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Strong Atlanta
Economy Favors Produce
Bustling business, logistics keeps this city the distribution hub for the southeast
IBy Doug Ohlemeier
n Atlanta, business is booming. An economic hub of the South, the metropolitan area remains critical for the distribution of goods and services, including produce, whose ship- ments are centered at the Atlanta State
Farmers Market in Forest Park, GA.
“We think we are the hub of the South- east,” says Andrew Scott, director of marketing and business development for the Atlanta-based Nickey Gregory Co. LLC, which distributes throughout the region.
“Atlanta has become an international city.” Scott points to Atlanta being considered for Amazon’s second headquarters (HQ2) and word that the city may host one of the World Cup soccer semifinals in 2026. “The city keeps growing out, which is why we have so many large companies with distribution centers here,” he observes. “We have so many
Fortune 500 companies set up shop here.” Although many distributors at the Atlanta State Farmers Market keep busy servicing retail, foodservice and wholesale customers in the immediate Atlanta metro area, several market wholesalers regularly deliver overnight to customers in 11 to 14 nearby states. “The Atlanta Market serves as the terminal market of the Southeast,” says Paul Thompson, State Farmers Market manager. “Atlanta has found a niche in wholesale food distribution,” he says. The A-Town’s metro area’s proximity to, and connections with, surrounding states help with connectivity. Highways I-75, I-85, I-20, I-16, as well as connecting routes I-575 and I-985 and other major highways, intersect in Atlanta.
LOGISTICAL ADVANTAGES
“Atlanta is an ever-changing market; it sets the tone for the South, so to speak, and possibly the nation,” notes Gene Sutherland Jr., president of Atlanta’s Sutherland’s Foodser- vice, Inc. “Some of the most well-known chefs have restaurants in Atlanta. It has evolved from
PHOTO COURTESY OF ATLANTA STATE FARMERS MARKET
MARKET PROFILE
the basics in produce to now focusing more on organic or locally grown product.”
The ‘A’, as it’s also nicknamed, ranks highly in national produce distribution as well. “Though we have competition in Birmingham, Tallahassee, Jacksonville, Greenville, Charlotte and Nashville, regard- less, Atlanta is still the major distribution hub of the Southeast,” says Eric Hoffmann, vice president of sales of the Atlanta division of Springfield, IL-based Tom Lange Co., Inc.
With a population of 5.8 million, the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell metro- politan statistical area is the nation’s ninth largest. Though it trails Dallas, Houston and Miami among cities in the South, the 89,000 people who moved to the Atlanta metro area in 2017, however, make it the third-fastest growing metro region, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Only Dallas and Houston experienced higher growth.
The surrounding states of Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Caro- lina are close to the metropolitan area. “Atlanta is a pivotal place in the Southeast,” says David Collins III, president of Forest Park-based PhoenixWholesaleFoodservice,Inc.“Intwo hours’ time, you can be to a lot of places. You don’t have the world’s largest airport in a city for no reason. It’s a convenient spot.”
That geographic proximity gives those that wholesale and broker produce throughout the Southeast an advantage. “This area has a good network of roads and transportation,”
says Hubert Nall III, president of the Atlan- ta-based Hubert H. Nall Co., Inc., brokerage. “There’s a lot of people here. Atlanta’s reputa- tion has been strong for a long time.”
BUSINESS GROWTH
Along with increasing population, Atlanta is also experiencing strong business growth.
For five consecutive years, Georgia has been ranked as the No. 1 place in the United States to do business, according to Site Solu- tion magazine.
“The city of Atlanta is not only a growing and vibrant city, but has a very dynamic economy as well,” says Matt Jardina, vice president of general business operations for Atlanta’s J.J. Jardina Co., Inc. “There is a great deal of growth both in terms of its population as well as its infrastructure. Additionally, there are more and more cool places to live within the city that are attractive to the growing Millennial population.”
The region’s growth is helping business. “Business is moving well,” says Bryan Thornton, general manager of Coosemans Atlanta, Inc. Thornton notes how industries, including the movieindustry,haveexpandedinthearea.That industry is adding many jobs as one can see film productions occurring in many areas of the metro. “The movie industry has been a huge driving force,” he says. “The city’s (business) growth is bringing a lot more people here.”
The metro area is changing for the better. “Atlanta is increasingly becoming an eclectic
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ATLANTA