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PHOTO COURTESY OF FOUR SEASONS PRODUCE
A mango display contest photo at a food co-op built by Henry Kryeski, produce manager at River Valley Market in Northampton, MA, and Brian Dey, senior merchandiser for Four Seasons Produce.
Vineland auction every day. He may deal with 50 to 60 di erent growers. Many chain buyers in the Northeast attend the auction and work with wholesalers to get product cooled, loaded, properly handled and delivered.”
MVP wholesalers all incorporate a signif- icant local program. Scott reports Nickey Gregory o ers a Georgia Grown program to customers in the spring and fall. S. Katzman got its start four generations ago working with local farmers. “ ough we have grown over the years and expanded across the country and across the world, we still have great relationships and do lots of business with our local roots,” says Katzman. “Local is a signi cant trend, and consumers like to support their community.”
Linda Luka, director of marketing and communications for General Produce, observes how specialized wholesaler programs, such as “local,” increase retail in u- ence. “Connecting retailers with local growers is one advantage a wholesaler can provide,” she says. “We are a conduit to consumers, retailers and foodservice operators. We make the connections for sales outlets and marketing e orts.”
General Produce has created “Grower
specialized wholesaler can o er the solution, since they may have more critical mass on those items,” he says.
Organics is one of FreshPro’s top catego- ries, according to Granata. “It’s a big drawing card with many of our customers,” he says. “ ey can do one-stop organic shopping.”
Where the population and volume support organic, reports Bob Corey, ambas- sador and consultant for Corey Brothers in Charleston, WV, more wholesalers are lling
that role. “In our area, 90 percent-plus of organic sales are with Kroger and Walmart,” he says. “Our independents stock very little organic — a good marketing objective to enhance turnover at the wholesale level.”
On the local side, Procacci’s Feighery points to the advantage of e ciency via a wholesaler program. “A retailer’s time is valuable, not to mention the operation costs of multiple deliv- eries,” he says. “We utilize many local growers. In addition, we have a buyer who monitors the
78 / OCTOBER 2018 / PRODUCE BUSINESS