet the growing consumer demand for local foods grown or produced to a higher standard. The program certifies New York State producers who adhere to high food safety and environmental stewardship standards. It is supported by a marketing campaign including on-product labels, promotional materials, and sales materials.

Currently, more than 2,500 producers are participating in New York State Grown & Certified, representing over 550,000 acres of farmland. For more information on NYS Grown & Certified, visit certified.ny.gov, or follow the program on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

About Tops Friendly Markets
Tops Markets, LLC is headquartered in Williamsville, NY and operates 159 full-service supermarkets with five additional franchise stores and is the largest private, for-profit employer in Western New York.  As a leading grocery retailer in New York, northern Pennsylvania, and western Vermont, and with the support of 14,000 associates, our core mission is to help our communities flourish.  We support programs that seek to eradicate hunger and disease; promote the education of our youth; and to ensure we reduce environmental waste and energy consumption while providing our customers with sustainably sourced, high quality products.  For more information, visit www.topsmarkets.com