Produce business seems to be bouncing back in the Boston area this summer following a challenging winter/spring period, and distributors are hopeful the upward trend will continue into fall.
Peter Condakes Co.
“It was a very quiet winter and spring,” says Peter John Condakes, president of Peter Condakes Co. Inc. at the New England Produce Center in Chelsea, Mass.
The region underwent three straight months of below-normal temperatures, he says, and other major U.S. population centers endured chilly weather as well, which limited consumers from venturing out.
At the same time, weather in growing areas like Florida and Mexico was perfect, he says, resulting in bountiful supplies of many fresh produce items.
“There was an abundance of product and a dearth of demand,” Condakes says.
Since up to 70% of the company’s business is foodservice, sales were impacted when residents decided not to visit their favorite restaurants. The slowdown lasted into May, but business started growing again in June and was back to normal by August.
Top-selling summer items at Peter Condakes Co. include several kinds of squashes, peppers, cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes and leafy greens. It offers products from local growers in summer, especially row crops, along with a few local tomatoes, Condakes says.
Community-Suffolk
Steven Piazza, president of Chelsea-based Community-Suffolk Inc., says area business has continued to improve after the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We really had a shaking out in the New England area,” he says. “Since then, we’ve bounced back, and everybody in the industry seems to be flourishing and doing well.”
Summer items at Community-Suffolk include a wide selection of local vegetables from Canada, such as broccoli, celery, carrots and potatoes.
“The Canadian product is just starting to come into its own,” Piazza said in early August. “People are looking for [vegetables] that are closer to home and fresh.”
The company handles about 40 items.
“We tend to concentrate on what we do best and try to maintain our volume, quality and value on those items,” Piazza says.
So far, quality seems to be very nice this season, he says, despite a heat spell in late July.
“I think they’re going to grow through that and maintain good quality until the fall,” Piazza adds.
J. Bonafede & Sons
Business at J. Bonafede & Sons at the New England Produce Center has been similar to last year, but Eugene Fabio, president, says he’d like more foot traffic.
“Ever since COVID, foot traffic has gone down,” Fabio says.
The company sells mostly tropical fruits and vegetables. Sales of mangoes, cactus pears and limes are active, he says, while banana movement is steady. Other good sellers include avocados and Canadian tomatoes.
J. Bonafede & Sons also offers organic bananas and sometimes has some organic pineapples and limes on hand.
Smaller stores tend to blossom in the spring and summer in the Boston area, Fabio says, and the number of ethnic stores, especially Southeast Asian markets, continues to increase.
J. Bonafede & Sons typically stocks about 40 items.
The company also does a fair amount of foodservice business, but it often reaches foodservice customers, such as schools and airports, through wholesalers, Fabio says.
Upgrades
Some companies at the New England Produce Center have made improvements to better serve their customers.
Peter Condakes Co. Inc. has relaunched its website, Condakes says.
“That was a long time coming,” he says.
The revamped site, petercondakes.com, offers a comprehensive listing of all the fruits, vegetables, tomatoes and tropical items the company offers and provides background on the firm, which traces its roots back to 1900.
J. Bonafede & Sons is in the middle of some cosmetic and functional renovation Fabio says.
That includes replacing the electric refrigeration units in some of the company’s trailers, replacing some trailers, rebuilding several banana rooms, installing new lighting and replacing refrigeration in the cooler.
“We’re putting some money into the [facility] to make it work better, look better and buff up the appearance a little bit,” he says.
The company also was concluding a third-party food safety audit in early August, and it has hired Fabio’s son, Alex, to take on a number of responsibilities, including personnel and overseeing buying.
Alex Fabio has a wide range of experience working in and operating a number of businesses, his father says, adding: “We’re hoping some of his
experience will help us focus our business and to grow it.”
