Abbey Group Food Service Company first in nation to launch new Ocean Spray product

Abbey Group Contact:

Scott Choiniere, SNS

Executive Vice President

802-373-6458

scott@abbeygroup.net

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

In an effort to provide healthier beverage alternatives to New England-based schools, The Abbey Group is partnering with Ocean Spray® to provide their new Growing Goodness™ 100 percent juice lineup to kids.

The Abbey Group is the first in the nation to commit to supplying their students Growing Goodness™ 100 percent Juice from Ocean Spray and have experienced success in schools around the region.

“We’re excited about this initiative because we place a lot of value on locally-produced products,” said Scott Choiniere, The Abbey Group’s executive vice president. “Other juice companies, as I understand it, may be headquartered locally but source ingredients around the world. Ocean Spray, on the other hand, sources locally from its 700 farmer-owners.”

Growing Goodness™ will roll out nationally at the School Nutrition Association’s 73rd National Conference in St. Louis, Missouri, July 14-16.

This first-in-the-nation platform represents Ocean Spray’s commitment to improving the health of the future generation, layering up to Ocean Spray’s purpose of connecting farms to families for a better life. Together with its farmer-owners, Ocean Spray is dedicated to the health of people, communities and the planet. The delicious and nutritious juice options from Ocean Spray® include: 100 percent Raspberry Watermelon flavor, 100 percent Pineapple Cherry Orange flavor and 100 percent Strawberry Lemonade flavor.

Along with Growing Goodness™, The Abbey Group will also provide students with Craisins® Dried Cranberries as a breakfast and lunch fruit option in all school programs.

Currently, The Abbey Group operates in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont. This partnership with Ocean Spray is expected to be over 1,500,000 units annually.

About The Abbey Group: Founded in 1982, The Abbey Group is a family-owned food service management company specializing in handcrafted foods that use local ingredients. The philosophy of The Abbey Group is to provide the highest quality meals, utilize agricultural products from local growers, promote healthy choices and demonstrate a high level of customer service.  For more information visit: www.abbeygroup.net.

About Ocean Spray: Founded in 1930, Ocean Spray is a vibrant agricultural cooperative owned by more than 700 cranberry farmers in the United States, Canada and Chile who have helped preserve the family farming way of life for generations. The cooperative’s cranberries are currently featured in more than a thousand great-tasting, good-for-you products in over 100 countries worldwide. Leading by purpose, Ocean Spray is committed to the health of people and planet. For more information visit: www.oceanspray.com.

###

Read more ›

Ahead of Farm Bill, Abbey Group offers local, American seafood

The Abbey Group is, once again, ahead of the curve.

By a substantial margin, the U.S. Senate decided Tuesday to pass the Farm Bill, which dictates, in part, that American seafood be served over imported products in school lunch programs. The House was set to take up the vote the following day.

Through a partnership with Massachusetts-based North Coast Seafoods – among others – The Abbey Group has been serving locally-caught seafood, mainly Acadian redfish, in schools across the region since August, with related discussions stretching back at least a year.

The Abbey Group oversees a network of food service programs at schools around New England and Upstate New York, as well as at select corporate and government accounts. The company values fresh, local ingredients and from-scratch cooking whenever possible, so local, New England seafood was a no-brainer.

“We’ve also become members of the Gulf of Maine Research Institute,” said Abbey Underwood, vice president of marketing for The Abbey Group. “It’s a sustainable institution. We’re using underutilized seafood with North Coast Seafood and helping local fishermen.”

Acadian Redfish is a sustainably-managed seafood choice, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and is currently above the target population for sustainable fishing.

The Abbey Group contracted to buy 150,000 pounds of the wild-caught fish at the start of the 2018-19 school year.

“We are all very excited to start a new school relationship,” said Andrew Wilkinson, a seafood specialist for North Coast, back in August. “Serving healthy seafood to our youth is very important to us.”

Abbey Group Executive Vice President Scott Choiniere is excited to continue expanding the scope of local, sustainable products purchased in New England.

“We’re buying food directly from fishermen and food producers, which in turn allows them to feed their own families while putting healthy and nutritious food on kids’ plates throughout New England and New York,” Choiniere said. “That’s why we always do our best to buy local. It benefits everyone.”

The Abbey Group is a New England-based company that provides food service programs at schools, colleges and businesses around the Northeast. The company’s main mission is to provide children with delicious and nutritious meals that use as many local products as possible. For more information about the company, please visit abbeygroup.net. “Like” The Abbey Group on Facebook at @AbbeyGroupFood.

###

Read more ›