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INDIANAPOLIS MARKET PROFILE
to work in the business. Mike A.’s cousin, Patrick Malloy, runs the Lakeland division, which opened six years ago.
“Every day my uncle cooks for us and brings it to the office, so we eat together,” says Mike A. Ray. “I’m lucky I get to work with my father, brother, cousin and son. Growing up in this business, I got to watch the masters.”
While other producers bring in a variety of produce, Ray brings in a variety of toma- toes, which come from different areas throughout the year: now the tomatoes come from Florida and Mexico; in July they’ll come from Southern California. The local season begins at the end of July and will include tomatoes from Tennessee and Michigan. “In the summertime, there is nothing better than a nice, vine-ripened tomato – a tomato you would be proud to put on your burger or in a summer salad,” says Mike A. Ray.
Privately owned and family run, R&M distributes tomatoes to foodservice, processors, wholesalers and retail outlets throughout the Midwest and on the East Coast. Florida toma- toes come from Naples, Immokalee, Home- stead, Palmetto and Ruskin, and are repacked in Ray & Mascari’s Lakeland operation.
Mike A. Ray, showing off Ray & Mascari tomatoes
Although the company has tried to sell other commodities, R&M has been selling tomatoes as a specialty since 1970. The company engineered its own equipment to protect the fragile fruit. Ranging from TOV and Roma to grape and cherry tomatoes, R&M sells 20-25 different items.
Before 1955, there were 10 wholesalers downtown in Indianapolis’ Holy Rosary neighborhood. Today, R&M is the only one on the same site — although the location has expanded to 120,000 square feet and continues to grow.
ALL IN THE (CORSARO) FAMILY
Greg Corsaro’s grandfather, Danny Corsaro (there are four men with the name Daniel Corsaro who are or were at one time in the produce business in Indianapolis) started a banana business on the Indianapolis Produce Terminal in the 1940s. Greg’s uncles — two of Danny’s sons — Joe and (also) Danny, along with the Mascari brothers, Mike and Chris, purchased Indy Fruit in the mid-1980s from Greg’s great-uncle, Joe Mascari.
Greg’s father, Paul, became a CPA and an attorney. Greg followed in his father foot- steps, getting the same degrees, but eventually the produce business called him back. After a conversation with his uncles and the Mascari brothers, he joined the company in 1992.
Pete Piazza started Piazza Produce in the early 1970s with his dad, Paul. In 1997, Indy Fruit and Garden Cut combined with
92 / JUNE 2019 / PRODUCE BUSINESS