Ray Rastelli III discusses the retail venture that Rastelli Foods Group has embarked upon over the last few years: Rastelli Market Fresh.

Andy Hanacek: Ray, thanks again for having me out. Congratulations again on Processor of the Year.

Ray Rastelli III: Thank you.

Hanacek: This story, we're talking about a bunch of different things in the story, but one thing we didn't quite hit on was we're selling Market Fresh.

Rastelli: Sure.

Hanacek: Last time I was here you guys were kind of pushing that, and that was a big part of the story. You had opened a new store for that.

Rastelli: Yes.

Hanacek: So, talk a little bit about the success there and the growth of you're selling Market Fresh over the years.

Rastelli: It's been terrific, actually, since you last were here. We had just launched that new store in Marlton, New Jersey, which was about thirty-five thousand square feet, which was the largest store that we've ever built. It's been wildly successful. It has blown away all the achievements we anticipated to be at thus far. That is also the brand that we are bringing to life on QVC, the shoppers that are loving our steaks and meats and burgers and things like that, they're getting to know it through their selling Market Fresh brands. We're trying to really bring the experience that we offer at that butcher shop and at those retail stores to the consumer at home through QVC. But for the stores themselves, it's been extremely successful. Over the last two years we've worked really perfecting the model, understanding what our customers love about us, and what we can make better. 

And we're actually getting ready to open another store. So we're opening a new store, Memorial Day Weekend of this year, the last week of May, in Montague, New Jersey, which is only about five minutes from the meat plant. We're pretty excited about that one; a little smaller than the one in Marlton, but it has a lot of its own unique things about it. It's on an awesome farm that's actually an apple orchard, so we have a beautiful store, but it also has a lot of activity for the kids, the children to really come and enjoy on the weekend. We have some great plans for that brand, and we're hoping to open a few more of those stores in the next coming years, so we're really excited.

Hanacek: What challenges, maybe unexpected challenges, one or two things that you kind of experienced with Market Fresh that opening this new store that maybe improves upon what you did the first time around?

Rastelli: Yes, great question. Probably the biggest challenge is just, after selling Market Fresh, we really try to make everything fresh. That's number one, that's first and foremost what we do there. We want even the prepared meals we're doing there, and grab-and-go things, and eateries for people to come in and eat. It's all made from scratch there. So if you were to come in and you want to get a salad, that salad's going to be made in front of you. Most likely it's not prepackaged unless you were just getting something to take home. But, with that comes an awful lot of labor. So that has absolutely been one of our biggest challenges, I think, for that store. Understanding what amount of labor it takes to run that model. And with this new store, trying to keep those same awesome concepts that we have there, just doing them a little more efficiently. 

Hanacek: Moving forward, again, you're opening another new store here Memorial Day Weekend.

Rastelli: Sure.

Hanacek: What are the plans moving forward for Market Fresh? Nice and slow steady growth?

Rastelli: Yes.

Hanacek: Or are you thinking there's going to be more stores?

Rastelli: Yeah, definitely some more stores. But really the most exciting thing we have going for that brand right now in those stores is really our Direct Delivery Program. So, we're opening that store at the end of May, but very soon after that, probably mid-June, we're going to be launching a direct-store delivery model where customer can go online if they're within a ten-mile radius of each one of these stores, and order any one of the forty thousand products that we carry there, and have it delivered to their house within a few hours. We're trying to really bring that grocery shopping experience to people at home at their finger tips. Optimally, our guys will put it in the refrigerator for them.

Hanacek: Great. Thanks again, Ray.

Rastelli: No problem.

Hanacek: Appreciate the time.

Rastelli: Thank you.

Hanacek: And congratulations one more time.

Rastelli: Thank you very much

Check out these other video Q&As with The National Provisioner's Editor-in-Chief, Andy Hanacek, and Ray Rastelli III and Ray Rastelli Jr.

• Ray Rastelli Jr. explains "Lunch with the President" at Rastelli Foods Group
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• Rastelli Global has driven plenty of growth for Rastelli Foods Group
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