Meijer’s shelves make space for local products

By Isabella Shaya | Originally Published: 01/24/12 11:53pm |Modified: 01/25/12 11:38pm | No comments

MSU’s Product Center for Agriculture and Natural Resources has teamed up with Meijer Inc. stores to create a special section for products made in Michigan.

The Made in Michigan section will appear in 33 select Meijer stores statewide starting next week and will feature products including marinara sauce, blueberry butter, gluten-free baking mixes and gourmet seasoning, Meijer Community Relations Specialist Christina Fecher said in an email.

“The vendors will have their items on the shelves for a year and will have an opportunity to expand (chainwide),” Fecher said.

Meijer’s East Lansing store at 1350 W. Lake Lansing Road is one of the stores involved in the project.

Meijer contacted MSU’s High Impact Venture Action Team, or HI-VAT, a year ago looking for a strategy to get small-scale businesses into their stores, HI-VAT project manager Matt Birbeck said.

The HI-VAT team is made up of a partnership between the Product Center for Agriculture and Natural Resources, in cooperation with MSU Extension, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and the Michigan Office of the Department of Agriculture Rural Development.

Meijer already sells a wide range of products and a small section of local products, but many of the foods they sell come from states as far away as California, MSU horticulture graduate student Ben Byl said.

“The general population would win, too, because it takes a while to ship things from California,” Byl said. “The quality of the (local) fruits and vegetables are just as good, if not better.”

The Made In Michigan project could make life a lot better for farmers and other food producers in Michigan, Byl said.

“A lot of us could make a living if we could actually distribute our produce,” Byl said. “There are a lot of people who go to farmers markets, but the farmers cannot make a living off of that.”

Birbeck said this is the first time a major chain store is working with smaller businesses to give them the opportunity to get their products into a large chain market.

“We are always pleased when we can support local businesses,” Fecher said. “These 49 new products join dozens of Michigan-made products already on our shelves, including locally grown produce.”

Birbeck said if the project is successful, which he predicts it will be, the Made in Michigan section will expand to more Meijer stores in the state.

“We need these kinds of markets,” Byl said. “Meijer would be foolish to look across the local market.”