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The region’s restaurants and supermarkets are experiencing strong growth. “Every time I turn around, I see another restaurant chain,” says Don Martin, vice president of sales for Jessup-based Pete Pappas & Sons, Inc. “The supermarkets are across the street from one another. In some areas, you have a nucleus of retail stores on top of another. This area is growing by leaps and bounds. Everyone seems to have healthy growth. There is plenty of business out there.”
AFFLUENT CLIENTELE
Money is a big reason for the region’s pros- perous economy. “This market, from Harris- burg, PA, to Annapolis, MD, to Norfolk, VA, to Frederick, MD, and Hagerstown, MD, is probably one of the richer markets in the country,” says Joe Rahll, Sr., president and chief executive of Jessup’s Edward G. Rahll & Sons, Inc. “But, on the flip side, because of all that money, there’s a lot of competition, both in retail and wholesale. On the retail end, with all the stores here, you see all these indepen- dents and what they’re butting up against.”
When Cefalu began operations in 1904, it didn’t focus much on the nation’s capital. Today, its business is split between Baltimore and Washington, DC. The two metropolitan areas are now more intertwined. “They once were separate, but now we look upon them as one area,” says Cefalu. “Part of it deals with the money in D.C., and that area’s growth. It is spreading north to Baltimore. The growth has been tremendous through that mid-central area, the area between Baltimore and DC.”
Vitrano characterizes the region’s produce economy as favorable. “The overall economy in the area is pretty strong,” he says. “We are lucky that a big chunk of our economy is dependent on Washington, DC. Though they had a government shutdown this year, they are in business all the time. While Balti- more’s city economy may not be as strong as it’s been, Washington, DC, is strong. Coming into summertime, the Eastern Shore tourist spots and roadside stands will get busy.”
But not all in the industry see it the same way. Rick Ta, managing member and chief executive of Pacific Coast Produce, LLC, in Jessup, describes business as stagnant. “The produce business isn’t as strong,” he says. “It’s not like it used to be. Now, it’s very slow. It’s very hard. It used to be a lot busier. It’s like this for all the distributors.” Many customers buy outside the market while other whole- salers from other areas deliver at lower cost. To compete, Ta says Pacific Coast Produce touts its service.
With increasing movement comes more distribution challenges, because of increasing congestion.
“Moving food products throughout the Washington, DC/Baltimore metropolitan area is a nightmarish challenge,” observes Darnall. “The density of population combined with the vast variety of food establishments leads to congested roadways and almost impossible access to loading and unloading areas. However, the area food distributors are masters of their domain and conquer
these daily challenges with the skills of finely trained warriors.”
Wholesalers face many challenges, including transportation. “Logistics remains the largest challenge,” says Staples. “With the new E-log regulations that were put into place last year, we saw a spike in transporta- tion costs across the board. Now, more than ever, we must be cognizant of our costs on all outbound loads and find ways to efficiently cube out trucks, while also maintaining our same service levels.” pb
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