Country Fresh Farm Market has been around more than 40 years. And yet I had never heard of it until I moved back to Cincinnati in 2019. Strange, since I grew up in Anderson Township, where the market's second location opened in 1990, two years after I graduated from high school.
I came home a lot during college, yet I somehow never noticed its location at The Crossings of Anderson shopping center, less than a mile away from my parents' house. These days I know better, making regular pilgrimages from my home in Hyde Park – not only for the produce, but for the warm service and a shopping experience that's far more intimate than my nearby Kroger.
If you haven't been to Country Fresh, it might remind you of a pre-Jeff Bezos Whole Foods. Crunchier
than it is today. More make-shift. More hyper-local. And, with its regular beer and wine tasting events, more fun.
The first Country Fresh was opened by John Johnson and Ray Kolkmeier, near Hartwell, in 1984. The original name was Discount Produce, but after opening in Anderson, they wisely renamed both stores, since "discount produce" had negative connotations. Johnson soon gained a reputation for getting up in the wee hours of the morning and hand picking the best produce he could find from local wholesalers. In 2022, Country Fresh employees Jamie Griffiths and David Bernens took over operations of the Anderson location, but the store honors Johnson's original mission.
Country Fresh stocks dozens of items from local farmers and producers. On my most recent visit, there were plenty of Ohio-grown apples; the last of the summer tomatoes from Sunrise Farms, in Winchester, Ohio, and local squash in varieties that included white acorn, pumpkin and Black Futsu.
Country Fresh also has one of the best selections of beer and wine outside the Party Source, in Newport. I picked up a French cider that I first fell in love with at Longfellow Bar, but have never seen on shelves. Both Country Fresh stores often host wine tastings, concerts and community events. Last Friday, for example, the Anderson location featured wines from Mary Taylor Wines. They also did an Oktoberfest beer tasting last month.
I recommend you visit Country Fresh for the last crops of summer tomatoes. They still have plenty of Ohio-grown varieties, but they won't last long. As they ready for fall, they have plenty of fall pumpkins and mums, too.
8315 Beechmont Ave., Anderson Township, 513-474-9167, and 8425 Vine St., Hartwell, 513-821-5335, countryfreshmarket.com.
Highly Recommended is a weekly spotlight on some of food writer Keith Pandolfi's favorite finds as he eats his way across Greater Cincinnati. Find more of his recent food writing here.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Why Country Fresh Farm Market is a local treasure, 4 decades later
