In an effort to find even more local products to sell in its newest World Class Market, buyers at Big Y are planning to interview local vendors interested in selling their particular items at the market, which opens in January. Big Y sales buyers will be at their newest location in Marlborough, CT, Dec. 7-8.

Called Big Y’s Local Foods Discovery Tour, it will be a chance for any local producer or grower to learn about the process of getting their goods into Big Y. For these local vendors, the opportunity to provide an additional sales outlet helps them to enhance their reach beyond their current resources.

Big Y customers have demonstrated their appreciation for the convenience of getting their favorite local products at their neighborhood store. Currently the company boasts over 175 local vendors selling over 4,000 individual local products within its two-state marketing areas.

Local product categories of interest include fruits and vegetables, dry goods, dairy, frozen, general merchandise, prepared foods, meat, seafood and specialty items such as cheeses and wine.

“Offering local products to our customers continues to be a corner stone of our values and commitment to supporting other local businesses within our market area," said Michael P. D’Amour, Big Y executive vice president. "More recently, we have placed renewed emphasis on cultivating hyper-local products that in some cases may appeal to a limited number of our communities. We understand that it is important to our customers to see local brands in their local Big Y.”

As part of Big Y’s Local Foods Discovery Tour, potential partners will be able to speak with a buyer to understand the simple process of getting their goods into their market. In addition to specific contact information about the category buyer who is familiar with their type of product, they will receive information about quality, production and packaging standards, state licensing and insurance requirements along with help with procuring bar codes.

Buyers will also help with the logistics of transporting products to local stores as they have a wealth of experience with many other local producers and have many options that can work.