Midtown Fred Meyer Wins 2025 Alaska Grown $5 Store Challenge
Photo Credit: Patricia Morales | Alaska Business
The state’s prize for promoting Alaska Grown produce returns to a major retailer. Fred Meyer is the winner of the 2025 Golden Carrot award in recognition of its marketing efforts, support, and success during the 9th annual “Alaska Grown $5 Challenge” campaign.
A Growing Campaign
The Oregon-based arm of the Kroger supermarket chain has won the Golden Carrot twice before, honoring the Palmer location in 2019 and 2020. For 2025, however, the prize comes to Midtown Anchorage, site of Fred Meyer’s flagship store on Northern Lights Boulevard.
Fred Meyer-Northern Lights maintained Alaska Grown displays throughout the year, with Alaska Grown marketing materials provided by the Alaska Division of Agriculture. Dedicated displays included Alaska Grown tomatoes, cucumbers, basil, potatoes, and carrots.
In October, Fred Meyer-Northern Lights held a grand reopening ceremony, which further highlighted and promoted the Alaska Grown products sold there.
“Fred Meyer-Northern Lights store has a beautiful display of Alaska Grown produce in the aisle just inside the front door,” says Division of Agriculture Director Bryan Scoresby. “Every customer coming into the store will pass it and can’t miss Alaska Grown. The division is proud of the extra efforts the Northern Lights store made this year.”
In partnership with an Alaska distributor, Fred Meyer also worked in 2025 to get Alaska Grown carrots and potatoes into its Juneau store, increasing distribution of Alaska Grown products, creating new markets for local farmers, and increasing accessibility for Alaskans.
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“Fred Meyer is committed to supporting local Alaska Grown products,” says Fred Meyer President Todd Kammeyer. “By championing local farmers and producers, we strengthen our communities while offering customers fresh, high-quality Alaska Grown foods. Fred Meyer is committed to supporting our communities with fresh, local products, while also investing in Alaska’s economy and food security.”
Last year’s Golden Carrot award also went to a major retailer, Wasilla-based Three Bears Alaska, after three years of recognizing smaller businesses: Blue Market AK in Spenard and The Roaming Root Cellar in Fairbanks for two years in a row.
The six-month challenge encourages businesses to encourage shoppers to spend $5 each week on Alaska Grown products. The Division of Agriculture calculates that such spending by every household in Alaska would total approximately $66 million annually. Farmers would produce more to meet demand, increasing Alaska’s food security.
Beginning this year, the Alaska Grown $5 Challenge is expanding to a year-round campaign.
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