Local Wholesalers: A Vital Link

Іn today’s produce industry, the middleman has never been more important. Not just any middleman, but the ones who can bridge the gap between what farmers grow and what end users need.

At the center of this shift are local wholesalers who also serve as processors, transforming raw local produce into ready-to-use, high-demand products for the market, while simultaneously distributing bulk product to meet larger-scale needs.

Generally speaking, farmers don’t peel, slice, dice, or package their vegetables. Nor should they. Their expertise is in planting, tending and harvesting crops.

Yet the market increasingly demands both fresh-cut produce (washed greens, peeled carrots, diced onions, portioned fruit) and large volumes of bulk product for restaurants, distributors and retailers. Some farms can process a few items, but the growing demand is getting to be too much for them.

This is where local wholesalers step in to handle both. By adding the labor, equipment, and food safety standards necessary to turn raw product into value-added items, and by distributing those items and bulk product efficiently, they enable farmers to access markets they couldn’t reach on their own.

The benefits extend beyond the farmgate. For end users, like restaurants, institutions, meal prep companies, grocery chains and distributors, these middlemen solve problems that raw product alone can’t.

Processed fresh-cut items provide convenience, consistency, and a ready-to-use quality. Bulk distribution ensures that high-volume buyers can get the quantities they need reliably, without managing dozens of small farm accounts. Together, processing and distribution create a seamless flow from farm to table at both large and small scales.

This dual role of wholesaler and processor creates a streamlined supply chain that benefits every link: Farmers gain access to stable, large-scale outlets for both bulk and value-added products. Buyers get a reliable supply of fresh, uniform product in the formats they need. And processors themselves help reduce waste by utilizing crops in multiple ways, maximizing value for growers while minimizing loss.

The ripple effect is especially powerful for grocery retailers, where shoppers increasingly demand both local sourcing and convenience.

Fresh-cut produce is one of the fastest-growing categories in the store, while bulk items remain essential for traditional departments, prepared foods and high-volume kitchens. Most farms don’t have the capacity to process or distribute for these markets. Local processors and wholesalers make it possible for retailers and distributors to meet consumer demand for local, high-quality products, something national suppliers often can’t deliver with the same speed, flexibility, or attention to detail.

When you see perfectly packaged produce, or bulk crates of fresh vegetables arriving on time, remember, it didn’t just come from the farm. It came through the essential middleman.

In short, the middleman is no longer just a connector, they are the transformer and distributor. They take the farmers’ harvest and prepare it, package it, and move it efficiently to where it’s needed, whether in bulk or as value-added fresh-cut items. Without them, farmers would struggle to reach broader markets, and buyers would struggle to get the products they need in the form their customers expect.

The next time you see perfectly peeled, diced, or packaged produce, or bulk crates of fresh vegetables arriving on time, remember, it didn’t just come from the farm. It came through the local wholesaler and processor — the essential middleman who makes modern produce distribution possible, for farmers and buyers alike.

Johnny Karrat is the fourth generation of his family in the produce industry and is director of sales and operations for Capital City Produce, based in Troy, NY. His great-grandfather was a wholesaler, his grandfather was a broker, and his father worked at the brokerage and ran his own trucking company before eventually forming wholesaler Capital City Produce in 2012. Capital City Produce is a broker, wholesaler, re-packer and processor of fresh produce.