Page 77 - Index

Jessica Kean, Teddy Kean III and Mark Levin, Brian Kriebel, Ryan Miller, Pete Gabriele and Joe Armata of M. Levin Sales Louis Kean of E.W. Kean
Margie Fischman of M. Levin and Company
ness NANCO. “In the near future, we’ll be upgrading our packing and repacking facil- ities and putting in all new machinery and lines,” he says. pb
customers shop. “More customers are ordering via phone, email or text and getting it deliv- ered to their store or warehouse,” says Hickey.
John Collotti, sales manager for Collotti & Sons, emphasizes the need for solid relationships. “With customers coming in less and added deliveries — the relation- ship is more important than ever,” he says. “Customers must trust the relationship they’ve built with us — that we’ll get them what they need and what we’ve promised.”
Ultimately, emphasizes Dan Vena, sales with John Vena Inc. ( JVI), it’s about serving customers the way they want to be served, and not the way it was done 25 years ago. “For example, years ago most ethnic customers were happy to come buy and load their own product,” he says. “But now in the changing landscape, we have to look at how we make ourselves and our product available to them. While we still have customers walking the oor at 3 a.m., we also have more customers calling us at 3 p.m. asking questions or ordering.”
Levin adds, “In our age of social media, with text messaging and emails — we are constantly connected,” he says. “In a way it’s good, we’re always available to our customers through these venues — but in a way it’s also bad, there’s less face-to-face with our customers.”
Tom Kovacevich, general manager at T.M. Kovacevich (TMK), deems the company’s strength is in understanding the market and competitive forces. “ e typical retail buyer has more and more on their plate, and their ability to trust us to know their business is key to our success,” he says. “ is is where we get to prove our value in steering our customers down the right path with proper o erings for their speci c clientele.”
OPENING NEW AVENUES
Market forces stimulate new pathways of service for PWPM merchants. “Produce buyers are savvier and more educated than ever, and we do our best to keep up with trends in the industry, whether that means food safety certi cations, faster and more e - cient delivery, or value-added services,” says PWPM’s Smith. “However, we never lose sight of the fact that old-fashioned customer
service never goes out of style.”
John Vena reports the new facility has
allowed him to do things that couldn’t be done in the old market. “We have repacking and ripening facilities that require a higher food safety level,” he says. “We’ve put in new soft- ware to manage purchase orders and bills of lading. We’re better able to service the customer and make the order process more seamless.”
Ripening represents another signi cant service area for some PWPM businesses. “Our company has been in the ripening busi- ness for 113 years,” says Levin. “We ripen and distribute more than 35,000 cases of bananas per week. We have a team of ripening veterans with our company for 30 plus years, and we pride ourselves on our ability to ripen bananas to our customers’ speci cations.”
Embracing technology allows for forward movement, and E.W. Kean has been working to leverage various technologies. “We’re working on making the ordering process as streamlined as possible, and we eventually plan to o er the option to place orders on our website for customers that might prefer that,” says Kean. “We’re also hoping to expand delivery. We’ve always had a customer-centric approach to everything we do and think this is the next step in satisfying our clients.”
Ryeco has implemented a warehouse managementsystem(WMS).“Weareworking to barcode every area of our facility and track movements of all product in the computer to improve the speed of service to our customers,” says Colace. “With so many di erent commod- ities and brands, it can be time-consuming for team members to nd and get product. After our WMS is implemented, we will begin our e-commerce initiative to give customers the ability to order online.”
New packaging choice and forward distri- bution are other areas of expansion. “Procacci is investing in a new bagger to move into more pouch-type options,” says Maxwell. “We’re listening to customer requests for more pack- aging possibilities. And, the transportation crunch has resulted in us doing more forward distribution for our partner-shippers.”
Procacci notes the company is also excited about developments at its storage busi-
JOHN VENA INC. CELEBRATING 100 YEARS
John Vena Inc. was started in 1919 by the rst John Vena – a young, entre- preneurial immigrant from Sicily who decided to buy wine grapes from wholesalers at the Port of Philadelphia and resell them at the Dock Street produce market to support his family. A full century later, his legacy lives on. The wholesaler is still located in Phil- adelphia, and still family-owned-and operated. The founder’s grandson, John Vena III, is at the helm, and the fourth generation, Dan Vena, leads the sales team.
In honor of JVI’s 100th Anniversary, the company has retooled its mission statement to capture the spirit of the team today and will soon roll out a new logo. “We are in the produce industry to make the business of food more interesting, more exciting, and ulti- mately more fun for our customers and their customers,” says John Vena III, president. “We think that mission is at the core of what has kept us going for a century, and what will make us successful in the next 100 years.”
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