Hunts Point Wholesalers Keep a Close Eye on Quality, Food Safety and Service

New York’s regional produce suppliers and service providers focus on the consumer.

The Hunts Point Market remains a critical, and underappreciated, food resource for New York City. It serves the region’s retailers large and small, but particularly independents who rely on it to feed the city, where keeping up with change is far from easy.

The market consistently works to become a better resource for both retailers and foodservice operators, but a critical question is what will that support system look like a few years from now?

The produce market’s lease is up in 2031, and the long pursuit of a refreshed facility in the Hunts Point neighborhood is not over, both in terms of wholesaler determination to upgrade the physical plant and the difficulty in nailing down all the elements (and dollars) that will bring plans to fruition.

Retailers recognize the importance of the market and the advantages that it provides their businesses.

Marc Goldman, produce director, Morton Williams, Bronx, NY, with one store in its native borough, one in Jersey City, NJ, and 15 stores in Manhattan, says the bulk of the company’s produce comes from the market, and he still has a Hunts Point buyer loading and his own trucks hauling produce from the facility.

“They do a good job for us,” says Goldman. “I’ve been with the company for 30 years, and it’s always been like that.”

Goldman says as business technology has evolved, so have some facets of Morton Williams’ association with Hunts Point wholesalers, such as communication through emails and texts, without undermining the rapport that has been important to the business affiliations.

“A lot of it’s email, it’s text, but I’ll make a phone call. You’ve got to do both,” says Goldman. “I have relationships with a lot of guys down there. I’ve got the buyer, but I still talk to everybody myself. They let me know what’s going on in the market.”

Harry Celentano, managing partner, Super Foodtown, in the Bronx neighborhood of Throgs Neck, says almost everything that comes into the store is through Hunts Point. “I have a guy in the market buying for us. It’s definitely cheaper when you have someone on the market doing the buying.”

The price and quality equation go together, Celentano says. Because he shops multiple wholesalers, his buyer can get deals on better quality produce, which allows Super Foodtown to promote fruits and vegetables that will better satisfy its customers.

“It’s night and day,” says Celentano. “I like to have the better product in the store, not the cheapest product. You’re not going to make friends with lower quality. With the market, you can get better product in the store and can lower the cost to the consumer.”

I like to have the better product in the store, not the cheapest product. You’re not going to make friends with lower quality. With the market, you can get better product in the store and can lower the cost to the consumer.

— Harry Celentano, Super Foodtown, Bronx, NY

For example, he notes that, due to a buy on the market, he could offer quality grapes at $1.99 that might be $3.99 elsewhere. “You’re buying so sharp, there’s an offset,” he says, “I was able to buy right.”

NEW MARKET HORIZONS

The issue of revitalizing the market has become bigger than ever, as wholesalers continue to negotiate for additional funding beyond the $295 million in grants New York City and the state have offered.

Although a significant amount of money, the total is insufficient for the full market rebuild that many Hunts Point wholesalers prefer. As envisioned, the price tag for the full rebuild was originally set between $600 and $650 million.

Most of the parties involved see the Bronx market location as right for the future of produce distribution in New York, given its position relative to the city’s five boroughs and the immediate suburbs. However, building on the present site comes with its own set of complications because the market will have to continue functioning during any project construction.

A substantial market investment and upgrade would seem to be in the city’s best interests, some Hunts Point wholesalers point out.

“I couldn’t imagine anyone not being an advocate for this,” says Stefanie Katzman, chief executive, Katzman. “We’re the biggest market in the country, the biggest one in the world, if you’re looking at just produce. We supply one of the most highly populated parts of the country, support so many small businesses, so many consumers, employ so many New Yorkers and those from right outside the New York areas.”

Cary Rubin, vice president at Rubin Bros., says negotiations with the city are ongoing, and any market revitalization initiative must factor in the critical need to keep the market operating during redevelopment.

“It’s definitely challenging, and it’s definitely ongoing, and no one’s giving up by any means,” says Rubin.

The aging facility originally opened in 1967 and was not designed to accommodate today’s technology. The inadequacies make doing business more difficult, something Hunts Point operators generally attest. As such, pushing for a market upgrade is a necessary effort.

With the future of the market a topic at hand, Joel Fierman, president of Fierman Produce Exchange, would prefer a broader reconsideration of Hunts Point as an institution. He says that, while there is no obvious fix, incorporating a means to revitalize the street trade could contribute to the market’s long-term health.

As it is now, Fierman says costs and complications are keeping a significant number of former market customers from shopping the facility, which means wholesalers are forced to do more delivery or lose sales to other sources

“They won’t come here anymore,” he says, adding Hunts Point wholesalers and managers “should figure out how to get the old customers back to this market.”

The situation is dynamic. Some wholesalers have been investing in facilities off the market to expand their capabilities, often with specific goals, such as direct importing or servicing specific customers or sectors of the marketplace. In that way, the Hunts Point business is already reconfiguring, but beyond the market in the Bronx.

WHOLESALERS’ ROLE

After a lag at the market earlier in the year, Katzman says things picked up around Easter, and business is moving at a nicer clip.

“We had lots of surplus, so I think there was also a flood on the market,” says Katzman. “Business was down a little, and supply was up. It’s never terrible. It’s better than having a shortage. But once you hit a certain point, if you have a flat market for that long, it’s really not good for anybody involved, not even consumers, because product ends up getting backed up. Then you start seeing quality issues.”

Wholesalers also had to try to factor in uncertainty with tariffs, and how any increases might affect business.

Katzman says uncertainty has been more an issue than actual consequences for the produce industry thus far, but an important question is how tariffs in general will affect consumers and their spending.

Michael Armata, buyer and salesman at E. Armata, says when ups and downs in produce availability have been especially pronounced, wholesalers become an especially valuable resource.

“A lot of the spikes have been very drastic, and it makes it very difficult for the retailers,” says Armata. “It’s hard for them to predict and promote. So, we have to make sure we’re really on top of it, talking to our shippers and making sure we’re relaying the information properly to our customers.”

At the same time, Hunts Point customers have been asking for more support as they struggle with issues ranging from high rents to scarce labor. As a result, the demand for delivery has become a bigger issue, Armata says.

We keep increasing every year — more stores on board and more volume. We’re doing more sales two weeks out, further commitments with customers, if that helps them.

— Michael Armata, E. Armata Inc., Bronx, NY

“We’re tremendously expanding in delivery,” he says. “We keep increasing every year — more stores on board and more volume. We’re doing more sales two weeks out, further commitments with customers, if that helps them. We’re trying to be creative to help them with the swings in the market so that we can be an asset to them. There’s a lot of times when pricing out of New York could be very good and aggressive, and it can be a great opportunity. And when it’s short, you know we’ll have it.”

THE CHANGING SCENE

At D’Arrigo, the company remains focused on what has always made the operation successful, says Gabriela D’Arrigo, vice president of marketing and communications, D’Arrigo New York. “Ever since our company was founded, it’s always been incremental change and incremental growth that made us successful.”

“We’re chugging along, looking at the incremental growth and what changes make sense right now,” she adds. “Every year, you have to reevaluate, look in the mirror, and say, is our vision still realistic? Is the atmosphere of the industry, is the atmosphere of New York City, is the atmosphere of the market still the same? Do we need to make adjustments? It’s been a year of making revisions as markets have changed and buying habits have changed.”

We keep increasing every year — more stores on board and more volume. We’re doing more sales two weeks out, further commitments with customers, if that helps them.

— Michael Armata, E. Armata Inc., Bronx, NY

Even if some customers do, and will continue to, walk the market, others don’t.

“Delivery is going much heavier, which we were prepared for,” says D’Arrigo. “But it’s now how do we build out our systems to be sophisticated enough, yet simple enough, for all our customers to use, to be able to place orders online, then go immediately into our inventory so we can be as efficient as possible. The foot traffic is going to become less and less.”

Delivery includes opportunities, but also challenges. “It makes it more complicated,” says John Thomas Bonomolo, director of operations and administration, A&J Produce Corp. “We have seven trucks and try to fit it all into a reasonable route and time slot. It’s not easy to make that route.”

As it considered how the market is evolving, Katzman decided to add a full organic department. “That’s been our biggest operational change, so we have a full line of organics now, fruit and veg,” Katzman says. “We’ve gotten to work with some new suppliers, which doesn’t happen often since we’ve been doing this for a bit on most commodities, and we’ve also gotten to expand our line with some of our current suppliers, where we were only buying conventional, maybe a little organic before, and now we can carry a full line. It’s been quite a fun year that way.”

Katzman says the growth of organic sales to consumers has been good to see, as are improvements on the growing end that have narrowed the price difference between organic and conventional produce.

“Everybody’s focused on healthy eating, and nothing’s healthier than fresh fruits and vegetables, so I think it’s been really great to see people just getting back and getting excited, whether it’s about organics or fresh fruits and vegetables in general.”

Everybody’s focused on healthy eating, and nothing’s healthier than fresh fruits and vegetables, so I think it’s been really great to see people just getting back and getting excited, whether it’s about organics or fresh fruits and vegetables in general.

— Stefanie Katzman, Katzman, New York, NY

As part of its business, Katzman has actively helped customers with merchandisers for more than a decade, but when the company recently launched a distribution center in central New Jersey, it expanded that part of the business. The company will coordinate with retailers to create point-of-sale materials, as well as work with growers to market certain brands it sells.

“We have a bunch of merchandisers who work out of that facility,” she says. “That’s all focused on independent retail.”

EYE ON ENVIRONMENT, NEXT GEN AND TECHNOLOGY

Emissions are another market issue, so A&J Produce Corp. has added electric containers to the operation as a more environmentally friendly storage alternative, but they are also more efficient, which saves the company fuel expenses.

In early spring, A&J accepted its first electric container, and Bonomolo says the company has six more coming.

Spring was busy with A&J, which also planned a June 27 charity event with the Hunts Point Alliance for Children, which included bringing kids in to tour the A&J Hunts Point facility and teaching them about the food supply chain and how a wholesale operation works.

Stephanie Tramutola, director of marketing and administration for A&J, characterized the initiative as a first and something A&J was excited to pull together.

On the technology side, Tramutola says Hunts Point market wholesalers have been looking at Pepper, an AI-based ordering system, and A&J has met with the company as it considers new and more effective ways to conduct operations.

Fierman says his company is launching a new app to give customers the ability to shop online. “It’s sort of like shopping on Amazon.”

With the app, customers who come in can place an order for pickup beforehand and not have to browse around the docks or wait until an order is organized. And they can also schedule a delivery.

New York wholesalers are also featuring more prepared items. For example, Rubin Bros. keeps adding items from existing and new suppliers. More commodity vendors, Rubin says, are getting into the value-added arena and sending prepped items along so they can get the push through to retail.

In addition, CJ Brothers is working to upgrade systems in part to get ready for FSMA compliance. The challenge of being able to trace any product, not only back to a specific farm but to the section where each box was picked, is a challenge that is substantial, says Justin Leis, director of business development. Figuring out how to establish a tracking system, particularly on a market that still has a substantial number of cash customers, is no easy feat.

FURTHER AFIELD

Leis says the company has also become more global. “Imports are a big new focus for us,” he says, explaining they’re doing citrus, some mangos and dragon fruit.

“Citrus is from all over,” says Leis. “Citrus is Morocco, South America. We’re looking into South Africa, although South Africa has kind of been eliminated as a supplier to the U.S. because South Africa’s got a 32% tariff, whereas Peru and all South America, it’s just the base 10.”

Dragon fruit is gaining generally and quickly, he says, with production in Ecuador and Mexico providing product. CJ is focused on off-season mangos, avoiding the Mexico season, then delving into Brazil in the fall and into Peru for the winter, an approach that is paying off.

On the restaurant end, tariffs have had an impact on the cost of goods coming in, as many New York foodservice operators offer cuisines and food from Europe and elsewhere in the world. As such, trade issues do have an impact. For Coosemans New York, which focuses on foodservice, 20% to 25% year-over-year price increases on some items have emerged due to tariffs.

“We’re still moving the volume,” says Peter Faraci, buyer/sales manager, Coosemans New York. “The volume didn’t decrease, it increased.”

Despite U.S. diners’ fondness for world cuisine, supporting local farmers has become more prevalent in the New York restaurant sector. Ray Hernandez, buyer for Coosemans, says that supporting local agriculture was strong in New Jersey, where the department of agriculture is aggressive in its Jersey Fresh campaign, and more in restaurants.

“Within the last few years, you’ve seen the restaurants doing that,” he says. “Farm to table, locally grown.”

Charlie Badalamenti, operations manager, Coosemans, says many people regard local as being fresher and healthier. “And, at the same time, they’re helping to support their communities,” he says. “If you go out on Long Island, you see that everywhere.”

For Coosemans, serving the foodservice trade is a matter of keeping up with the times. “It’s a matter of expanding on what we’ve been doing,” says Badalamenti, “reach out to new customers.”

Given that Coosemans customers are heavily weighted toward foodservice, what the company offers has to be consistent, and the need to have a high level of trust has always been critical.

“As a company, we’ve concentrated on having a QC department and really getting the best product out of the store as is possible,” says Faraci. “We have to know what is good, and what we can send to which customers. It’s a customer service industry, last year and the last 30 years.”

If anything, customer service is becoming an even more demanding part of the business, he says. “You’re basically in control of their business, and what you do on a nightly basis to get their order out the door affects them tremendously. The trust factor is huge.

“The salesman we have working downstairs build up that rapport, not only by texting, but getting on the phone and speaking to the actual customers to service their needs. That’s huge.”