Ever notice how a story can make anything better? People become more interesting, places become more intriguing, heck, even produce is better when there’s a good story behind it. If you’ve ever wondered if asparagus has any special properties or if watercress was used by the ancient Romans, then look no farther than your neighborhood grocer. Bayview and Ralph’s Thriftway produce department is full of good stories that are all ripe for telling.
So many choices…
Produce Manager Trevor DeWispelaere can hardly stop himself. He can’t take more than two steps without pausing to pick up a fruit or vegetable and talking it up so that even the most finicky of produce eaters would want to at least taste it for the experience.
“Want to clean out your kidneys? Asparagus! There’s people going through chemo-treatment and if you eat this every single day it helps to get rid of the toxins. Kombucha juice is brewed from a mushroom and it is a living fungus. It is very very good for you. Coconut water is the natural Gatorade. Garlic spears are the tops of elephant garlic. They are fantastic and you treat them like asparagus. It’s a small two-week season, and they are so worth it. Rambutan is spiky like a porcupine, but the inside is like a grape-textured pina colada. Every fruit is tied to a memory. I find things that get people excited and get them to start coming here; it reminds people of their homes.” Trevor tells this southern gal that, “When the peaches come in, if you’re wearing socks they’ll fall off!”
Manager’s Specials
Regular customers are keeping a little known secret. Trevor wants to put the word out that, “if you are a good shopper and you come in here you will save money. The Manager’s Special gives patrons a chance to buy seasonal specialties at half the retail price. For example, most people would walk right by the orange flesh honeydew because they retail for $5.” They sell two for $5 right now at Bayview. Another recent special offered was crisp, sweet and crunchy organic Fuji apples. “We were feeding Olympia and Lacey organic Fugi apples for 99 cents a pound,” exclaims Trevor.
Father’s Day Tent Special
“Father’s Day weekend, Thursday to Sunday, we should have strawberries going strong for the first time in about four or five years. All that heat we had in May really fired up the strawberry plants. We coordinate with Sue Spooner and make sure there’s another avenue for consumers to get one of the best products around,” says Trevor. They do two produce tent sales a year. The first was on Mother’s Day at Bayview, and the second will be on Father’s Day weekend up at Ralph’s with a tent below the big sign. All peak in-season produce will be available at a discounted price. It’s a way to thank regulars for their loyal business and to attract new customers as well. It also gives Trevor a chance to promote Bayview and Ralph’s Produce Happy Hours on Tuesdays from 4 – 7 p.m. Tent sales in years past have included cherries, nectarines, corn, avocado, sweet onions, as well as many other seasonal treats.
Summer fruits are coming
The soft fruit season is just now starting, apricots, peaches, and so forth. Trevor warns against buying produce from just any old vendor unless you are willing to gamble on the quality. Bayview and Ralph’s offer very competitive pricing, and the trip is worth it when you consider the quality of products offered in both stores.
In his words, “soft fruit is ornery; fruit is picked when green and then put in a truck that if refrigerated is bad for the fruit. It goes into a dormant stage, then into a warehouse where it’s warmer and it tries to ripen again, and then to another truck that might be refrigerated. The fruit goes ‘ripen, don’t ripen, ripen, don’t ripen.’ By the time it gets to the consumer, it doesn’t have a chance.”
Trevor works with trusted vendors who know how to treat their products. They sell to him based on quality and not based on price-driven product, and Trevor gets first shot at stocking brand new in-season specialties such as cherries, garlic spears and orange flesh honeydew melon. The relationships he has developed over the years ensures that what customers get in the store is top of the line perfection.
Everyone is family
Trevor has been with the Storman’s family of locally owned businesses for 12 years and has been in produce for 24 years. Having grown up in the Pacific Northwest, he is keen to stay in the area and continue his family’s heritage in the grocery business.
Getting the opportunity with Storman’s to manage not one but two departments was the ultimate dangling carrot for Trevor. He considers his customers his friends and his family, and he wouldn’t serve anything to them that he wouldn’t offer to his own people.
Trevor echoes a sentiment that is repeated by other Storman’s employees, and that is that they are all one big family, both customers and staff alike. One hand helps the other, and Trevor points out that passion starts from the top and trickles down.
First Thursdays
The first Thursday of every month is another way to get to know your produce better. Trevor goes up to the monthly free cooking class with a basket and shares tips on the best fruits and vegetables to buy right now. It’s a fantastic opportunity for folks looking to expand their cooking repertoire and get a little insider’s information at the same time. And it’s free!
So if you’re hankering for a good yarn about anything from asparagus to yams, check out your local produce department at either one of Storman’s locations in downtown Olympia, or visit the website.
