Gary Pfeil of Roche Bros. (All-New Episode)

In an all-new episode, Steve D'Agostino, principal of Best Rate of Climb, interviews Gary Pfeil, president of Roche Bros. They talk about how supermarket chains are filling their profit baskets in a tough economy.

Roche Bros. is a chain of supermarkets based in Wellesley, Massachusetts. The company's stores are primarily located in the Boston metro area. Roche Bros., which also operates the supermarket chain Sudbury Farms, is owned and operated by brothers Ed and Rick Roche.

Their parents, Pat and Bud Roche, opened their first store in 1952 in Roslindale. This first meat-and-produce store expanded in 1957 to include a grocery department. From there, the company began to grow with the opening of a store in Needham in 1959 and in West Roxbury in 1967.

The company’s first Sudbury Farms store had its debut in 1980 in Sudbury. At that time, Sudbury Farms was a new concept in the supermarket industry. It featured one of the largest bulk-produce departments, a deli kitchen with a large variety of home-made, quality entrees and side dishes, and a fresh fish department with exclusive rights to sell Foley Fish, which had only been available in the finest restaurants in the United States.

The second Sudbury Farms opened in Randolph in 1983 and the third Sudbury Farms opened in 1990 in Needham. In 2007, Roche Bros. opened its 18th store in Westboro, with all the concepts of its previous stores as well a greater selection of organic, natural and fresh products.

Steve's guest, Gary Pfiel, has been president of Roche Bros. since 2009. He had been with the company since 1996 and was named vice president and general manager in 2004.