Wild Fork Foods bringing specialty meats, seafood to Eatontown
EATONTOWN - A meat and seafood specialty grocer known for its frozen food is about to make an entry into the food scene at the Jersey Shore.
Wild Fork Foods, a grocer headquartered in Doral, Florida, is opening a store at the new Circle Place shopping center on Route 35 at Wyckoff Road in Eatontown. It has 30 store locations in the U.S., including one in Cherry Hill, which opened earlier this year.
The grocer, which also has an e-commerce site, specializes in frozen meat, including beef, pork, lamb and chicken; seafood; as well as fruits and vegetables and prepared foods. It also has specialty meats, such as alligator, venison and elk. A representative could not be reached for comment about its plans in Eatontown, but Wild Fork Foods also offers same-day delivery and in-store pickup.
With more than 700 products, Wild Fork said it controls the entire process, "from farm to fork," cutting out other distributors and sourcing its items directly from suppliers and farmers, such as beef from Nebraska and Colorado, according to its website.
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It uses blast freezing to reduce ice crystallization and to preserve flavor and tenderness, the grocer said.
Wild Fork Foods, which has the majority of its stores in Mexico and Brazil, is pushing an expansion into the United States, and expects to grow to more than 200 stores, according to an investment offering marketed by the Boulder Group, a commercial real estate brokerage in Skokie, Illinois.
It is owned and operated by JBS, a Brazilian company and one of the world's largest food distributors, the offering states.
Wild Fork is the latest retailer to open at Circle Place, a new shopping center that is anchored by Wawa. It joins Wingstop, Wendy's and PNC Bank. A Panda Express restaurant is coming too.
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Wild Fork has leased a 4,700-square-foot store next to PNC Bank, said Richard Schulz of Schulco Real Estate in Wall, a representative for the landlord. A 2,093-square-foot store between Wild Fork and Wingstop is available for lease.
It is smack dab in the middle of a shopping area for food.
Amazon Fresh plans to open a grocery in the remodeled former Toys R Us store across Wyckoff Road. A Lidl discount grocer store is across Route 35 and an Aldi grocery store is on Route 36 in West Long Branch. There are large ShopRite supermarkets nearby in West Long Branch and Shrewsbury as well as Trader Joe's in Shrewsbury. Pastosa Ravioli, an Italian specialty market with an in-house butcher, opened on Route 35 in Eatontown this past spring.
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David P. Willis, an award-winning business writer, has covered business and consumer news at the Asbury Park Press for more than 20 years. He writes APP.com's What's Going There column and can be reached at dwillis@gannettnj.com. Join his What's Going There page on Facebook for updates
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Wild Fork Foods bringing specialty meats, seafood to Eatontown NJ
