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“Los Angeles is a very
competitive market and
a place where you can
get top-quality product
in addition to the excess
volumes from the nearby
growing Central Valley.”
— Matthew Clark,
Los Angeles Produce Distributors
grapes from California, Mexico, Peru and Chile. We also do strawberries, mixed berries and asparagus.”
Consolidation has forced VIP to piece together a changing combination of customers to replace business lost with the larger retailers.
‘We are doing less with the bigger chains because of mergers,” says Martin. “We do a little with the independents and quite a bit with the foodservice people. We’re trying to reinvent ourselves at the terminal market.”
Other Los Angeles produce vendors are also nding that the key to survival is a diverse group of customers.
“We don’t have a main customer; we sell to restaurants, wholesalers, and smaller grocery stores in Los Angeles and Orange Counties,” says Denice Ojeda, general manager at V & L Produce, Vernon, CA. “We get it from Mexico, Guatemala and a lot of Central American countries.”
THE NEW ECONOMICS
V & L has been in business near the Los Angeles Wholesale Market for 30 years with a special emphasis on foodservice.
“We sell a variety; we don’t specialize in one item,” says Ojeda. “We have a range of herbs, dry goods, vegetables and fruits. When there is an issue, the wholesalers are calling around. And if we have what they are looking for, that is good for us.”
to make up for sales lost to the major super- markets.
“Retail consolidation has limited our
outlets but not our sales,” says Matthew Clark, president of Los Angeles Produce Distributors and Los Angeles Produce
Other wholesalers are also nding ways
PRODUCE BUSINESS / OCTOBER 2018 / 161