For Large Retailers

For Large Retailers

Albert’s provides Enterprise-Level Organic Sourcing and Support

When Albert’s first opened it’s doors in 1982, the organic and natural foods industry was still quiet and very few, if any, larger retailers were involved in selling organic and natural foods in any volume. Over the years, of course, this has changed, and Albert’s has been instrumental in providing product, support and educational resources to large retailers as they have transitioned into carrying organic and natural products.

We certainly understand what it takes to break into the category, grow it, and become a leader in the organic industry. Below are some of the key attributes of partnership that you gain working with Albert’s Organics:

Nationwide Distribution

Albert’s was the first wholesale distributor of organic produce with nationwide distribution and we continue today with distribution centers in 7 locations: NJ, NH, NC, FL, MN, CO, CA. We are capable of servicing you anywhere in the country - with either large loads to a centralized distribution house or direct store deliveries.

Many of the premiere organic farmers in the industry today are growers that we have worked with from the very beginning. Many growers were able to convert their farms over to organic because they saw with Albert’s an opportunity to have their crops distributed nationally. And because of you, these growers are now able to enjoy nationwide distribution helping us to provide our customers with over 350 fresh produce items regularly and year round, and over 1800 SKU’s of meat, poultry, seafood, dairy, prepared foods, and grocery items.

Certification and Safety

Albert’s was the first distributor of organic fresh produce to gain organic certification and all of our distribution centers are certified organic. This gives us the ability to trace any product sold through our distribution channels back to its source. We are inspected annually by Quality Assurance International (QAI) to maintain our Certified Organic status.

Albert’s Organics is Primus Certified in all of our distribution centers, using the Primus GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) Audit Standard. The Primus Labs program gives us the ability to have a 3rd party certification agency come in and audit our program to verify that our program is working and to validate our own internal audits of our food safety program. The program audit creates a comprehensive and detailed report that we can use to focus on potential areas of improvement as well as producing a score that we use to set and measure our goals for the program.

Sourcing, Procurement and Availability

To ensure that we always have access to the best possible organic produce, Albert’s has dedicated a procurement division based in the heart of the Salinas Valley growing region, whose focus is entirely on buying and sourcing organic produce nationwide. Our buyers and inspectors have frequent daily communications with the growers, allowing us to keep on top of the ever-changing market conditions. Our inspectors are welcome at the various farms to inspect and select product. Albert’s is involved with regular planning meetings with the farms to create long term planting schedules. These meetings ensure that as Albert’s grows, the volume of product necessary to support our growth will follow.

Our West Coast Procurement division has 8 full time buyers and produce specialists with over 112 combined years of experience in the produce industry. In addition, each of our divisions has very experienced produce buyers working in-house supporting local and regional product. Our divisional buyers are responsible for maintaining 600 SKU’s of organic items. Our procurement divisions support our national distribution of over 130,000 boxes per week.

Our Procurement Team works with over 300 organic growers on a regular basis. Because we have been working with many of these growers for 30 years, coupled with the high level of experience of our own buyers, Albert’s has superb relationships with the growers of the organic community and are able to reap many deals and advantages as a result.