Three Guys from Brooklyn touts positive experience with program to enhance community
Washington, D.C. – The National Grocers Association Foundation Technical Assistance Center (NGAF TA Center) has partnered with Three Guys from Brooklyn, an independent grocery store in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, N.Y., to create testimonial and informational videos highlighting the store’s positive experience with administering a nutrition incentive program.
Three Guys from Brooklyn has been running a program called “Get the Good Stuff” through a partnership with the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene for more than a year and has found it to be highly beneficial to its community members.
“We’re very reliant on our community; it’s a big part of our business model,” said Phil Penta, co-owner and operator of Three Guys from Brooklyn. “So, anything we can do to get more healthy options in their hands for cheaper, we’re always interested in that. This program felt like good a fit, and I think that’s why we’ve seen success with it.” While nutrition incentive programs are beneficial to customers, they likewise are advantageous to the stores operating them. Penta cited the increase in both produce sales and customer loyalty as positive aspects of participation. “It makes good business sense, and it makes good sense for the community,” he said. The program was implemented under a model in which Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) customers receive a dollar-for-dollar match on fresh, frozen, canned, or dried fruits, vegetables, and beans. Customers may earn up to $10 a day, which is placed on an electronic benefit card that may be redeemed either during the transaction or at a future visit. Three Guys from Brooklyn is fully reimbursed by the Health Department for all incentives redeemed by SNAP shoppers.
To share Penta’s story and engage more retailers in implementing nutrition incentives programs in their stores, the NGAF TA Center has created two videos highlighting the ways in which the program serves as an asset both to their store and to their community members. The videos will be shared at the upcoming 2021 NGA Show, being held September 19-21, at the Paris Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. If you are unable to attend, feel free to view the testimonial and/or informational video (closed captioning available).
To learn more about nutrition incentives and how to bring them to your store, visit https://www.ngaftacenter.org/.
About the NGA Foundation Technical Assistance Center
As a proud partner of the Nutrition Incentive Hub, the NGAF TA Center helps address the challenges grocers and supermarket operators face in establishing nutrition incentive programs. The NGAF TA Center is a resource for grocers and supermarket operators across the country and there are no fees or NGA membership requirements for use of technical assistance services. Learn more at www.ngaftacenter.org.
About the NGA Foundation
The NGA Foundation is the 501(c)(3) nonprofit arm of the National Grocers Association. The foundation provides independent retailers with tools to develop more effective recruiting programs, enhance retention efforts and bolster professional leadership development opportunities for employers.
About NGA
Washington, D.C.-based NGA is the national trade association representing the retail and wholesale community grocers that comprise the independent sector of the food distribution industry. An independent retailer is a privately owned or controlled food retail company operating a variety of formats. The independent grocery sector is accountable for about 1.2 percent of the nation’s overall economy and is responsible for generating more than $250 billion in sales, 1.1 million jobs, $39 billion in wages and $36 billion in taxes. NGA members include retail and wholesale grocers located in every congressional district across the country, as well as state grocers’ associations, manufacturers and service suppliers. For more information about NGA, visit www.nationalgrocers.org.
About Three Guys from Brooklyn
Three Guys is one of the few remaining open-air produce markets in New York City. Open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, it has called 65th and Fort Hamilton home for the last 23 years. A Brooklyn landmark specializing in fresh fruits and vegetables, the store offers customers a digital loyalty program. The store POS system is a LOC Supermarket Management Suite system installed by STCR. The store is independently owned and operated.
About Get the Good Stuff
In 2019, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene launched Get the Good Stuff with support from a USDA Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive grant and in partnership with the Fund for Public Health New York City. For every $1 spent in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits on eligible fresh, frozen, canned, and dried fruits, vegetables, and beans, customers enrolled in the program get $1 added to a program loyalty card (up to $10 per day), to purchase more eligible foods. Since the program’s inception, over 8,500 New Yorkers with SNAP have enrolled in the program and have redeemed more than $1.5 million worth of fruit and vegetable incentives
