Background

With over 35 years of food industry experience, our general manager David knows the ins and outs of our store like the back of his hand. David started working for us when he was 14 years old. He met our founder, Tony Chernalis, who lived down the street from him and was his paper boy. When Tony needed help in store, David started work in our deli department. “My start in this industry really stemmed from my love of food and love of cooking growing up,” David says. “I started working here when I was 14, then also worked in a restaurant to gain experience there.” David learned how to work in every section of the kitchen. He wanted to be able to work in every position to he could expand his knowledge and gain perspective from all aspects of how a business runs. At 18 years old, he began assisting the managers in running Market Basket and started bringing his ideas to life. He has worked in every department from deli, to meat, and even in catering.

Expertise

“Everything is my favorite here,” says David. “If it wasn’t good, we wouldn’t be making it.” At Market Basket, we focus on the staples and what we do best. “It’s about creating things within our wheelhouse.” David has created our deli menus including our wraps, sandwiches and paninis, worked on our soup line by creating recipes from scratch including our Immune Booster and Veggie Detox Soups. Not to mention, our homemade Pizza Rustica is David’s own recipe which he still makes himself from scratch every year for the holidays.

“We have no middle man here, everything in the store goes directly through us.” David explains, “Our fish is hand-picked by our own buyers at the Fulton Fish Market to ensure every catch is as fresh as we can get. Our produce is purchased at the Hunts Point Market as well to ensure we always have the best quality available to our customers that we can find on the market.”

From production to our shelves, everything in store is full circle. “There is no other store like us that truly makes everything themselves, we do,” says David. “You want to go to a store that makes homemade ice cream? We do that too. You want to go to a market that has fresh seafood? We do that too. You want to go to a gourmet chocolate store? We do that too. We truly make everything in our store ourselves and we take pride in that.” From our homemade ice cream, to gourmet chocolates, soups made from scratch, house-made deli salads and meats, marinades, homemade cookies, cakes, donuts, pastries, and breads – “We are a boutique of individual stores where you can find everything under one roof,” says David.

Favorite Part About Working at Market Basket

“Unlike other stores, we focus on customer service and have people behind every counter in an industry that is starting to stray away from that. Working with good people is what keeps our original values in our store. Market Basket is truly unlike any other store, we’re a family.”

“A lot goes on behind the scenes,” David says. When David became general manager over 10 years ago, he started focusing on the details to help curate our menus and streamline our production. “Communication from both the chefs and kitchen to the store is key. I try to keep true to our original values and listen to everyone. I offer help both inside and out of work cause that’s just who I am, I’m not a corporate person, this is truly a family business – we’re a family here and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Background

Thomas started here at The Market Basket as his first job. “I love it here, I enjoy spending time with the people and I have made a lot of friends,” he says. Thomas has been with our Market Basket family for over the last 3 years.

Expertise

Thomas helps keep our shelves stocked and organized throughout the whole store. He places orders for items at our warehouse, stocks our shelves and helps with merchandising. He assists with the shopping carts and even helps to open and close the store. Thomas says his favorite things to stock are our beverage case and items in our grocery aisles.

“If you’re in the store one of my all time favorite products is our homemade guacamole,” Thomas says. “It’s right up there with how delicious our fresh squeezed orange juice is! And you can’t forget about the chips for the guacamole.”

Favorite Part Working at Market Basket

“The people are my favorite part about working at the store,” says Thomas. “I love getting to meet new people and learn about different cultures and the different things people grew up on here at our store. I also love working with our grocery manager, Colin. He is so knowledgeable and loves what he does and we have all learned a lot working with him.”

Background

Paul started out as an apprentice and learned his cutting skills early on. He started out doing fish and seafood and then worked his way to meat. He has over 15 years of experience in the industry and has worked in a variety of places where he was able to learn and perfect his butchering skills. Paul has been with our Market Basket family for over the last 5 years.

Expertise

“I love doing all of the complicated things,” Paul says. “What I mean by that is certain items are more difficult to prepare than others. For example, cutting a leg of veal – there are at least 6 different types of muscle and each has to be cut a certain way against the grain in order for it to be prepared properly.” Preparing crown roasts of pork or lamb and even butterflying leg of lamb are a few of the items Paul has mastered. He enjoys preparing everything to perfection and using his skills.

“A few of the things we do truly stand out from other meat departments like cutting our veal scaloppini by hand or offering a selection of American lamb as well. These are things you don’t see anymore and we go the extra mile to offer unique things like that for our customers.”

Paul says his favorite product would have to be our boneless ribeye club steaks but he also enjoys a rack of lamb or NY strip steak as well.

Favorite Part Working at Market Basket

“My favorite thing to do by far is working the counter,” Paul says. “Anyone will tell you I will drop whatever I am doing and go to help a customer. I am a people person and love interacting with others. You will always see me smiling and talking with customers it is something I truly love to do.”

Background

One of our butchers, Kevin, knows the ins and outs of our store and has been in virtually every department. He started out in our Gourmet to Go Department, then he moved onto being a driver. Kevin has worked in our produce department, as a cashier, in our deli, and seafood departments. He currently works in our meat department as one of our butchers and has been with our Market Basket family for over the last 5 years.

Expertise

Kevin says one of his favorite things about working in our meat department is helping customers create something custom. Whether that be cutting a specialty steak, roast, or simply preparing things the way a customer wants to create a one of a kind shopping experience. “Our meat department is so unique in that it allows customers to have our products sliced or prepared really any way they want and I think that is something very cool about us.”

He says his favorite product in our meat department would have to be our cheddar bacon bratwursts that we make in house, but he also loves our prime club steaks as well that taste delicious on the grill.

Favorite Part Working at Market Basket

Kevin says his favorite part about working here at The Market Basket would be the people. He loves building relationships with those who work around him, customers and he also likes to have fun at the same time. He also enjoys learning and perfecting his butchering skills. “Our department is unique because it is more of a ‘trade’ than anything else, you can always learn new things and perfect your skills,” he says.

Background

Ozzy started out in our store at 18 years old in our meat department. He has helped make everything from sausages to wursts, bologna, burgers and more! He learned the tricks of the trade from our butchers and has been with our Market Basket family for over the last 29 years!

Expertise

Ozzy has enjoyed gaining experience as a butcher in our meat department and loves to perfect his skills. He likes preparing prime ribs, strips, and making our products look nice to showcase the quality of the meat.

He says his favorite product would have to be our T-bone steaks that are absolutely delectable cooked on the grill!

Favorite Part Working at Market Basket

“I’m a people person,” Ozzy says. “I enjoy helping people, customers, training workers and building that relationship. That is one of my favorite parts about working here.” Being here for so many years, Ozzy says he has enjoyed seeing how the store has changed over time. “When I first started here the store was much smaller, then it expanded into the store we have now and we continue to see new renovations and watch the store continue to grow.”

Background

Darlene has a lifetime of experience in the food industry and started out working in a deli at 12 years old! From there she worked in her dad’s deli. At the age of 20 she was driving past the newly opened Market Basket in Franklin Lakes and decided to stop in. She went up to the first person she saw who happened to be Market Baskets founder, Tony Chernalis. She asked if he was hiring, and he told her to start the very next day. Darlene joined our Market Basket family in 1989 and has been with us for 35 years!

“I am very dedicated to my job,” Darlene says. “I still love my job even after 35 years. Market Basket is always about the customer and making them happy and I enjoy making products to perfection for them.” Darlene is a master of all trades and departments here in our store. She started out in catering making the sandwich platters, then she moved onto working in our deli department. She has worked in our kitchen, bakery department, and is now full-time helping lead a production team at our commissary kitchen.

Expertise

We make all of our products in-house and Darlene helps ensure that they are prepared to perfection. She started out making our specialty homemade breads and toasts and expanded her range of products from there. “Not many people know about our specialty homemade toasts, breads and crisps,” she says. “We have so many delicious items we make from scratch ourselves like our Asiago and semolina crisps, sourdough cheddar, rosemary ciabatta crisps and more.”

Darlene also designs the layout and packages the butter and Italian cookie trays. She makes the cheese trays, packages our candy, nuts, our store-made Jazzy Salt, seasoning blends and even has made our hand-dipped chocolate covered strawberries to name a few!

“I am always full of energy and never stop being active,” she says. “I am also 3 years cancer free, and nothing can stop me.” Being a lifetime employee of Market Basket Darlene has a multitude of memories to share. Some of her favorite stories include working during the blizzard of 1996 and preparing 40 breakfast specials with Tony Chernalis for PSEG workers helping out in the storm. “I am grateful for Tony,” she says. “Market Basket truly would not be the way it is without him. We all worked hard but we loved what we did.”

Favorite Part Working at Market Basket

Darlene says her favorite part about working at Market Basket is always having her Market Basket family to go to every day. She is an expert at her craft and loves to showcase that to others. “I enjoy making great things for the customers and have Market Basket be proud of the work that I do. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else after all these years.”

Background

Colin attended the French Culinary Institute and graduated in 2005. “Culinary school was a blast,” he says. “I still enjoy cooking and will always love to cook.”

He started out in the food industry working as a chef at a local restaurant. From there he went on to be manager of a chef culinary store. Colin joined our team in 2015 and has been with our Market Basket family for over 8 years!

Expertise

As our grocery manager and grocery buyer, Colin is responsible for keeping our shelves stocked with new and exciting products for our customers. He keeps track of all of our store products as well like our homemade Market Basket marinara or our imported E.V.O.O.

Colin says his favorite grocery product would be Truff hot sauce. He also enjoys Top Seeds crackers that are made out of seeds and are keto and paleo friendly. “I am always looking for products that set us apart from all of the regular grocery stores,” he says. “It keeps us interesting and we have a fresh selection of products for people.”

Favorite Part Working at Market Basket

Colin says his favorite part about working at the Market Basket would be the people. “I love the people I get to work with. I also love helping customers, trying to help them find what they are looking for or offer recommendations. They are really good people to be able to interact with everyday.”

Background

Mike started out at the Paterson produce market as a buyer for over 20 years. “My entire family has always been in produce,” says Mike. “My father was a produce buyer and even my father’s father was a produce buyer. I grew up going into Hunts Point Market in New York with my dad when I was in high school and that’s always what I’ve been interested in doing,” he says. Mike has been with our Market Basket family for 8 years.

Expertise

As our produce buyer, Mike is responsible for keeping our store stocked with the most fresh, quality products he can find. We send our fleet of 18-wheelers into Hunts Point Market in NYC frequently during the week to source the best produce available for our store. Mike says he arrives at the market at roughly 3:30 am to get first pick at the best products! “I go from trailer to building to trailer to building to look for the highest quality and best priced items I can find,” he says.

Mike visually inspects and sources the freshest produce at great prices. In our produce market, you will find items such as exotic tropical fruits, wild mushrooms, and fresh herbs. ”The produce is bought, brought to our warehouse, put in our temperature controlled cooler, and is later distributed to be sold in our store,” he says.

“My favorite products would have to be the seasonal items,” Mike says. “There are different fruits and vegetables from all around the world and you never know what you are going to get.”

Favorite Part Working at Market Basket

“I enjoy talking about produce to customers and helping them with their needs,” Mike says. “I am very blessed to work for a company whos quality of product is as high as mine.”

Background

Dawn started out working at Wayne General Hospital and dietary and then worked at a local supermarket running the salad bar. Dawn joined our Market Basket family in 1988 and has been with us for over 35 years!

Expertise

Dawn loves to stay busy in our deli department from setting up our counters in the morning, making our pre-packed sandwiches and waiting on customers. She enjoys making our signature sandwiches and says her favorite is our California Club.

“I am very versatile and have worked in all different departments,” she says. “One minute I  will be in the deli, then you may see me in the cheese or bakery department.“

Favorite Part Working at Market Basket

“My favorite part about working here is that our customers know us and greet us by name,” she says. “I have made so many friends with our customers. I have seen the younger ones at a little age, high school, college and then watch them grow up and get married. I love interacting with people and building relationships with those around me.”

Background

Born and raised in Uden, Netherlands – Anny grew up experiencing a world of culture before moving to the United States where she started her journey in the food industry. Anny graduated from the McDonald’s college in Maryland and then became store manager upon receiving her credentials.

“I’ve worked with food my whole life,” Anny says. She spent 8 years at a local deli among other jobs in the food industry and later found her home at The Market Basket in 1989. Anny has been a part of the Market Basket family for over 34 years!

Expertise

“The customers are my favorite part of working in the deli,” Anny says. “Getting to know them, building relationships with others and having people recognize and appreciate the work that you do is something I love.”

With all of Anny’s experience in the food industry, she has a wealth of knowledge for all things in our deli department. Annie even created one of our signature sandwiches – the “Anny’s Reuben.” This sandwich is a customer favorite filled with our corned beef, pastrami, melted Swiss cheese and sauerkraut with Russian dressing and mustard on 3 pieces of rye toast! Anny says this is one of her favorite sandwiches to make in our deli as well as our signature Turker sandwich.

Favorite Part Working at Market Basket

“Having a goal I can look forward to when I get up in the morning is one of my favorite parts about working here,” Anny says. “Everybody has to have a purpose in the morning when they get up, and I enjoy having my purpose here when I come to work. I always get to meet new customers and connect with people on a daily basis.”