Grocers looking to boost produce sales.(Business)

0 Comments | Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL), May, 2005

Byline: Peter Frost Medill News Service If you can't compete on price, you've got to win on quality and selection - at least, that's what two major grocers with stores in the Chicago area are hoping. Safeway Inc., which operates Dominick's, and Supervalu Inc., which operates Cub Foods, are ramping up efforts to deliver more fresh fruits and vegetables, in part hoping to differentiate themselves from Wal-Mart Stores Inc., now the country's largest grocer.

Supervalu has even formed a subsidiary to deal solely with produce. The stakes are huge: retail sales for produce, the fastest growing of all grocery categories, hit a record $52.1 billion last year, a 78 percent increase from 1997, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Census. The U.S....