Royal Farms brings the green to frying chicken

At its core, the new Royal Farms on Route 1 in Rehoboth is still the gas-selling, chicken-frying chain it’s become famous for.

Dig a little deeper though, and the property is now home to one of the Cape Region’s most environmentally conscious buildings.

During a brief March 20 ribbon cutting, Brittany Eldredge, Royal Farms spokeswoman, said the building is LEED certified, but beyond that, chicken frying oil will be converted to biodiesel fuel and plantings surrounding the building require little to no water.

In addition the building itself, contaminants in the soil on the property were removed during construction.

Tom Ruszin, Royal Farms fuel and environmental leader, said Exxon, the site’s previous inhabitant, left them with a mess to clean up. Now, he said, the property is being utilized and more jobs are being added to the area.

DNREC Secretary Shawn Garvin was at the ribbon cutting, making his first public appearance after being sworn in three days earlier. He said Royal Farms committed to cleaning up the site through the state’s Brownfields Program, which encourages cleanup and redevelopment of vacant, abandoned or underutilized properties that may be contaminated. He said the state contributed $155,000 into rehabilitating the site, which, he said, had contaminants that had begun to leak into local drinking water.

A project like this protects the environment, increases public health and stimulates the economy, said Garvin. It shows that these things go hand in hand.

Not all the ribbon cutting speakers addressed the environmental impact.

Royal Farms President John Kemp said this store created 40 new jobs. He said the company was excited about the possibilities of the Cape Region and was in the process of opening another location in the next couple of years.

Bionca Wood, store manager, said she was excited to be a part of the community. She said the goal is to make sure the store is a worthy member of the community so customers keep coming back.

To end the ceremony, Royal Farms distributed five $500 checks: one each to the Rehoboth Library, Lewes Historical Society, Rehoboth Beach Volunteer Fire Co., Cape Henlopen Senior Center and Meals on Wheels.

All the groups were grateful, but it was fire company President Danny Mitchell who got the biggest laugh of the event. Calling out his own healthy-sized belly, he said it was clear he had eaten a lot of fried chicken, and he would probably be back.

“Hopefully, I just have to come back for an official visit,” he said, which garnered a strong nod of agreement from Eldredge.

Royal Farms, 18904 Coastal Highway, is open 24 hours a day. For more information call 302-644-2876.