BY GLORIA STRAVELLI
Staff Writer

Photos by CHRIS KELLY staff Owner Dean Nelson is particularly proud of the organic produce sold in Dean’s Natural Food Market. Nelson is opening a satellite store in Shrewsbury next month.

Following through on a resolution to adopt a healthier lifestyle will become easier next month when Dean’s Natural Food Market opens a satellite store in Shrewsbury.

The popular Oakhurst magnet for partisans of organic produce and natural products will open a second location June 5 at 490 Broad St. in the same plaza as women’s clothing store Annie Sez.

"The new store is larger," said founder Dean Nelson, who will manage the new location. "The biggest challenge is reproducing the market and getting the message across that this is a step. It’s not about the food, it’s not about a vitamin. It’s a way of life."

According to Nelson, the decision to open a second location was spurred by the fact that a good portion of the market’s customer base is drawn from Red Bank, Rumson, Little Silver, Oceanport and surrounding towns.

Dean’s Natural Food Market opened in 1996 on Route 35 in the Oakhurst section of Ocean Township, catering to a health-conscious clientele.

"The expansion is driven purely by customer demand," explained the Allenhurst resident. "We have a lot of customers from out of the area who drive to our store. There’s a certain segment of the population that wants to live a healthier lifestyle and they’re willing to drive this far to do that."

The new, 6,500-square-foot space will offer the same selection of high-quality organic produce, frozen foods, dairy products, juice and smoothie bar, groceries and nutritional supplements, seven days per week, the same as the Oakhurst store, in an enhanced environment.

"It will be a little more aesthetically pleasing," Nelson said. "We’re putting more into the details in terms of ambiance, fixtures.

"We have a perception of what we want our natural food stores to be — a warm, inviting, friendly environment," explained Nelson, who opened the Ocean Township store on Route 35 in 1996.

"People are looking to be engaged in natural food stores. Our staff [members] are educators. You come into the market and you get walked around the store," he said.

"You can sum it up with our mission statement: educate, don’t sell, and provide information that permits customers to make informed decisions.

"This is a step to our increasing level of consciousness about our environment and how we interact with other people," added Nelson. "When you come in here, we’re committed to being different."

According to Nelson, one of the market’s major strengths is his personal favorite — the organic produce section, where all produce is third party certified (the highest level of USDA certification), he explained.

"That’s my baby," he said of the market’s large selection of fruits, vegetables and herbs, fresh and dried, that range from fiery red peppers to the healing burdock root.

"We started with a 20-foot produce section, and we now have 36 feet of refrigeration and 16 feet of dry produce," said Nelson, who noted that organic produce currently accounts for a 15 percent share of the natural market’s business.

The fact that organically grown produce can cost more than conventional produce hasn’t limited sales, he said.

"Given the opportunity to buy conventional produce or organic, people will buy organic," Nelson explained. "Our customers are extremely quality sensitive.

"I call this functional food. It has more nutritional value, it’s nice to support organic farms, and it’s better for the environment," he noted.

Nelson ranks his decision to add two full-time, certified nutritionists to the staff as the second most important reason for the market’s growth.

Customers can get professional guidance on a wide selection of nutritional supplements, vitamins, herbs, homeopathic products, sports supplements, and cosmetics.

"Most places you go will have someone who’s been around this stuff a long time and has a reasonable amount of knowledge but doesn’t have the background in science and traditional medicine," he explained. "We raised the bar and brought in certified nutritionists on staff."

An Ocean Township native, Nelson founded Dean’s Natural Food Market after working at an area health food store where he perceived more could be done to enhance customers’ health and educate them, and it is that outlook that enlightened his business strategy.

"I just felt more could be offered in terms of science," he said. "Every day you have to be your best for people. I love having a positive impact on people’s lives and knowing we’re doing the right thing."

With the customer’s well-being at the heart of the market, Dean’s was a success from the first day, Nelson said, and business has quadrupled.

"We started with five employees, and we all wore a lot of hats. Now we have 21 employees, and we’ve expanded our produce, dairy and frozen foods, added a juice bar and two nutritionists.

"It’s been the most incredible experience."

According to Nelson, trends favored the market’s success.

"When we started, the natural food industry was at the beginning of an incredible growth spurt. People were getting fed up with conventional medicine. People were becoming aware of what was going on in their foods; there was a growing awareness. Now, it’s become mainstream America."

The fastest-growing section of the market is one Nelson, a vegan, eschewed for years — meat, poultry and fish.

"It’s become our second in terms of sales of organic beef, chicken and buffalo," said Nelson, explaining that the products meet federal standards for organic grade. Fish is frozen and is all "hook and line," not commercially caught.

"Formerly, we weren’t able to give meat products away. We preached the vegan lifestyle for about five years. When mad cow disease surfaced, we didn’t even carry beef. Then we couldn’t keep it on the shelf for more than 24 hours. It’s expensive, but people don’t care, and we couldn’t meet the demand."

The market stocks groceries from cereal to baking mixes that are organic and free of elements, like hydrogenated oils, enriched flours and dyes, that many experts say have a negative impact on health. Some 80 percent of dairy products — milk, eggs, yogurts, soy products — are organic.

The busiest department, Nelson said, may be the section where organic juices and smoothies are made fresh on the spot.

"We sell 50-100 vegetable juices and fruit smoothies a day," he said. "It’s a testament to who our customers are that our most popular drinks are really hard core like ‘Mean Green,’ a concoction of dandelion, celery, spinach, parsley and kale."

Customer service gives the market an edge over other natural foods outlets, he noted.

"The cornerstone of our business is service because this stuff is available everywhere now. You can get most items at the supermarket, but if you want to understand why you should eat it, you come here," he explained.

"The job of our people is not to sell, but to educate as to what products have the most integrity and are the most bioavailable."

Now that the organic movement has gained acceptance, educating customers has shifted to the disadvantages of genetically modified foods, which the market does not sell.

"For example," Nelson explained, "some tomatoes sold in supermarkets are impregnated with pig or flounder DNA because that results in a longer growing season. Does the average person know this and how do we tell them?"

Customers have responded to Nelson’s holistic philosophy and he draws inspiration from them, he said.

"We get people in here from million-dollar homes as well as people who make major sacrifices so they can buy cleaning products that aren’t going to hurt the earth and the ocean," he noted.

"If you worked here for a week, your life would be changed. Our customers are people dedicated to the environment, people who are spiritual. These people force you to be more. They’re incredible people."