Syracuse,
NY – June 2017 / Newsmaker Alert / Two companies with significant
ties to New York State agriculture will sponsor the signature attractions
at the Great New York State Fair’s
Dairy Products Building. Tully’s
Good Times restaurants will sponsor the milk sold at the Fair’s famous
Milk Bar, while Wegmans Food Markets
will sponsor the American Dairy Association’s Butter Sculpture, Acting
Fair Director Troy Waffner announced Friday (June 9).
This year, the Tully’s logo
will appear on each of the seven-ounce cups of perfectly chilled white
or chocolate milk sold at the Milk Bar. Last year, 398,059 cups of milk
were sold at 25 cents a cup, representing a complete sellout of the milk
available. All of the milk and buttermilk products sold at Tully’s come
from Central New York dairy processor Byrne Dairy. Byrne Dairy also supplies
the milk for the Milk Bar. In addition to dairy, Tully’s buys produce from
local farms in-season. The long-time Fair vendor operates restaurants across
Upstate NY under the Tully’s, CopperTop Tavern and Good Buddy’s Pub brands.
The Butter Sculpture is created
and operated by Syracuse-based American Dairy Association North East, which
represents all dairy farmers in New York State. The butter used to make
the iconic sculpture comes from New York sources. It was a first stop for
many of the Fair’s more than 1 million visitors in 2016 and veteran fairgoers
eagerly await its unveiling the day before the Fair opens each year. This
year’s sponsor of the Butter Sculpture, Rochester-based Wegmans is a leader
in the grocery industry in selling and using locally grown and made products
and is annually rated among the nation’s very best employers. Wegmans is
a long-time partner with the Fair, sponsoring activities including the
Fair’s Lost Kid tags and cooking demonstrations in the Wegmans Demonstration
Kitchen in the Art & Home Center.
State Agriculture Commissioner
Richard A. Ball said, “These new partnerships are an exciting addition
to this year’s Fair and to the Milk Bar, which is a long-standing tradition
for fairgoers. We are pleased to continue our mission of promoting the
very best of New York agriculture and shining the spotlight on our dairy
industry at the Great New York State Fair.”
“We are proud to bring these
first-ever sponsorships into the Dairy Products Building as they will support
our long-term plan to reenergize this vital piece of the Fair. We thank
them for their investment and want fairgoers and dairy farmers to know
that our goal going forward, as stewards of New York agriculture, is to
find new ways to link more New Yorkers to our great dairy products as we
have done with other New York products at the Fair,” said Waffner.
“On behalf of the state’s
dairy farm families, we’re pleased to present a butter sculpture every
year that showcases the dairy industry,” said Rick Naczi, CEO of American
Dairy Association North East. “We’re looking forward to continuing this
long-standing tradition with Wegmans as a sponsor.”
“We at Tully’s Good Times
restaurants are proud to support New York’s dairy industry and dairy farmers
at the Fair. We proudly serve their delicious products in our restaurants
every day. Tully’s is also pleased to play a role in securing a strong
future for the Dairy Products Building and all of its activities,” said
Sam Bregande, spokesman for Tully’s Good Times.
“Wegmans feels it’s important
to support the community and to support products made in New York. The
Fair impacts the entire state of New York and we have had a long and successful
partnership with the Fair for many years. Expanding our sponsorship to
include the Butter Sculpture is another indicator of our support and we
are excited to be a part of it,” said Evelyn Carter, Wegmans Director of
Community Relations.
The Fair also announced that
longtime Fair vendors Wahid Akl, David Tadros and Michael Tadros will operate
the Milk Bar on behalf of the Fair in 2017. Milk will remain 25 cents a
cup. The new operators are looking at ways to speed up the historically
long lines for milk. They will also take over operation of the yogurt vending
booth with an eye towards diversifying the products available there.
“We are pleased and honored
to be operating one of the best-known elements of this great Fair. I promise
that fairgoers will get the same great cup of milk at the same price they’ve
been paying for generations now. We are also working hard to make the long
lines move faster and are thinking about ways to highlight New York milk
even more in the future,” said Wahid Akl.
The vendors’ connection to
the Great New York State Fair stretches back to the 1980s. They operate
two stands in the Dairy Products building, selling Belgian waffles and
the New York Hot Beef Sundae, the New York Brew Pub and Distillery in the
International Building, and several roasted corn stands.
This year’s efforts mark
the beginning of a multi-year process to provide significant upgrades to
the Dairy Products building and its programming in order to strengthen
the promotion of New York dairy products. Fair officials have met with
vendors in the building to assess their needs and have begun work on a
plan to renovate stands in the building and improve the infrastructure.
This year, the building will operate as it has in the past. The building’s
music stage will move to the other side of the Butter Sculpture to reduce
congestion in the area where people line up for milk. The Fair is purchasing
the Milk Bar equipment and all other Dairy Products Building assets offered
by the former operator, Dairy Exhibits, Inc.
New York’s dairy industry
is the state’s largest agricultural sector. With more than 5,000 farms,
the majority of which are family-run operations, the dairy industry supports
the framework of the agricultural economy. The dairy community brought
in $2.5 billion in sales, and the dairy industry hired almost 20,000 people
in New York in 2015. New York’s dairy products also account for at least
50 percent of all New York State agricultural commodities exported internationally.
About American Dairy Association
North East
American Dairy Association
North East (ADANE) is the local affiliate of the National
Dairy Council® and the regional consolidation of three promotion
organizations including the American Dairy Association and Dairy Council,
Inc., Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association and Pennsylvania Dairy Promotion Program.
Committed to nutrition education and research-based communications, ADANE
provides science-based nutrition information to, and in collaboration with,
a variety of stakeholders committed to fostering a healthier nation, including
health professionals, educators, school nutrition directors, academia,
industry, consumers and media. Funded by dairy checkoff dollars from more
than 12,000 dairy farm families in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania,
Maryland, Delaware, and northern Virginia, ADANE works closely with Dairy
Management Inc.™ to bring a fully integrated promotion program to the
North East region. For more information, visit www.dairyspot.com.
About Tully’s Good Times
Established in Batavia in
1991, Tully’s Good Times
are locally owned and operated, sports-themed, casual dining restaurants
with a family atmosphere. With 11 locations throughout New York State and
northern Pa., Tully’s is proud to be a staple of life in Western New York,
Central New York and the Southern Tier and Scranton.
About Wegmans
Wegmans
Food Markets, Inc. is a 92-store supermarket chain with stores in New
York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland, and Massachusetts.
The family-owned company, recognized as an industry leader and innovator,
celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2016. Wegmans has been named one of
the ‘100 Best Companies to Work For’ by FORTUNE magazine for 20 consecutive
years, ranking #2 in 2017.
About the Great New York
State Fair
The New
York State Fair, operated by the New
York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, runs from August
23 to September 4, 2017. The Fair’s mission, reflected in its theme, “Find
Your Great...,” is to showcase the best of New York agriculture while providing
top-quality entertainment.
The 375-acre New York State
Fairgrounds is undergoing the most significant transformation since it
first opened its gates in 1890. The $50 million plan, announced by Governor
Andrew M. Cuomo, revitalizes the grounds in many ways, improving the quality
of the fairgoer’s experience and providing greater economic benefits for
the region. Improvements include the dramatic new Main Gate— the arches
of which recall the carriage gate that greeted fairgoers in 1900, a larger,
15-acre Wade Shows Midway that will hold more rides than ever, and the
brand new 315-site Empire RV Park with underground water, sewer and electrical
service. The plan will better position the New York State Fairgrounds as
a premier year-round, multi-use facility that can attract more events and
visitors from across the nation. Renderings can be viewed
here.
A year-round schedule
of events is available on the Fair’s
website. Find The Great New York State Fair on Facebook,
follow @NYSFair on Twitter, and
enjoy photos from the Fair at Flickr.com/photos/nysfair.
Also, New Yorkers are invited to send their ideas for the Great New York
State Fair at statefairideas@agriculture.ny.gov.
Media Contacts:
Jola
Szubielski
Public Information Officer
NYS Department of Agriculture
& Markets
518-457-0752
Dave
Bullard
Public Relations
New York State Fair
315-487-7711 x 1377 |