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MARKET PROFILE
Capital-Area Wholesalers See Growth
Business strong
in mid-atlantic wholesaling region.
IBy Doug Ohlemeier
n Jessup, MD, many wholesale produce companies on and off the Maryland Wholesale Produce Market distribute producetoretailstores,restaurants,insti- tutions, foodservice purveyors, wholesalers
and other buyers throughout the Virginia, Maryland and southern Pennsylvania region. “We sit centrally on the Eastern Seaboard, allowing us to deliver from Maine to Florida the next day,” says Will Staples, director of sales and marketing for Jessup’s Lancaster
Foods, Inc.
The region’s geographical location helps,
says Tony Vitrano, president of the Tony Vitrano Co. “The good thing is we are close to many things,” he says. “We are right off I-95, which is great for getting trucks in and out.”
Operating from the Jessup market, the
Tony Vitrano Co. distributes to retailers, foodservice jobbers, and a variety of customers in the greater Baltimore-Wash- ington, DC, region, as well as northern Virginia, western Maryland, the eastern part West Virginia, southern Pennsylvania, and the Eastern Shore.
“Because of the government lobbyists, there’s a high concentration of restaurants, particularly in the DC area,” says Vitrano. “There are a fair amount of foodservice suppliers, which makes it very competitive. Everyone is close together. It’s not like there’s only one guy [foodservice jobber] in town. Customers have many options they can buy from.”
CENTRAL LOCATION KEY
The location favors distribution. “The food companies operating out of the wholesale food market facilities located in the Mary- land Food Center in Jessup are strategically located midway between Washington, DC, and Baltimore, allowing them to serve their customers from the metropolitan epicenter,” says Don Darnall, executive director of the
Maryland Food Center Authority. Wholesalers characterize the produce
economy — and the economy overall — as favorable.
“It’s been great the past few years,” says Sal Cefalu, owner and director of CGC Holdings, which owns Jessup’s G. Cefalu & Bro. Produce, Inc., and Capital Seaboard, a foodservice and seafood jobber. “The growth continues to be there. With Amazon coming intoVirginia,it’saplus.Wehavedifferent areas of growth in Baltimore and DC. We are continuing to see companies coming in.”
In November, Amazon.com Inc, picked Arlington, VA, to house HQ2, one of its new offices. Kevin Keany, president and founder of Keany Produce & Gourmet, based in Landover, MD, points to Amazon’s expan- sion into the area as evidence the region is experiencing vibrant business growth. “The demographics of the employees that compa- nies such as Amazon are seeking are all here,” he says. “They chose this area for a reason. It’s the resurgence of the Washington, DC, and Baltimore areas. We are blessed to be in this area.”
68 / MAY 2019 / PRODUCE BUSINESS
WASHINGTON, D.C.