Sunshine State Saga – Part III, The 2000s to Today

According to the proclamation, “The department shall designate the Pompano Farmers Market as the Edward L. Myrick State Farmers Market for the purpose of honoring Mr. Edward L. Myrick, a veteran of the United States Army and a pillar in the agricultural community of Pompano Beach.”

The same year, 2015, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services hosts its first “Farm to School Garden Symposium” with 100 Florida teachers and community members in attendance.

The two-day event features sessions on hydroponics and the use of school garden produce in the cafeteria. Through the program, 24 school districts procure nearly 435,000 Florida-grown peaches for use as school snacks and in meals.

By 2015, Publix has grown from a single shop into 1,077 supermarkets in the South, bringing in nearly $29 billion in total sales. BI-LO Holdings, parent company to Winn-Dixie, BI-LO stores, and Harveys, changes its corporate name to Southeastern Grocers and is the fifth-largest conventional grocery chain in the United States by store count.

The growing chain receives some new competition early in the year when Boulder, CO-based Lucky’s Market, known as a lower-priced organics and specialty foods grocer, opens its first Florida location in Gainesville, followed by another store in Naples.

Lucky’s Market confirms more Florida store openings: Coral Springs, Plantation, and Orlando—giving home-state favorite Publix plenty of competition. In addition to more Lucky’s Markets, Sprouts Farmers Market Inc., headquartered in Phoenix, AZ, another chain specializing in organics and natural foods, announces its intention to open several Florida locations, beginning with Tampa.

The Fresh Market, a similarly-themed supermarket with 42 stores in the state, announces it will be acquired by Apollo Global Management LLC, instead of a rumored purchase by Kroger.

Late 2010s
Promising Technology
Not to be outdone, Whole Foods’ new smaller-format store designed with milliennials in mind, 365, announces its first location will be in Gainesville.

Publix takes a similar tack with its latest gambit: opening a small store right on the campus of the University of South Florida in Tampa in 2016.

As a public-private partnership, the new store is the first of its kind, as a fully- integrated part of the campus’ student housing village.

The 2015-16 season’s orange production provides a bit of good news, as orange production rises and the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service increases its projections, bringing the overall production total to 81.5 million boxes of oranges for the season.