Alltown Fresh Expands Local Product Reach

WALTHAM, Mass. — Alltown Fresh is teaming up with Mable, an online wholesale platform for grocery, to provide wholesale distribution of local specialty foods to all of its stores.

The move is part of Alltown Fresh's efforts to support communities by sourcing products from local farms, bakeries and vendors.

Mable's existing offering of more than 3,000 local, emerging brands makes it easy for Alltown Fresh to demonstrate this support while managing wholesale buying from local artisanal vendors in a single platform.

"We are really excited about this partnership," said Joshua Smith, vice president at Alltown Fresh. "Mable is such an amazing innovation giving small manufacturers access to broader distribution. Mable will help support Alltown Fresh's mission to get behind and promote local and regional products and enable us to deliver new tastes and experiences to our guests."

Category managers at Alltown Fresh can source new products through Mable's app and online interface, and through recommendations from Mable's in-house wholesale experts.

According to Mable, category manager's also benefit from the platform's streamlined invoicing process and mobile reordering technology, which enable them to save time and money.

Mable's drop-shipping models lets brands ship inventory directly to all 12 Alltown Fresh stores, which provides greater flexibility to both buyers and brands, according to Mable.

Brands join Mable for the opportunity to reach new customers in stores, and placement in Alltown Fresh is an exciting opportunity to serve customers seeking healthy, fresh food in a convenience format, according to the company.

"I am thrilled to have the opportunity to sell Dak Bars at the Alltown Fresh locations," said Susie Smith, owner and operator of Essex, N.Y.-based handcrafted energy bar brand Dak Bar. "Being located on their shelves will allow my brand to receive greater visibility throughout the Northeast and will be a huge help in building my brand."

The partnership between Alltown Fresh and Mable revolutionizes the consumer convenience store experience by prioritizing local, healthier brands over traditional consumer packaged goods brands that have historically dominated the space, the companies said.

"We're thrilled to see Alltown Fresh creating a path for customers to interact with local, emerging and better-for-you products in their day to day lives," said Arik Keller, Mable founder and CEO. "Convenience store formats have lagged consumer demand for locally sourced, healthy foods. When we make it easy for customers to support local and emerging businesses, the entire supply chain wins."

Boston-based Mable was launched by a grocery and gives retailers a flexible, easy way to buy direct, support a diverse group of brands and put better-for-you brands on store shelves.

Waltham-based Alltown Fresh is a chef-driven convenience market featuring locally sourced goods and ingredients, made-to-order sandwiches and more. There are 12 Alltown Fresh locations in Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York. It is part of the Global Partners family of brands, one of the Northeast's largest independent owners, suppliers and operators of 1,500-plus gasoline stations and convenience stores in the United States and Canada.