Bashas', the Arizona-based chain of groceries stores, has teamed up with Local First Arizona to bring products made in state to Arizona's hometown grocer.
For now the program is being tested at a Bashas' location in McDowell Mountain Ranch. The program brings more than a dozen local companies into the Bashas' store located at 10111 E. Bell Road.
See also: Eddie Basha, Grocery Magnate, Dies at 75
The pilot program includes more than 50 different products from 16 local companies. Arizona-made products range from packaged foods such as peanut butter and Hayden Flour Mills' flour to home cleaning products and handmade soaps.
All the products can be found on a single, end-cap display within the store. According to Local First Arizona Director Kimber Lanning, the idea is to increase sales of the local products overall by concentrating them into one display.
"When someone purchases a local product from this Bashas' end cap, he or she is directly supporting multiple local businesses with just one purchase, keeping more money in the local economy," Lanning says in a press release.
Participating companies for the first Arizona-made end cap include:
- Slavo Salt Enterprises
- Big Red's Hot Sauce
- GrassFed Beef Crisps
- Peanut Butter Americano
- Mrs. Klein's Pickle Co.
- Tracy Dempsey Originals
- Hayden Flour Mills
- Nutwhats
Bashas' and Local First Arizona will be evaluating the program's success to determine if the program can be expanded to other stores.
In addition to Bashas' Supermarket stores, the company also operates Food City, AJ's Fine Foods, and Eddie's Country Store. The company was founded in 1910 by brothers Ike and Eddie Basha, Sr. and is still a family-owned grocery chain.
