Our People Make the Difference!

CELTIC MARKETING NEWSLETTER Our People Make the Difference! 8th Edition 2016 Bring it on! The Holidays are here. It's time for feasting and cheering. It's also time to get on our knees and thank God that we are all still standing. There has been many changes in the Northeast this past year but what else is new? We can continue to expect more change. Together we will adapt and move forward. So at this time, I want thank you for a good year in 2016 and I believe 2017 will be even better! We will be very busy in the coming year so take a deep breath and enjoy the Holidays with family and friends. It's so important. Our Celtic Family wishes you and your family the best this Holiday Season! Dan Celtic Marketing Food Brokers 1350 Main Street St. Johnsbury, VT 05819 802-748-4574 - www.celtic-marketing.com

Celtic Marketing Mid Atlantic Reports By Henry Naviasky: 2016 has brought many changes to the Mid Atlantic area. Ahold/Delhaize has sold off many stores including all but 2 locations in the Richmond area. Publix bought many of these stores and are doing remodels that are scheduled to open in 2018 or earlier. Publix s has become a player in the very congested Richmond market. Publix openings include 2 locations outside of Washington, DC. Wegman s opened their newest store in Richmond, VA and opened another in my home town of Owings Mills, MD. These stores are doing sales numbers that the Mid Atlantic have never seen at store level. Weis bought 38 Food Lions in Maryland and Southern Pennsylvania and they also purchased 5 Mars stores in Baltimore. Harris Teeter and Kroger continue to open new stores and a warehouse in Virginia. Also coming to the Mid-Atlantic is a new smaller concept chain called Lidl from Germany. Lidl is a competitor of Aldis and will start doing business from the Carolinas to Maryland in late 2017 and early 2018. As we learn more, we will let you know. Store competition only gets stronger in the Mid Atlantic. Safeway s 127 stores plus 3 Florida locations have already started category reviews for 2017. We are receiving requests about three weeks before the reviews start. Chris Krawchuk has been appointed the new NOSHE buyer. Chris has years of Safeway experience at store level and brings a fresh presence to the buying office. New items for main line entry we will be presented to a Safeway buying team consisting of a category manager and several other individuals. Before the review, we need to discuss programs that include slotting, merchandising programs, and ad commitments to assure success for all parties. Safeway is committed to this region and working together will bring us success! By William Cavanaugh: Here is a brief history of the Baltimore Washington specialty food distribution business through the eyes of Bill Cavanaugh. I was already in food distribution for 17 years when I joined C & G back in 1991. Yes, I have worked 42 years in this business! When I started with C & G, they were located in Beltsville, MD. Safeway was their largest account with 120 stores. They also serviced A & P. Grand Union and Pantry Pride were pretty much gone from the region. During that time C & G started picking up bits and pieces of the Giant Landover business. Giant Landover was still in the hands of the Cohen family until 1999. There were no Ahold, Harris Teeters, Whole Foods, Wegman s or ShopRites in those days. The other players such as Jumbo, Basics and Metro are all Shopper s Food stores now. Soon after that C & G moved to a much larger warehouse in Laurel, MD. I was a buyer at C&G and Henry Naviasky called on me. We had great fun and success in those days but unfortunately the Safeway business moved to Gourmet Award and Haddon House picked up A & P. That hurt C&G and C&G eventually was sold to DPI Distribution Plus Inc. an Irish company owned by Dairy Farmers Board and they moved to their current location in Upper Marlboro, MD. Changes since then include the additions of Ingles, Giant Carlisle, two divisions of Whole Foods, 1600 Rite Aids, Stauffer s of Kissel Hill and 9 Kroger divisions. Lowes and Shoppers are serviced by KeHE. Today DPI Specialty Foods is a sales and marketing provider with a range of over 40,000 sku s in all temperature ranges. DPI also provides sales and services to foodservice clients. The food industry changes are constant and it challenges all of us, but thankfully people still need to eat! Celtic Marketing continues to adapt and change with the Marketplace. We appreciate your business and wish you and yours the best during The Holiday Season.

Celtic News! Celtic 1st Quarter Anniversaries January On November 27th, Deidre Flynn s youngest son Alex, had the honor of holding the flag for the World Cup winner and it was the USA!!! What a fantastic, unforgettable day! Here he is with the winners, the race was at Killington, Vermont. The winner, Mikaela Shiffrin attended Burke Mountain Academy right here in the Northeast Kingdom/NEK! News In The Marketplace Hannaford Supermarkets has reached an agreement to purchase the Bud s Shop n Save stores in Newport and Dexter, ME the company recently announced. Bud s has been a wholesale customer of Hannaford for 63 years and carries a wide variety of Hannaford-branded items. The transaction will be completed in early December. After the acquisition, Hannaford will own and operate 62 stores in Maine. Owned by Dutch conglomerate Ahold Delhaize, the Scarboroughbased division operates 179 stores in the Northeast. Stores are located in Maine, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont. Hannaford employs more than 26,000 workers throughout the chain. UNFI to supply Southeastern Grocers UNFI will start supplying Southeastern Grocers (formally BiLO Holdings) starting in March 2016. The last orders from KeHE will be on February 23 rd and the first orders from UNFI will start hitting the stores on March 1 st. When BiLO Holdings purchased the Sweetbay stores from Delhaize, UNFI continued to be the supplier to those stores. This addition will strengthen the Sarasota DC for Specialty, as only a handful of Publix Stores were serviced from there along with some independents. Along with Sarasota, Richburg (and Atlanta until it rolls into Richburg) will be the DCs that service the Southeastern Grocers stores and possibly York. Dan Hughes-21 yrs. David Colomb 2 yrs. February William Cavanaugh 2yrs March George Bair-15 yrs. Melissa Newland 7 yrs. Erika Pierce 2 yrs. Questions? Contact Us Celtic Marketing 1350 Main Street St. Johnsbury, VT 05819 802-748-4574 www.celticmarketing.com

Industry News Lowes Foods, based out of Winston Salem, just opened a new store in Greer, SC. This store will be one of many as they continue to improve through renovations on current stores as well as new ones slated for the next couple years. As the South continues to grow both in population and grocery retail offerings, Lowes Foods is looking to stay ahead with a different shopping experience than those of us in the South are used to! The new concept store features a beer den with 10 local beers on tap, in house coffee roasting facility and full coffee bar, an in store box care café, a wide variety of places to choose from to eat, and, of course, an outdoor smokehouse among many other unique offerings. While grocery retailers continue to expand and renovate, Lowes Foods has taken it a step further in creativity! Kudos to a fun shopping experience. In Memoriam Mr. David Isenberg, owner and co-founder of specialty food distributor Chex Finer Foods, Mansfield, Massachusetts, died Nov. 12. He was 73. I first met David in 1988 when I worked for Maple Grove Farms of Vermont. David has been a friend and supporter all of these years. Our condolences to Michael, Jeremy and the Isenberg family Bruce Schucker is retiring from Hannaford after 43 years! Bruce has been a loyal friend and we will miss him. He and his bride Bonnie are planning to travel. We wish them well.

Industry Displays Viking Yogurt Display at Shoprite~ Somers Point, NJ Half Pops at Wegmans~ Burlington, Ma Chicago Importing, Gloggs Display at Acme~Hockessin, DE Aspen Taste Shipper at Market Basket~ Billerica, Ma Two Rivers at Price Chopper~ Pittsfield, ma Robert Rothschild Display Rack~ Market Basket Littleton, Ma

Industry Displays DeBueklaer at Safeway~ Wheaton, MD Inglehoffer at Safeway ~ Hillandale, MD Master Of Mixes at Food Bazaar, Long Island City New Dare Endcap @ Ingles #24 in Asheville, NC Stash Holiday Shipper at Market Basket~ Billerica, Ma

Annual Celtic Marketing Christmas / Hanukkah Party. At our holiday celebration, Celtic Marketing had the pleasure and honor to recognize 20 years with Faribault Foods. Pictured are Jim Noonan and David Peterson from Faribault Foods. At our annual holiday party we recognize 5, 10 and 15 year Employee Anniversaries. Dan presenting Mary a vase and 20 roses for 20 years in Celtic business! Jeanine Porter getting her 10th Year Anniversary Award

Celebrating our Years! Steve Lasher getting his 5th Year Anniversary Award. Chris Lasher also celebrated 5 years. Steve owns S&L International Specialty. Caitlin Hughes getting her 5th Year Anniversary Award. Ed Gritsavage getting his 5th Year Anniversary Award. Jim Kinsey getting his 5th Year Anniversary Award.

Celebrating our Years! Dan receives his holiday gifts from the Staff at Celtic!